Back Pain After Football Injury

Hi again folks;

I remember three years ago I landed right on the tail of my spine when making a save at football. I had to be helped home as my legs were so weak and I was in pain for weeks, and still suffer from a stiff back from time to time even now. Just wondering if the massive knock the base of my spine took could have, in turn, pinched something all those years ago which has brought on this bodywide twitching?

I have to admit though, my twitches have settled down again since my bout of flu a few weeks back.

Hi James,

Well I can say that I have had back problems(sciatica) for quite a while and my Chiropractor and Therapist both say it could definately be related to my back, have nerve pinched at L4/L5. Have a stiff and painful lower back at times and the twitches are usually their worst in my thighs and feet, especially if I'm on my feet for long periods of time. My back has been a trouble spot for many years but the twitching has only been for 6 months(at least the frequent twitches).

Who knows, maybe it's a buildup effect. Pinched nerve(s) irritated for long periods of time perhaps this is just another way the nerve reacts and sends out these funky signals.

The short answer is no. At a push, this would only cause symptoms in your legs and not in your hands as you have.

Hmmmm, ok.

I just thought that everything was linked nerve wise, you know.

As for the hand "twitches" ... every get them yourself? Don't see them, just feel little tickling twitches.

Hand twitches? Oh yes, that was one of my phases too. They also got worse after any activity such as painting. Sometimes they were big enough to make my fingers waggle from side to side. I hardly get them now.

Bet you're glad you didn't cancel your neuro appointment!

I agree with David on this one.

A trapped nerve at L4/5 woud confine pain to the leg, buttock or lower back. In most cases the symptoms from disc related problems can usually be eased by addopting a diferent position. If a trapped nerve was the cause then by releasing the nerve the symptoms would vanish.

I think people are getting confused about cause and trigger when it comes to BFS/NMT. A simple example of this would be, pain in leg, CAUSE, broken bone, TRIGGER, bad tackle playing football or a bullet fired from a gun CAUSES the damage and to inflict the damage you pull the TRIGGER.

People think stress might be the cause of their BFS, if this was the case then in order to cure the symptoms, all you would have to do is lower your stress levels to normal and the symptoms would disappear completely. Stress is not the cause, it might be the trigger, personally I don't think it is.

When I enquired with Hart about what could have triggered it in my case, he did mention that the site of my back injury, which was a trapped nerve way back in 75 as a posible source, but this was purely guess work. Hart believes the cause is a voltage gated potassium channel defect and I would tend to go along with this.

When the sodium and potassium channels are working properly, at the resting state the two are more or less balanced. When a signal comes in, say to move the arm, the sodium channel gate opens and sodium is released. Then the potassium gate opens and potassium flows through in the opposite direction to replace the sodium. Meanwhile the sodium gate closes, when this exchange has taken place, which takes ml/secs, the potassium gate closes and the sodium gate opens at which point the resting state returns. This process is all to do with chemically produced electrical signals that cause muscle activity.

Evidience sugest that the fault lies at the potassium gate, with it either not closing or staying open, therefore, the resting state is not reached and the electrical signals are constantly being sent to the muscle fibres, which results in the twitching and the rest of the symptoms that we experience. Its kind of like a faulty switch on a torch where you can't turn the light off.

At least this is how I understand it.

Steve.

Steve,

Does Hart believe stress/anxiety plays any part in this, or is the stress/anxiety a by product after we notice our symptoms? It seems like a lot of the people here begin their first post by saying something like, "it was the most stressful time of my life." Just curious if there is any evidence or research into whether abnormal stress/anxiety can have any effect on the potassium and calcium channels.

I agree that if the stress is removed, the symptoms should subside, but how many people truly are able to remove their stress? A lot of the stressors that were affecting me when I noticed the twitching 3 months ago have subsided, but they have been replaced with an overpowering sense of health anxiety...so my symptoms haven't improved. Just wondering if Hart has explored this?

Jerry

Jerry

The question of stress/anxiety has never come up in conversation while attending any of my follow ups. I'll ask his opinion at my next one in Jan. It would make sence that people feel anxious when they first notice their symptoms, but when they realise that they are not serious then there is no more reason to be anxious.

I appreciate that a lot of people say that the period before their symptoms started, was a very stressful one, which might have triggered whatever is causing this disorder, but I don't know of any evidence to support this. What research is being carried out is looking at what causes this disorder not what triggers it.

How many people are stressed or anxious while asleep?? but it is well known that the symptoms carry on during sleep and general anesthesia.

Prior to me starting with my symptoms I'd had no stress, anxiety, worry or health problems, no viruses, flu or a cold, no weight loss, exercise or sweetners, no fizzy drinks, I hadn't ingested any toxins, drugs illeagal or otherwise, neither had I been bitten by ticks or a green mamba snake. So who knows what started it in me.

Steve

Fizzy drinks ... mainly Irn Bru (David will know this one all too well! ) ) are part of my daily diet and still are.

I know I drink too much when it comes to fizzy drinks, but I had no idea they have been possibly linked to causing twitches? I also drink a lot of tea, eat a little too much chocolate, and I'm forever coming down with a cold or tonsillitis.

Think there's anything in any of that at all?

As posted elsewhere today and before, I'm baffled too. But I also don't think much of the stress/anxiety connection as the trigger for *my* BFS. I wasn't especially stressed or anxious when it started.

I'm one of those who tend connect mine to a period of super intense exercise, low carb diet, wgt loss, and lots and lots of protein powder.

But can't really be sure of course. Could be the massive amounts of insecticide-laden blueberries I started eating, could be bike rides through herbicide laden soy bean field, could be the lead in the chocolate, could be a tick ... or... maybe the mouthwash ... hey what about mouthwash???!!!

[Qualifications: 24/7 twitching and morning soreness for 14 months; Neuro exam: normal; EMG report: "Normal except for fascs". Neuro: "dx BFS"]