back pain while inverting

Julia Marie started this discussion · 9/5/2016

Hey :) I've been knowing this page for some time know and finally decided to crate an account now, 'cause I thought you might be able to help me. I've been poling for 3 years now (with a half year break recently because of injuries). I'd consider myself an intermediate poler, I can do Ayeshas, Cocoon, Jade splits, even managed the rainbow marchenko once... Nevertheless there are two very basic moves that are bothering: the invert and the shoulder mount. I am experiencing a somewhat sharp pain in both moves, it is quite moderate in shoulder mount but nearly unbearable after a few inverts... It is located on my lower ribcage, on the left side of my vertebrae. It always lasts for some time after poling, which is annoying me. I love pole and I really love doing freestyles and stuff, but it really sucks if you always feel like dying afterwards. By now I even feel somewhat anxious about doing a normal invert because of that pain. Is anybody experiencing something similar? Or does anybody know why this happens and how to fix it? Help would be much appreciated! Kind regards Julia

14 replies

AllysonKendal · 9/5/2016
Are you inverting primarily on one side?
Julia Marie · 9/6/2016
Yes, mostly on my left side, however it doesn't make a big difference if I try it on the other one.
Paunobs · 9/6/2016
Bruised intercostal muscle ??
Papillon · 9/6/2016
I completely relate to you...I used to have injuries while inverting and doing shoulder mounts. I had to stop for months and I went to physios. Now the pain is gone BUT I know the injury is still there, I felt it during a shoulder mount the other day. The pain is just waiting for the extra push to appear. It's really annoying and discouraging...
Queenofwands10009677 · 9/6/2016
Pulled a muscle. I give it 4 weeks. You can still pole but try not to invert (hard i know!). You'll be back before you know it. x
Veena · 9/7/2016
If you're feeling pain especially if it's chronic stop and let your body rest. I'd suggest taking a look at the Veena's tips section, you'll find a bunch of helpful videos for maintaining a healthy pole life! This one in particular would be helpful https://www.studioveena.com/lessons/view/52f7165d-3484-4ffa-afa9-13de0a9aa0eb If you haven't used the code already you can view all of my lessons for free using this code GET3FREE! I hope you feel better soon, REST, check your technique, and don't forget to stretch and have rest days.
Julia Marie · 9/7/2016
Thanks y'all! I already tried resting, kind of unintended but still. I had an injured ankle and wasn't able to even walk without a big cast for months. Unfortunately it didn't change anything... I think it might be a bruised interostal muscle but I really don't know what to do about it, as I doesn't seem to get any better by resting alone. And Papillon: May I ask what exact injury you had and what you did about it? And I will definitely look up your lessons Veena, thanks for the code!
LabCobra · 9/7/2016
Did the pain not subside at all after your break or is it just not entirely gone? You mentioned that inverting on the other side doesn't make a big difference - does that mean you still experience the exact same pain when switching sides? Or is the other side painful when you switch? It might be helpful to lay off inverting a little longer and focus on strengthening the involved muscles in the meantime. It's also possible you're making some technical mistake when inverting but without ever having seen you do it I can obviously not comment on that - Veena's lessons might be helpful for both of those things. If you're in a lot of pain (and it does sound like you are!) and the issue does not resolve itself in spite of a rather long break you may want to start thinking about seeing a physician, physiotherapist or the like about the issue.
Papillon · 9/7/2016
Julia Marie, I had an extremely strong pain under my left shoulder blade that hurted incredible, by just moving, breathing and sneezing. It started with the inversions, and then with shoulder mounts. I rested for around 2-3 months, I went to a physio (a really great one) who gave me a therapy of not only massages, but actually pressing very strongly where the injury was. He also made me work out with machines in order to streghten my muscles. It really helped and the pain was gone. BUT the injury is still there...When doing some floorwork where that muscle is in use, it comes back again. I've tried a shoulder mount last week, and I had this deep and strong pain in the same place. Fortunately, it was inmediately gone, but I had to stop and try on the other side. I know how frustrated you feel...I know this exactly... :(
Phoenix Hunter · 9/7/2016
Could also be a subluxated rib. I had that happen before.
Julia Marie · 9/8/2016
LabCobra: The pain is kind of temporary, it subsides rather quickly when taking a break but it comes back just as strong when I start training again. If I switch sides the pain will stay in the same place and not switch. I tried all kinds of strenghtening exercises and I'm actually rather strong overall. But I cannot do stuff like knee tucks without experiencing that pain. I guess I might unvoluntarily doing some pain avoiding things so I'm not sure about my current technique. It used to be rather good though. I have seen physiotherapists and doctors and everything to get over this but nobody really knew what to do. My recent doctor said I might have slightly craked a vertebrae/rib once but if so that was like two years back so theres nothing to do about that anymore. She also didn't think this might be able to cause this kind of pain. Papillon: Oh I'm sorry for ya. Was the treatment you got a "Tripperpunktmassage"? (I'm afraid I don't know how to translate this but I saw you're from Zurich so you might understand that). Do you still feel the injury when doing inversions or just whien doing floorwork? PhoenixHunter: Yeah, I tend get those quite regularily but I visit my physio just as often so he can fix this. It's no nearly as painfull as the other thing tho :/ I am extremely frustrated because literally nobody can find a real cause for this. And I am defentively not a person who is prone to saying that something is painfull really. But this bothers me since quite a long time now and I just dont find anything to cure it. Would it help you if I upload a video?
LabCobra · 9/8/2016
The fact that you don't experience any pain in your everyday life to me strongly suggests that this is a muscular issue, presumably some sort of inflammatory reaction. I'm so sorry to hear about your negative experience with doctors - I've been through that and know how frustrating it can be. If you're truly doing something wrong a video would certainly be helpful - personally I'm rather crappy at spotting mistakes but maybe someone else here is good at that. It's worth a shot! Oh, and the fact that you're rather strong over all imho does not contradict the theory at all. It's enough if one muscle (group) you should use in an invert is weak. This could either lead to that weak muscle being injured or a strong muscle being strained because it has to take over for the weak one. When you go through technique make sure to be very aware of correct shoulder placement.
Claire Moon · 9/13/2016
I'm dealing with some back issues right now. I overtrained shoulder mounts (and was doing them unevenly) while training for a competition last May. I went to a MD and they suspect I've strained the large muscles running along my spine. It feels rather uncomfortable to shoulder mount but regular inverting feels fine as longs as I'm engaging my abs (all of them) as well as my pelvic floor. I also suspect I wasn't engaging my core properly during any inverting for some time now, given I have to consciously think about it when I do it these days:) They sent me to physical therapy. I have uneven muscle development from not training on both sides like I should have. I also have a mild and acute case of scoliosis (who knew?!) between my shoulder blades from uneven muscle development. SO I have been tasked with strengthen my dork side and with resting for a month. They didn't say I couldn't pole, just that I couldn't do anything that elicited discomfort. It sounds like you have a muscle injury...but that's a guess. I'd encourage you to seek medical intervention. Physical therapy can help you heal much quicker than simply resting. Good luck!
Julia Marie · 9/15/2016
Thanks LabCobra and briwi! I do agree with your though about that pain beeing a muscular issue. I will try to upload a video asap, I'm currently quite busy moving, but I guess I should be able to find some free time in the next few days. I highly doubt that my technique is perfect, I'm feeling like otherwise I shouldn't be experiencing pain. to briwi: To me regular inverts feel way worse. With shouldermounts I can do like 3 or 4 until it starts hurting, regular inverts hurt like hell from the first attempt. As I said I went to multiple doctors and theraphists but nobody was able to help me yet. I am suffering from a mild functional scoliosis (muscular, not from the bony structure) so that could be an influencing factor, but the again nearly all people are not perfectly balanced muscular-wise so I don't really see why I should be the only one who get problems out of this. The scoliosis actually already got much better, I'm getting treatment to cure this, but that nasty pain remains.