|
I hurt my back doing Dead Lifts at the gym, found out on my own that it was a disc herniation between my L4 and L5 then took an MRI to confirm. Originally I went to a chiropractor, which only made me feel good for a day or two out of the two months I went to him. Went to physical therapists off of 69 and 435 and every morning they stretched me out with bands and gave me stretches to do when I got home with the same tight response from my right leg every time I tried them. They tried electrotherapy and ultrasound therapies on me and nothing ever worked.
I still had my gym membership and they had an amazing hot tub and cold swim lanes that I never used, so finally I decided to swim in the cold lanes, just a few laps, nothing too much, just varying strokes back and forth and then the last lap I would lay on my back, floating and just use my legs to kick myself to the other side of the pool. Afterwards I got out and went into the hot tub and let the jets hit my lower back. Did bicycle kicks in there too to loosen up. I did this for a little over a month and my back was fine after that.
Out of all the appointments with doctors, chiropractors, physical therapists, nurses, radiologists, or even friends and family, nobody ever recommended swimming to me. Every time I tell this story the person who is hurt never takes my advice and ends up getting steroid injections, getting a bit of their disk removed, or they just live with the pain because they can't afford the other routes. I would ask your physical therapists about water therapy and see what they would suggest, but anytime someone has hurt themselves I always suggest swimming in cold lanes, then resting in a hottub. Take some ibuprofen before you go so you reduce swelling as well, but that's always been my secret.
|