Why am I suffering from lower back pain after lifting weights in the gym?

Question

Hi doctor,

Three weeks ago, I was doing a heavyweight deadlift in my gym. After that, I suffered lower back pain for two days, and from then, I am having nerve pain in my lower back through my thigh to my left knee. And now I have so much problem in sitting, walking, and normal day-to-day activities. I have tried many home remedies like the hot pack, ice packs, massage, and every possible thing. I consulted a doctor too, but nothing happened with the medicines. So please help me.

Answer 1

Hi,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

Deadlifts are safe unless you do them incorrectly. And the most common of all the mistakes is to pull with the lower back bent, which causes uneven pressure on the spinal disks and results in bulged disks, pinching of nerves, and spraining of the surrounding tissues. The radiating pain to the thigh and knee is the result of pinched nerves. Painkillers will relieve your back pain from deadlifts. But they only treat the symptoms, not the cause. Pain is your body telling you that you are doing something wrong. Without pain, you would have continued the bad form and hurt yourself more. So it is a bad idea to mask the pain guiding you. The best thing you can do to relieve your back pain from deadlifts are spinal decompression. You do it by hanging on the pull-up bar. Spinal decompressions stretch your spine vertically using gravity. As there is no bending, it does not compress the disk and worsens the symptoms. Instead, you reduce it and create space for the trapped nerves causing the pain. Perform spinal decompression multiple times a day. Just hang as long as you can with your feet off the floor. Relax and let gravity stretch your spine. Avoid stretches where you bend over and touch your toes. Though sometimes they might feel good if a disk bulge causes your back pain from pulling with bad form, they will increase it. Do follow up for further queries. I hope this was helpful. Take care.