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Lower back pain is a very common problem. Most often, the solution to this problem is postponed until later: “everyone hurts”, “it’s okay”, “I’ll be patient, it will pass by itself”. Familiar? Chinese medicine specialist Anna Vladimirova offers a simple and understandable plan of action that will get rid of pain and improve the quality of life.
Step 1: find out the reason
Let’s start with an independent check: what and why it hurts in the lower back. Of course, self-diagnosis will not replace a trip to a specialist, but still it is better than sitting and waiting for the pain to go away by itself. Low back pain can be of several types.
1. Sudden sharp pain: if it “shoots in the back”, whines, seriously worries and this has never happened before, this is definitely a reason to see a doctor. In addition to disorders in the spine, such pain can signal a problem with internal organs (for example, with the kidneys).
2. Regular habitual lower back pain. Backaches, “jamming” in the back with inaccurate movement – a likely signal from suffering intervertebral discs. Perhaps we are talking about the presence of protrusions and hernias. Since a hernia can grow, it is important to keep this situation under the doctor’s control.
3. Lower back ache in the evenings after a working day or after a long walk. In addition, it is uncomfortable to sleep on your stomach. In this case, one can suspect the muscular nature of the pain due to the habitual muscle tension. The blood supply to the intervertebral discs worsens, and if nothing is done, symptoms of regular pain will appear over time.
Step 2: contact a specialist
First of all, you should contact an osteopath: this is a specialist with a higher medical education, he will diagnose and, already at the first session, will begin to work on restoring posture: he will help to give elasticity to overstressed muscles, relax the usual tension at the level of muscles, ligaments and fascia.
Step 3: Gather Inventory
The usual muscle spasm is a tension that the body does not feel, so it will not work to relax it with an effort of will. Moreover: relaxation does not come even in a dream. To neutralize stress at home, you will need special prickly rugs and applicators. They help the lower back to take the correct shape, relieve pain and provide deep relaxation.
However, the “thorns” themselves give only temporary relief: lie down on the rug – they relieve the pain, but in an upright position, the discomfort quickly returns. They must be used in combination with procedures and gymnastics.
Step 4: do gymnastics
To transfer relaxation from the massage table into everyday life, you will need regular gymnastics. It is important that the exercises that the specialist selects for you:
- performed without pain. Pain is a signal of tension, and our task is to get away from it;
- gave pleasure;
- included movements within the framework of “natural mobility” – without stretching, effort, forcing the resources of the body. The body protects against overstretching by contracting the muscles after stretching, and this reaction will cause pain. And pain is what we seek to get rid of.
Example exercise
I offer a very simple and pleasant exercise. It will help you understand which muscles need to be relaxed first in order to get rid of lower back pain.
1. Sit on a chair. The back is straight, without back support.
2. Place your hands on your lower back to the left and right of your spine. Feel the muscles that run along the spine. If they look like dense rollers, your task is to make them more plastic, pliable.
3. Keeping your hands on your lower back, imagine that the sacrum is moving down towards the chair. In response to this micro-movement, the lower back straightens, perhaps even slightly rounding. Rollers under the arms become softer, more pliable.
4. Remove your hands, sit up straight and see if you can maintain this position and feel. It might not work the first time. We continue!
5. Put your hands on your lower back again, feel for the rollers and repeat the movement. Repeat the exercise 5-7 times every hour.
You can set a timer on your phone and, by repeating the exercise on a signal every hour, gradually introduce a new relaxation skill into a habit.
As a teacher of spinal gymnastics, I can say with confidence: to get rid of back pain, you need small, neat and, most importantly, enjoyable exercises. They will start the healing process from the inside – from deep muscles to superficial ones.