So I was out paddling last weekend and had a reasonably scary experience! I got in at the beach and took a couple of strokes out passed the tiny waves and felt my back 'seize'. I tried to stretch it out and move it about then took another couple of strokes and simply couldn't due to the excruciating pain! Unfortunately the tide was going out which meant I ended up about 200m off shore and couldn't paddle standing or on my knees! I had my phone in a case sitting on the back of the board attached to my leash but couldn't twist to get back to it and I was concerned that if I got into the water I wouldn't be able to get back on the board. After trying to stretch and move for about 30mins I ended up paddling back in basically using my forearms and wrists! Had to call an ambulance to come and get me as I could barely walk, let alone bend to get into the car! After the day in hospital on pain killers my back is still painful and I don't think I'll be back on the water for another week at least! Needless to say, my wife isn't keen for me to go out on my own again!
Select to expand quotestubear said..
So I was out paddling last weekend and had a reasonably scary experience! I got in at the beach and took a couple of strokes out passed the tiny waves and felt my back 'seize'. I tried to stretch it out and move it about then took another couple of strokes and simply couldn't due to the excruciating pain! Unfortunately the tide was going out which meant I ended up about 200m off shore and couldn't paddle standing or on my knees! I had my phone in a case sitting on the back of the board attached to my leash but couldn't twist to get back to it and I was concerned that if I got into the water I wouldn't be able to get back on the board. After trying to stretch and move for about 30mins I ended up paddling back in basically using my forearms and wrists! Had to call an ambulance to come and get me as I could barely walk, let alone bend to get into the car! After the day in hospital on pain killers my back is still painful and I don't think I'll be back on the water for another week at least! Needless to say, my wife isn't keen for me to go out on my own again!
Did you get a ct scan? Any info on what caused it?
Could be muscle lock up due to a disc bulge possibly?
If you can, take your scan down to a physio and get an idea of treatment and management options.
Everyone's back issue is different ... but mine this related tight hip joints and muscles and lower back over compensation. Been managing it with physio, specific yoga exercises and soft tissue massage and rolling every day.
But maybe see a physio with your scan.
If you pinch a disc ,it turns all your muscles into a spasm ,and it locks up ,which sounds like you've done .
do some warm up exercise s .before going out next time ..
if you've rupture a disc ..which is very painful x2 .it could be 3 months .
i go to a bone cruncher for a aline ment .
hope you recover ,sore backs are not nice .
remember .warm up .its a contact sport .
Sorry to hear about your pain!!
Two years ago I learned something that has really changed things for me. I tried Pilates on a reformer machine at a physio and I have never looked back. I only did it for a few weeks (just before a surf trip), but I found my core and never lost it again. I have kept doing simple core exercises at home, and I have rarely had back problems since. I am 6'3" and have suffered back problems for year and years. They say SUPing helps your core, and maybe it does, but when you do some exercises that focus on your core you can really feel the difference.
Sorry for the hijack, but anyone who suffers from back pain should try it. Seriously, it will change your life.
At the hospital they basically addressed the pain rather than focus on figuring out what was wrong, fair enough as I went to A&E. I've got an appointment with my doctor tomorrow to hopefully get booked in for a CT or what not and we'll go from there. I have been doing a lot of core exercises given to me from my physio to help with knee issues that relate to balance issues coming from a weak core, so perhaps I've overworked them. But hey, I'm not a doctor so I'll wait and see what the go is. The most frustrating thing is doing an injury when doing something you love and then not being able to get back into it!
Select to expand quotestubear said..
At the hospital they basically addressed the pain rather than focus on figuring out what was wrong, fair enough as I went to A&E. I've got an appointment with my doctor tomorrow to hopefully get booked in for a CT or what not and we'll go from there. I have been doing a lot of core exercises given to me from my physio to help with knee issues that relate to balance issues coming from a weak core, so perhaps I've overworked them. But hey, I'm not a doctor so I'll wait and see what the go is. The most frustrating thing is doing an injury when doing something you love and then not being able to get back into it!
I literally just recovered from a similar thing. Was on some hardcore endone for the pain (that was different). I really do feel your pain though.
Took a couple of weeks for the inflammation response to settle. I found that once I was a touch more mobile that using a roller and tennis ball on the floor on the muscles around the hips and glutes was of great relief and is now part of my daily management strategy. I worked this out after seeing the physio and noting which muscles he was working on and how it seemed to be giving me relief .... it's like a hardcore massage and does hurt, but I just took time and gradually worked on the edges of where it was tight loosening a bit more each day. It's loosened all the muscles for me over the last 4 weeks and most importantly I'm now back in the water. My hips and glutes had all tightened up from sitting at a desk and then shocking them with the otber extreme of 2 to 3 hours of being on the board ... the two extremes are what I think did it. This then caused my lumbar to try and compensate which stressed the discs in 2 locations and caused the bulges.
P.s. I also bought a $10 swiss ball from kmart and switch between it and my chair. It seems to open my hips up and makes me use my core during the day.
Be well stubear!
Heal well and fast!
Backs are interesting animals..... they can turn on you in a heartbeat.
In the 90's, after a hard, long day of physical work despite a pinched nerve in my lower back....
I yawned and stretched when I got in bed...
My back went into total spasm from head to butt.... completely tore every muscle along my spine.
Eyes rolled back in my head, back arched backwards till I felt like I was going to snap in half.
I couldn't even scream.
Ambulance came, couldn't move me..... it was 7 days before I could get to the bathroom.
3 years before I could pick up soap in the shower.
Farked me up completely for years... didn't surf for at least 3 years. Gained 25 kg.
It's never fully recovered.
I live in fear of that to this day.
Every move is measured..... I pinched it this morning while doing the dishes.
Luckily, SUP and golf don't seem to challenge it..
But carrying a SUP a long way is on the dangerous side.
My rule is, I don't pick up anything that weighs over 35 lbs.
I let my daughters do the heavy lifting 
Hi Stubear,
In September 2015 I had a similar incident. Early afternoon, waist high ultra relaxed sup surf and suddenly I felt kind of electric discharge through my spine and a feeling of disconnection/instability between upper and lower back. Immediately my back got locked in a kinda 155? (180? being standing up). I got myself and the gear out of water with enormous difficulty.
That evening, If I was seated in a proper position, I would forget I had anything wrong. If I tried to move, the pain returned.
Day after I had physio massage which helped a lot for the contracture. This was the short term.
Fast forward, I went to the GP,orthopedist and finaly to a neurosurgeon.
I had CT scan and later a MRI (which is much more adequate for this diagnosis). The root cause for this incident was a pinched nerve by L4-L5 bulging disk.
It has been more than 1 1/2 years since the incident and it never repeated. But a lot of big surf wipe outs did :).
In the beginning I was afraid I could not do SUP anymore, my most beloved sport. But later I found that was not the case.
My lower back are still a issue that requires daily attention. My strategies /advices are:
- There are plenty nice clips in YT teaching exercises for lower back pain. Learn a few. They work.
- Check out "Foundation Training".
Watch your pain medication as those high opiates can be very addictive, even more so in the case of back pain, which can be tricky to find relief from, my dad has bad back issues and gets quaterzone injections every second year etc, he is 72.
Yoga, pilates and movement based exercises are your friend. 1Fox is correct exercise is the key, but can be hard to stick with for back pain Dad assures me.
Glad you got through such a scary experience, I had a back issue which froze my leg but luckily it was in half a foot of water close to shore.
pump.
i took three months of for extra cautionary recovery.
getting a scan can be helpful if there are 'red flags' - which are signs and symptoms physio's are trained to look for. If there are red flags presents, an MRI or CT can be useful (CT can be bulk billed from GP but also about 1000 xrays worth of radiation) MRI is about $250 from either physio or GP referral and offers much better resolution when look at nerve root compression etc. If there is just back pain, technically - imaging isn't indicated which is an interesting one as there are many health practitioners that over service in regards to imaging and then point out 'all the things that are wrong'. If you get a scan of your back, make sure you see a practitioner that can treat the person not the picture. There is lots of research on people who have disc bulges on MRI - yet absolutely no pain. Think of disc bulges are less of a mechanical issue and more of an inflammatory one. Appropriately guided exercises as other have said is number one but I would avoid the google search strategy on this one.
I agree with Can't SUP Enough also through personal experience. Pilates will change the way you move. It will strengthen and lengthen your body, get it aligned properly and best of all you will not need pain killers to manage your ailment. I went from using a walking stick and Doctors, Osteo, Radiographers etc. etc. telling me there was nothing they could do and I would be on pain killers for my lower back issue for the rest of my life. I was 46 years old then. They gave me a pile of Cerapacs you couldn't jump over! I was unable to do Yoga as it assumes a certain level of mobility and flexibility which I did not have; Pilates does not and works with your body's ability on the day you do it. In three months of Pilates, I no longer limped, gave the stick away and have never looked back. I would go as far to say that Pilates is the the best training method for suppers in general, you can use it for balance, strength, finesse and mental agility. Ensure you go to a practitioner that does equipment based Pilates using reformers and Wunda Chair etc. and try and avoid the large gym outlets that may claim to do Pilates. The mat routine is difficult if you have a back ailment from the get go, although Pre-Pilates is very gentle and can be applied as a starting point. I've been doing it for 6 years. I started quite intensively doing it three times a week, but, ratcheted that back over time and now it is just once a week to keep everything in check. I really can't recommend it enough and if nothing else, just have a look into it.
Some great advice here guys. I'm going to have an MRI today, one of the concerns the Dr's raised is that I'm only 34! Long way to go yet hopefully! Anyway, we shall see, but I'll definitely be looking into the Pilates.
