I hurt my back just over a month ago while playing football and went to see a physio who told me I had a strain.  Since then I have been stretching it and working on my core stability, but everytime I go to start playing again it is very painful, just wondering if anyone thinks this may be because i'm starting to play again too early??  I have since talked to a friend of mine who also had a back injury and he says I probably have a spasm and the only way I can recover from this is by stretching and massage, is this true??  If anyone has any other suggestions I would be more than glad to hear them!  

Thank you

I hurt my back last football season when I hyperextended my back, there was nothing stopping me from playing until about 3 weeks later. Everytime I would rotate my body or make a cut I would just get a huge shock of pain in my lower back. I started going to physical therapy and the therapist had me doing core exercises, they worked but I still felt a really dull pain and now I am starting to feel my back start hurting as I am training for the season. My friends dad thinks that a plate could be mis out of place and every doctor in the area is reccomending surgery and I do not want to go through surgery. Any advice?

The one thing that works very well for me is training my back for eccentric contractions, (which is when a muscle lengthens as it tries to contract).  I do this with a very simple exercise.  I stand up straight, cross my forearms in front of my forehead to hold my head's weight, bend over at the waist, and quickly pull myself back up to a standing position.  Start very carefully with this, at a time when your back is hurting little or not at all.  Start "catching" your weight at different angles of waist bend.  Gradually increase the force with which you throw your weight downward.  Also start doing this while bending at different angles.  That is, bend toward the left and the right, and with your torso twisted in each direction.  Go slowly, as eccentric contractions typically start hurting a day or two later, so don't try to hurry this too quickly or you will get sore.  Before long, your back will be "immune" to eccentric contraction injuries, and the spasms that often come with them.  I now only have to do this a couple of times a week, taking only about a minute to do a number of different angles, and I can play my weekend warrior basketball with kids less than half my age (I'm 50) despite my scoliosis (crooked spine) and arthritis.  Do an internet search on the phrase "repeat bout effect" and you will see what this is all about.  Please post how this works for you.

I should have checked before posting.  The phrase "repeated bout effect" (repeated, not repeat) will give you more hits on a search.

Light stretching, deep masage, horse linament(ask pharmacist). keep heat on it about 15-20 minutes at night. Make sure you are getting enough potassium a day. Also if you are lacking magnesium its a good chance you are lacking potassium. Drink lots of water. about .55xbodyweight=#of ounces daily.