Lower lumbar pain in the back or spine is something that has become more common or I should say more commonly diagnosed and recognised by people suffering from it in recent times.
Personally, I had a very painful episode 2 weeks ago where I was performing the simple task of drying off after hopping out of the shower when I was struck by a very sharp pain in my lower to mid back.
It was very very scary at the time, and has led me to write about this topic as I had not encountered this pain for a long time – the last time I had experienced such pain would have been over 15 years ago when I bent over to pat and play with a smaller dog, only to succumb to a sharp pain which had me bed-ridden for the night.
I did not know exactly what I could put the pain down to, it was such a split second thing.
Was it that my bed was too old – do I need a new mattress?
Have I been sitting the wrong way during the day and my posture issues have created this excessive pain accordingly?
Is my back pain a result of sitting/laying down with my neck and upper back slanted upwards whilst my lower back is flat, possibly leading to back spasms?
Was it simply to be put down to my age(I am 38) and after years of possible neglect or just expecting to always have the same level of health, fitness and body shape, that my back was starting to feel the strain and I needed to swiftly attend to it?
Was I now suffering from lower lumbar arthritis?
I was completely unsure what the issue was – so I self-treated with some heat patches and herbal oils, coupled with a change in position when sleeping. The laying down part of the deal wasn’t too bad, but any movements during the night, sudden movements up or down the bed, or simple things like hopping out of bed to go to the toilet or getting up to help with my youngest if she cried or needed some milk became tough tasks.
Throw in the fact that it was the middle of winter in Sydney, and that added further pain and stiffness, and it made for a tough period, which has improved gradually but is still certainly there.
To help improve my back posture I focused on maintaining a more upright and stable seated position during the day when sitting at my desk at work, whilst stretching at night in a stationary and extended lay down position – to help with emphasising a straighter back naturally whilst lying down – and hopefully help me reinforce some good habits with my posture afterwards.
This has helped gradually, but I will certainly need to have this looked at further, by a professional if it persists – along with getting back into some exercise and stretching that will be able to loosen up the area.
I also try to go for regular walks each day, whether it be during my lunch break or even every hour at work, I would get up for 2-3 minutes just to get the blood flowing and not be stuck in that seated position for too long. This became a lot harder straight after the painful incident, but I am slowly incorporating this back into my day.
The crux of this discussion is that we need to be vigilant and aware of when we start to feel some pain or discomfort, to not let it just plod along and slowly worsen. It is critical that we try to look into our options of how to prevent, cure or remedy any injuries – preventions the best way but we are creatures of habit, meaning that we often let things go and drift week to week with our busy lifestyles and not attend to ourselves.
I am pretty confident that I have contributed heavily to what happened, so the key now is to ensure that I do not let this become a quickly forgotten event, and settle back into my daily routine without focusing on some good posture habits and lower to upper back strength.
I feel that a lot of the issues that we face with back pain and that unsettled feeling can be attributed to the following:
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Lazy posture from the head down;
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Tight or stiff hip flexors;
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Poor ergonomic practices – whether that be at home or in the office;
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I urge you all to be cautious and review your everyday patterns and do some simple checks to see how you are placed in relation to the above topics.
I agree that lower back pain can be very scary and needs to be addressed. I broke my tailbone a few years ago and after seeing the physio a few months after the incident, I was given only a few but valuable and effective exercises that I needed to do on a daily basis. This helped with the lower back pain that I was left with following the tail bone injury. Stretches made such a big difference, I would recommend them to anyone experiencing lower back pain.
I also think that our posture also has a big impact on back pain as well as tight hip flexors. Since doing Taekwondo, my hip flexors have also improved immensely. Thanks for sharing.
Ohh I can’t explain the feeling about this problem -lower lumbar back pain. I couldn’t understand whats going on.The last couple of it is going worse than before. At first, I thought maybe it’s for mattress, so I have changed the bed but still no improvement. Even last night I couldn’t sleep. My husband was saying maybe it is for the reason that I still all day in front of a computer for work. He said I should start sone exercise, so I am thinking to start the gym next week. Let’s see if it will not improve will definitely see the doctor. Anyway thanks a lot for such an informative article.
It is true that ignorance and neglect of our body can be detrimental to our health. During my 9-5working days, I do always have the issue with my back and waist. I always feel this sharp pain behind me whenever it has to do with standing up or bending over. Ever since I realized that, I got myself a standing desk and I’ve been following strictly the rules of making use of a standing desk and I must say, it has been nothing short of excellent. Lower lumbar back pain often occur as a result of sitting or our bad posture. So, we need to curb it as soon as it is discovered before deteriorating. Thanks
So many people suffer from back pain and especially lower back pain in this day and age.
I am sure it has a lot to do with the fact that most of us spend too much time sitting and not enough time walking and standing. Sitting places tremendous pressure on the vertebrae so make sure your back is always supported, especially if sitting for long periods of time.
Would Pilates perhaps also help to strengthen the core long term?
Pilates and Yoga are definitely a couple of options that you could look at to help, they can certainly help you in your endeavours to achieve better posture that is for sure Michel.
I’ve suffered from lower back problems since I was a teenager, having first slipped a disc when I was 17. It is very frightening and extremely frustrating. It’s also immensely debilitating because it can be impossible to get relief from the pain at all, which means you can’t sleep, which makes the pain worse and it’s easy to get into a downward spiral. Its now, fortunately, 12 years since my last really bad episode which meant I couldn’t work for a year. What changed was that I found a really good physiotherapist who taught me not only strengthening and supportive exercises but also that the fear of pain is an important factor in its grip on your life. I still get occasional twinges but have learned that when I do I need to stop and look after myself. Taking painkillers and soldiering on just makes it worse in the end so I never do that now. Best of luck with managing your pain.
Thank you, obviously pain relief is handy and a good short term option, but prevention and close monitoring is key with any injury, let alone back injuries that can be so debilitating and a hindrance to your way of life.
When you say that neglecting the important things in our body is very detrimental to our health,o couldn’t agree less with that.most of the time, we don’t take out body seriously. I do have some sharp pain at back spine too, the lower part and also at my shoulder too. I have been taking some exercise and just like you, I’ve been having some little improvements. I’m happy you could talk about this because I didn’t know it was called the lumbar back pain. I also use pain relief, is this bad for pains like this?
I think pain relief can be used in moderation, especially if prescribed by a doctor or a short term fix only.
Knowing what our body’s going through truly is our responsibility. As much as we want to find the right cure and remedy for our sickness, we should also know the cause. In this case, you already gave probable cause of lower lumbar back pain but I would also like to add that for a long couple of hours, we may be using furniture which are not ergonomically good for our body such as office chairs.It always happen to me. My lower back would become really stiff at first and if I still continue working, I would suddenly feel a somewhat burning pain. Sometimes liniment oil can help lessen the pain but it doesn’t totally go away immediately.
Thank you for your wonderful health tips on how I can manage lower back pain. I will make a short journal (longevity and intensity of pain) on this to make a reference (just in case). I highly appreciate your article.
Thanks Missus B, there are some creams and oils out there that can be applied for herbal relief purposes, but these do not work for persistent pains and aches.
WOW!!! GREAT AND HELPFUL ARTICLE,lower lumbar pain in the back or spine is very common among men,any pain in the body is an enemy of the body,experiencing pain makes the whole body uncomfortable and weak,I know doing regular exercise reduces can really help the body, and as we’ve learnt from your article to watch our posture,bad posture leads to severe pain in the body which always hinders blood circulation,thank you for sharing this educative article.
Suffering from lower lumbar back pain is something I can totally relate with. I mean, I never thought I’d experience it until I did. You’re right, bad posture is one of the factors that can cause this.
Often times we are so occupied with the various tasks we need to get done during the day that we tend to forget how important it is to sit up straight while working in front of the computer. If I may add, we must also remember to bend our knees instead of bending down our back when lifting heavy things or picking something up.
I learned my lesson the hard way. My day job involves frequently lifting some heavy stuff and one day I was such in a hurry that I forgot all about this safety technique. My mom used to remind me to be careful because a lower lumbar back pain isn’t something we want to suffer from. Well as a result I had to take 3 days sick leave.
Thanks for this post. My back pain always starts when I stand up and when I am sitting for just a couple of seconds. The pain is in my lower right back side. It feels like my back is breaking. Then it gets numb. At first I thought it was because I was taking too much sugar, then I later got to know through a friend in medical school that it’s because of my poor ergonomic practice. Glad to see a post on this topic.
Regards!
Lower back pain can be really annoying and scary all at once. It scares you when you dont know the cause and no treatment seem to be working at the moment and for me annoyance follows when it deprives me the opportunity to do some stuffs which i enjoy doing. When medication fails it gets absolutely annoying but then we need to understand that sometimes we are the cause of these problem and try find a way to solve it. So far ill say exercises are just the best way to dealing with it. Thanks for your time
Hello, I agree that I can be scary when your body has aches and pains that your not sure why. Simple motions that you do all the time can be treacherous if done too quickly or awkwardly. I can give you one suggestion to improve your posture, strengthen your core and improve your posture by focusing on tightening your belly button to your butthole. Sounds strange, yes, but if you do this, it naturally straightens you up.