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If you pull a muscle in your back, how long does it take to heal up???


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About 2 weeks ago, I hurt myself on a landing, where I fell down about 6 ft, onto my butt. My lower back was in a lot of pain that I even had problems sleeping. Went to the doctor to have it checked out and he told me that I pulled some muscles. He prescribed me Vicodin and Flexeril (muscle relaxant).

 

It's almost 2 weeks later and my back is feeling a bit better but it gets stiff and I still hurt, especially in the lower back, towards my right side. If I stand for too long or am on my feet for a long time, my back will act up badly the next day. I am still taking the Vicodin on occasion, for the back pain.

 

I want to go up again this weekend. I'm hoping to be better. I'm just not sure since my back still hurts. And the side pain is a real bother. I'm trying not to take the pain pills anymore because I don't have a lot left (the doc didnt give me a lot).

 

For those of you who have hurt their lower back before (while doing a sport), and pulled a muscle, how long did it take for you to heal? Also, did you take pain meds?

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I took me about 4-5 weeks to feel compeletely functional. I my pulled lats in football when I got streched too far during a tackle. It was around week 3 the stiffness went away but after that I was just sore mostly, with limited mobility.

 

I found for pain management was stretching and rubbing some icy hot around the area. The stretch I did was hanging from a pull up bar for about 30 secs, in about 3-4 sets. So about 2 mins of stretching and some relaxing with the icy hot.

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For me, I took no pain meds beyond Tylenol. I had injured my lower back lifting something while moving. It was also about four to six horrible weeks before it stopped hurting, and even then I'd still feel a twinge here and there--but I was functional and back at work after a week or two. The weeks go by; slowly but they do go by, and it hurts less and less. The hardest part was that I was living alone in a townhouse with four floors, where everything was on different floors. I had just moved to a totally new place, started a new job, and knew nobody. Gosh, that was a bad time. For months after it was fine I was still terrified of doing something to re-injure it, but that didn't happen. Thankfully it's been a year and a half, and the whole thing is just a distant awful memory now. My good wishes, and feel better soon.

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Usually 6 weeks for any of my sports-related muscle injuries.

 

You really need to let it heal properly. If you don't, you'll just keep it weakened.

 

And yes, I've taken pain killers, but that's only because they were fun (and effective - lol). Ibuprofen works very well, but you need to watch how many you pop.

 

I also use these things called Flector patches, which are NSAID patches that you apply to the affected area so the meds are absorbed more locally rather than systemically.

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Usually 6 weeks for any of my sports-related muscle injuries.

 

You really need to let it heal properly. If you don't, you'll just keep it weakened.

 

And yes, I've taken pain killers, but that's only because they were fun (and effective - lol). Ibuprofen works very well, but you need to watch how many you pop.

 

I also use these things called Flector patches, which are NSAID patches that you apply to the affected area so the meds are absorbed more locally rather than systemically.

 

Agreed with you once again. Can you say something stupid so I can disagree for once? OP, don't push it. Wasn't it you who broke her ankle? I think you learned your lesson with pushing healing Just take it easy, ice, give it a good month and evaluate then.

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Did the doctor do an MRI to be sure that it wasn't a herniated disc? If you have continued pain you need to check with the doctor to make sure it is not a more serious issue and you definitely shouldn't jump again until you are pain free and know the problem has gone away.

 

It can take 4-6 weeks for back spasms to really leave, but you have to take it easy until they do or they'll never go away.

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I didn't break my ankle, I sprained my foot a few months back, and couldn't do stuff for about 6 wks.

 

No, the doc did NOT do an MRI. All he did was an x-ray. If it continues hurting, I am going to go back to the doc and see what else they can do for it.

 

If it is a herniated disc, how long does that take to heal?

 

 

It may never heal, Ren. My husband and I both have them. Our activities are limited. You could have surgery but we choose not to. And my doctor told me not to mess with that unless I absolutely had to. If you only have a pulled muscle after that, consider yourself very fortunate.

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Yes, a herniated disk can heal in 6-12 months, or never, or be healed with surgery.

 

But if you do have one, you do NOT want to make the injury worse by sky-diving! If you hit the ground wrong you could do serious damage requiring immediate surgery, so please don't continue jumping until the pain is gone, and if the pain doesn't improve in the next week or two, go back to the doctor to get re-checked for a possible disk herniation.

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Yes, a herniated disk can heal in 6-12 months, or never, or be healed with surgery.

 

But if you do have one, you do NOT want to make the injury worse by sky-diving! If you hit the ground wrong you could do serious damage requiring immediate surgery, so please don't continue jumping until the pain is gone, and if the pain doesn't improve in the next week or two, go back to the doctor to get re-checked for a possible disk herniation.

 

And even if they do "heal", you will not be quite the same. I've never known anyone that had one that was the same again. That is why I have been such a downer about your hobby, Ren. A bulging or ruptured disc can cause a lot of down time.

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The trouble with back injuries is that so many of them rarely ever go away 100%. If it is just a strained muscle, that alone can take 2-4 months to heal, but then you have to rest your back and NOT do anymore sport which can aggravate the problem. If it does not go away, then it is always advisable to get second opinions and an MRI is also a good idea. Also, physiotherapy may be helpful. If it not just a strained muscle and something more severe, then it could take many many months to be painfree.

 

I injured my back over 20 years ago and still live with intense pain every single day and there's not much they can do for me. I am stuck with it for life.

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I herniated a disc in my back and went thru a very rough 6 month period where i was in constant pain... and still had some pain a year later... finally, at around 18 months, the pain mostly went away, though I am very cautious now about lifting thing and if i feel any twinges in my back, i take it easy so as not to start up any pain. I also find some pairs of shoes are just bad for my back and discard them if i notice i get back pain.

 

The back and knees are very weakly 'engineered' so to speak and take a lot of stress and strain and are delicate in many way. That is why sky diving is so dangerous, because as a sport you are basically slamming into the ground if you land wrong. Please be careful because you can do serious damage, and some insurance cos. will not pay for the medical care if the injury was sustained skydiving! It is written out of their policies because it is so dangerous with a high rate of injury. So check your insurance policy to make sure you are covered in the event of a really serious accident.

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I agree, you injure your back or your knee you are pretty much toast. My mother has 4 herniated discs in her back, she also broke her back 18 years ago. She has some degenerative disease where her spine is disintegrating and she is in horrible agony to even walk. She is wheelchair bound soon. Some one ruined my knee when I was 13 and it has never been the same. Please be careful Ren, I would hate for something to happen to you.

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