Injuries or chronic problems related to wood harvesting/splitting

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Hello all,
I did go to Dr. This morning. Seems I have torn an abdominal muscle. Who knew you could even do that? I am told it will heal but I would NOT be splitting anymore wood this year. What I can say to others so they do not go through what I am going through (because this is horrible) is, When your body gives you the first warning. lISTEN.. I tried to play tough guy(girl) and pretend I was ok and keep working. I even got a second warning and even though I did put on a brace I continued working. If I had just took a few weeks off I might not be in this mess. I am told if I am careful. I might be able to split wood next year. ;(
It could of been worse, so I have a plan for this year. I am getting dad a log splitter. I will just pick up the pieces and stack them. :)
Take care everyone, and be careful.

Morning! I'm AS's resident PT. Abdominal muscle strain is certainly the most likely diagnosis given the history you describe (prolly rectus abdominus). Sounds like you would have torn (strained) a small part then opened it up a bit better with repeat swings and trying it again before it had healed. RA flexes the trunk forward so it is contracting hard and fast when you swing an axe, and from a stretched position which puts more stress on the muscle. Fear not, however, it will recover and you'll be swinging again. Healing time varies depending on the severity of the injury - ie. how much healing has to happen - but you're looking at a few weeks for a minor strain to perhaps 5-6 weeks or more for a more severe one. Avoiding using the muscle through all that time is not a winning strategy though for reasons I'll get to. There are three phases of healing:

1. Acute inflammation
2. Healing/granulation
3. Remodelling

People only ever talk about inflammation as though it is a bad thing but it has a crucial role to play in that it clears the decks so healing can start. There is a series of chemical steps that ultimately leads to production of a chemical that (among other things) attracts white blood cells that follow this chemical trail like hounds and they infiltrate the tissue and eat any tissue that displays a damage marker. Once the WBCs run out of damaged tissue to eat, they release a chemical that activates fibrocytes in the area to produce new tissue (phase 2, granulation). So inflammation is important and depending on how much tissue has to be removed will take anywhere from 3 days up to a couple of weeks. During this time, gentle movement is fine but vigorous activity is not - and you probably fell foul of this fact, you would have overstressed the tissue before the inflammation had resolved, let alone healing getting underway.

Once you are into your healing/granulation phase, continued avoidance of use of the muscle is undesirable and this is where resting it too long can lead to a poor longer term outcome. New healing tissue doesn't know what its job is. If allowed to form as it feels like, the new tissue will be disorganised - ie. fibres pointing in all different directions - and this will lead to that area being weaker and also likely tighter than the surrounding muscle tissue which has a more parallel arrangement of fibres lined up in the direction in which the muscle contracts. So it is important that as the injury is healing you start to apply stress to the new tissue so it gets the message that it has to form in a certain way to do a certain job. In the earlier stages the tissue will be relatively weak so gentle stress to start with, and gradually increasing over time as it toughens up. Typically you will have the greatest mass of granulation tissue there after about three weeks, after which it is progressively refined down to its final form (phase 3, remodelling). So, how much stress to apply? Typically, if you can produce 2/10 pain (where 0/10 pain is nothing and 10/10 pain is childbirth pain) in the injured bit, you will be challenging the tissue enough for it to respond but not enough to reinjure it and as time passes and it improves, you'll need to work it harder to produce your 2/10 pain.

You want your healing muscle to accommodate a certain range of movement (flexibility) and to be able to contract hard so you need to challenge it in both respects. So I would suggest giving your inflammatory process a couple of weeks from the most recent injury to work its way through then start doing gentle abdominal crunches (not full sit-ups) with just enough vigor to produce 2/10 pain in the injury site. Go easy on the first few until you work out how hard to go. Over time you'll need to push them harder to get your 2/10. Do 1 lot of 10 repetitions, 3-4 times per day. You'll also need to stretch it (gently!) which you can do lying on your front, hands flat under shoulders like you're going to do press ups, then keeping your hips on the floor, push your top half up so you are arching upwards/backwards which will stretch rectus abdominus. Again, go easy until you find the point where you feel it stretch (not hurt) in your injury point, hold for a few seconds then lower down. Again, 10 reps, 3-4 times per day. I would probably do the crunches first, then the stretches.

When crunches no longer produce any pain no matter how hard you do them, you should progress to doing leg lifts (lie on back, lift legs up to point towards the ceiling). You might need to start doing them with the knees bent to start with to produce 2/10 pain but the leg lifts challenge the rectus abdominus in a more stretched position a bit like the downswing with the axe so it's a good progression but again, I wouldn't do this one until crunches are pain free. When you can do leg lifts with the legs straight and you can push right up with your stretches and there are no symptoms in your injury spot, try some gentle axe swings and see how you go.

How's that?
 
Hmm, lost a bit from that last para...

...I wouldn't do this one until you can do the crunches and the stretches without any pain at all. When you can do leg lifts without any pain, try a few gentle swings with the axe and see how you go.
 
I am a 47 year old female. I was helping my dad in early spring get firewood. I picked up an ax and tried to split a log. I discovered I was a pretty good log splitter even with a plain ax. I just went out an bought a couple new axes. One was a 8lb wood splitting Maul. I love this thing.
I discovered I loved going to the wood and grabbing my maul and splitting a load of wood.
What happened a couple weeks ago caught me off guard. I swung with my maul and felt a sharp pain in my stomach. I tried to swing again. This time was worse. I babied it the rest of the day. The next weekend I wore a back brace and still babied it.
I was feeling much better this weekend. I still had my brace on. On swing three, I was hit with a blinding pain right in the middle of my stomach. It hurt so bad I could not catch my breath. Minutes later it was still bad pain. I rested and decided I would not swing anymore. I did try to pull to start a chainsaw and the pain hit me worse than ever. I was done.
I got home and managed to get a shower. I managed to get into bed with some work. I tried to roll over and could hardly bear the pain. The next morning I could not get up. I had to get my son to come sit me up. I discovered I can no longer use my stomach muscles because it is just to painful.
I do not see a sign of a hernia. I don't really know what to do. I do not have health insurance. I am just hoping the pain gets better if I try to be very careful.
I am sure my wood splitting days are over. I feel broken :(
I have been here except lower in my abdomen.

Whe I was 13 I was riding a bull and got stomped in my belt buckle. After waiting 4 hours in the emergency room to be checked for internal bleeding, (yep) I was diagnosed with extreme muscle tearing.

Years later I got into body building and was in an online competition and trained abs too hard. It tore along old scar tissue while I was playing basketball with my kids.

It hurt like crazy and I was certain I had herniated. Only a tear though it hurt to do anything particularly laughing ir coughing.

In a month or so it went away but not before the swelling and bruising turned my....southern regions black.

It was scary and painful but honestly it was my body readjusting new muscle tissue along a scar that had healed in a bound position.

It was gonna happen sooner or later and sometimes a muscle injury can relieve tension that has been there for years.

Since then my abs are stronger than ever and have had no issue.
 
I am a 47 year old female. I was helping my dad in early spring get firewood. I picked up an ax and tried to split a log. I discovered I was a pretty good log splitter even with a plain ax. I just went out an bought a couple new axes. One was a 8lb wood splitting Maul. I love this thing.
I discovered I loved going to the wood and grabbing my maul and splitting a load of wood.
What happened a couple weeks ago caught me off guard. I swung with my maul and felt a sharp pain in my stomach. I tried to swing again. This time was worse. I babied it the rest of the day. The next weekend I wore a back brace and still babied it.
I was feeling much better this weekend. I still had my brace on. On swing three, I was hit with a blinding pain right in the middle of my stomach. It hurt so bad I could not catch my breath. Minutes later it was still bad pain. I rested and decided I would not swing anymore. I did try to pull to start a chainsaw and the pain hit me worse than ever. I was done.
I got home and managed to get a shower. I managed to get into bed with some work. I tried to roll over and could hardly bear the pain. The next morning I could not get up. I had to get my son to come sit me up. I discovered I can no longer use my stomach muscles because it is just to painful.
I do not see a sign of a hernia. I don't really know what to do. I do not have health insurance. I am just hoping the pain gets better if I try to be very careful.
I am sure my wood splitting days are over. I feel broken :(
Also just so you avoid my childhood scarring issue...

I know it hurts but stretch your abdominal muscles as much as you can during the healing process.

Doctors wont say this and thats why mine tore the second time.

Usually it tears along connective tissue and remaining in a semi leaned forward position can cause the abs to heal in a state of uneven tension, which can lead to future issue.

Try not to slouch at the least.
 
Like a lotta guys on here, I have to watch how I use my back. 57 now, and like already mentioned "gotta know your limitations".
6-1, and about 200# I like my longer bars and the handy hook helps bunches with loading!

In the last few years I have noticed a few oddities, and got a half a opinion from a doctor one day. "get a hernia belt"
I am willing to bet that the right side is bad, the left aint much better. In the last two times out, I put the belt on, snugged it up. Ran 3 tanks first day, wow this thing is telling me something!
Today, I ran 2 tanks with the 064 (28 inch) and then went and got the big truck (two ton) and LOADED the mutha with 2 full cords of GREEN pine. The belt helps a bunch, as I did not get the usual discomfort from walking, lifting, etc. It's on my list of things to get "fixed" one day. I know.... but they like to get paid to do that, and I am low on funds
 
Just coming back on here after a warm fall and too many side projects. Interesting thread

I am a couple of years past 50 (boy that doesn't sound right...!) and have learned to work smarter rather than harder like I used to.
I am feeling a lot more misc. pains after a big job but nothing major from back, arms, legs to deal with yet. As others have noted it is the keeping at it that helps (i.e. it the more I do the better I feel)

One thing I thought would be mentioned already is the tick problem. My area here in PA is about the worst in the country for Lyme disease. I am careful as I can be and have been tested several times with inconclusive results.
Turns out they developed a new, more accurate and sensitive test and sure enough, I came back positive & chronic last month.

Generally felt fatigued, had joint & neck pain, headaches and the overall feeling something is not right.
Know some others from my local area on AS in the past that have dealt with it as well.
 
Just coming back on here after a warm fall and too many side projects. Interesting thread

I am a couple of years past 50 (boy that doesn't sound right...!) and have learned to work smarter rather than harder like I used to.
I am feeling a lot more misc. pains after a big job but nothing major from back, arms, legs to deal with yet. As others have noted it is the keeping at it that helps (ie.e it the more I do the better I feel

One thing I thought would be mentioned already is the tick problem. My area here in PA is about the worst in the country for Lyme disease. I am careful as I can be and have been tested several times with inconclusive results.
Turns out they developed a new, more accurate and sensitive test and sure enough, I came back positive & chronic last month.

Generally felt fatigued, had joint & neck pain, headaches and the overall feeling something is not right.
Know some others from my local area on AS in the past that have dealt with it as well.
I have heard lyme disease is pure hell.
Glad you are better
 
Oh, Lord, the deer ticks are bad around here. I am currently on antibiotics for two that got me a week ago. Little suckers are hard to get off once they latch on. We get them even in January after the temperatures drop into the teens.
 
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