Muscle ache/pain

Hello,

It's strange that you only start to fell the pain 2-3 days afterwards. If you don't feel it the next day, it may not be TT related.

Tight hamstrings aggravate the lower back and good Table Tennis posture promotes shortened hamstrings...

Try doing daily hamstring and other lower body stretching excercises and increase magnesium in your diet..

Consult your local experts for advice, if in doubt...

W0LovePP wrote: It is more like inflammation than physical injury because Aleve gets rid of my pain just for 3-4 days, one pill a day. I have not changed my shoes recently. But shoelaces are loose for sure. I very often have to stop playing to re-tighten them. The first episode of pain, I had an X-ray taken, nothing serious. Pain did not go down the leg, fortunately.  Thanks,

Well you can have lots of repeated little injuries or one big one.  Sound like you have the first one, and you have some inflammation -- somewhere.  X-rays aren't much use for determining the reason for back pain.  They don't show soft tissue where the problem lies about 99% of the time.  To see that you need an MRI, but expensive and nobody would recommend it for the symptoms you report.  (And even MRIs look completely normal for a significant number of people with pretty bad back pain).  Just take it easy for awhile.  Stretch your hamstrings before playing.  Aleve if you need it, just watch your stomach.  It is best to take the form that comes in gel caps.  (You still may have some stomach issues).  This is one of the most common things in older athletes.  Usually goes away by itself in time if you are careful.

By the way, the reason I know these things is because I have had these issues myself and I teach at a medical school.  So not too long ago did a pretty thorough review of the clinical literature on back pain.

Some of the best information on the internet is here:  https://www.painscience.com/

Try chinese massage that goes by acupoints and meridians. Not sure where u live, but that helps a lot, and all the CNT players get it a few times a week. 

Back pain is not very well understood and can have a myriad of causes. Have you ever taped yourself playing? Check your form. It could be part of the problem. Definitely see a doctor/physical therapist if it persists, but in the meantime, check out the work of Dr. Stuart McGill. He's arguably the world's leading expert on back pain and has a number of exercises he recommends for strengthening the core.

I take too much ibuprofin so I substitute tumaric sometimes for inflamation.  Tastes like dirt but works well.

Possible. Too complex to go into here but possible.

Edited by Fabian1890 - 02/15/2017 at 5:36pm

A serious question but not a great one: For people that get hurt easily and difficult to change/correct play of style (without proper coaching), what blade is best to avoid/minimize injury of my type?