Lower Back Pain? 5 Ways To Troubleshoot Your Injury

Written By Taylor Haskings / Reviewed By Ray Spotts

Over 90 million individuals experience back pain from an unknown source. The common causes of lower back pain include poor posture, muscle injury, and spinal conditions like spinal stenosis and spondylitis. If you are experiencing lower back pain due to muscle injury, here are five ways to treat it.

1. Exercise, Stretch, and Mobilization

If you have lower back pain due to poor posture, one of the first options is to exercise the painful area. This will help strengthen the muscles and decrease their sensitivity. Exercise targeted at the glutes, hamstrings, and quadriceps is recommended.

For example, standing with your feet shoulder-width apart, step one foot slightly in front of the other. Keep your abdominals pulled in and your hips level with each step. When you step back to the starting position, be sure to take a deep breath in and exhale as you bring your feet together. Repeat this exercise 10 times on each side.

Alternatively, you could lie face down on a mat or towel on the floor with a pillow under your knees and hands behind your head. Keeping hips level, rotate torso from side to side to stretch lumbar extensors (upper back muscles). Hold for 10 seconds and repeat three times on each side.

Stretching the muscles that are sore will also help alleviate pain. A good stretch for your lower back is a deep-knee-to-belly stretch. Additionally, an excellent walk-out stretch will help alleviate pain in the hips.

Physical therapy for lower back herniated disk pain is ideal only if a physician recommends it or when under the supervision of a chiropractor. A good warm-up for most injuries is a five-minute walk or jog. This will help increase your heart rate, which will help you to circulate blood throughout your body and get oxygen and nutrients to the injured area faster.

Additionally, it will loosen your muscles before starting any strenuous activity. A light stretching routine should be done at least 15 minutes before exercise. Stretch both before and after exercise to prevent injury and ensure that you are adequately warmed up before exercise.

2. Cold Therapy

Applying cold packs to your lower back will help reduce inflammation and speed recovery. Ice also helps with pain management by reducing inflammation and inflammation-induced sensitization of the nerves in your lower back.

You can use ice for 20 minutes on each side of your back and leave it on for 10 minutes on each side before moving on to another part of your back.

3. Heat Therapy

You can use heat on your lower back for 20 minutes on each side of your lower back, as well as 20 minutes on both sides of your legs in a reclining chair with a towel wrapped around your legs. Heat also helps reduce inflammation and improves blood flow to the area.

You can also use heat on your lower back as part of a massage. A professional massage therapist can help you find the proper heat for your lower back and provide you with a good massage.

If you decide to do this at home, you will need an electric heating pad, which should be placed on your lower back for 20 minutes on each side and 10 minutes on each side of your legs in a reclining chair with a towel wrapped around it. Adding heat therapy to your massage is also helpful as it will help increase blood flow and reduce pain by reducing inflammation.

4. Rest It

Resting is important after an injury to allow the body to heal. You should also rest your back when it feels sore, weak, or uncomfortable. It would be best if you did not do any heavy lifting or work involving bending or twisting while sitting for at least two weeks after an injury.

This will allow the muscles to heal and strengthen properly and prevent further injury. Additionally, you should take a rest day every week to give your body time off from exercise and allow it to recover from the stress of exercise.

5. Lifestyle Modifications and Diet

You can do many things to reduce your risk of back pain, and one common way is to improve your posture. You should sit up straight and avoid slouching when sitting down or standing. Additionally, it would help avoid heavy lifting, bending, and twisting when possible.

It would be best if you also took a break from exercise every week to allow your body time to recover from the stress of exercise.

There is also a lot that you can do regarding diet to reduce your risk of back pain as well. It would be best if you ate a healthy diet with plenty of vegetables, fruits, and whole grains, as these foods will provide you with all the vitamins and minerals that your body needs for optimal health.

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Written By:

Taylor Haskings is a freelance writer born in Denver, Colorado. She graduated with a bachelor's in English from the University of Colorado, Denver. She enjoys hiking in the Colorado Rockies and loves the fine arts, such as playing the violin. Her true strengths include networking with others and expressing herself through the written word.

Reviewed By:

Founder Ray Spotts has a passion for all things natural and has made a life study of nature as it relates to health and well-being. Ray became a forerunner bringing products to market that are extraordinarily effective and free from potentially harmful chemicals and additives. For this reason Ray formed Trusted Health Products, a company you can trust for clean, effective, and healthy products. Ray is an organic gardener, likes fishing, hiking, and teaching and mentoring people to start new businesses. You can get his book for free, “How To Succeed In Business Based On God’s Word,” at www.rayspotts.com.