Sprained ligament in low back.

I hurt my back at work last Friday, and I saw a massage therapist yesterday. In his "I am not a doctor and do not diagnose people" opinion, I sprained the ligament that holds my hip and sacrum together. I am inclined to believe him as the two other people [nurse at the ER and physical therapist] I saw just checked enough to make sure I wasn't looking at disc damage or in need of an x-ray. I was diagnosed with muscle strain and a giant knot in my low back.

Has anyone experienced this before? Any tips? It freaking HURTS. I can't sit or stand for more than 20 minutes at a time, laying down is usually a safe bet, and so is walking. I went back to work yesterday on light duty but I was still in tremendous pain by the end of the day.

Did that happen in the saddle? That is a bummer, but be glad it is NOT a disc injury. The muscle or ligamnet injury will heal as good as new, where as a disc usually does not.

Rest, antiinflammatories, rest, hot baths, rest, massages. Baby yourself. You'll love it!

It happened at work, twisting.

I am glad it's not a disc injury, for sure. I have heard though that ligaments can heal but don't heal back to what they used to be. Like a rubber band stretched too far doesn't un-stretch back to it's normal state.

So far, heat hasn't felt good, but ice feels great. I have 6 massages lined up, just had my first one, and he said he was going to push for 6 more. I'm babying myself as much as I can, but it's so hard to get comfortable.

I am most upset because I want to be social [my roommate and I are close, and we have a friend staying on our couch] but our couch is tiny and it's hard to get comfortable so I want to go lay in bed but that's sooooo boring. I just can't win. I am grateful I have vicodin though, so far it's the only thing that makes it stop hurting.

Yes, I've strained my sacroiliac joint when I was a paramedic. I did it trying to lift a person in a wheelchair down a set of steps. I had one foot on the porch and stepped down with the other while picking up the back of the wheelchair and ZING~! Good thing was that we were headed to the ER anyway and I had to take a week or so off afterwards. It hurts like Hades, so sorry for you!

Keep up with the ice, 15 minutes on 45 minutes off a couple of times a day and use the vicoden as prescribed-be careful not to double dose yourself write the time you took it down on a piece of paper if you have to! Don't use heat for at least 3-4 days after the injury. This type of strain takes a while to heal up, hope you feel better soon.

As a person recovering from 2 herniated disc (2 years now) I'm so glad to hear it isn't a disc issue! However, for the same reason stated above I can say, take as much time as you need to get it healed. Believe me you do not want to aggravate the condition. I agree with ice, no more than 20 minutes at a time. I also love muscle stim of you have somebody who can work with you on that!!! Hope you heal very soon!!!
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Today is day 10 since the injury. I want to tentatively say it feels better this morning and yesterday than it did Friday, but that could be because I worked Friday and didn't work yesterday.

I'm only trying to take one Vicodin a day, and I take it at night. During the day, it's 1000mg of acetaminophen and 5mg of cyclobenzaprine [muscle relaxer] when I wake up and 8 hours later. 6 to 8 hours later is Vicodin. It's easier when I can lounge on the couch all day, it's a lot harder when I am at work.

I have a massage tomorrow and then another on Friday. I know it helps, but I mostly just feel like crap when he's done. It really aggravates the sprain. Eek.

Thanks for the well-wishes, I feel like I need them, haha.