Stretching makes lower back pain worse?

[pickledwillies]

I've been having pretty bad lower back pain for over a week now. It seemed to be triggered by sitting cross-legged for too long, and then getting muscle spasms. I've been looking at stretches etc on YouTube, but I'm not sure if it's normal that they actually seem to aggravate it? It hurts even when I'm not moving, and lying in bed is the worst! Will make a GP appointment (what will they really do?) if it doesn't improve in a few days.

But in the meantime, let me know if you have any advice? Just not sure on the right thing re stretching, given it is aggravating the pain.

If it's aggravating your back I would stop the stretches.The gp will be able to give you some painkillers and advice on what exercises will help. Try and keep mobile without aggravating your back, don't push yourself.

If you can afford it I'd make an appointment with a private physio. You would get a much more rigorous assessment and treatment. If they suspect more expert intervention is required they will write to your GP.

Back pain is certainly awful.
Some suggestions -

• find a good physio. If you can possibly go private, do that. GP can refer, but who knows how long it will take to get an appointment. A good physio will tell you which, if any, stretches will help your particular situation. Sometimes you need strengthening before the stretching will help.
• Sitting in any position for too long is not good. Do you have a sportwatch with a timer?
• Ibuprofen gel helps. You can get it OTC in Boots.

Feel better, OP.

Second the physio. I was getting a bad back running, stretching didn't seem to help. Turned out I needed to stretch my pecs not my back. 2 seconds with a professional sorted me out.

Thanks all! Booked a physio apptmt for Friday. Just feeling very disheartened as all the things that supposedly help are making it worse. Hopefully the physio will be able to advise. I wfh so trying to get up and move around fairly regularly. And sitting up very straight.

OP - I work in this space and I'll go against the grain here.

The right physio maybe able to help you depending on their specialism and experience, however a decent Osteopath would be your best bet.

Any Osteo worth their salt will be able to manipulate your back and get you right again within 1-2 sessions. Clearly, identifing the cause and rectifying that will be the key to long term success. These days it's often posture and lack of movement.

Good luck, I know how debilitating lower back pain can be.

@CoparentingDad Thanks! I'll look into it. But if it's just a muscular issue due to a strain/imbalance, how would an osteo be able to right that within 2 sessions?

Sadly no better yet, although there were 2 days last week where it went away, then was brought on again by cycling?! I thought exercise was supposed to help so a bit confused...

I had to cancel my physio appointment for various reasons but hoping to be able to go next week. It's miserable! And stretching still seems to be worsening it

I’m the same and see an osteopath who says I’m very hypermobile in my lower back so stretching makes it worse. He is getting me to concentrate on building up muscle strength rather than stretching.

ive had back problems for years and would always suggest persistent back problems should have an MRI. A physio can’t possibly know the root cause of a back issue

turns out the physios I used all these years were treating me for something completely irrelevant to the real issue (degenerative disc disease).

my friends son has also been having physio for a footy injury to his leg. After an MRI it turns out he needs surgery for a torn ACL and miniscus and no amount of physio would have helped

I’m not saying physio isn’t good, but I’m now a big believer that you have to find the real root cause of persistent pain first In order to find the right treatment

Sometimes backache is because the front of you isn't strong enough (that was my problem) and you need to strength your core and stomach muscles which help to support your back.

I've got herniated discs and lots of stretching makes me worse. I have to do some particular back bends only, plus lots of strengthening. Glutes. Core. Pilates. I see a physio when i need to and she's fab. Osteopaths were complete waste of money.

Thanks all. Stretching is definitely worsening it, no doubt, so going to stop. Have booked in with osteo this Friday and physio next week. Here's hoping it goes away :( In pain constantly now...

Probably being dumb but trying not to take ibuprofen as I want to be able to tell if it's lessening/how it's feeling

When you do get sorted, I found Pilates was really good for strengthening my core, I can really tell when I've missed a session as my back hurts.

@IOMQuestions Thank you! I actually also have an unrelated health issue - Long COVID which causes a lot fatigue - so exercising is often very difficult. Are there any particular pilates exercises/practices on youtube etc that you've found helpful? I'll look into some seated ones or something...

There seems to be this pervasive idea that stretching soft tissue injuries regardless of the underlying pathology is appropriate, and this seems to have become the default recommendation for pretty much any circumstance. It's nonsense.

Lower back injuries with no adverse features are often the result of a small muscular strain somewhere. The back musculature goes into spasm incredibly easily (quite sensible when you think what it's protecting) and most of the pain is a consequence of that, making the injury seem far worse than it usually is. Trying to passively "stretch" a shortened muscle in spasm is unlikely to give you any relief in the acute phase.

A course of manual physiotherapy by a competent Physiotherapist after a short period of relative rest from significantly aggravating activities (whilst keeping as mobile as possible) is likely to help considerably in terms of relieving the spasm.

The long term solution will be to strengthen your lower back. Exercises that strengthen this region will also be acting as very good dynamic stretches too. Arduous and time consuming passive stretching regimes are likely to be a complete waste of time.

I'd agree with @Whoknows101 the advice is I think to keep moving, but not necessarily stretch or exercise while it's hurting. So don't just lie on your back or sit in a chair.

I go to a class run by someone who has training specifically in Pilates, I think that's a good investment, certainly to start with, as some of the movements are very small and I liked the reassurance of someone watching me and letting me know what looked right and wrong.

I've done it for years now so would probably be good with a you tube video now.

But there's a lot of people out there doing 'pilates' classes and 'yoga' classes which are really just glorified stretching classes, so do your homework.

Just to add, what you almost certainly don't need is an MRI (unless recommended by a professional who has taken a proper history and performed a thorough examination). I don't know how old you are but once you get into your 30's a huge proportion of entirely asymptomatic people will show degenerative disc disease in their lumbar spine. It's a fact of life & ageing. The vast majority of the time this is completely irrelevant, and even if you have pain, the appropriate solution is almost always physiotherapy and long term strengthening.

I agree that static stretching doesn’t necessarily cure back pain, and that overstretching (doing a longer or deeper stretch that hurts more) can make things worse. Keeping your spine mobile is better than static stretches.
It could be inflexible or weak muscles in the glutes/core/hips regions, or disc degeneration or any number of things. Having scans won’t be necessarily pinpoint the problem either.

I’d always see a physio over an osteopath.

This is all super interesting - thank you so much for your insights. The NHS website etc recommends stretches and exercises for back pain, so I've been doing those - and making myself worse! Going to hold off for a bit. But keep moving normally. Thanks all. Hopefully the physio and osteopath will have some more insights!

For people who've recommended/found relief from pilates, is this the right kind of thing?

Just because these are also the recommended stretches I've been doing - and which have been making my back feel worse.

I think you need a diagnosis of what's causing the pain first - do you have that?

Pilates is great for me, with herniated discs. But you might not have the same cause.

Those moves won't help your back to feel better instantly but will gradually improve your core muscles which will help more in the long term. However you need to be able to do them correctly, keeping your back neutral and your stomach super flat, without doming, including keeping the muscles knit together in a line down from your belly button into your pelvic floor. It's well worth going to a physio led class.

I do reformer Pilates, with an instructor who can help with form and I can talk to about what I need/where my pain is etc. I wouldn't freewheel it on YouTube as a novice with an injury tbh.

In fact, it is very important now to understand what kind of pain this is. It can be both muscle pain and pain of some organs, and possibly pinching of the vertebrae, which cause pain in the lower back.

In general, light stretches are useful, but not in your situation. If the pain does not stop, then it is best not to do it.

There are other ways to relieve lower back pain, such as heat, ice, massage, and over-the-counter pain medication. You can try applying ice to the place where it hurts, as well as hot water bottles to relax the muscles in this area.

BTW, avoid strenuous activity and give your back time to heal.

I hope you feel better soon!

Thanks all. Will wait before seeing physio before attempting any more stretches. Feeling rather hopeless especially after reading stories of chronic pain and such. Hoping it'll go x