Why does my back hurt?

The low back is one of the body regions that is most common for injuries and pain. If your low back is bothering you, you are not alone! The good news is that physical therapy can help get your pain under control, and get you back to doing your favorite sports and hobbies. Three of the most common techniques I use to calm down back pain are: core strengthening and retraining, targeted hip stretching, and specific hip strengthening. 

When physical therapists talk about our core, we mean the muscles in your stomach or your abdominal muscles. There are four layers in our abs. All of these layers work together to help support our low back and be the foundation for our body. If our core muscles are not as strong or as coordinated as they need to be, our low back bears the brunt of it. This can lead to pain. One of the simplest places to start with the low abs. Start strengthening here with a posterior pelvic tilt. This is a great video on how to do a posterior pelvic tilt to start strengthening your core: here

Hip tightness can also contribute to low back pain. Many of us sit for a lot during the day, and this can lead to tightness in the front of our hips. If the muscles in the front of our hip are tight, they can put extra stress on our lower back. This then makes our back hurt when we are walking or standing. This is the link to a good stretch for the front of your hip or your hip flexors. This stretch should never hurt, but should feel like a nice stretch on the front of your hip: here

If our hips are not as strong or coordinated as they should be that can also lead to extra strain on our low back. There are two types of strength that are hips need to protect our back. They are extension (or pulling your leg back behind you) and abduction (or pulling your leg out to the side). Here are links to two videos to work on strengthening your hip extension and hip abduction: here and here

When I’m helping someone get out of back pain, I often help them strengthen and smarten up their core muscles. We also stretch out any tight muscles in their hips and help strengthen their hips to support their low back. This is just the tip of the iceberg on what I can do as a physical therapist to help your back stop hurting so that you can return to doing the things you love.

If your back is keeping you from enjoying life, give me a call today! Let’s have a free 20 minute phone conversation about how I can help you get out of back pain and return to doing the things you love!