Sit ups and back pain

[Shotgun Jeremy]

When I first joined the military, I was very fit and in shape. I was very active outdoors when I joined, and that helped me immensely with my weekly PT. Over time, I noticed that my lower back was starting to develop a sharp pain when I would be doing sit ups. I brought this up with my command PT personnel and was told "You're just doing them wrong", or "Push through the pain", and even to keep doing them because the sit ups will strengthen my back and it will become easier. My back pain never got better, but I was made to think that the back pain was likely from doing things at work as a mechanic or from the heavy packs we would carry when in the field.

When I separated and got into the VA system, I tried to get an MRI on my back for the sharp pains but I was told its very hard to get those and that lower back pain is very difficult to locate so there's not much they can do anyways. I was given Motrin or Tramadol, and told to just try and take it easy. This refusal to give me an MRI continued for over 10 years until I switched to my most recent Dr at the VA back in October.

This new Dr has been amazing! He right away figured out the cause of my lower skeletal joint issues (Hips to my feet), and he put in for me to get that lower back MRI on the first visit. He explained that a lot of Dr's at the VA don't know how to read MRI's so they don't like putting them in. When I went for my MRI, they confirmed that they have a wide open schedule and if I would have told them how long I've been waiting, they would have helped me get in. So if you're being given the run around about an MRI at the VA - it's not because they're backed up. Then, they were able to confirm the exact back pain that I'm having. They can see where I have damage related directly to over use of flexing my back from a young age, which goes in line directly with sit ups.

When I went over these results with my Dr, he confirmed everything they put on the report. I mentioned to him that over the years I've been made to feel silly for saying sit ups have torn up my back because they're supposed to strengthen it, and he said that's all been disproven. Multiple studies have shown that sit ups do hardly anything for your core and nothing for your back. They've also shown that sit ups do in fact tear up lower backs, and they do more harm than good. If you're going for core strength then you're better off doing other exercises such as planks.

I noticed direct correlation between my back pain ramping up, and my overall fitness level dropping down. Now, all these years later, everything is coming together.

[Mestral]

I concur with your new doctor.

Mechanic work can be hard on your back, but so can traditional sit ups. My martial arts instructor changed the way we did sit ups, to more core strengthening, and less damage, but after all these years, I have to agree, planks are better.

It isn't just in the VA, that the doctors don't treat people well. I was deliberately miss diagnosed on sciatica for 18 years. When I went to a guy named Yarborro (sp?) at the Copperas Cove clinic, he 'bout flipped. Said there was no way they could have missed the damage to my disc.

I have come to the conclusion Military and VA doctors aren't paid to fix you, they are paid to do something, anything, and get you out the door, so the next patient can get in. If they do a good job, that is because they, personally, have decided to do a good job, not because the system encourages it.