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21M with mild one-sided lower back pain after repetitive work
Hi everyone,
I'm 21M and physically active. I'm hoping to hear from people who have experienced something similar and can share what happened in their own case.
About 3+ months ago, I developed a very mild but persistent irritation/pain on only the left side of my lower back/upper-hip/posterior-hip area.
It started after around 2 hours of repetitive, asymmetrical farm work using a heavy hoe. I was repeatedly picking up wet soil from my front-right side and pushing/leveling it toward my back-left side.
During the work, I noticed mild pain developing in this same general area.
I stopped working out for about a week afterward. The stronger pain settled, but a very mild residual irritation remained and has continued since then.
CURRENT PATTERN:
• Usually around 0.2–0.5/10
• Walking: normal
• Sitting: normal
• Forward bending: normal
• Side bending: normal
• Rotation: normal
• Backward bending: occasionally slightly more noticeable, but not consistently
• No pain travelling down the leg
• No numbness
• No tingling
• No weakness
The exact structure is difficult for me to identify. It is somewhere around the left lower-back/posterior-hip area, but I don't know what structure is responsible.
Pressing around the area produces very mild pressure-like discomfort.
Normal daily activities generally don't aggravate it. However, lifting something heavy (around 40–50 kg) makes the irritation noticeable again, and sometimes the discomfort seems to extend slightly upward.
Before this started, I regularly did pushups, dumbbell rows, shoulder presses, planks, squats, curls, etc.
Since this began, I've avoided exercises that significantly load or require stabilization from my lower back for around 1.5 months, but the mild irritation has remained.
WHAT I'M TRYING TO LEARN:
I'm not asking anyone here to diagnose me.
I'd really like to hear from people who have had a similar experience:
• Did you have a very mild but persistent one-sided pain?
• What was the initial cause in your case?
• How did you eventually find out what was causing it, if you ever did?
• Did you see a doctor, physiotherapist, osteopath, or other professional?
• Were any physical examinations or imaging actually useful?
• What treatment or change made the biggest difference?
• Was there anything you tried that didn't help?
• How long did it take before you felt completely normal?
• Were you eventually able to return to normal exercise, sports, or heavy lifting?
Even if your case initially seemed similar but eventually turned out to be something completely different, I'd still really appreciate hearing about it.
I'm mainly looking for real experiences and recovery stories so I can better understand how other people handled persistent but mild back pain.
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I got help from my osteopath.
In the last years I developed pain in my SI joint. That's low down on the back.
I thought it was muscle related but nope!
I've tried trigger point injections which didn't last, shockwave which didn't last.
The only thing I can do is exercises which hopefully strengthen that area.
I did have a cortisone shot once but you can't do that often and they don't last and aren't great to do long term.
My insurance won't cover nerve ablation, not a pleasant procedure, but it's also temporary.
It can be a real drag and for me quite painful at times.
I suggest you pay a visit to a physical therapist for an evaluation. Explain to your PCP what you did and ask if PT is appropriate and I doubt they’ll say no. PT will evaluate whether you strained your back or really did some damage, which I doubt. Hope you find some relief.
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1 Reaction@jenatsky Thank you. I’m actually considering seeing a physical therapist. Since my symptoms are very mild but have persisted for 3+ months, I’m especially curious about what a PT evaluation would involve.
In your experience, what did the PT actually assess during the evaluation, and did they identify a specific source or movement pattern that was contributing to the pain?
Also, did you personally have a similar type of persistent back pain, and if so, what ended up helping you recover?
@cecilyl Thanks for sharing your experience. When you say you developed pain in the SI joint, how was that actually determined? Did a doctor or PT diagnose it through a physical examination, imaging, or another test?
And did the exercises eventually give you meaningful long-term improvement, or are you still dealing with it?
@vishav I broke fractured L5 in 1988 when I fell down a flight of steps during a small earthquake in Ca. That began a long journey with fusion surgery 1990 with stainless steel plates and screws as titanium didn’t exist as an implant material. I had home PT after surgery but PT wasn’t what it is today compared then back then. Generally I’m back at PT once a year for a tuneup. I now has osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, multiple level bulging discs some moderate some severs from cervical to lumbar. PT has been a savior for me. They are highly skilled at their trade and are better at evaluating physical pain symptoms than some docs. And many times docs will refer to PT to perform the evaluation because they will develop a treatment plan accordingly.
I also walk 2 miles daily and do stretches I received from PT twice daily. I’m at the gym twice a week and I get Myofascial Release therapy every other week and it’s been life changing. I am prescribed Buprenorphine Patch for primary pain.
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