My Low Back Pain Experience
In 2008, I fell 30 feet from a tree.
I suffered 5 spine fractures and a spinal cord injury.
Months of severe back pain and disability were followed by years of flair-ups and intermittent impairments.
Here’s the story + how I manage it:
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First off: I am incredibly lucky. It could have been much worse. I walked out of the woods that day.
Yet, a few hours later, I couldn’t get out of bed. Unbearable pain.
Tests and findings over the next few days included:
Xray: Lumbar spine fractures
MRI: Post-traumatic Hydrosyringomyelia
Syringomyelia can result from high velocity trauma.
Being told you have a “progressive SCI” will change your life. Fortunately, my symptoms remain minimal.
But, as a 17-year-old with college track ambitions, I changed plans and started BU’s AT-PT program.
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Walking around BU campus again recently, I was reminded of times my back pain was so intense, it forced me down on the sidewalk. I would lay on Comm Ave benches until it subsided.
I was terrified to move. I wrestled with pain. I tried everything. I guarded always.
As an athletic training student, I eventually learned of the pain-spasm-pain and fear-avoidance cycles. They had me in their grip.
That was what it took to turn the corner. Metacognition changed everything.
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Lessons I’ve learned:
Pain does not equal damage. Months in a back brace ensured my fractures had healed. Serial MRIs showed no changes in the syrinx. Realizing this pain was a symptom (not injured tissue) and that the SCI was stable allowed me to move again. To confront it.
Rebuild the foundation. Afraid the injury would progress, I had guarded for months. I lost mobility and atrophied small muscle stabilizers. I had to rebuild. Breathing, transverse abdominals, pelvic floor, multifidi, rotatores.
Find a recovery zone. As I hit barriers to progress or bouts of pain, I knew laying in hook-lying would “reset” me. Simply having this safe position built my confidence and autonomy for managing set-backs. You can press deeper into the unknown if you know a way out.
Mindset Matters. As a rehab specialist, I still have to convince myself that pain isn’t permanent. It’s never automatic. Pain has a crazy effect on the brain. Talk to someone. Stay positive. Explain Pain by David Butler was a game-changer for me.
Movement variability. Anti-rotation to rotational power. Sitting to running. Tummy-time to stooping. The spine is designed for all these things. I still train them to build tolerance. For me, recurrence can be traced back to lack of variability.
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The take homes.
Even as rehab expert, it can be difficulty to manage low back pain. Here are my tips.
Pain does not equal damage.
Rebuild the foundation.
Find a recovery zone.
Mindset matters.
Movement variability.
If you struggle with pain and need to talk, we are here. Let’s co-rehabilitate.
