What can help my lower back pain?

Lower back pain is something that can affect people of all ages, and is one of the most common complaints at the GPs practice.
However, just because lower back pain is common doesn’t mean it should be tolerated on a daily basis.  Massage for lower back pain can provide significant relief for tired, painful, compressed muscles. With targeted massage therapy, lower back pain may be controlled and eased for long-term recovery.
The symptoms of lower back pain include:

  • Dull, aching pain: This can also be accompanied by muscle spasms in the lower back area including the base of the spine, the pelvis, and hips.
  • Pain after sitting: Sitting for prolonged periods puts pressure on the disks, causing symptoms to worsen when seated.
  • Pain that is worse upon waking up: Many people report lower back pain that is worse when waking up, but often find it subsides after moving around or when changing positions.

 

 

 

If you have lower back pain you may want to try the following:

  • stay active and try to continue with your daily activities
  • use an ice pack (or bag of frozen peas) wrapped in a tea towel to reduce pain and swelling
  • use a heat pack (or hot water bottle) wrapped in a tea towel to relieve joint stiffness or muscle spasms
  • resist the temptation to spend prolonged periods in bed

Massage therapy can alleviate lower back pain by reducing muscle tension and inducing a state of relaxation.  If you are suffering from lower back why not book a massage now.

 

Related Posts

  • Tips for Triathletes

    It is important to warm up properly before you perform any exercise, especially training for a Triathlon. A proper warm-up routine should last for a minimum of 10 minutes and is the most useful cause of helping prevent injury.

    • Start with a few minutes of gentle exercise, such as walking or jogging, to get the blood flowing to your muscles.
    • Steadily increase the pace until you are running briskly.
    • Once your muscles are warm, do some gentle stretching exercises, paying particular attention to the muscle groups that you will be using. With Triathletes, focusing on your legs and back is a good start. During the running and cycling stages, these will be key to your injury prevention. Make sure you warm your legs by the above process and then make sure all hamstrings, quads and calves are stretched well. You must only begin more vigorous activity after you have warmed up and stretched thoroughly.
      Also to recognise:
    • Always drink plenty of water when you exercise to prevent dehydration. If you become dehydrated, your physical and mental fitness will be altered.
    • Make sure you wear the proper attire for training and during the event. Lightweight breathable clothing can help prevent water retention in clothing creating more weight on the body.
    • Correct and secure footwear is also essential. Inspect the footwear before running, if worn in a particular angle, get new shoes. Continuing to run with this footwear can cause pronating or supinating of the angle. This could then lead to an ankle injury or potential ligament damage of the ankle.
    • Correct thickness and fitted socks to avoid blisters
      When you have finished exercising, cool down properly with 5–10 minutes:
    • Light aerobic activity, such as easy running, jogging or walking for a period of time
    • A gentle cool down will help remove the waste products that have built up in your muscles, leaving you with less muscle stiffness and soreness afterwards.
    • Some gentle stretching, focusing on the muscle groups you have used during exercise.
    • If you have exercised for a while a sports massage within 5 days after a vigorous work out, will help to remove the lactic acid (waste product) and prevent muscle stiffness and prevent injury or cause scar tissue on any affected areas of the body that could be in pain after a triathlon.

  • Hip Pain

    Hip pain is common problem, and it can be confusing because there are many causes.  The most common cause of Hip Pain is arthritis for which you will need to see your GP for them to advise on the best treatment option of you. Trochanteric Bursitis Trochanteric bursitis is an extremely common problem that causes inflammation of the bursa, which is a protective cusion over the outside of the hip joint.  There are two main bursa which protect the hip joint, the superficial trochanteric bursa and the deep trochanteric bursa.  The superficial trochanteric bursa lies beneath the tensor fasciae latae (one of the muscles on the side of your hip) and the deep trochanteric bursa lies beneath the the largest of your glutes (gluteus maximus) both of the these muscles insert in to the Iliotibial Band (ITB).  Reduced flexibility in your gluteus maximus, tensor fasciae latae or ITB can cause trochanteric bursitis, from too much cycling or running or from running on uneven surfaces.  Another common cause is some women is an imbalance between your abductor and adductor muscles.  Trochanteric bursitis can also be caused by clients altering their posture as a result of a previous back injury. In all these cases a deep tissue or sports massage can help.  However if the cause is walking with more weight going through the outside of your foot (excessive foot eversion) then your make need to see a podiatrist for personalized orthotics. Hip Flexors Illiopsoas the main hip flexor, shortens when we sit down, so prolonged sitting can cause contracture (anatomical shortening) which can cause either lower back or hip pain.  I have personally found this to be a common cause of hip pain which can be successfully treated with deep tissue or sports massage. If you experience lower back or hip pain when standing up from a seated position then rectus femoris which is one your largest quadriceps muscle make be tight and/or your gluteus maximus which is the other muscle which helps your stand from a seated position may be weak.  If you suspect you have weak glutes you can strengthen them with squats and lunges. Fractures Hip fractures are common in the elderly with osteoporosis.  Stress fractures of the hip are common in people who participate in high impact sports e.g. long distance running, treatment is usually to avoid the high impact sport and this is usually successfully. When should I see my GP about my hip pain?  

    • Inability to walk comfortably on the affected side
    • Injury that causes deformity around the joint
    • Hip pain that occurs at night or while resting
    • Hip pain that persists beyond a few days
    • Inability to bend the hip
    • Swelling of the hip or the thigh area
    • Signs of an infection, including fever, redness, warmth
    • Any other unusual symptoms
      If you want to know if Vitality Therapy can help you with your hip pain then please email joanne@vitalitytherapy.co.uk.

  • Does massage help tense muscles or muscle soreness?

    A lot of clients visit it us in clinic with tense muscles, which over time can lead to achy muscles and this in turn can then lead to episodes of muscle pain.  Muscle tension refers to the condition in which muscles of the body remain semi-contracted for an extended period.  Muscle tension is frequently caused by the physiological effects of stress.  Massage is well documented to reduce muscle tension  (see top two references).  In addition what is also known to help are

    1. hot baths
    2. yoga
    3. stretching
    Muscle soreness, or to be more precise delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) is the stiffness and sometimes pain felt in muscles 24 to 72 hours after exercise, sporting or physical activity.  If you are someone that is prone to DOMS reading my previous blog posts may help: Many athletes believe that sports massage helps DOMS and there is scientific evidence to supports this.  (See bottom 4 references). References Longworth JCD.  Psychophysiological effects of slow stroke back massage in normotensive females.  Advances in Nursing Science. 1982 July: 44 - 66 Valentine KE. Massage in psychological medicine - modern use of an ancient art.  New Zealand Journal of Physiotherapy. 1984; 12: 15 - 16 Ernst E. Does post-exercise massage treatment reduce delayed onset muscle soreness? A systematic review. Br J Sports Med 1998; 32(3): 212-4. Ernst E. Manual therapies for pain control: chiropractic and massage. Clin J Pain 2004; 20(1):8-12. O'Connor R, Hurley D. The effectiveness of physiotherapeutic interventions in the management of delayed-onset muscle soreness: a systematic review. Phys Ther Rev 2003; 8(4): 177-95. Wright A, Sluka K. Nonpharmacological treatments for musculoskeletal pain. Clin J Pain 2001; 17(1): 33-46.