Lower back pain is a problem for almost everyone at some point in their lives. Estimates indicate that it may affect about 90% of the population at one time or another.
This kind of pain can be a very complicated matter. The quadratus lumborum muscle is one of the overlooked muscular sources of lower back pain. Strains of this muscle group are often caused by combined bending and twisting movements as a person gets up from a chair or picks up an object from the floor.
Functional scoliosis and short leg deviations may strongly be attributed to a hyper-contracted quadratus lumborum. Also, degenerative disc disease may strongly be attributed to bilateral tightening of the quadratus lumborum.
Other physical causes of pain might also be due to osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, or disc herniation.
It can also be caused by postural imbalance. A tight hamstring or tight gluteus muscles has many times been the cause of back pain as I have experienced it in many of my clients.
If the cause of the pain is musculoskeletal, then certain manipulative massage techniques incorporated with stretches are very beneficial.
In my private practice I have seen many people with back pains and almost always have I noticed very tight hamstrings and gluteus muscles accompanying the pain. By decreasing the hypertonicity of those muscles, my clients were able to live with a pain-free back again.
I have also experienced great success in releasing back pain with energy work based on the teachings of acupuncture or acupressure. It is less invasive, gentler in touch and starts healing the body by harmonizing it from the very inside out.
Self-Help
If you think that the cause of your back pain is of muscular nature, try to stretch the hamstring and butt muscles for 60 seconds each twice daily. You can actually test the smoothness of those muscles by standing straight with feet about one foot apart. Now bend forward. Are you hands touching the floor without you bending your knees? If they are not, chances are very high that your hamstring (upper back leg muscle) and butt muscles have been shortened and need to be lengthened through daily stretches.
Written by Guinevere