I remember my first time.
I was in Indiana visiting friends. My Under Armor shoes were laced up, I donned my black Ricky Rubio jersey, and I had my knee pads on to stabilize my partially torn meniscus. As my friends were stretching, an ignorant 24-year-old version of myself went to do my normal pregame routine, starting with jogging floaters.
The first shot, literally the first floater, I extended my arm, and searing pain went down my back into my right leg. As I took a moment and sheepishly went to the sidelines to lie down, my back felt like it was convulsing. It was intense pain, followed as my muscles twitched, then relaxed into lesser pain.
I played the pickup game that day, walking around the court, feeling three times my age. For weeks afterward, my back pain would not let up.
That’s likely the reality for Wolves center Rudy Gobert, who has been out the past three games with a back injury, reportedly back spasms. It’s an injury that can affect anyone at any time or age. From Larry Bird all the way down the athletic totem pole to the author of this piece.
The term “back spasms” gets thrown around in the athletic world, often without further definition.
So, what is a back spasm?
A back spasm is painful muscle contractions in the back. It can range from everything from a tiny twinge to crippling pain.
In athletes, spasms typically happen as a muscle strains or tears due to heavy lifting or fast movement. Although, they can also start due to trauma, such as a hard fall. That’s the most common way. However, poor posture, repeated injuries to the same location, not stretching, poor diet, and even anxiety have been shown to start muscle spasms.
Movement likely started Gobert’s back spasms. Therefore, as back muscle strains or tears, the electrical impulses cause the muscle twitch. The twitch of the muscle is the spasm. With each twitch, the muscle contracts and relaxes, which can potentially cause the strain or tear to worsen. Here is a visual example of muscle spasms in a calf muscle.
It’s a never-ending cycle that can continue to build until the pain becomes agonizing. Pain is the biggest symptom of back spasms. Unfortunately, due to the cyclical nature of the injury, it only gets worse until the person intervenes.
The pain can lead to balance issues, loss of coordination, and limited range of motion. Below is a diagram of how the pain cycle works. It’s a vicious cycle: pain causes spasms, spasm causes more pain, pain causes stress on the muscle, and stress causes spasms. Simultaneously, pain causes the person to avoid using the muscle, which causes weakness. Chronic pain can also cause depression and stress on the mind, which can slow healing by altering hormones. However, that explanation can be saved for a different article.
The interventions are almost as frustrating as the injury itself. For some people, heat does wonders to alleviate the spasms. For others, ice reduces swelling and helps keep pressure off the area. Some swear by Tylenol, others ibuprofen. However, time and lessening activity is the only option for everyone. The less stress and movement put on the back, the less likely spasms are to occur, meaning the quicker the damaged tissue can repair.
Physical therapy and muscle relaxers can also help to alleviate the pain and build up the surrounding muscles in the back to help take the stress off the affected area. If that doesn’t help, corticosteroid injections also help jump-start healing.
Deep tissue massage can also help stimulate healing. If the spasms are related to posture or the skeletal system, a chiropractor may help. If it’s due to trauma or a spinal issue, there might be a need for surgery. However, most often, the go-to treatment is to hurry up and wait, which can create frustration.
The spasm can cause the injury to get worse, and the spasms are uncontrollable. Therefore, the timetable for recovery can range from a couple of days to a few weeks to months. In some athletes, cases can reoccur for their entire career.
It’s encouraging that Gobert has been with his team on the bench for the last two games. He also seemingly tolerates the plane rides and travel from Houston to Minneapolis to Oklahoma City and next to Los Angeles. These are all good signs. He likely would not be traveling with the team if the injury was severe enough because it could do more harm than good.
As the Wolves continue to try and rise in the standings, Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo appear to be reinforcements on the horizon. They started to get healthy just as Gobert suffered his back injury. The Wolves will need Gobert to make another deep run in the playoffs, which means he likely will be allowed the time he needs to heal.
