I knew to stop any activity and to sit or lie down and rest the muscles. It is important not to tense other muscles -although that is easier said than done. anyone who has ever had a back spasm knows how incredibly painful they can be.
I could not move with out severe pain -any movement caused my back muscle to go into a massive spasm! So although i am not a big fan of pain meds I had to get some anti inflammatories to help me.
From my experience of back pain and my back and its reactions I now know to always do ICE for the first 2 days -to help reduce inflammation and give some relief during a spasm. So I grabbed my ice pack which has sat in the freezer for years now and got that on to the painful area.
I lay down and elevated my legs to reduce pressure on my back.
During a spasm I did deep breathing to try to ease the pain to relax the muscle.
So what is a Back Spasm?
Any type of abnormal, involuntary contraction of a muscle. Essentially the muscle carries on in spasm rather than relaxing. It most often occurs when muscles are tired, overworked, overused or when they are weak or injured. It can also be a problem when muscles are held in one position for too long maybe doing a repetitive activity for too long a time. They can also be related to being dehydrated.
So why did I get a back spasm?
Well I know that I have a herniated disc and that can leave you more predisposed to back spasms. In addition having Spinal stenosis, spondylolysis or spondylolistheses or arthritis of the spine can make you more likely to get back spasms.
In addition it had been a few -rare- lovely sunny days and I think i had been overdoing it out side in the garden- sudden activity that you are not used to can create back spasms. Had I been drinking enough water? Probably not....
A sudden push or pull movement can also cause them or a repetitive sport like golf, tennis or squash which can be over use or straining of those muscles. If you have just started a new sport and using muscles you have not used before that can also contribute.
Lack of warming up the muscles properly before any form of exercises can send muscles into spasm too, I really should have warmed up before my gardening activity!
Even in normal everyday activities reaching for something on a shelf stretching to pass an item to someone else can create enough stress to upset the muscles in the back in some cases.
What Next?
Today two days on from the incident, I am switching to HEAT so that is where I am now heat on my back and being careful in my movements. Heating pads like these Electric Heating Pads are useful for this purpose. The spasms are starting to ease off. They are already less painful when they occur.
I need to be very aware of keeping good posture when walking about, sitting etc. I will keep applying heat now to my back to help relax the muscles. I will not do any major activity but I will not just sit all day. When I am moving around I will use these Therma care heat wraps for my back
After pretty much resting for 2 days which is what you need to do for muscle spasms at first, now it is good for me to move around a little just gentle walking around to my comfort levels. While rest is important initially and is one of the few times when with back pain you do need to just rest only for a couple of days then start very gentle movement again.
Then when I feel up to it I will start a little gentle stretching exercises from my Lose The Back Pain system.
I will also learn that I still need to warm up muscles before any activity!! Having not had back pain for quite a long time I had got lax and over confident - but I have learnt my lesson!!!
Will I be carrying on gardening? Yes of course! Well when I have fully recovered that is....However I will be much more careful and do proper warm up and cool down and keep up with my lose the back pain stretches - like I used to and not overdo it , and drink more water so I don't get dehydrated :)
Just a word of warning.
IF you are experiencing back spasms for the first time or the spasms get worse or more painful, or are unbearable pain, you have a temperature, are losing bladder or bowel control or have pains that are going down your legs, lose any feeling anywhere or are just not getting better or you have a prior medical condition - do consult your healthcare professional.
Do not let it go on for too long. Please read Red Flags And Back Pain It could be a symptom of other things and needs to be checked out by a doctor.
Hopefully in most cases the pain will ease and with time and gentle movement and good stretching you will feel better.
Help Available
If you are experiencing any kind of back pain or want to learn how to avoid back pain do take a look at this 7 day Back pain Cure Free Book by the Healthy Back Institute . It explains how and why you can get back or sciatic pain, possible treatment options and pain relief amongst other lifestyle advice and lots of helpful suggestions.
The Lose The Back pain System is such a help to me. It covers a self assessment to identify your issues(with help if you need support to do this) and you follow specific corrective exercises for you to do in the privacy of your own home to help you. There is also personal email or tel support from The Healthy Back Institute which is invaluable. In my experience Invaluable for help with sciatic or back pain.
Anti inflammatories are sometimes required as well - not in all cases of a spasm but yes sometimes. You may get these from your doctor if he or she thinks you need them but be aware there can be side effects so you do need to ask about that or you can try a more natural non drug approach with the Heal and Sooth - click though to get more information on these all natural anti inflammatories.
I do hope you never suffer a back spasm but if you do my thoughts are with you and I hope this was helpful to you.
Extra gentle hugs
If you liked this post do consider joining our Facebook Page Sciatica Solutions.
Lose The Back Pain System
Lose the Back Pain, is a system of self assessments to determine what physical imbalances you may have that may be causing your pain, then specific and targeted exercises to follow to address the imbalances, along with pain reduction strategies.
For useful information and suggestions there is a Free Back Pain Book Written by the Healthy back Institute-
7 Day Back Pain Cure
This free book (there is a small shipping/handling fee for physical book) will give you a good starting point for taking back control of your back pain covering reasons for pain, pain relief, possible treatments, action plans and many other things you will find useful. Follow Jasmine Ann Raintree's board Back And Sciatic Pain Strategies. on Pinterest.
Hopefully in most cases the pain will ease and with time and gentle movement and good stretching you will feel better.
Help Available
If you are experiencing any kind of back pain or want to learn how to avoid back pain do take a look at this 7 day Back pain Cure Free Book by the Healthy Back Institute . It explains how and why you can get back or sciatic pain, possible treatment options and pain relief amongst other lifestyle advice and lots of helpful suggestions.
The Lose The Back pain System is such a help to me. It covers a self assessment to identify your issues(with help if you need support to do this) and you follow specific corrective exercises for you to do in the privacy of your own home to help you. There is also personal email or tel support from The Healthy Back Institute which is invaluable. In my experience Invaluable for help with sciatic or back pain.
Anti inflammatories are sometimes required as well - not in all cases of a spasm but yes sometimes. You may get these from your doctor if he or she thinks you need them but be aware there can be side effects so you do need to ask about that or you can try a more natural non drug approach with the Heal and Sooth - click though to get more information on these all natural anti inflammatories.
I do hope you never suffer a back spasm but if you do my thoughts are with you and I hope this was helpful to you.
Extra gentle hugs
If you liked this post do consider joining our Facebook Page Sciatica Solutions.
Lose The Back Pain System
Lose the Back Pain, is a system of self assessments to determine what physical imbalances you may have that may be causing your pain, then specific and targeted exercises to follow to address the imbalances, along with pain reduction strategies.
For useful information and suggestions there is a Free Back Pain Book Written by the Healthy back Institute-
7 Day Back Pain Cure
This free book (there is a small shipping/handling fee for physical book) will give you a good starting point for taking back control of your back pain covering reasons for pain, pain relief, possible treatments, action plans and many other things you will find useful. Follow Jasmine Ann Raintree's board Back And Sciatic Pain Strategies. on Pinterest.
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