My back has gone into spasm.. help!

[StillMedusa]

Last night..out of no where, suddenly. I crawled into bed hoping it would ease in the night but no such luck.
Can't sit, can't stand up straight.. have 8 here for Xmas and a bouncy 7 month dog to walk! I can sort of crab shuffle and that's it. My dh is off today but then working, my adult kids are all at work too.

Taken Ibuprofen and paracetamol but any tips on how to ease it? I can't get to a walk in place as there is no hope of getting me in the car. I'm not worried it is anything serious as it happened once years ago but I really need to self help somehow til it eases off!

I'm exactly the same. Did mine in work. But it's a recurring issue. 😢 I'm hobbling around with Co codamol and ibuprofen at the moment. I also use freeze spray or deep heat on my back.

This happened to my dh.
You may need to go to your local a&e and ask for some advice and strong painkillers. Rest is all you can do.

This has happened to my DH a couple of times; the last time was Christmas last year.

In the end, nothing helped apart from getting Diazepam, which was the only thing that eased it last time.

Hope you feel better OP. My DH was in horrendous pain with it.

It's so horrible, I know, but the very worst thing you can do is to lay down all day. You've got to walk/shuffle/stumble around as much as possible.

Can you get to an osteopath tomorrow?
Alternate hot and cold will help.

It’s so grim I really feel for you. I find applying heat and laying down for the first day helps along with regular ibuprofen. Stagger out of bed every half hour and walk around a tiny bit to keep from stiffening further . I sometimes find i can cope with it the next day if I can do that the first day. I hope you soon feel a bit less sore and more mobile .

Hot bath/shower then if you can get down on hands and knees in child’s pose to stretch out. Also lying on your back, knees to your chest. Hold each stretch for 60 seconds. Then frozen peas on the spine itself for 15mins. Keep moving but don’t over exert yourself (can someone else walk dog?) repeat every couple of hrs. If the pain is going into the buttocks a tennis ball on painful points can relieve - or someone’s thumb if you know them well enough! Avoid sitting or lying for too long. Ideally see a chiropractor or osteopath for proper management

Happened to me at Cheistmas once. GP said keep moving is the key. I took a muscle relaxant let it kick in and then move about. Excerises as well to stretch helped. You will need a perscription

Diazepam and rest if you can, can someone else take you to the walk in? If you can get to an osteopath that could also really help.

And strong ibuprofen*

*repeat the heat with hot water bottle not 70 billion showers obvs!

Diazepam, though you might not be able to get a script today. What about getting some Syndol in the meantime?

Definitely see a good osteopath. Also, anything you can do to relax mind and body will speed up the healing process (I know, I know). Find some relaxing hypnosis and plug in as often as you can.

Poor you. Hope it eases soon.

Husband and adult kids need to take over Christmas.

Google some lower back exercises but don’t push yourself to do anything - listen to your body. One I find helpful Is to do a kind of standing push up using the corner of the room.

Keep mobile but again listen to your body and rest when you need to. Heat helps me personally but ice might be soothing too.

Depending on how much money you have to throw at it and if you think it’s mostly muscular you might benefit from a sports massage or private physio. I’ve found it to be a relatively quick process when you’re paying but I would prepare for these options to be slightly more difficult this time of year. Acupuncture can be amazing for muscle spasms too, it physically releases the muscles.

Backs are a major design flaw

Search on Google for stretches to do, keep mobile as much as you can, can you get to an exercise bike?

I have this atm. I'm not taking anything as I'm pregnant but in the past, the GP prescribed codeine and diazepam.

I didn't get much relief from medication tbh but yoga worked. I did 10 mins every couple of hours and it helped lots. Google yoga for releasing psoas. Basically, if you can't stand upright, what helped me was anything that stretches the muscles connecting leg and back. Laying on your back and lifting your leg up as close to 90° as you can get. I used the tie or whatever its called from my dressing gown to help move my leg up.

I'm not trying to minimise the problem and obviously you should get a diagnosis to rule out anything serious but generally speaking with a bad back that's gone into spasm the pain is much worse than the seriousness of the damage... If you get my meaning?
For the future focus on strength and flexibility as you can.

I thought yoga wasn’t recommended for back problems? I have always been told Pilates is great but to avoid yoga because it’s too easy to overstretch and make things worse.

Thank you all for the tips.. I shall see if the GP can prescribe some diazapam tomorrow if I still can't move. I am shuffling regularly to keep moving but doing anything actually useful is beyond me. I know it will pass but I'd forgotten how totally incapacitating it is! I'm normally pretty active (active job and a dog) so being unable to move without yelping is frustrating (especially with beds to change, prep to do etc)

My dh is fab and will do as much as he can, kids are nurses so working through Xmas tho they will help when they are here. Just not great timing!

Can get out of the house and to a physio therapist? I did similar and managed to get a physio appointment within 24 hours and he got me hobbling about. I appreciate I had the cash to do this.
Lots of ipbroprufen gel also helped.

Ice and heat alternately really helps - see if you can get an ice pack from a pharmacy or supermarket.