No such thing as lumbar strain? What?

I hear it all the time.  I don't have back problems...I just pulled a muscle, or I just strained a muscle in my low back, it's happened before and it just goes away...Listen up everyone, this is just my opinion based on 100's of patients over the years.  If you "pull" a muscle in your back or "strain" a muscle in your back YOU HAVE LOW BACK PAIN!  Wow, that feels good to get off my chest.

Of course, just looking at this guy, causes my low back to spasm just a little!  This bad technique with deadlifting isn't any worse than this gardener.  He isn't lifting enough weight to pull a muscle and neither is the gardener on the right.    It isn't the first time you lift incorrectly that you notice your "pulled muscle" in your low back, but many times it was the last time.

Low Back Pain generally starts in the middle of your low back as pressure, soreness, stiffness or tightness.  It seems this is something we all ignore.  As it gets progressively worse you will notice a tightening in your buttock then pain in your hip, the pain then wraps around in your groin or down your hamstring.  When it is out of control you will feel pain, coldness, numbness all the way into your foot.  I can't tell you the number of people who have come to me for plantar fasciitis when it was actually referred from their lumbar spines.  

This is what is known as peripheralization.  That is when something travels away from its source.  Why am I sharing this with you?  The best time to address your low back problems is when it is in the center of your low back and "just a stiffness," strain, or pressure.  If you don't address it, it will always come back when you least expect it, and when it is the most inconvenient time to have it, and just a little bit worse than the last episode.  When it does, it can bring leg weakness and numbness along with it.  No good for all you gym warriors out there.  Trust me on this!  I see it all the time.  

What should you do when you experience this?  First, do not ignore this!  This is your low back talking to you and begging you to do something before it gets worse.  My recommendation is to see me of course, or see anyone who is credentialed or diploma-ed in the the McKenzie Method of Mechanical Diagnosis and Therapy.  We are experts in mechanical pain and will teach you everything we know to take care of the problem yourself.  Not a good business move you say?  In the case of low back pain,  I heard the other day that 80% of the population will experience low back pain this year.  More than enough business potential if you ask me.  In fact, I am fond of saying there is enough for every discipline.  A great book for your libraries is called Treat Your Own Back which I have conveniently linked here to Amazon.  This book is worth its weight in gold and may help you resolve your own problems without seeing me. With that said, the fastest and surest way to complete resolution of your pain would be to have a few visits with me so you know exactly what to do to treat yourself.  

Buy it here!

You know what I am going to say,  "Everyone Deserves a Good Mechanical Assessment and Treatment Plan!"  Schedule your evaluation today by visiting Grimm Physiotherapy  or by calling 504-228-0524.  Here's to a pain free spine!