Rehab-ing a pulled back muscle?

Question

I recently pulled a muscle, lower part of my left trapezius/about where it connects to the lat and muscles of the lower back. I tore it 8 years ago, has bothered me for years since, but for last 7 months of working out have been ultra cautious with it - and pulled it jumping rope last week.
For the first couple days I iced it, now I warm up and stretch it everyday, do a couple hot compresses a day, and wall pushes once or twice. Its been exactly 1 week - still not fully healed, but with my care it's healing very rapidly.
For the couple months leading up to when I pulled it, I would jump rope every morning, then after work go to martial arts classes for an hour 4-5 times a week, then do pushups and abs immediately afterwards - all with warm-up and stretching beforehand. When I resume physical activity I won't do all these things at once so suddenly - but my questions are:

Should I eat and hydrate myself before morning routine? (I've heard dehydrated muscles tear more easily)
Should I apply a hot compress before all workouts / then ice afterwards?
Thanks if you read this...I want to be very careful again with this.

Answer 1

Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate.

Also ensure that you have a good bit of potassium in your system as well. I eat a two bananas about an hour before working, along with always ensuring that I am hydrated.

I would continue to be careful, because it has been torn it will never be the same. A good warm up should be the way to go, not sure the icing it is needed afterwards (this is a muscle injury not a joint injury) while there is some inflammation muscle wise, (a reason to ice) you would be better off letting it recover on it's own during a cool down.

(Personally I would whirlpool or hot tub after your workouts to keep it loose.)

Ibuprofen is not a bad idea either, it will help keep it from further inflammation.

Not sure how good a chiropractor will help you out, but you may look at a massage therapist once a month or so. Getting adjusted is good and all, but not when you are already injured.

Honestly if you have tore it and you are having problems with it now, I would definately take it easy and rehab it as much as possible. The warm compresses, and the stretching are spot on.

If you got a Sports Medicine place in your town, give them a call and ask them about it, many places will ask you to come in but some are good enough to give you a general idea of what to do free of charge. Universities with athletic programs are AWESOME for this because they normally have an athletic training program which sees people for free. (Helps the students learn) You can normally get in touch with them, schedule an appointment and have a bonafide sports medicine person give you the run down for free, or for very low cost.

Good luck!

Answer 2

It sounds like you are cautious, well informed, and very healthy overall. You can never go wrong drinking lots of water whether you are injured or not. My approach to injuries like this, however, has been to lay off of MA all together for a while. I say this only after having torn more than one muscle and then starting back training again too soon, only to re-injure the same place. To me, this became more frustrating than taking a few weeks off and coming back all healed up.

When you come back, you should still ease back into your routine rather than going full-on from the start. This is another tid-bit I learned the hard way, FYI.

The heat will help, but only leave it on for 15 minutes at a time, then no heat for an hour or so at least if you plan to put the heat on again.

So in general, take a break and give your body time to mend itself before stressing those same muscles again. If you feel you need to do something, I suggest extremely low impact stuff like swimming, followed by a hot bath or jacuzzi.

Answer 3

Here are few things that you can do that may help you out. Since you already have torn it some time back you may have scar tissue now and things don't always heal back as well as what they were before you injured them. That being said I would continue to hydrate before working out because it does help keep lactic acid from building up which is one of the things that causes soreness and stiffness. Overwork or straining being another I would consider lightening my workouts and see if that does not help resolve some of your problem. Also the use of an analgesic before hand is good and I have relied on that before a tournament or fight if I was a little tight or sore in the back area. One of the other things you may want to look at is your jumping rope and the impact on your back. I would jump on a rubber mat in tennis shoes and make sure that it is not an old injury being aggravated by overwork and the impact of jumping rope. Also look at some of the back strengthening and back type exercises on the web like back extensions and those may also be of some help to you. I currently have a student that has hip problems due to a back problem and it also affects his flexiblity to the point that it hurts when he kicks. As long as he does his back exercises on a regular basis and warms up adequately he has no pain when kicking, no soreness or discomfort after working out and is much happier now. It may be the same for you in that a combination of things may be neccessary for you to do and follow on a regualr weekly basis so that it does not get worse or continue to bother you as you work out and grow older-which is something that you can not stop. If the problem persists I would check my health coverage and see what it covers and maybe a trip to the doctor and a referal from him to a sports medicine place will be helpful. Most insurance includes a small dollar amount for physical therapy and problems like this and they may be able to help you a great deal like they did for my student.

Answer 4

I would say, talk to a kinesiologist or a physical therapist or a chiropractor. I know in general you want to warm up the muscles before you start in with any workout. Ibuphrophen before you exercise will assist a bit as well. Now that I read a bit more, 8 years is more than enough time to heal, check with a Chiropractor or at least a physical therapist, you have something else going on inside.

Answer 5

Find yourself a good sports/medically minded massage therapist. It's well worth the cost if you can find someone who knows what they are doing, and can be really helpful. Ask for concentration on addressing the injury. Make sure your therapist in Nationally Certified and has a few years of experience.
I don't train, but as a therapist, I always advice alternating heat and ice, ending with heat before you work it, and ending with ice when you are finished....and using a good natural product...like biofreeze.
Good luck.

Answer 6

I have had to deal with chronic back pain. One thing that helped me most was moist heat. I toss a wet towel into the microwave for 30 seconds and keep that behind my back. Hot showers, the Jacuzzi and massage are also very good.