My lower back has been absolutely killing me today. Does anyone know of any remedies I could try to address it? I’m trying an ice pack and fixing my sitting posture right now, will be sleeping on my side to relieve pressure on it tonight, but is there anything else I could attempt?
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I may be an outlier here, but stretching aggravates my lower back. I have a little bit of a scoliosis type thing though.
What I find works for me is back strengthening exercises. Low weight and high reps. I never have back problems when I’m doing that consistently.
First go with an anti-inflammatory for a few days. But you may want to try PT. If insurance doesn’t cover it you can find a lot of videos on YouTube by PTs to address back pain
That’s tricky because lower back pain can be due to many things.
If it’s related to muscle tenseness, have you tried stretching? Dynamic side stretches first to warm the area up, then more sustained holds. I find a combination of side stretches, sustained cobra pose, child’s pose, some squats and that hamstring stretch one does while lying down can help.
Not an immediate remedy, but my input here is not to mistake rest for healing.If your back pain is muscle related, rest may relieve the pain, but will also continue to allow those muscles to atrophy, potentially seeing you up for more pain. Active recovery, building back the strength of those muscles, can be very important if this is the cause of your pain.
In the end, a doctor of some sort will be your best bet for finding out the root cause of your pain, and generally the appropriate way to address it.
Fully agree. A physio once used an analogy which really resonated with me: think of your spine as the main pole in a tent. If the ropes are loose, it’ll be wobbly. When the ropes are tensioned properly the tent is solid.
If your problem is related to posture or being sedentary a lot (a common first-world problem) then gently rebuilding the strength in the muscles in your back will tension the guy ropes and make better posture happen naturally, often reducing pain at the same time.
Not medical advice - even gentle exercise could be exactly wrong for whatever ails you! But that analogy helped me understand that resting isn’t automatically good, even if it feels nice at the time.
It really depends what your back pain is from. If you’ve thrown out your back you might need physical therapy or an adjustment before it starts feeling better. Ice definitely helps if it’s muscular. I’ve been on the mend myself this last week from lifting something poorly. https://youtu.be/K8SD47gLB-I here’s the yoga video I always go back to when I do this to myself, usually about once a year.
I like to do yoga, not like full-on sweaty, get the mat out, kind of yoga, more like stretching but some of the stretches are yoga poses so if you like doing regular stretches then yoga may interest you.
That being said, I like to call them stretches because they’re fast and they help with my back pain as well as with my mood. The mood part is subjective but I’ve seen some interesting science regarding stretching regularly and mood regulation.
Things like touching your toes, sitting down and doing the same, or other poses like in this video:
Not gonna promise anything but getting up and really, really stretching my muscles loose, even just my arms, helps with pain. Much of my pain may be psychosomatic but I did a lot of factory/foundry work and the back pain is definitely setting in.
My back pain is generally much more related to my legs than I expect. Like others here are suggesting I’ve had good luck with yoga and stretching, but I’ve had the most success with poses that stretch my glutes, thighs, and calves.
Seconding this. A doctor showed me one stretch for the backs of my upper legs that got rid of my back pain. Follow the other advice here and see a doctor if it’s bad, but leg stretches are free and easy so it’s worth a try.
Stand on one leg and put your other leg up straight on a surface like a chair or bed so your legs are pointing at 6 and 3 on a clock. Keep your raised leg straight so your toes are pointing at the ceiling (not bent at the knee or twisted). Lean into it as much as you can while keeping both legs totally straight.
It doesn’t seem like much of a stretch, but if it’s hard to do, that may be your problem muscle group that’s locked up and causing the pain.
As others have said it depends on the cause. But something to think about is that if you’re an office worker or sit in a chair for long periods your core/abs are probably weak. This could lead to lower back pain. Strengthening these muscles (core/abs) might help as they support your spine as well.
Obviously this will take time and won’t immediately reduce pain but could stop it reoccurring.
Look up multifidus exercises. I think they do help some with back stability problems if you do them consistently.
I’ve been a fellow sufferer of lower back pain myself.
Try this.A back doctor taught me the technique, but I found this YouTube channel that has the same style of stretching.
EDIT: Also, I think you’re supposed to apply heat, not cold, to a muscle spasm.
Try applying heat for five-ten minutes, then lay on the floor and do the stretch.will be sleeping on my side to relieve pressure on it tonight
In this position it helps to additionally put a pillow between your knees to keep your legs aligned (and thus prevent lower back from being tweaked toward your sides).
I like body or king size pillows for this
Sitting yoga, talking a walk, lying flat on the ground and not a mattress for a while, changing seating position often, getting a better chair, static stretching, light aerobics, swimming.
It really depends on the cause. For me the answer was flat shoes and a foam roller. But I know plenty of people who that didn’t work for.
I would definitely take an anti-inflammatory of some kind. Also, something heat is the answer, not ice, but again it depends.
I second the flat shoes, also helped my knee pain. I also like my cervical neck device, which helps move tension out of the neck and back and can help with lower back pain. Don’t forget to check your chair or your mattress, too. My philosophy is to always invest money in the things that separate me from the ground. You can also work on strengthening your TVA to help support the lower back, as well.
Honeslty - see a doctor.
The advice peole are offering here will either help or do nothing or make your problem worse and if you try all of them - chances are pretty high you’ll stumble across one that will make it worse.
Your pain is a symptom, not a problem. You need to find out what the problem is before you can fix it.
Thank you for saying this! My tail bone doesn’t bend with the rest of my spine and I wanted to say what helps me, but stopped myself. What helps me (primarily things that force a curve in my lower back), is probably going to make a lot of back issues worse. Gotta figure out the cause before coming up with a solution.
