How you hurt your back while picking up a sock off the ground

I can't even tell you how many times I have heard this story.  "I don't understand how I hurt my back picking up my sock off the floor this morning." 

What happened?  There are a number of things that contributed to the "incident."  It seems to occur most often in the morning.  The reason for this is that the type of cartilage that makes up the discs in our back (fibrocartilage) and the jelly like material in the middle (nucleus pulposus) like to absorb fluid overnight while we sleep.  This is the reason we are a bit taller in the mornings that we are in the evenings.  As the discs absorb fluid overnight, the become more rigid making us feel stiff in the morning.  With more rigidity in the discs, bending forward will cause the front of the disc to squish, pushing the jelly more towards the back of the disc.  This pressure can cause irritation and pain when you pick up your sock off the ground.

So has this person "blown a disc?" "slipped a disc?" "herniated a disc?"  When you go to your doctor, they will ask if you have pain going down your leg(s).  They will likely do orthopedic testing that includes ranges of motion and neurological testing.  They will also most likely do a straight leg raise (SLR) test.  A positive SLR would be indicated if it reproduces the same sciatic pain down the leg.  If this is positive, it is a good indication for a disc herniation pressing on the sciatic nerve.  The test is considered negative if no pain is felt down the leg (even if they have pain in their back). 


There is lots that can be done to treat these patients (with disc herniations and without).  The patients without herniation respond effectively to movement.  The Cat/Camel exercise is great for increasing mobility and getting rid of some of the excess fluid in the discs   One recommendation for these people is not to keep them in one position for a long period of time (ie. having them lay on their front for 30 min).  Their back may stiffen up and they may have difficulty getting going again.