Kerstin wrote: I went to the emergency room. I was forced to stand during triage. I had my blood pressure taken while screaming in pain from the back spasms. I was told my blood pressure was high.
This thread is suddenly relevant, as I got a lumbar injury 5 weeks ago, while twisting around to look up a couloir. The MRI summary describes it as "lordosis straightened by badly strained spine... some disc bulges...left neural frame considerably narrowed...mild osteoporosis."
So far the pain is quite manageable, and seems to get better VERY slowly. I have to be careful about the way I sit or stand, and the position that causes the pain varies from minute to minute. I'm able to do some cardio and weight-bearing exercises if I watch the manner in which I arch my back.
The tie-in to the quoted comment: I described the pain to the MRI tech, and showed him the location, plus described what motions made it worse. The doctor's note made the injury pretty clear. When I lay down on the table, the tech asked me to raise my legs. This was the very position that caused so much pain. When I hesitated, he told me it would just be a second till he got the pillow positioned. The pain was excruciating, and I felt like I had badly undone 18 days of recuperation.
EDIT-- UPDATE: the problem was actually the muscles off my hip to lower back. I tend to lead with my left foot, turned slightly in, and that stretches the muscle more than normal. I went to a neurologist, and he said that the disc bulges seen on the MRI were actually better than normal for someone my age. In PT now, but exercise seems to be the best therapy.