How To Relieve Your Lower Back Pain And Stiffness

We all know that lower back tightness and pain can impede our day to day lives. As many of us are sitting more working from home and generally moving less in this COVID environment it is more important than ever to look after our bodies.

Here is how to manage and prevent back pain and stiffness with some tips to get you going! 

Causes:

Overuse of lower back muscles causing strain

Surrounding lower back muscle weakness (may be posture related)                                    

A previous injury can cause the lower back to tighten up as it is the bodies response to protect the area.

Each of these can create an ongoing issue overtime if not properly treated. 

Common barrier:

Fear.

Fear of pain can also slow the process of healing and getting back to your normal range of movement. After an injury the body’s safety buffer increases, so even with the smallest movement is going to hurt. Pain is going to be present to protect that area so having the ability to push through a little pain is going to increase your range and healing time.                                                                                                          

Some useful tips:

Initially, a way to help improve this is by changing your painful movement and choosing a different movement pattern.

For example, changing the way you stand up by doing smaller movements in an upright comfortable position and using your knees instead of bending more from the back will significantly impact recovery time and pain sensitivity.

The importance of stretching daily, moving regularly and having a positive attitude towards exercising is the first step.

Choose something you enjoy and do it on a regular basis. Eg. walking, bike riding or swimming.

We are creatures of habit so its good to try something new and if you enjoy it, it will become apart of your daily routine. 

       3 Stretches to get you started:                                                                                                      

Start in a position that suits your body, everyone is different. Start with being able to just feel the stretch and give yourself room to improve.                                                                                                    

Wag Tail

 Start on hands and knees with feet elevated. You can rest knees on a soft surface.Swing feet side to side like a dog wagging their tail. Repeat 8-10 times.

Quadruped Side Bend 

Begin in comfortable ‘child’s pose’ position.

Slowly move hands across to one side. Hold for 10 sec. Repeat on the other side.

Bear Crawl

On all fours, move 4 paces forward, then 4 paces back. Repeat 5 times. This movement may seem funny, however it not only improves shoulder, wrist and spine strength, but also works on hamstring and calf flexibility.

After these stretches it is important to test these new range of motions and put them to work!

The body loves to move in all directions! Trying a continuous movement like the Bear Crawl. will move your whole body rather than just focusing on the one muscle, giving you excellent bang for your buck when limited for time.

So increase you body awareness and help prevent injury by starting with these exercises. Stretching and moving is key to be able to put the motion back in your range of motion!

Bianca x