back pain...

Another thing which helped me was to video record my playing with a cell phone and uploading to Google photos, then watch it in 0.25x slow motion. I did bad movements to my back e.g. playing top spin. With coaching and the videos I am getting rid of the bad movements. Also strengthening the lower back helped.

Edited by ejprinz - 02/10/2021 at 12:14pm

You can do exercise to relieve your back pain. Message therapy is also another good solution for back pain. You have to maintain good posture in all activities of your life.

Edited by ricky95 - 03/18/2019 at 1:15pm

Jacek

It is a pack of tablets. You take 6 on day 1 starting in the morning at regular intervals. Then 5 on day 2. 4 on day 3. Etc.

So you get a nice peak in blood levels on day 1 and then taper it off. You aleays need to taper off of a glucocorticoid to prevent a bad undershoot from the endocrine feedback loops.

I have had these kinds of degenerative back conditions. I have successfully resorted to Medrol packs three times in the last ten years. Each time it produced pretty dramatic improvement.

This is not for minor back pain. This is for the really bad ones where you are having pain to walk and aren't able to stand straight and it seems to be not going away.

This is useful.

http://www.mayfieldclinic.com/PE-BackPain.htm

JacekGM wrote: Lower back pain, going far into the leg... sciatica #1 in June 2017, wife had to take me to ER, later played tournament in August 2017, continued in league 1x/week in okay shape until early Dec 2017, sciatica # 2, X-rayed : some tailbone problem associated with sciatica, a very cold winter in CT, lots and lots of snow removal from my SUV (ouch), no play but symptoms on and off until this day, but getting much better now.  Basically, as Baal pointed out in his most recent post above, the doc recommends doing some exercise, not much and he hopes for just waiting it out. Ibuprofen worked best for me, although some much stronger stuff was needed for the first few days each time.  I think/hope in June I will be good to compete again.  I say, wait it out if possible, and always let your doc monitor you closely.

Jacek, ask the doc if he would consider prescribing a Medrol pack (a tapered one week course of prednisone).  It might speed things up a bit. 

Lower back pain, going far into the leg... sciatica #1 in June 2017, wife had to take me to ER, later played tournament in August 2017, continued in league 1x/week in okay shape until early Dec 2017, sciatica # 2, X-rayed : some tailbone problem associated with sciatica, a very cold winter in CT, lots and lots of snow removal from my SUV (ouch), no play but symptoms on and off until this day, but getting much better now. 

Baal, here's the thing: you actually know what you're talking about.  But how is anyone expected to filter out what is helpful from what is just pure nonsense?  You say, "The things that people have mostly suggested here are not likely to do the kind of crippling harm you are talking about if people are reasonably cautious about it."  Which is well and good... if people are reasonably cautious.  But wouldn't a reasonably cautious person do the sensible thing, which is to consult a medical expert rather than look for advice from a bunch of table tennis players?  I know the OP is in the middle of a training camp and is desperate to find an answer, but surely a reasonably cautious person would understand that a table tennis forum is not a source for medical knowledge.  Sure, "The things that people have mostly suggested here are not likely to do the kind of crippling harm you are talking about", but how is anyone who is not medically qualified going to know which bits of advice may make things a whole lot worse?

When it comes to matters scientific and medical, you have much, much more expertise than guys running around expounding advice about how to fix back pain, but you studied for years and have worked for years in this very area.  People who simply go "Well it worked for me" are not a reliable source for medical advice. 

Why is it that when someone's car breaks down they don't post about it here asking for advice?  Because we know we need a qualified mechanic.  Why is it if we have a medical problem we somehow believe this forum is going to fix it for us?

So very many medically qualified people on the forum!    Who could possibly have guessed?  And all of them with an amazing ability to diagnose and treat someone from a single line of text!!!!!!  "lower back pain from training camp"  Just six short words and the advice comes pouring in.  And so much of it simply contradictory.  What is the OP to do?  Should he pick one and ignore the rest?  Should he try all of them? 

Is our passion to be helpful so great that we just have to share our "expertise" even when we know absolutely nothing about the problem?  Are we so egocentric that we think we can practice medicine without any qualifications whatsoever?  Or are we so moronic that our brains stop at "Oh, I had a sore back once.  I know what to do."?

And why am I so angry about the ridiculous and potentially damaging advice given in this thread for medical malpractice?  Because I HAVE A SORE BACK AFTER PLAYING TABLE TENNIS!  And if I followed your advice, I'd be swimming, going to the gym, using aleve (whatever the hell that is), going to the chiropractor, NOT going to the chiropractor, stretching, NOT stretching, doing stomach exercises, and using an infrared massager.  And the end result of all this collective “wisdom” is that I would be crippling myself!!!  Instead, I went to see someone who is a medically qualified expert, someone who has seen hundreds and hundreds of people with back pain symptoms and who can make a professional diagnosis and suggest a single approach to the necessary treatment.  How crazy is that?

Btw, the diagnosis?  Shingles.  So much for all your advice.  The doctor did give me one other word of wisdom: he told me I would be prone to irrational anger when I’m given well-meaning advice from people who don't know what they're talking about.


Edited by Tassie52 - 04/07/2018 at 6:08pm

I think I did a post on this awhile back, but it might have been on OOAK forum.

There are a lot of reasons for back pain.  One that needs to be taken seriously is the possibility of a small tear in the outer layer of the disk in the back.  This causes serious local inflammation, and sensory nerves in the area become very active, giving rise to a reflex that causes back muscles to tighten up.  Along with this comes pretty significant pain that is throbbing, variable in severity, and very hard to localize.  This is a protective reflex and it works to keep you from increasing the tear.  The spinal disks in the back and neck have an outer capsule and an inner layer.  If the outer capsule is torn and there is a sudden extreme movement, the inner gelatinous material can be squeezed out and can then begin to impinge on the spinal nerve roots as they exit through the small holes in the spine.  This is pretty much a disaster, as the resulting inflammation, now much more severe, will (1) cause inflammation in the nerve roots themselves, nerve dysfunction, extreme pain running down your buttocks and legs, possibly all the way down to your toes, along with muscle weakness, numbness etc.  This pain is called radiculopathy, it is excruciating in the extreme.  You do not want this to happen.  Surgery is a common outcome of this.  Even if it doesn't get that bad, it takes a whole lot longer to heal, now we are talking months instead of weeks, and the pain, like I said, is terrible. 

All this to say that severe back pain with unusual muscle tightness is something you need to be careful about.  Listen to your body, not your coaches.  If this is what has happened to you, and it is very common, you will not be able to get it to go away with stretching until the damage to the outer capsule of the disk heals, which could take several weeks. 

How to treat it?  Assuming you don't have a complete herniation with radiculopathy, stay active, but do not strain your back.  Play table tennis, but maybe just counters.  Or take walks, or float in the pool.  Don't play matches, move carefully.  Take ibuprophen or related drugs.  Perhaps prescription muscle relaxants at night may help you to help you sleep, not much more use than that.  A chiropractor can give some ultrasound treatments that provide temporary relieve.  Do not under any circumstance allow them to do a "spinal adjustment" while you are in this condition.  This is the best way I know to to turn a capsule tear into a complete disk herniation. A physician can also give you a prescription corticosteroid therapy known as a Medrol pack, it lasts about a week, starts with a high dose and gradually goes down.  This can speed up healing a lot, but will make you feel kind of weird.  In bad cases they may inject  a steroid straight into the disk.

One way to know if you are the kind of patient I just described is if you are having a bit of trouble walking straight, you tend to tilt a bit to one side.  That is a really good sign that you have torn a capsule, or damaged it a bit.  But it is not a necessary symptom of that.

Figgie is right about muscle imbalances being part of what caused the capsule tear in the first place.  In table tennis players I think it is also having a combination of super strong legs and not enough hamstring and hip flexibility.

Another factor is simply genetics.  Some people have unusually narrow spinal canals, or small holes (foramens) in their spine through which the roots pass, and also some literature suggests differences in hydration of the molecules in the disk itself, making it more prone to rupture.

So what to do?  Let it heal.  Don't make it worse.  And after it is healed, try to increase your flexibility.

It was recommended by my doctor when I hurt my back along with some other stretches.  I also get relief at the gym by going to the gym and letting my feet dangle on the ab rack and hot tub.   

lol if i claim i have back pain to my coaches theyre gonna kick my arse straight out until im good. Yea the stretching is doing quite the wonders. I got recommended these bath bomb thingies from my buddies at camp and its been helping my muscles relax quite well.

And my feet....well they feel overpowered lately, guess thats a good thing in the end.

edit:
never had this problem before, dont see why i got it now. Must be my lack of skill to compete with our chinese imports.....


Edited by davidzou - 08/18/2010 at 12:06am

Sometimes the only thing you can do is rest it a bit until it gets better.  Sucks if you are having a unique opportunity to train, though.  If you are getting any pain running down your leg or any numbness stop at once.

Contrary to common wisdom, I would recommend not trying to stretch before you play.  Start to play, SLOWLY, until you are sweating, then do some light stretching, then play some more.

Aleve is great but you want to fix the underlying problem, right? Ask around for a good, well-recommended chiropractor, that can really help...

I have had back problem for more than a year till I found ways to control it. Few things I do:

Edited by sunny - 08/17/2010 at 6:05pm

if you have back pain then you just do stretching. reach ur sides and do hip elliptical movements. if you pulled your back like i did 3 weeks ago, you're going to have to just stop training until it feels better.

as for the feet, you shouldn't get blisters unless the shoes are too loose. if all else fails, then tape those precious feet of yours and keep going!