Lower back injuries are common in basketball. Here’s what to do about them

Q. I am a 19-year-old competitive basketball player who has had low back pain for three months. The more I play, the worse it hurts. Rebounding and shooting hurt the most. I have no pain going down my legs, only my lower back. I saw my primary care physician who did X-rays, which showed nothing wrong. I tried resting from basketball for two weeks, but as soon as I played the pain came back. What should I do now?

A. I am concerned that you may have a stress fracture or herniated disc in your lower back. Stress fractures are micro fractures of bone that many times will not show on routine X-rays. These are common injuries in athletes that hyperextend their lower back repeatedly during sports such as gymnastics, tennis, football and basketball.

Young athletes can also have a disc herniation that causes lower back pain. Younger patients can have a symptomatic disc problem without the usual symptoms of pain and numbness radiating down the back of your leg.

I recommend you see an orthopedic spine specialist who has experience with sports medicine. In addition to the physical exam, the doctor may order an MRI scan and a CT scan to define the injury and determine if there is an underlying bony defect that contributes to the symptoms.

Stress fractures usually get better with rest and rehab over a couple months. If a disc problem is present, it can get better over time non surgically.

Dr. Harlan Selesnick is team physician of the Miami Heat and director of Miami Sports Medicine Fellowship, Doctors Hospital. Send your questions to HarlanS@baptisthealth.net