Causes Of Lower Back Spasms
Back spasms can be the result of injuries to the muscles, tendons, and ligaments in the back, or they can be related to more serious medical conditions. Heavy lifting is a common cause of back spasms.
In addition to heavy lifting, any activity that puts excessive strain on the muscles and ligaments in the lower back can cause an injury. Sports such as football and golf can lead to back spasms because they demand that the back turn suddenly and repeatedly.
Your back muscles may be more vulnerable if you have weak abdominal muscles, which help support the back. Weak or stiff muscles in the back itself can be injured more easily than muscles that are stronger and more limber.
Back spasms may occur if you have arthritis or a ruptured disc in your spine. Arthritis in the lower back can put pressure on the spinal cord, which may cause pain in the back and the legs. A ruptured or bulging disc in the vertebrae may also pressure a nerve and result in back pain.
How To Be Flexible
Becoming more flexible can reduce tension and tightness that can cause back pain. You want to put an equal load throughout your body, from feet to head. Sit on the edge of the bed with one leg extended on the bed and the other foot on the floor. Gently lean forward. This stretches your hamstrings in the back of the thigh. Switch legs. Repeat.
Prompt: Are you flexible?
CTA: How to boost flexibility.
Conditions: back pain
Symptoms: pain, weakness, stiffness, aching, burning, muscle pain, pain when standing, pain with movement, lower back pain, upper back pain
Triggers:
What To Do About Lower Back Pain
Most of the time lower back pain is a result of daily stress and weak muscles. Sometimes it is a spasm caused by an accident or just putting on your socks in the morning.
You might start with some tried and true home remedies like ice, massage, or over the counter medications, then modify your exercise routine and lower the intensity of your work out. Pay careful attention to the pain when it happens, and what you are doing. If the pain gets worse or doesnt go away within 72 hours, a trip to see one of our physicians at OrthoNY may be in order.
If this is indeed a chronic issue, you may already have a physical therapist you can turn to for help. The worst thing you can do is to ignore it or think you can work it out.
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Chiropractic Care & Acupuncture
Chiropractic care is another popular natural treatment for back pain due to sudden muscle spasms.
In a chiropractic care center, chiropractors use techniques like palpation, pressure, massage, manual manipulation of the spine, exercise programs and lifestyle counseling. Together, these techniques help reduce pain, swelling and inflammation.
Consult a doctor of chiropractic medicine for proper treatment, depending on the exact cause of your muscle spasm.
Like chiropractic care, acupuncture is another effective option to treat back muscle spasms.
In acupuncture, certain points on the body are stimulated with acupuncture needles to help relax the tight muscles. This in turn reduces pain and inflammation.
Always have acupuncture done by a skilled and experienced acupuncturist.
Additional Tips
Muscle Spasm Lower Back:
When you feel pain in the lower back during muscle contracting or moving, it is indicated as a muscle spasm in the lower back.This spasm is produce dull ache-like pain during movement, also the feeling of sharp pain in a specific location & any combination of these painful sensations.
This spasm is produced due to many reasons or causes like muscle overuse, poor posture & muscle sprains, and strains.When you experience recurring & worsening spasms you must need to a doctor for an assessment.
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Ways To Relieve A Back Spasm
Several home remedies can provide relief for back spasms, especially in the early stages of the condition. A simple shift in your daily habits such as exercising regularly and good posture will set you on the right road to recovery. Common relief methods for back spasms include:
Lets get into the specifics of each remedy in detail.
What To Do When You Throw Your Back Out
As a major support structure for your body, your back needs to be in good condition for you to complete most everyday tasks. When you throw your back out, you can suddenly and unexpectedly experience acute pain and find your mobility severely limited.
As we age, the cumulative wear and tear on our backs can leave us more susceptible to injury. Preventing and quickly treating back injuries is critical to keep your body healthy and moving well into your advanced years. It is important to discuss any serious back pain or unexpected symptoms with an orthopaedic spine specialist to avoid exacerbating an injury or causing permanent damage.
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Swiss Ball Back Extensions
This exercise helps back spasms and pain by strengthening the back muscles.
Start on all fours with your back neutrally aligned with a Swiss ball under your stomach. Tighten your stomach again and then extend backward like you are flying like superman. Try and hold for 2-3 seconds and then relax again over the top of the swiss ball. Only go as high as you can before the pain starts and then relax. You should be able to eventually get to a fully straight position.
Exercise To Loosen Muscles
Although it may seem counterintuitive to exercise when lower back pain is causing you grief, the right kind of movement can help eliminate the discomfort. Its always important to consult your physician before you engage in exercise when you have pain, but this conversation is well worth having if youre suffering.
First, you should keep in mind that not all exercise is beneficial in combating back pain. Try to avoid toe-touch exercises and sit-ups, which may add to the stress on your spine instead of relieving it. Leg lifts are another exercise to stay away from when you are hurting. If your core is not strong, leg lifts could be too demanding on your body if youre already experiencing pain.
Several types of exercises can be useful when you need to relieve back pain. Partial crunches can aid in strengthening your core without applying too much pressure to the area. Slow and controlled wall-sit exercises may also be useful. Other repetitions to consider include bringing each knee to the chest in succession, pelvic tilts, and swimming.
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Stretching The Area Of The Spasm
Common back stretches for back spasms include the tennis ball stretch, foam roller stretch, and exercise ball stretch.
How to Do Tennis Ball Stretches
How to Do the Foam Roller Stretch
How to Do Exercise Ball Stretches
Inhale Slowly And Deeply For A Count Of 5 Seconds Pause 1 Second And Exhale 3
Visualization will help by imagining a tight knot being unraveled as you inhale. Picture the muscles extending as you inhale to stretch your rib cage fully.
As the muscles are contracting intensely, they are also over contracting, making it counter-productive.
Since you have already stopped moving, you are now trying to shut off the muscles need also to do this. Breathing deeply is key to relaxing a muscle which is becoming progressively shorter and more painful.
As you try to relax, avoid any movements that allow the muscle to shorten
Because of the intensity, duration and source of the injury, it is natural to react and to contract your body further. Even unwillingly.
To avoid this, focus on slowly inhaling while at the same time minimizing your movements. When in contraction, the reduced circulation and the build up of lactic acid makes you feel much worse.
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Pathologic Causes Of A Back Spasm
Back spasms can be a response to the effects of another existing condition of the back or other area of the body.
Conditions that can eventually lead to back spasms include:
- conditions of the nerves and spinal cord, including sciatica, cauda equina syndrome, spinal stenosis, or spondylolisthesis
- compression of the nerves around the back
- inflammation of the spinal nerves
- infection of the nerves or spinal cord
- congenital conditions such as spina bifida or skeletal irregularities like scoliosis
- degenerative problems including intervertebral disc degeneration, spondylosis, and inflammatory diseases such as arthritis
- injury or sprain to the back or spine
- compression fractures of the vertebrae
- a ruptured disc
Conditions that may also cause back pain and spasms but have a root cause stemming from a bodily system apart from the spine include:
Complications of some diseases that can trigger back spasms can also present a risk to life.
Pulled Back Muscle Recovery Time
A pulled back muscle may take anywhere from days to weeks to achieve a full recovery.6
Doctors assign a grade to sprains as a measure of severity. Grade 1 means that there is slight stretching in the ligament. Grade 2 means there is minimal tearing. Grade 3 means there is significant tearing.7 Strains follow a similar grading scale. More severe strains and sprains take longer to heal.8
Proper treatment may help speed recovery. To try and recover as quickly as possible, consider a proactive treatment approach that includes physical therapy and the techniques described below.9
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How Do You Throw Your Back Out
Throwing out your back generally means you have temporarily pulled or sprained a muscle in your back, often in the lumbar region. There are numerous ways in which you can throw your back out, including:
- Twisting your back
- Lack of proper back support for long periods of time
- Bodily stress or impact from sports
Muscle sprains are the primary cause of the pain of a thrown-out back. Discomfort can also occur when other structural parts of the back are damaged, such as blood vessels, ligaments and tendons.
First Aid For Back Spasms
When your back begins to spasm, these first aid at-home treatments may help relax the muscle, relieve pain and promote healing.
Subhed: Causes of back spasms: Perm J. . Treating Vitamin D Deficiency and Insufficiency in Chronic Neck and Back Pain and Muscle Spasm: A Case Series. https://www.thepermanentejournal.org/doi/10.7812/TPP/18.241
Subhed: Causes of back spasms: McGill University.. Magnesium: The often forgotten mineral. https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/health/magnesium#:~:text=Patients%20with%20low%20magnesium%20levels,can%20also%20cause%20muscle%20spasm
Subhed: Causes of back spasms: Australian Government Department of Health. . Potassium deficiency. https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/potassium-deficiency
Subhed: Causes of back spasms: Arthritis Res Ther. . Physical inactivity is associated with narrower lumbar intervertebral discs, high fat content of paraspinal muscles and low back pain and disability. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13075-015-0629-y
Subhed: Causes of back spasms: PLoS One. . Scoping review and interpretation of myofascial pain/fibromyalgia syndrome: An attempt to assemble a medical puzzle. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0263087
Subhed: Causes of back spasms: Oman Med J. . Fibromyalgia syndrome: an overview of pathophysiology, diagnosis and management. https://www.omjournal.org/articleDetails.aspx?coType=1& aId=234
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Answers To Common Back Pain Questions
More than eight in 10 people will experience upper, mid, or low back pain at some point in their lives. Low back pain is the most common back pain. In most cases, the pain goes away over time. If your back pain is severe or does not improve, you may need medical care. Here are answers to some common questions about back pain and tips on when to seek help.
What Other Symptoms Might Occur With A Back Spasm
A back spasm may accompany other symptoms that vary depending on the underlying disease, disorder, or condition.
Symptoms that frequently affect the back may also involve other body systems.
Problems with the back can cause other symptoms to appear with back spasms, including:
- stiffness, sometimes after rest or sleep
- pain in the back that cause a hot, burning, shooting, or stabbing sensation in one or both legs
- paresthesia, a tingling or numb feeling also known as pins and needles
- back painthat varies over time, coming and going
- pain that alleviates with activity
- pain that radiates into other areas of the body, such as the buttocks, legs, or hips
- pain that increases when bending or lifting
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Treating Back Spasms With Your Highett Physio
Treating back spasms depends on the root cause of your spasms. If your back muscles can handle it however, we generally recommend physical therapy.
Back physiotherapy focuses on building strength in your back, building your back muscles up so that they can better handle strain.
In particular, youll want to
Start These 2 Simple But Very Effective Exercises Now
What you can do now at this point is to practice these 2 simple exercises. They are among many specific and targeted exercises from the eBook which are the Seated Twist and the Lying Twist. They will help you both to loosen, strengthen and stabilize your spine, making it much easier for you to turn and reach to avoid triggering another spasm.
Reducing your back spasms will also reduce muscle guarding, a major factor which causes many to suffer from recurring pain in the morning.
The Seated and Lying Twist exercises help to release tight, lower back muscles which can fatigue and trigger a spasm. If you suffer from them, you may find that even these simple movements can be difficult to execute in full range.
As with all exercises, dont force yourself to perform the full stretch right away. You may cause more pain by doing this. Work your way up one degree or inch at a time very slowly over several days. Remember, your body is NOT accustomed to such movement.
It is common to trigger yourself by reaching or moving in a twisted position due to excessive tightness. They can strike during even the most mundane and simple of action such as reaching for a pen on the floor. These exercises help you to improve these tight areas to protect you.
- Dont Bend and Lift the Wrong Way. Try a Safer Way to Lift.
STRETCH AND STRENGTHEN THE MUSCLES THAT ARE PRONE TO SPASM WHILE CONDITIONING THE CORE MUSCLES THAT PROTECT YOU
Back spasms are NOT a quick fix problem.
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A Stability Ball Stretch
If you have access to an exercise ball or stability ball, you can also use it for a gentle back stretch. Simply drape yourself face down over the ball and take a few deep breaths, relaxing as you feel gravity pull you into a gentle stretch. As you might imagine, these large, air-filled balls have a tendency to roll, so if you want extra stability, you can pin the ball between two chairs.
When To See A Doctor
Muscle cramps and spasms can happen to anyone in any muscle that you consciously control. Muscle fatigue, working out in the heat, dehydration and not properly warming up before you exercise are all common causes. Some medications may also predispose you to muscle spasms and cramps.
With that said, if your back spasms are frequent and severe, if they don’t respond to stretching and exercise, if they’re not clearly connected to a common cause , or if you think they were caused by a fall or other traumatic injury, you should see a doctor for further treatment. Your doctor can also rule out any other medical conditions that might be responsible for your discomfort.
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What Is A Back Spasm
A back spasm is a sudden sharp pain caused by the involuntary contraction of your back muscles. Its difficult to pinpoint the exact reasons why this happens, although experts suggest that sleeping awkwardly, bending, lifting, standing, or sitting can all be causes. Back spasms can also be caused by injuries or overworking.
Typically, back spasms ease with time and require light home treatment. For example, massaging your back with an ice pack or hot water can provide significant relief. Changing your habits and avoiding strenuous exercises that put pressure on your back muscles are other practices you can embrace for back spasm recovery.
Oftentimes, engaging in normal activities will help you recover from back muscle spasms. However, if you have pre-existing medical conditions, you will require additional care and medical advice.
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