My Back Pain Story, Part II

So I left off with me getting treatment from a chiropractor for my lower back pain as a 18-year-old about to be D1 College Softball player at Centenary College (Miss my LADIES!). This was a dream for me to be playing D1 Softball and I wanted to go into my first season without any back issues knowing there was a lot of work laying ahead of me. I continued to go to the chiropractor in Louisiana and this time the adjustments were even quicker-5-10 minutes top. No exercises given, no explanation really. All I know is that I felt good afterwards and that was enough for me at the time with a busy schedule--morning workouts, classes, practice, study, repeat.

The amount of hours for workouts, practice and games that first year was challenging. There was not much time for rest and recovery. My back did pretty well overall honestly probably because of other areas hurting (Hamstring strains for an athlete during season are no joke) and I was focused on performing the best I could for my team. I think my mentality was still “suck it up”, “push through”. And deep down, I just figured my lower back pain would go away on its own.

How many of you have assumed your injury or pain would get better on its own and played the waiting game? I started to take matters into my own hands. I started doing yoga to work on flexibility, learned how to kinesio-tape my back for longer game days and tried to strengthen my core more. I did what I could and what I knew at the time to do, but looking back I really wish I had a good PT to improve my muscle imbalances and help me perform better.

I also don’t think any of us know at the time what repetitive motions can do to our bodies. I’ve worked with countless former gymnasts, baseball players, football players, dancers, volleyball players and golfers who had pain seemingly “random” show up later in life. To me, playing sports is definitely worth any strain on my body, but it would be nice to have worked with someone who understood what I needed to stay injury free and perform at my highest level.