Strained back muscle

Nancy Pole started this discussion · 12/13/2013

I've strained my back muscle during pole class. Somewhere along the line of right lats. It has been almost 2 weeks and does not seem to get better. Still hurts even when I cough. :-( Thought it was nothing serious but 2weeks later I still can't touch the pole. Has anyone ever strained lats? How long would it take to completely heal? I am a beginner and I am afraid I might lose the strength that I built up going through so much muscle soreness for the past few months. Plus I can't pratice pole and can't do any exercise involves my back. This sucks. :-( :-( :-(

21 replies

ERIN6907 · 12/13/2013
Are you sure it's not a rib or two out of place?? I have had ribs move both front and back on both sides and with the help of a physical therapist they have been put back in place but it sounds like the same sort of pain.
jane ette · 12/13/2013
I may be suffering from the same thing. How exactly did you strain your muscle?
Nancy Pole · 12/13/2013
I was doing armpit hold crunches. But I didn't have much strength because I didn't have enough rest between classes. And I could feel something, something really minor at my lats. But it wasn't a big pain or anything so I went through the entire class with no problem. But when I woke up next morning, my back started to hurt and still hurting since then. Actually feeling a hair bit better everyday. (Maybe it is healing afterall, just not fast enough....) Jane, how did you strain yours? Are you still suffering? Erin, if I dislocate my ribs, would it hurt very bad? I was beginning to suspect if this is more than just a strained muscle. I didn't bother to see doc. But maybe I should afterall.
Phoenix Hunter · 12/13/2013
I've been dealing with this same issue. I think mine is from doing side pole holds like fan legs and trying to tuck invert. I assumed that mine is probably costocondritis. it feels weird to inhale or cough. it is not as bad as it was but it has been a month now. I took some time off and it flared back up the moment I got back on the pole. this week hasn't been too bad but it feels a little abnormal. make yourself rest. don't worry about losing strength by resting you will however, lose strength if you keep abusing that strained muscle. I'm on the fence about seeing a doctor myself but it seems to be getting better. it could be a rib like others have said.
jane ette · 12/13/2013
I'm pretty sure mine came from doing either the outside or inside leg hold (Gemini or scorpio) and positioning myself in a way that caused the pole to rest more on my back instead of my side. My pain is on the back, right side near the lats and ribs. Another thing that seems to irritate my pain is when I do sit ups. Every time I lay down, I feel the pain in that area. I have tried taking a week off twice now and it keeps flaring up every time I get back on the pole, especially when trying Gemini and scorpio, or inversions for that matter. I have been on the fence about going to the doctor too, but since I am a physical therapist, I am pretty sure it is a strain of the intercostal muscle which is the muscle between the ribs. I have been teaching my husband a certain manual therapy technique to do on me and it has helped and allowed me to get back on the pole. I'm hoping it continues to help because I don't want to have to go to the doctor :(
teachtrinity · 12/14/2013
oooch not nice, I pulled my intercostal muscle a few months ago twisting round the pole while inverted. I took anti inflammatories, pain killers and used those stick on heat pads, it took about 3 weeks to heal and then I was very careful for another few weeks. Im now taking amino acids and magnesium supplements to help muscle repair and, fingers crossed, have had no more problems. Hope yours heals quickly
Nancy Pole · 12/14/2013
Ok, reading all of your replies and a bit of googling, I now am pretty sure I strained intercostal muscles. I felt something pulled but kept going on with pole class and that might have aggravated it further. It has been 2 weeks and apparently 2 weeks is not enough to heal. It seems 4 to 6weeks. Bummer! It also sounds like it's pretty common getting this problem if you are poling. Well.... at least I know now what it is. Let's be careful, everyone! Thank you all for sharing your experiences and giving me an advice!
ERIN6907 · 12/14/2013
I agree, it seems to be anything where your mid section is next to or wrapped around the pole that irritates it. For me it was when I first started practicing the Jade splits. When a rib is displaced its not like a quick sharp pain "like oh, I just popped a rib" that happens. I didn't notice it till the next day. The only difference I noticed was there was a short sharp pain when I coughed or took a deep breath the next day. My first physcial therapy appointment the lady was pushing around gently on my back (rib cage) and she's like oh yeah, you have absolutely no movement back here. She said there should be some "give" in the bones when I press and they were just stuck there, no bounce, no give. It was very interesting to learn so much about my ribs....painful but interesting!
jane ette · 12/14/2013
Erin, so what all did the physical therapist do for you? How long did it take for you to heal?
ERIN6907 · 12/14/2013
I'm sure there is much more to it but to me it was just her basically "masagging" them back into place. She would massage it and then put pressure on it and have me take a deep breath pushing against her pressure. It would be really sore for a day or two after my appointment but then by end of week it was pretty much gone. I still can feel pain there after a hard practice but I no longer have that sharp pain when I take a deep breath or cough.
smartinez41 · 12/14/2013
I've had a similar pain a while back ago, it was hard to sleep and painful to take deep breaths. So I took time off the pole like about a month, did stretching instead and took pain killers. Come to realize I didn't warm up properly and I remember i just went straight to doing a bunch of inverts then i felt that sting on my back and side. I lost strength unfortunately but I worked my way back up again :) So I say take time off the pole and I'm hoping for a speedy recovery for you!
azblanco · 12/14/2013
my ribs pop out of place all the time and put strain on my rhomboid and trapezius. h when the chiropractor pops in back in, i always feel new again. i have to keep going though to not feel pain. sometimes i feel my rib shift out again when i pole
KCSuzy · 12/15/2013
When I've had similar injuries I use Kinesio Tape and it is wonderful. If placed properly, it can help the healing process immensely. My chiro introduced me to K tape after a wrist sprain a few years ago. Now with help of book and videos from RockTape, I can usually tape myself or have my hubby help. It is truly amazing stuff and really works (IMO). :)
ERIN6907 · 12/15/2013
K-tape! Never thought of that. Great idea :)
Rylonn · 12/15/2013
Im also inclined to think is a strained intercostal. I strained mine a few months (like, 3) ago doing inverts and not engaging my lats properly. It hurt to invert, to twist to the side, anything involving my back, sometimes to breath. I went to a physiotherapist. He thought my ribs moved a bit out of place so I spent hundreds of dollars on multiple sessions of him cracking and massaging my back. Weeks later, I realized I was not getting better so I quit the sessions and just rested a long time. Im convinced it was an intercostal. After about a month's rest, I could do inverts again for a little bit a day. Now, its pretty much healed, but it still hurts during inverts once in a while.
HonieT · 12/16/2013
Hi Everyone, I have also had a similar problem recently with the pain you are describing. My question is how do we prevent this from happening? Is it stretching or conditioning? Any thoughts?
Rylonn · 12/16/2013
I would say properly warming up your back (we usually focus on legs and arms) and making sure to properly engage everything that needs to be engaged when poling. Being able to properly keep your shoulders down and back during the full course of an invert takes strength, so maybe conditioning for that.
DanniJ · 12/16/2013
I had the same problem when I first started doing inverts. It was really bad. Coughing was painful. I waited for a month but it didn't get any better. So I went to see a physio therapist. I got much better after only two sessions of treatment. According to the therapist, the deep muscle tissue was torn and crumpled, and it was beyond the reach of normal massage, so I got ultrasound treatment. I realize that the pain comes from not being able to really control my movement, like kick up or come down from inverts suddenly. If I engage all the muscle and control the inverts, less pain happens.
Veena · 12/16/2013
Pain like this is commonly an intercostal, rhomboid, or muscles of the scapula. Prevent it by warming up of course but most of all invert with control! A swing of the leg is fine as long as the upper body is placed correctly along the pole. This is how you hold the scapula correctly and perform a proper invert without jerking your upper body. Placement, using a Side Pole Hold, is so important when inverting, use the arm pit and save your back! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJ3V_2DsxgE
HonieT · 12/17/2013
Thank you Veena for posting this lesson in response to our discussion. I remember seeing it a while back. I think I speak for everyone when I say I really appreciate your expert knowledge and fabulous resource of your website!!!
Veena · 12/17/2013
You are very welcome! xoxo