Left side low back/upper glute pain

by Jim
(Harrisburg)

I was squatting a month ago and while i was going through the eccentric phase, my back was in excruciating pain, it hurt right away. I got an MRI and it was not a slipped disc, but i have trouble bringing my knees to my chest, and bending over, and i play football, and when we have to do bear crawl drills, that hurts extremely bad as well, its the being bent over to exploding up to sprint phase when it hurts. I was hoping that you could give me an idea of what is wrong with my back.





Hello Jim,
Just like you get a progression of I. A cold II. bronchitis III Pleurisy IV Pneumonia, so one has a progression of
I. Lower back pain only
II. LBP and Leg pain
III. LBP and leg pain and numness and weakness
IV. Minimal LBP, leg on fire (the true slipped disc)

Grade I is often not visible on scans. But you have the typical signs of a disc injury.

Go to C-H and type in Slump Test into the Search this site function. Let me know what happens.

Have you had any suggestion of pain with coughing, sneezing, laughing and bearing down on the WC?

Lying on your side, have someone press on the bumps that stick out of your spine, and try and locate the pain, counting from L5 at the bottom.

I suggest you start the Lower Back Exercises at Chiropractic Help. And lay off the weights and sports until this resolves. Otherwise I > II > III> IV > surgery!

Let me know what happens to Slump

Dr. Barrie Lewis


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Aug 12, 2012
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by: JIM

I did the slump test and it hurts in my upper glute. I went to a doctor and a PT and they both think its a muscle strain, that was before the MRI, but i still do have pain. When i get warmed up really well, the pain becomes minimal. I just dont know how to treat this because the football season is very long.



Dr. Barrie Lewis Dr. Barrie Lewis


Hello Jim,
Sorry to be rude, but your doc and the PT didn't major in orthopaedics. The positive Slump Test, luckily in your glute area and not down the leg, strongly suggests this is not a muscle strain.

Look for an experienced chiro in your area. Talk to friends and family, asking for a name...

Meantime, keep up those exercises faithfully. Alas, I suspect you will have to lay off the football (soccer?) for a period.

Dr. Barrie Lewis

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Interesting challenges of the day

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6. I too have had serious lower back issues, luckily fixed by my own chiropractor; so I too have to do my exercises, take care when lifting supers full of honey, gardening and using the chainsaw. Regaining the function of your spine is just as important as the pain.

7. My own granddaughter, only 7 is hypermobile giving her pelvic, knee and ankle issues. Xrays show a mildly dysplastic hip. Years ago we would have called it growing pains. She too regularly needs chiropractic care and luckily responds well. Increased range of motion is more difficult than too stiff in my opinion. Our care is for kids too.

8. This 65 year old lady is a serious gardener; every day she is bending, lifting and digging for 2 to 3 hours a day. It regularly catches her in the sacroiliac joint, so she has a treatment once a month that sorts it out. She does her lower back exercises faithfully.

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11. Mrs C has been having severe headaches, and taking a lot of analgesics. It's a non complicated upper cervical facet syndrome, and she's doing well.

12. Mr D is a 38 old year man with chronic shoulder pain after a rotator cuff tear playing cricket. It responded well to treatment, but he knows he must do his exercises every day; for two years he couldn't sleep on that shoulder.

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