Wakeboard crash / back question

Thursday I took a pretty decent fall on a surface 180 in the flats when my heelside edge caught and I did the famous back slap. I've crashed this way tons of times before, but this time I immediately felt like I needed to pop my neck. Now I have quite a bit of pain in my neck when I look down and when I lean my head back. It also feels like my back needs to be popped in the upper back area (between my shoulder blades).

I've been icing, sleeping with heating pad, taking advil, etc. and it hasn't really improved at all. I'm 39 and no stranger to feeling old, but something in my head tells me this isn't just muscular. Any guesses to what can be going on? I plan on going to the doc Monday, but figured somebody on here may have had a similar issue.

Sidenote, this is why I surf 90% of the time now. I'm too old for this!

Do you have or know a Good Chiropractor. Mine keeps me running with monthly tuneups. I Bulged 2 discs just beyond herniated years ago and he and Physio and much core work now have my back as good or better than before.

Never been to a chiro. I'm guessing if I did they x-ray first before they adjust you?

They can do adjustments before xrays. Just have a way of looking, pushing around, finding things that are out of whack. Yours sounds a bit more serious though - I'd opt for xrays if it were me. Better safe than sorry!

Hope you start the road to recovery soon.

md's will just give you pain meds for there 45 seconds of patient contact. I'd find a chiro that doesnt just pop your back but figures out why things are the way they are through movement manipulation and stretching.

Have you called the Psychic Network? My local witchdoctor also might be able to help.




Sorry, you probably need to have it looked at by a professional. MDs will do Xrays and give meds. I would start there in case you fractured something. Then look for a bone cracker. They help many people without drugs.

From a Medical Perspective.....NEVER let any chiropractor do any work to a NEW injury without doing X-rays first! Its one if you've been treated by that practioner and its something you've had in the past. Something new...no!
Its not worth the risk of missing something and then doing damage with the wrong treatment.

As salyers said

I honestly would opt for an MRI to find out exactly what is going on. Hopefully you just tweaked it and it will heal over time. I have 2 herniated discs is my lumbar and been fighting it since 2010. My chiropractor took xray and said, that the disc look good and that it was just muscular, MRI showed otherwise. I just had an epidural last week which helped drastically but that only is masking the pain. I am starting IDD therapy on Tuesday. This is a disc decompression that targets the herniated disc. The doctors office that doses claims they stopped a lot people from getting the knife. I wish you the best and hope it is just muscular...

I'm calling the Neck and Spine specialist tomorrow morning to set up an appointment. I sure hope it's nothing serious, but it's definitely a different kind of pain than I've experienced before. Not the worst I've felt, just different and hard to explain. Like someone is trying to compress my spine right in between my shoulder blades.

It's hell to get old fellas.

Best of luck, hope it is minor strain. Keep us posted... getting old, these pups don't know chit about getting old... 39 years young a whines like a.... well you get the point, whipper snappers actin all old and chit...

Update: I went to a spine and back specialist and images show I have a bulging disc between T2 and T3 (lower neck, upper back). Luckily he thinks with anti-inflammatories and a bit of physical therapy that it should relax back to normal within a few weeks. It feels a bit better since I've been icing a few times a day since it happened, but I still have slight tingling in my lower right arm and fingers. All the neuro (?) tests were normal, so he said it's nothing to worry about and should get back to normal once the pressure is off my nerves. In layman's terms, I have a bad case of whiplash.

I feel a bit bad that I didn't just wait it out and give it a week or so to see if it got better, but in my mind I knew it didn't feel right and I didn't want to let it go and regret it a few years down the road. Plus once the tingling started I got freaked out! I guess that's what insurance is for.

Good news. 39 is old? Please. Old guy here with old boat.... 51 on the body and 16 on the boat. But both feel new! As you get older ... I mean much more than your youthful 39... Need to increase fitness level. In addition to your doc, find a good trainer! Cross training and cardio are excellent. Keeps the weight off and maintain flexibility. An hour a day. Seriously. Dont worry about bulking. That show muscle isnt what you need in "old age"! Helps me to keep up with the kids in wakeboarding, mountainbiking and surfing. Learned to skimboard last weekend!

Glad youre not seriously injured and found the cause. Maybe a surf or two is good therapy!