Expert: Dr. J. Shawn Leatherman - 12/22/2006

Question
i have a lower back pain that i got while playing football.

one day while i was jumping for a catch i came down on my feet and felt a popping/sliding type of noise in my lower back.

at first it didn't hurt to bad, so i kept playing on it.by the end of the night i could hardly move.

after that, the back was fine for about a month when the same thing happened again.

only this time, the pain is subtle, small and constant. and i usually only notice it whenever i bend over or sit in a particular position.

one night while dressing i got in an apparently bad position and it ended up taking me, later on, 40 minutes to get out of bed due to the pain.

what the heck is wrong with my lower back?

Answer
Dear Richard,

Listen, this is obviously a problem that is not going away, and that is most likely being compounded every time that you ignore it.  When people complain of continuing problems in the same area, it is because the tissues that have sustained an injury are not healing, or they are healing incompletely.

What you have describe could be just about anything, a muscular problem, a disk problem, a ligamentous problem, or even a bone problem....not to mention there are other more serious causes such as some pathology that originally weakened the tissue.  It is also possible that you have a congenital malformation of the spine that has gone unrecognized, and that is only now causing problems...I find congenital spinal malformations on my patients all the time...it is common.

Richard, I can sit hear and opine on what may be the cause of the problem form the history that you have given me, but the truth is that you can never reach an effective diagnosis without a proper examination of the area.  The only way to find out for sure is to schedule an exam of the lower back.  I encourage you to schedule it with a chiropractic physician as we are specialists in regards to musculoskeletal injuries and spinal conditions.

Please find a local doc and schedule an examination.  It should include a detailed history of the compliant, an orthopedic evaluation of the lower back to include active range of motion, and in your case I would definitely recommend a 2 view series of x-rays in the low back to look at the structure and rule out any pathology.  I really do not suspect any fracture, but I have seen fracture in 14 year old girls whom had continued in sports for two weeks after the injury, so you can't rule it out until you get the films.

This is something you should schedule as soon as you can, understanding that the holiday season will most likely set you back a day or two.  If you have any further follow-up questions, feel free to write back.

Respectfully,
Dr. J. Shawn Leatherman