Adam Meakins' back injury: how he managed his low back pain and got back to deadlifting

On this episode of the podcast, I was incredibly excited to be joined by Adam Meakins to discuss his back injury and how he recovered from it.

 

The aim of the podcast was to provide people who might be in a similar situation with acute, severe low back and possibly leg pain an example of how a Physio was able to self manage and get back to full health and fitness without anything fancy.

 

It's my hope that this episode is a resource for clinicians and people in pain alike. When you are severe pain it is normal to have fear and concern but I hope this episode can provide some hope of the amazing ability of the body to heal.

 

If you want to check out Adam's original back injury video you can do so here: https://twitter.com/AdamMeakins/status/1557775099721293825

 

All of the videos are great to watch and you can find them on Adam's Instagram if you scroll back to August 2021: https://www.instagram.com/adammeakins/?utm_medium=copy_link

 

More details about what we chatted about follow.

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We dived into a great discussion about what happaned as well as the reocvery process he went through.

Some of the recovery principles that came up include:

• Stay active but also allowed to rest 

• Do movements that feel good - do you need to push into pain to restore eg extension 

• Analgesics and sleeping medication 

• Hot baths / water bottles 

• Patience 

 

Criticism he copped

• Should see a physio, get scans etc 

• Manual therapy 

• Specific exercises (McKenzie) 

• Self blame - technique 

 

Evidence about specific treatments / exercises

• What does the evidence say about whether any specific treatments are superior to others? 

• Do people need to get manual therapy for acute back pain? 

• Does this mean they shouldn’t get manual therapy just to anticipate a common strawman argument? 

• Is this negative or does it provide people more choice?

 

If people want to see a physio

Advice for members of the public who might want some guidance from a healthcare practitioner, what should they look for and what should they be wary of?

Why did he get injured?

Upon reflection with the aid of hindsight, what factors do you think might have contributed to your injury? Can we take any lessons from this?

• Technique? Evidence

• Programming - RPE, Training history with COVID

• External factors that could have placed a stress on your system?

• Shit happens?

 

Fear avoidance - deadlifts

How hard was it to get back into deadlifts? Do you still have any residual fears or concerns in the back of your mind? 

I really hope you enjoyed this episode. If you did I would be incredibly grateful if you could please leave a review on your favorite viewing platform. 

 

Geoff Ford from Be Strong Physio