OUCH! My Back Hurts... Still!

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OUCH! My Back Hurts... Still!

When I was in eighth grade I started to take gymnastics again for cheerleading (I used to when I was little, but as I got older and got more into my other sports, I kind of kicked it to the curb) to get ready for cheering in high school. I was doing a backhand spring and landed weird, and my back started hurting, but I just took it as another pain because I am used to pain because I am an athlete; I play with pain.

(For my whole life I have been juggling being a cheerleader, softball player or soccer player, but right now I focus on softball for college). I just figured that the pain would go away soon, so as soon as class was over I went in the bathroom and changed to go straight to my travel team's softball tournament. I got there and started to warm up, and my back stared to KILL! It felt like it was ripping in half! I just kept on though, because I've always played with pain.

It got so bad over the next month that when I cheered at games or stood in the field for softball games I would have to choke back tears. I couldn’t stand, couldn’t sit, couldn’t lay down, anything without my back hurting me. Stunting at cheer practice and games also bothered me because I am a base and swinging a bat almost brought me to tears. I couldn’t believe that the two sports I loved the most were bringing me so much pain. I rested my back for about three weeks during softball spring training, and the pain slowed down a bit and then just whenever I practiced for a while my back would throb.

My freshman year my back would only bother me when I had to stand or walk for long period of time, and stunting at practice hurt too.(By this time I hadn’t been back to gymnastics since that day and would refuse to tumble.) Softball never really bothered me anymore, so I kept on practicing hard at it because softball is how I want to go to college. The summer of my freshman year we moved, I didn’t play softball on my travel team that I had played on for four years or cheer that summer because I was busy moving. Lifting all those boxes really hurt my back even though I was lifting them the correct way (with my legs).

I didn’t cheer my sophomore year because I moved too late to try out for cheerleading, but I did play softball. Before the season started just walking around the mall would kill my back and cause me to have muscle spasms. Once the season started everything was like how it used to be, I was just dealing with the pain, until something happened that had never happened before.

After the first 15 minuets of practice (throwing warm up) the whole right side of my back would swell about three times larger than the other side. Since that started the pain was going back to how it was when I first injured my back. I couldn’t stand, and at night I couldn’t sleep because the muscle spasms in my back would keep me awake.

I finally went to the doctor (yes, I know, two years later!). X-rays were taken, and it was determined that it had nothing to do with my spine or any discs (my worst fear) and that all my problems were muscular. The only thing the doctor told me I could do was “heat and rest”, the exact same thing I did the first time. I sat out for a week, but as soon as I got back out there it started to hurt again. I just gritted my teeth and bared it. I tried out for cheerleading and made it, and like old times my back was hurting me from standing, stunting, and now ever practicing my jumps would kill me.

My cheerleading coach finally decided to move me to front spot, so I could save my back for softball because my chances of getting a softball scholarship are very good right now. Once summer started I was busy with cheerleading camp and playing travel softball. I was resting my back every chance I got, but nothing was still working. I started going to a sports massage therapist who is trying massage the scar tissue from my back because there is so much of it that has built up over time when I first pulled my back muscle. This helps greatly, but it so expensive that I can only afford to go about once or twice a month.

I always have really bad hip pain anytime I am down in “ready” position for softball games. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what is wrong, what I could do, or some less expensive remedies for me? My junior year is starting soon, and colleges are starting to look at me, and I don’t want them to look out on the field, see that I am hurt and immediately forget about trying to recruit me. Help!

Average Grade: A