What is lower back pain? At some point we all experience it. It could vary from an injury sustained years ago, to prolonged sitting due to driving, long flights, or a 9 to 5 desk job. Now like most people when we feel pain we either ignore it or we may seek a massage therapist to alleviate the pain. Note: if you go to a massage therapist and you tell them of your lower back pain and that therapist only works on your lower back for an hour, I recommend never seeing that therapist again. I’m writing this to give people an understanding of what low back pain is exactly and some ways to keep your back healthy through basic stretching.
There are many reasons that could cause lower back pain. In more severe cases the pain could derive from spinal or nerve impingements. However most common reasons for lower back pain is lack of stretching to not just the lower back but the surrounding supportive muscles.
There are 5 critical areas when dealing with lower back pain:
Psoas muscle (Hip Flexor)
Tensor Fascia Latte (TFL) or Hip rotator
Sacral-iliac joint (S.I. joint)
Hamstring
Lower back
The psoas muscle is a very strong muscle (about width of your forearm) that control much of our back support system. It’s attached to the lower front side of the spine and runs diagonally down to the attach to the greater trochanter which is the upper portion of the femur.
Recommend stretching: for this muscle would be a forward lunge or a walking lunge.
https://goo.gl/images/33BMSw
(6 times each side for 2 sets) If it’s too hard on the knees a modified version would be to lie on the edge of the bed and let one leg hang off the bed, gravity will take care of the rest.
In part two we'll examine the other four areas involved in lower back pain.
Have a great month everyone,
Mark
