If your back is thrown out, you’re likely searching for answers to one of the following questions:
- What can I do about it?
- What does it mean to throw your back out?
- How do I prevent it from happening again?
Read on for clarity on all of the above and to learn how to master your back spasms.
What Does it Mean To Have Your Back Thrown Out?
When your back is thrown out, it means you’ve strained one of the muscles in your back. One of your joints in your back may also be jammed. Why does this happen? Typically, it’s due to fatigue of the muscles.
When your muscles are fatigued after doing something strenuous, they become stiff. This can happen more easily if you’re dehydrated. If you’re thinking to yourself, “I didn’t do anything strenuous,” we’ll get there in just a minute. Don’t skip ahead, because this is important to understand.
Muscles can get tired from a heavy lifting workout, or from doing something repetitive like gardening. When muscles are tired, they are unable to perform whatever task or movement they are asked to do next after they are fatigued. It doesn’t have to be a big movement. It could be as simple as coughing, or bending forward to pick something up.
Once you have had your back thrown out once, it can happen again and again. But this time the reason is different…and it has nothing to do with heavy lifting.
Why Has My Back Thrown Out, When All I Did Was Something Small?
This is one of the most frustrating things for people who throw their back out. We’re about to explain the reason that over 80% of people with back pain, have it come back again and again.
The answer is sequencing. This means the ORDER in which the muscles activate. Let’s boil it down to two key groups of muscles: Stabilizers and Movers.
The Stabilizers
These are the muscles that are closest to the actual bones. They hold the bones in place when you’re moving.
The Movers
These are the big guys. The ones that move your arms, legs, and torso.
Whenever we move, the stabilizers are supposed to activate first. They hold the joints and keep them secure so that your movers can then do the heavy lifting.
When our back gets thrown out, this above sequencing gets messed up.. That very first time you throw your back out, the big movers spend days being tight. They’re doing this to protect the muscle that’s strained.
Here’s the problem. When those big movers are super active, the little stabilizers aren’t needed to stabilize the joints because the big movers are currently providing the stability. So the brain stops using them. Here’s the kicker…the brain doesn’t start using the small stabilizers again on it’s own.
This results in your body always using the big movers to stabilize AND move. So then these muscles become exhausted, even without heavy lifting. Once that happens, WHAM, you get your back thrown out again. And the cycle continues…
Can you now see why you keep throwing your back out?
What Can I Do To Prevent Throwing my Back Out?
In order to prevent throwing your back out again and again, you have to reset the pattern that your muscles fire in. To do this, we must first identify why your muscles are not firing correctly. This could be due to problems with:
- Pelvic alignment
- Ligaments
- Stiff muscles
- Stuck Joints
Once you know which things are contributing to your back being thrown out, you can fix them while doing specific exercises to correct the pattern. For this, you typically need to work with a specialist PT.
What Can I Do Right Now?
For quick relief from your pain you can make adjustments to several things you’re doing.
- Avoid sitting in one place for too long. Frequent movement is better, unless it causes more pain.
- Take anti-inflammatory medications.
- Sleep on your back with a pillow underneath your knees, or on your side with a pillow between them.
- Use ice or heat, whichever feels best.
- Bend at your knees, instead of your back.
These solutions are temporary and can help to take the sting off of your back pain.
Are You Or Someone You Know Struggling With “Throwing Your Back Out”?
If so, and you’re looking for a solution for your problem, we are accepting applications for potential clients at our clinic “The Doctors of Physical Therapy” in Scottsdale.
In order to see if we can help you and to determine if we are a good fit for each other, we are offering a free 30 minute “Discovery Visit.” You’ll have time to discuss what you’ve tried in the past that has worked, or hasn’t worked, and what’s happening to you right now.
Title image: https://jerrymabbott.com/2016/06/23/help-i-threw-my-back-out/
These visits are limited, and will only be given to qualified candidates who have a strong desire to fix their back. We will have an honest discussion about your health, and help you determine if we can help you.
Because these visits are limited, if you are someone who is looking for a “quick fix” or “overnight solution” you need not apply.
But if you ARE someone who is health conscious, willing to take an active role in your recovery, and want nothing more to recapture an active healthy lifestyle, then it is absolutely likely that we will be able to help you…
I’ll leave you with one final thought… ”If we could solve you throwing your back out for good, what value would that bring to your life?”
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PS. If you’re ok to continue figuring it out on your own, that’s ok too. You might want to download our free guide that has some tips on how to take the edge off. Just click the button and fill out your information to get your free guide.
