lower back injury

by Ted Moorhead
(Palm Bay, Florida)

I am a 76 year old male. After doing some hoeing in the yard about two weeks ago I began experiencing transient pain in the lower right side of my back. It hurts when I move in certain ways, such as to rise from a sitting position, or when I stretch my neck from right to left. It is a sharp pain, which then subsides when I cease activity.

After the initial phase of the injury, it seemed to get better, but now it has come back with a vengeance to the point that I am quite slow getting around, being careful not to move in such a way as to cause pain.

I read about hip flexor injuries, but the information said the pain from that would be in front, whereas my pain is in the back, coming from near the spine and across the hip.

Could you please suggest what the problem is and how I could best deal with it?

Thank you.