I got onto a rowing machine at my college gym. The person using it before me had left the handlebar up. I made a disgruntled statement about this to the person rowing next to me after noticing (I had already strapped my feet into position).
The person rowing next to me told me to “just reach”. I shrugged him off saying I couldn’t as I made a futile attempt at reaching forward for the handlebar. At this instance it came to his mind that he would “help me reach” by pushing me forward on the left of my middle back without warning. Although I don’t think he pushed me as hard as he could, he would have had increased momentum as he would have been rowing forward when he pushed me, and he is a big guy.
It came unexpectedly, but what I recall the most clearly was a popping sensation to the left of my lower back in the beltline region where the sacroiliac joint is, it could have even been above that, perhaps ligaments attaching from my hip up to my spine. I didn’t say much at the time, because I didn’t feel any distinct pain, it was like the painless crackle of a joint, but later I found out it is the instant symptom of a sprain.
I read that ruptured ligaments don’t necessarily cause instant pain when they dissipate, unlike vascular muscles and tendons. A sprain is also caused by a sudden wrenching of ligaments around a joint, which would describe the incident above. I’m thinking, could this be the main possibility, even though I haven’t noticed much of anything the following few days since it happened? It has been almost seven months now, and I have pain to the left of the lower back along with numbing and painful sensations into the left buttock, groin and testicle, thigh, calf muscle, foot and big toe. This all flared up even more recently after using the total hip machine at the gym.
It would be great if all this was unrelated, but can you feel a popping sensation without pain in minor sprains also? I guess the best case would be if it was just nitrogen escaping the SI joint, but that is a bit too hopeful. I’m in my early twenties and male. Even though I have lost some weight now I wasn’t that flexible at all at the time, about 250 pounds with a sedentary lifestyle.
Thanks
Joint Pain Killer
Whether it was a sprain or not is irrelevant now. You need to have it treated as soon as possible by a physiotherapist or sports medicine doctor. The injury could have calcified or there could be a build up of scar tissue, becuse of a lack of immediate treatment, and is now applying pressure to the sciatic nerve which passes through that area. Any muscle or ligament injury should be iced immediately.
Good luck with it.