3 Warning Signs You’re Holding Tension in Your Lower Back

Lower back pain is the most common type of back pain experienced, and in many cases, the pain is due to tension. If you are holding tension in your back, you may experience stiffness or tightness in the muscles. It is important to be able to determine if you are holding tension so that your back receives effective treatment.

Stiffness

One sign of tension in the lower back is stiffness. If you have trouble bending and feel stiff in the lower area of your back, you are holding tension. You will need to complete stretches to help work out the tension and relieve the stiff feeling.

Pain

You may feel an aching sensation or pain when moving certain ways. Try using heat from a heating pad to relieve the pain you feel or over the counter pain relievers can help until you can schedule a massage or other form of treatment.

Spasms

For many, tension in the lower back leads to stiffness which can lead to muscle spasms. It can be quite painful to feel your back lock up due to muscle spasms happening. When spasms occur, it is best to relax and try to breathe through the pulling so that the spasm can finish, and you can move once again.

At Academy Massage, special treatments are used based on the patient's condition to relieve back tension and avoid issues with the lower back in the future.  Two important muscles, the quadratus lumborum (QL) and the Gluteus Medius, can play a bigger role in causing pain. If you strain either of these muscles, the pain can be severe and debilitating.  If you have experienced this, please speak to your therapist at Academy Massage about stretches and other after care treatment that can be done.