Most of us have uttered this statement. 80% of the world’s population will experience back pain at least once in their lifetime.
This “Oww, I hurt my back” statement is that initial moment when you feel something just happened and things are hurting. Whether it be in the gym working out or just doing something around the house, this feeling can obviously hurt, but also be very unnerving and upsetting.
We question ourselves “what did I do?” or “I shouldn’t have done that”.
Typically, when we work with clients and athletes at Cressey Sports Performance in Hudson, MA, most people have gotten over the acute injury and have waited a few weeks to seek out treatment.
But, what do you do when it just happened and you want to get some pain relief?
Well, in today’s post, we are going to discuss some tips on how to help yourself after that initial tweak and what to do to get some relief.
DISCLAIMER: If you have suffered some type of injury or trauma, seek out a medical provider. Visit the emergency room or your primary care provider if there was a traumatic event that precipitated your symptoms.
We use this analogy quite a bit when working with someone. We advise all of our clients and athletes when they are dealing with an acute injury, “don’t put gas on the fire.”
What this means is that don’t keep doing movements or activities that irritate or intensify your symptoms of pain, etc.
We will advise people to “Put Water on the Fire”. Find movements, positions, etc. that don’t aggravate or intensify your symptoms.
After an initial low back injury, we also advise our clients to keep moving. Anytime someone has an injury, most people want to sit still and not move because that will calm their symptoms down. What typically will happen is that someone will lay down on the couch for 3 hours and then when they go to get back up, their symptoms will be more intense.
On the flip side, this doesn’t mean to go out and do many different movements. Try going for a light, gentle walk and maintain some semblance of light activity.
If you have tried the 2 aforementioned tips and want to try some gentle exercises to help improve your symptoms, we generally recommend these:
Key Points:
Lie on your back with feet on a chair or bench.
Slightly lift tailbone off of ground. Just high enough to slide a cell phone underneath.
Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth x 5 deep breaths.
Key Points:
Perform without band as shown in video.
Slowly round and arch your back and do not force painful motions.
Work right up until pain/stiffness and then go the opposite direction.
Try to increase the motion if you can.
Key Points:
Straight line from ear to shoulder, hip and knee.
Stretch should be felt in hip flexors and quads. Not in the low back.
Hold x 30 seconds x 2 reps per side.
Key Points:
Hips and Knees at 90 degrees.
Stretch should be felt in hips, not in low back.
Make sure to move through the hips and keep low back still.
Those are just a few exercises we recommend to clients when they are dealing with an acute episode of low back pain. In conclusion, when you hurt your back, make sure:
Put Water on the Fire, Not Gas
Stay Moving
Try the 4 Exercises Mentioned Above to Get Some Symptom Relief.
If you are dealing with low back pain or any other type of injury, we are here to help. Take that first step by clicking HERE to getting out of pain and back to doing what you love.