“I’ve Hurt My Low Back, What Do I Do?”

This is one of the most commonly heard phrases when someone tweaks their back or they are laid up and can’t move.

Every back injury is different and this post will not be a sure fire way to help everyone, but there will be some valuable tips here to learn from that may be able to help you if you ever find yourself hurting your low back and not knowing what to do. If you have dealt with low back pain in the past and are looking to get back to lifting, we have another great post about how to get back to lifting HERE.

Let’s get right to it.

Tip #1: Don’t Stop Moving

This may sound facetious, but we tell our athletes and clients who are dealing with an acute case of low back pain to stay moving. What we mean by this is not to stay laid up for hours on end. A common misconception is that people should lay down on the couch or sit in a chair until this episode passes. Furthest from the truth. From someone who has dealt with debilitating low back pain, you will most likely feel worse if you don’t move around.

We advise our athletes and clients at Move Strong Physical Therapy inside of Cressey Sports Performance in Hudson, MA to get up and move around every 30 minutes. This can help mitigate some of the effects of prolonged sitting, lying down, etc. Motion is lotion and moving around can actually help you feel better. This will obviously present some challenges when you go to sleep and get up in the morning as you are immobile for 7-9 hours, but some of the other tips we have later in this post can help with that.

2. Don’t Put Gas on the Fire

This is a saying or phase we like to use when it comes to most injuries. Don’t make the pain or injury worse by constantly irritating your symptoms. Now, there comes a time and a place after the acute phase of an injury has subsided where we may want our athletes and clients working through some discomfort. After an acute low back injury, we don’t want someone working through this.

We will typically advise athlete and clients to put water on the fire. What this means is to do movements that feel good and don’t exacerbate or increase your symptoms. Nice and easy movements that feel good and provide you relief after you are done performing them. If a movement feels good while doing it, but right after or minutes/hours later, symptoms are worse, that movement or exercise may not be the best for you.

3. Move

Even though we already touched on getting up and moving around, here are a few exercises we will like to offer athletes and clients when they are dealing with acute low back pain. Again, these aren’t a fix for everyone, so if they worsen symptoms, stop.

Quadruped Hip ER Mob

Key Points

• Go on your hands and knees

• Place right foot behind left knee or left foot behind right knee as shown.

• Push right hip back towards 4 o’clock to 530 until a stretch is felt in your butt/glute if your right foot is behind your left knee.

• Push left hip back towards 7 o’clock to 830 until a stretch is felt in your butt/glute if your left foot is behind your right knee.

90/90 Hip Lift

Key Points:

• Lie on your back with your knees over your hips and feet on a bench.

• Lift your tailbone slightly off the ground. Enough to slide a credit card or cell phone underneath.

• Hold this position for 3-5 deep breaths.

• Then lower and repeat for 3-5 reps.

1/2 Kneeling Couch Stretch

Key Points:

• Place foot up on couch or low box/step.

• Stack shoulders, hips and knees on top of each other.

• Stretch should be felt in quad/hip flexors. Hold x 30 seconds

• If you are not feeling a stretch, try squeezing your butt or pressing your hands into your knee.

Cat/Camel or Cat/Cow

Key Points:

• Perform without a band.

• Comfortably arch and round your back.

• Start with small movements up and down and then increase as they feel better.

• If the movement is painful, don’t push through the pain.

If you have gotten through an acute phase of low back pain and are looking to get back to working out again, make sure to check out some other informative posts we have HERE.

The tips mentioned above are just a few options when it comes to helping provide some relief when dealing with acute low back pain. If any of these movements or tips intensify or make your symptoms worse, stop.

If you are currently dealing with low back pain, we can help. Click HERE to get started on taking that first step to move pain-free again.

Or, set up an appointment! We provide physical therapy in Hudson, MA.