What Would Cause My Back To Lock Up Resulting In Not Being To Straighten It Back Up And Extreme Pain And What Can I Do To Help It
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Whats Causing The Pain
There are two components to this answer and we often see patients whom only address the first layer which creates a vicious cycle of chronic pain or recurring episodes of acute pain. The first component is muscle spans, the issue most likely causing your pain right now. Muscle spasms occur when the large muscles on either side of your spine convulse involuntarily as a way of providing added stability to the spine. Your body uses this as a protective mechanism that can unfortunately cause severe pain.
People who know this typically reach for ice, heat, balms, electrical units, and even muscle relaxants. Its true that getting your muscles to relax will relieve your pain, but theres something else lurking under those muscles that, if left unaddressed, will leave yourself vulnerable to lingering pain or, even worse, another episode of severe lower back pain.
Ii Take The Proper Dose Of Pain Medication
Be careful regarding the risks of relying on painkillers. It is a risk when it is your go to so thats why its not recommended until now and ONLY sometimes.
If the pain is severe and mobility is difficult, muscle relaxants, anti-inflammatory or anti-spasmodic medication may be required. Use with caution and only if needed.
There will be times when a muscle relaxant may seem like the only effective method. Please use caution as these drugs along with other relaxants have their side effects.
Medication will only address the pain, not the source. By not treating the cause, your spasm is very likely to return.
Numbing effect
Pain medication also has a numbing effect . The effect can mislead you to believe that your symptoms have been treated when in reality, you simply cannot feel them. Desensitization may allow you to prematurely return to the activity or lifestyle that may have caused your spasm.
I have heard a lot of people do this too often only to end up with both permanent soft tissue and bone injury. If you numb these areas with drugs, they cant warn you anymore.
When these nerves have become temporarily desensitized, you are more likely to re-injure yourself without your awareness.
Minimize your dosage
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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.
Technically Ibp Causes Night Back Pain Not Morning Back Pain
The morning pain of IBP is actually a case of leftover nighttime symptoms, which wear off as you wake up and get moving. When the symptoms are milder, you will mostly sleep through them, noticing them only when you wake up. But these symptoms will usually be obvious while you are still in bed, as soon as you are conscious or even waking you up early.
In contrast, pain that you dont notice until you actually get up and start trying to move around is less likely to be inflammatory in nature. But these are rules of thumb only, of course theres always lots of exceptions in biology.
Doctors, do not actually try giving this advice to patients! Joke by 9GAG .
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Carefully Move To A Bed Or Comfortable Flat Surface To Remain Temporarilyimmobile
That spasm that you have is a nasty but very clear warning sign that you must not continue to move. Your body is literally locking up to guard you against injuring another part of your back that is weakened or injured.
Although this locked up muscle may hurt as it tightens, it is not usually the source of the injury.
By laying down, you can help to stop triggering these muscles and can reduce the intensity and duration of the pain.
You can lie on the floor using cushions and pillows as a support and just be patient. Its better for you to focus on being somewhere calm so you can make yourself the priority.
Remember though that this is only a temporary measure as prolonged immobility could make things worse.
Did your contraction happen while reaching for, or lifting something? Did it happen just out of the blue and during a very simple activity? If so, you should follow this One Simple Rule to help reduce your chances of back spasms.
If Youre Experiencing Back Pain Let Us Help You
At Spine Works Institute, we take pride in helping patients through safe and natural therapies. We have an entire team of physical therapists, chiropractors, massage therapists, and other healthcare professionals who are ready to assist you.
Call us at 616-0700 to schedule an appointment, or learn more about our practice here.
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How Do You Strengthen Your Lower Back
If youre trying to fix that nagging back painor more importantly prevent ittry the following strength exercises and lower back stretches, demonstrated by Hollis Tuttle, certified personal trainer and run coach in New York City. Add this routine to your workouts one to two times per week. As always, consult with your doctor before starting any new exercise routine to ensure its safe for your condition.
How to use this list: Complete 3 to 5 sets of the following exercises in order. Perform each exercise for the specified number of reps or seconds, resting for 30 seconds between exercises. Add these moves to your routine 2 to 3 times per week. You will need a large stability ball and an exercise mat.
Visit A Chiropractor Or A Massage Therapist
Chiropractors work to keep the body aligned by adjusting the spine. If your back is bothering you a chiropractor can apply some adjustments to get you back in shape and ease your pain.
A massage therapist can give you a massage to help alleviate some of the tensions from the pulled or strained muscles.
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The 6 Big Causes Of Morning Back Pain
Myths About The Causes Of Morning Back Pain
There are some popular ideas about what causes back pain that are probably wrong :
All of these causes are discussed below, along with many treatment options and suggestions. Click the green headings above to jump down to a section.
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I Would Like To Talk Through What To Do If This Happens To You
Whats Causing The Muscle Spasms
People will often blame the movement, suspecting they simply made one wrong move such as bending over with bad mechanics. This is probably true, especially in situations outside of what you ordinarily do, but for things youve done a million times before, like reaching for your shoes or unloading the dishwasher, why this time and why now?
Perhaps youre thinking spinal disc herniation. But were here to tell you that making one wrong movement usually is not the root cause of a herniated disc. An acute disc herniation would typically require more forceful impact such as an industrial accident or car collision. Otherwise, there are two explanations for the everyday disc herniation: cumulative injury and genetics both of these involve the disc slowly herniating over time. Slowly herniating discs are an underlying issue that go undiagnosed in up to 63% of individuals whom experience little to no pain despite their MRIs revealing one or more herniated discs. Understanding acute spinal disc herniation makes this aforementioned scenario entirely plausible.
For example, lets say youve had a herniated disc for years without knowing about it. Then one day you finally moved in such a way that the disc became more compressed than usual or the disc pressed onto a nearby nerve triggering a protective yet painful response by your body.
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What Causes A Low Back Spasm
In our muscles and ligaments, we have stretch receptors and what they do is they send information constantly to the brain in terms of where the muscle is, what kind of tension or load its under and what position its in.
These little receptors are called Golgi Tendon Organs and they fire and send information to a particular part of the brain called the cerebellum, which is right at the back. When they are over stimulated often the brain responds with a protective guarding event. So, if it feels that the area is going to become injured or strained it will lock that area with a preventative spasm to stop you from doing more damage.
Now that locking mechanism is extremely painful and its painful because its there to stop you from doing harm to yourself. Often peoples backs go into spasm first thing in the morning because the relationship between the muscle and the brain in some respects becomes disconnected whilst were sleeping.
We leap out of bed in the morning, throw back the duvet and all of a sudden theres a rush of stimulation from the Golgi tendon organs to the brain, the brain becomes overwhelmed and then preventively it locks everything up and throws the back into a protective spasm because its concerned that youre going to do something that you shouldnt.
Treating Lower Back Pain: How Much Bed Rest Is Too Much
Back pain is one of the most common reasons why people visit a health care provider. The good news is that the pain often goes away on its own, and people usually recover in a week or two. Many people want to stay in bed when their back hurts. For many years, getting bed rest was the normal advice. But current studies recommend no bed rest at all and stress that staying in bed longer than 48 hours not only wont help but it may, in fact, actually delay your recovery. Heres why:
Staying in bed wont help you get better faster.If youre in terrible pain, lying down for a day to help ease the distress may seem like a good idea, but moderating your activities and staying active in a limited way is a more effective way to control your symptoms. Research suggests that if you can find comfortable positions and keep moving, you may not need bed rest at all.Research shows that:
- Lying down longer than a day or two day isnt helpful for relieving back pain.
- People can recover more quickly without any bed rest.
- The sooner you start moving, even a little bit, or return to activities such as walking, the faster you are likely to improve.
Who needs bed rest?Almost no one! The only people who might require time in bed are those with unstable spinal fractures awaiting surgery.
When should I see a health care provider?You should see your health care provider right away if:
- Heat or ice
- Ultrasound
- Manipulation
Check with your health care provider before starting an exercise program.
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Why Does My Back Keep Locking Up
March 22, 2017 by Dr. Andy Masis, PT
When your back keeps locking up on a regular basis, it can be difficult to complete your day-to-day tasks. The problem is, there are a lot of potential factors that could be causing your back to lock up and getting to the root cause is absolutely essential to successful treatment. In this physical therapy education article we are going to talk about the potential reasons why your back keeps locking up and how physical therapy can help remedy the issue.
Stability Ball Back Extension
Start facedown on a stability ball with feet resting on floor and core engaged so body forms a straight line. Keeping your back naturally arched, place hands behind ears and lower your upper body as far as you comfortably can. Squeeze glutes and engage back to and raise your torso until its in line with your lower body. Pause, then slowly lower your torso back to the starting position. Repeat for 12 to 15 reps.
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Why Does My Lower Back Hurt When I Stand Too Long
While there are many underlying reasons for back pain during prolonged standing, the precipitating cause is usually postural. When you stand for a length of time, your pelvis is often pushed backward, increasing the curve of your lower back . This puts increased pressure on the soft tissues surrounding the spine, causing your lower back muscles to tighten or even spasm, resulting in pain in the joints and nerves of your spine.
At Long Island Spine Rehabilitation Medicine, we have a strong track record of diagnosing the causes of back pain accurately and treating them successfully without surgery. Our pain management doctors help patients feel more comfortable and move more easily whether their back pain is due to injury, aging, congenital malformations, or a disease condition. If you experience pain when standing or walking, we can evaluate your problem and offer you a variety of treatment options.
You May Need To See Your Doctor For These Potential Underlying Illnesses
Dont just treat a back spasm as temporary discomfort. It may not merely be muscular in nature as they are often a big warning sign.
There may be something more serious that you are not aware of. This may be what your body could be reacting to.
In cases where treatment does not help, it is possible that you may have a disc issue such and a bulge or herniated disc. It is important to know when you should see a doctor to diagnose any serious injury that may be an underlying cause.
- Herniated Disc
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The Muscles Can Spasm In Response To An Underlying Anatomical Problem
When these or other underlying anatomical problems are present in the spine, muscle spasms are likely to keep recurring due to ongoing inflammation or instability. It is important to seek medical attention to treat the underlying cause of your symptoms, rather than just treating the symptoms.
