Can barely move due to back spasm - why does this keep happening?

[ClamChowders]

my lower back has gone and it’s agony. I can barely get up or sit down, I have to shuffle slowly to walk and cannot stand up straight, the only time it’s pain free is lying flat but now my hips hurt from doing that. If I cough or sneeze I’m in tears. This has happened about every six months for two years although this is the worst. Why does it keep happening and what can I do to heal quickly and to stop if reoccurring?

A little more info: I am late 40s, fit, I swim 3x a week and do Pilates once, my BMI is 20.5, I do a desk based job but try and walk 8000 steps even on work days if I can. I feel I’m trying everything I can.

Arthritis? See your gp and request a scan on the area.

Pain when coughing could be a sign of a disc issue. Your spinal discs are like your suspension system and when they wear away or bulge out of place it can cause pain.

Yes I suspect it’s disc degeneration from googling but there seems bugger all they can do about that unless it’s severe enough for surgery which I have read is very rare and only triggered by things like incontinence or drop foot.

if its discs and I don’t have the surgery what can I do to prevent these awful episodes of pain and immobility? I am about to start a really big new job and can’t afford not to be fit and well.

Talk to you GP but also request an occupational health assessment at work for your posture whilst desk working, it all contributes and I was surprised by how much the wrong seating position was contributing to my problems.
Failing that I’d get an initial assessment from a physio via gp or privately to pin down what’s going on / where it triggering from and get something tailored to your circumstances.

See if you can get an MRI, at least to assess the extent of the problem.
A physiotherapist can give you some exercises that will help. You can do a lot of work on building glute strength and core strength.
Cat cow, glute bridge, dead bug; bird dog, clam shells. Stretching out your hamstrings, quads and hip flexors is important.
i had an injection which helped quite a bit.
Find out what is exacerbating it. Do you have a good mattress? Do you sit too much at work, do you need a better chair. Could swimming be making it worse without the right muscle strength.
when you lie down on your back put a pillow under your knees. Or try lying on your side with a pillow between your legs.

@ClamChowders Sympathies- I just had sciatica due to a herniated disc. It’s getting better now but will take careful management. During the main flare I couldn’t sit down at all and could only lie flat on my back with something under my hips. I got naproxen and diazepam from the GP and then self referred to a consultant and got an MRI which confirmed the herniated disc ( L5) which is pressing on the sciatic nerve and causing the pain in my leg/ buttock. One option other than surgery is an injection into your back under sedation which kills the pain for 6-8 weeks while the back heals. I didn’t get it as started getting better on its own but nice to have it in reserve. Pilates good so I’d maybe add in one more session as a strong core supports the spine. Building glute strength also helps. I also just have to be really careful not to overdo things like gardening/ lifting heavy stuff etc.

See a physio and see if there are exercises you can do to help.

Do you have muscle relaxants from the GP,if not ask for them. I find them really helpful.

Bulging disk or a herniated disk. Go and have an MRI.

Just to add- I wfh but I got a standing desk and I stand up at least half the time. It does take some getting used to but I think it definitely helped my back to reduce the amount of time I’m sitting down. I stand up for calls/ meetings and emailing etc. or if I’m doing personal admin at my laptop. I tend to sit down for more focused “writing” work.

I also found a hot water bottle in the small of my back for an hour before bed really helped.

I will ask for muscles relaxants. Is that stuff like Diazepam? Sadly I can’t take pain killers other than paracetamol as I am allergic to all opiates and NSAIDs really badly hurt my stomach.

My left leg has mild sciatic pain but nothing like the back pain. It is however doing a really odd involuntary twitching so I wonder if the sciatic nerve is irritated.

i will ask a physio for exercises. My Pilates teacher says I have really good core strength. I can hold a full plank for two minutes and do the more challenging versions of each exercise she sets. Or I can when I am well. Right now I can’t even put on my own socks. The movement of knees towards chest is total agony.

I was thinking maybe I should do weight training concentrating on glutes and my back muscles. Maybe my core is stronger than my back and it’s unbalancing me.

I am too but these are miraculous things, not aware of sedating effects but I take them at night and end up sleeping well so I think they might be a bit but they're not like diazepam.

I’ve had the same. Physio and specific exercises make a massive difference. The “stand up straight and lean back to look at the ceiling” is the most important.

I had the same - spent a fortune on physio. It turned out to be a vitamin D deficiency, if you have it long enough then your muscles will spasm painfully. After a stretch on prescription strength vit D, I haven’t had a problem since.

@ClamChowdersthese are very similar symptoms to my back problem. It’s degenerated discs in my case, which I had confirmed by MRI. Symptoms are agonizing pain and a tilt in my ribcage, so bottom of one side is lower than the other and my ribcage is no longer aligned with my pelvis.

Do you cross your legs while sitting at your desk? This will throw you straight out of alignment and, over time, affect the whole sacral spine and pelvic area. What’s your core strength like?

I read this book and found it enormously helpful.

Sorry you said your core strength is good. You need to have this diagnosed by GP and likely subsequent orthopaedic specialist diagnostics.

Discs and or arthritis. An mri will tell you. I would go to physio for massage and exercises and yes weight lifting. I’m at the backend of an awful episode that lasted months. I’m doing weights twice a week, pilates and swimming once a week and physio exercises every day. I’m on amatriptyline for nerve pain. And I take cocodomol/paracetomol, ibuprofen/ naproxen as needed.
heat and cold help. Could you try ibuprofen gel?
I have 2 bulging discs and arthritis. I’ve been using a cream called flexisque for arthritis and found it helped.

It may not apply to you, sounds as though you’re quite fit and healthy, but when I had a QL spasm a couple of weeks ago I did a couple of videos from Yoga with Adrienne on YouTube, she has several specifically for lower back pain and sciatica. Doing those stopped the spasm for me and are definitely worth a try for anyone looking to stretch out their back safely.

No advice but I had back issues and sciatica for years and years and years. I was otherwise fit and healthy and would keep fit with classes, gym and sports when I could. It would flare up a few times a year but there would always be a low level nagging uncomfort. I had MRI’s etc and have a slight bulging disc and some disc degeneration. I’ve had private health insurance that covered physics so have had lots of physio.

over the years it’s gradually got better. It hasn’t spasm’ed for at least 6 or more years and doesn’t bother me too much. I still exercise a lot. I think it was time that helped the most. I had thought when I was younger that I was destined to have a shite back my whole life so I’m really happy and surprised that it’s so much better than it was.

I thought you might want to hear this as it’s too depressing to think it won’t ever go away.

I understand your pain. I suffer and my DP has the same issues. Mine has been ongoing for 25 years plus and we both attend a chiropractor, me once a month and my wife twice a month. I had treatment paid by my company for a number of years and then I paid privately.
It was not until we both had Xray's from the chiropractor that the issue was discovered. We both have inoperable curved vertebrae.
The only way to have pain relief is our visits once and twice a month.

It’s good to hear ppl have come out the other sides of regular back seize ups.

its just so depressing. I can’t do anything but lie in bed or on the floor. Cant take the kids out, walk the dogs, go and see friends
or even potter about. The whole family have got on with their days and I’m just laid here, not even feeling tired like you would or you were ill, just really bored and uncomfortable.

Methocarbamol is the name of the relaxants I mentioned earlier OP,get on to the GP and ask for some and book yourself in to see a physio,they'll recommend you getting a scan if necessary.

Hi OP,

This post could have been written by me. I've spent the last few days in excruciating pain due to a muscle strain, which I get about once or twice a year. Yesterday I felt a bit better but today I've been struggling to walk. I am back to work tomorrow and the kids have school. Luckily I wfh but I have no idea how I'm going to get the kids to school. Saying that I don't even know how I'm going to get any work done as even sitting on a chair is proving to be very painful.

@LolWhotzit - great positive story. I have a bulging disc and so it’s good to hear you got so much better.

My similar problems came from an unstable SI joint. A daily routine of specific stretches (Google them) means that it hardly ever happens now.