Low Back Pain? Something to Try

It's no secret that chiropractors are well known for the treatment of low back pain. It is the most common complaint of people who walk into my office. What isn't as widely known, is that there is almost always a muscular component to low back pain.

A quick anatomy lesson - Muscles attach to bones and shorten to create movement. Your brain sends the signals to those muscles so they move in a coordinated effort around a particular joint to allow movement as well as stabilization and balance.

From a chiropractic perspective, if there is a reason information cannot flow normally (a subluxation), muscles may not respond as they should. This could mean the muscles are tighter than normal and have trouble relaxing. If those tight muscles are constantly pulling a particular joint more on one side than another, irritation (and instability) is caused in that area. The chiropractic solution is to adjust the bone, get information flowing as it should, and the problem should resolve.

Now, you don't have to believe in chiropractic to understand a tight muscle pulling on a bone unevenly for a long period of time will cause some sort reaction - the end result is often the same: pain.

This is what I explain to my patients: it doesn't matter if the bone out of place and caused the muscle to tighten or the muscle was tight and moved the bone out of place. All that matters is there are two issues, and both need to be resolved.

I encourage anyone experiencing pain to see a chiropractor or physician for an exam to determine the cause of your pain, but from the muscle aspect, here are are few things to try at home that will hopefully provide some relief:

One of the most common tight muscles that contribute to low back pain are the hip flexors, specifically the Psoas muscle. This muscle connects directly to your lumbar spine, so when it is tight it can put extra "pull" on your low back. 

Another is the Piriformis. This muscle can tighten and mimic the problems of a herniated disc by entrapping the sciatic nerve, known as piriformis syndrome.  I have found stretching this muscle also helps to loosen the muscles of the low back even if you are not experiencing sciatic issues.

Both stretches can be found here near the bottom of the page.
http://snyderchiropracticofwoodbury.com/exercises/

Along with the hip flexors and piriformis stretching, core strengthening does a great job at balancing tension on the low back and can help relieve some forms of chronic low back pain over time. When choosing core exercises, it is important to start small and gradually work in to more intense exercises. If you have a low back issue to begin with, the increased abdominal pressure and motion caused by some core exercises can actually make some issues worse. I would recommend starting with different variations of planks. These are great for beginners and you can increase the difficulty by increasing the time held or lifting an arm or a leg. Here is a video that explains front planks.
http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/plank

These are some of the more common recommendations I give to my patients based on exam and history findings. If pain is severe or you have other symptoms please see a physician before attempting.

I hope this helps!
Dr. Snyder

If you have a chiropractic or health realated question you would like answered please e-mail me at DrAndrewSnyder@gmail.com