Question:
Does anyone know of any exercises to help a muscle spasm in your lumbar spine? I have had this off and on again problem for a long time,muscle pain to the left of my lumbar spine, about the level of L1. I did the usual saw an M.D saw a chiropractor. No one seems to be able to give a definitive answer to why I have the pain and how to alleviate it. I am in the 3rd week of being in pain and I have had enough of it. I think if I do some kind of stretching exercise, or maybe even lift weights I can strengthen this muscle and maybe stop the pain. Any suggestions are appreciated because I am getting to the point where I might start munching on potato chip anything to stop the burning pain of this area. Even if you can point to websites that might be useful will be appreciated.

Answer:

You may experience relief with application of moist heat. Low back pain sucks because its etiology is so often unknown. Good news: the majority of cases of LBP spontaneously resolve within a few weeks or months. Bad news: the majority of cases of LBP spontaneously recur. The best way to prevent future episodes, once this one has cleared up, is to continue to do some kind of spinal mobility work on a regular basis.

You may also look into Active Release Therapy (ART) as well. I perosnally haven't had it but know a couple of people with chronic and severe back pain who have had it and benefitted from it. You can find out more about ART here:

http://www.activerelease.com/about/index.cfm

Finally, with me generally my back spasms are trigger points (small localized spasms) and a decent masseuse can get in there and work it out. It's painful, but I prefer it to waiting the couple of days for the spasm to work itself out.

As for causes, if you're doing any sort of aerobic activity, make sure you're wearing decent shoes - they can make a big difference. Another thing I should mention is to pay attention to when you get flare-ups of back pain. Are you doing something specific, moving a certain way, for example? Are you twisting? Rounding the pelvis under while lifting, or rounding the back in general while lifting or sitting? Does it happen when you're fatigued? Is there a correlation with your menstrual cycle? Etc. If possible, attempt to make changes where applicable.

I have observed that people with chronic LBP often move a certain way to avoid pain, but can wind up eventually exacerbating it because of this compensation. A movement I like which helps people be aware of their spinal/pelvic position is a simple standing pelvic tilt. While standing, put hands on hips (this is optional, but it helps to feel which way pelvis is moving), and tilt pelvis forward and back, alternately arching back and sticking butt out like Donald Duck, and then tucking pelvis under body like trying to do a sort of standing ab crunch. Do this about 10-15 times in each direction, and pay attention to which position feels natural, and which position feels more/less painful. Somewhere in the middle of those two pelvic tilt extremes is your neutral spine position, which is not exactly a single position so much as a dynamic range in which your spine maintains a happy homeostasis. When you find where neutral spine is for you, you can remember to make sure to assume and retain neutral spine before bending, lifting, or pushing objects overhead.

One remedy which is suggested for LBP which I don't recommend is aggressive stretching and/or spinal decompression (for example, hanging from a bar, or bending from the hips and letting the upper body hang). I find this is an express route to pain aggravation for many people, including myself.

Final tip: you may also get some relief from deep massage in the hip. Take your thumb and press it into your hip joint, moving it around with firm pressure. Move along the bony ridge of your pelvis from the side to the rear, and down deep into the glute. You will likely find a spot which feels like a "trigger point", i.e. sort of tingly or buzzy, or like something important is connected to it. Deep massage of that spot may sometimes relieve back pain.

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