Could Calf Injury Lead to Lumbar Pain?

[that dude who did that thing]

This fall I was having some low back pain, but it had gone away a week ago o rmore, and I was feeling good. Skied yesterday, and back still felt good.

Skied again today. Three things happened, and I'm trying to figure out if they're related. Was wearing my Garmont G-Fits today at the resort (they're just so much easier on my feet than), and when I hit the slopes I left them in walk mode. Thought things felt a bit squishy, but was having fun anyway. Get to the first lift ride of the day, and it's a typical busy sunday shitshow. I'm with my teenage kid, kid in front of us drops a ski while loading, lifty panics and is yelling at us to get out of the way and let the chair go by. I move aside, but my kid goes the wrong way and cna't get out of the way, she takes the chair, I move back into position to grab the next chair, and reach for the loose ski that lifty is trying to hand me, even while he tries to handle the hcair. He blows both operations, and ends up slamming hte edge of the chair into my right calf. Gives me a nice charley horse, and now, 8 hours later, still got quite a knot in the muscle.

Two runs later my back starts hurting, and within a few short runsa fter that, it's bad enough to keep me in the lodge while wife and kid go skiing.

So, wondering if failing to stiffen my boots is related here, but really wondering if the insult to the calf muscle could somehow result in nerve-related pain or inflammation in the lumbar spine? Theories?

[Ski to Be]

Not being a doctor take this with a grain of salt but in my opinion yes. I had a sports massage guy that relieved my lower back pain by working on my IT band and calf muscles that were very tight. It's all connected and if you favor one side for whatever reason it can cause problems in your lower back .


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[senior researcher]

s.i. joint

[that dude who did that thing]

s.i. joint

Certainly a possibility. Pain seems bilateral, rather than just spinal, and is much worse while walking than while sitting.

[senior researcher]

Get a D.O. to pull your leg.

[old goat]

No. The calf pain (hematoma, bleeding into the muscle) and whatever is wrong with your back are unrelated. Skiing in walk mode and your back pain are unrelated. There are numerous causes for back pain, none of which can be diagnosed by internet. When you do have a back problem, various activities and positions can make the pain better or worse, but the benefit or worsening will be short term and the underlying condition will be the same. Certainly starting to ski after having pain all fall that only recently went away could aggravate the pain. When to see a doc? Who knows? Certainly if the pain goes down the leg to the foot or you have numbness or weakness. Other than that, chances are all a doc can do is order an MRI, which may or may not show anything, and in either case you wind up with some pain meds.

Edit--on further reflection there is some value in seeing a doc for persistent back pain--months at least--even if the pain doesn't go down the leg and there isn't any numbness or weakness. The kind of PT you get will depend on the specific cause of the pain, which usually requires an MRI. Certainly if you're not responding to PT (or chiro) you should think about seeing a doc, who should probably refer you to a physical medicine MD (physiatrist, PMR doc). And if you expect your insurance to pay for PT you probably will need an MD referral.

[splat]

Maybe skiing in walk mode simply contorted your sacrum/lumbar in such a way that a small jolt from the slope jarred something that needs to get back into place. It's amazing what a hot bath and a good rub can do for such discomfort. Have your wife rub across your sacrum if that's where it hurts.

[that dude who did that thing]

Well, the chiro thinks the calf hit is unrelated to the lumbar/sacral pain. He just thinks my whole back is wound up so tight (from years of stress, not enough exercise, and wrong exercise of hte weekend warrior variety) it's going to take him several weeks to loosen things up enough to start figuring out precisely what's wrong. But he says he's leaning toward disc troubles. I hope he's wrong.

Overall, it's healing each day, and this is just a reminder that if I want to do the same shit I did in my 20's, I am going to have to work MUCH harder to keep the body in working order.

[Tye 1on]

my personal preference leans more toward PT's than chiros, but getting in to strength training 5 years ago has pretty much eliminated all the chronic low back pain i've been dealing with for decades...

[neufox47]

my personal preference leans more toward PT's than chiros, but getting in to strength training 5 years ago has pretty much eliminated all the chronic low back pain i've been dealing with for decades...

This. Find a good PT and group S&C program.