lower back hurts a little, how can I improve it?

I helped a friend with moving into a new house this weekend, and my lower back hurts a little.

What can I do to help relieve the pain and prevent the it from hurting in the future?

Anyone here have good tips to share?

Get a book on Pilates. It builds core strength that will protect your back and make good posture easier to maintain.

Short term - Aleve does a decent job. Advil is OK too, but it gives me a stomach ache.

Long term - build stomach muscles and lose gut, if applicable.

Been plagued by the "middleage male back syndrome" for 10+ years. Doc says strikes MAM's who've done lots of manual labor or been serious jocks. Normally begins in the 50's and lessens in the 60's. All nerves and muscles - no hard tissue involved so it doesn't show on the xrays, etc.

The bible is "Treat Your Own Back" by Dr. Robin McKenzie. Old method, but works very well. Available at Amazon, etc. Often shows up at HalfPrice Books. Can't recommend it highly enough. -- but nothing works for everyone.

Over the counter pain meds help some, but rest and theraputic exercise (per McKenzie) are the only real relief (for me). For serious episodes (such as I'm having now) I use hydrocodone and skelaxin for immediate relief . Then it's just rest and exercise.

Other things help - good firm mattress, lumbar roll in chairs and vehicles, careful and controlled movements (no sudden twists or lifts, falling on your butt, etc).

Good luck.

Ditto to core strength. Weak abs, bad posture and tight hip flexors are all common contributers to typical back pain.
In your case it sounds like you were doing some lifting; we've all heard the old advice of lift with your legs not your back. But it really is difficult to do, especially when dealing with awkwardly sized stuff. Even the best of us get a little sore after doing more work or lifting more than we usually do.
Get it some rest, otc drugs if that's your thing, and/ or a massage.
To prevent it in the future, when someone asks you to help move, just say "no." :laughing: Or seek out some additional core strength and get your body used to using those muscles more. We carry things in the front usually so the back is under extra strain to keep us upright and balanced, even if we did lift with our legs. Build up the body's ability to take more punishment, practice the best way to use the body efficiently and with least impact. There are loads of great ways to do this, group exercise, personal attention form professionals, even some decent books out there as was just suggested above.

When I used to own a condo I spent every weekend lugging home improvement stuff up three flights of stairs. Of course, the wife always liked the flooring tile and bamboo boards that seemed to be the heaviest the store had to offer!

Since then I've become sensitive to back health. The current crop of cheap office chairs these days are absolute murder on the back. Mine has been fortified with a butt and lumbar cushion from Relax the Back. The good stuff isn't cheap, about $200 for the set, but really helps with fatigue. I also take several three-minute stretch breaks per day.

My home office chair is a Herman Miller Aeron. Worth EVERY penny.

I've also been doing core-strengthening exercise in the gym. Years of working as an auto mechanic (and working on the condo) probably have made my back permanently sensitive. What helps me the most are weighted squats, deadlifts and "Romanian" (e.g. stiff-legged) deadlifts.

As soon as I stop working out, my back starts to hurt again. This will probably follow me the rest of my life, but on the upside, should keep me in the gym (and thus strong) through old age.

Totally agree about the office chair. Get the best chair you can.

I think exercising your core muscles is one of the best, if not the best, solution. That includes working out your upper and lower abs, obliques, and your lower back. I work on my core muscles 3 times a week for about 30-45 minutes each workout. There are many books out there that could help you with this subject. One of the ones I've read that I like is "Body for Life".

I've tried several different routines, but I recently started doing these:
http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/cms/article-detail.asp?articleid=486

Good link GreenLed!! I actually do several of the routines myself. I also do:

(1) Reverse Crunch (lower abs)
(2) Situp on an declined bench (upper abs)
(3) Axe Chopping (obliques) - I'll hold a light dumbbell and make believe it's an axe and I'm chopping down a tree. I alternate between right and left side.
(4) Hyperextension (lower back) - I have a situp/hyperextension combination bench at home. It looks kind of like this model: (http://www.buylifefitness.com/BODY-SOLID-Best-Fitness-Ab-Board-Hyperextension.html)

greenLED said:

I've tried several different routines, but I recently started doing these:
http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/cms/article-detail.asp?articleid=486

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I work at UPS and lift heavy stuff for a living, and have been dealing with back pain off and on for 8 years now. If you have problems with lower back pain and know you're going to be doing heavy lifting in the future, buy a good back brace and use it. It may help, but lifting properly (with your legs and not your back) is even more important. Most of my back pain is in my upper back and shoulders, so a brace doesn't do much for me. I've had other problems with my back going back more than 20 years, and have tried both chiropractic treatment and my family doctor for treatment (he prescribed several different drugs as well as R&R).

For daily aches and pains I usually take 2-3 Advil (ibuprofen) now and then, but for when my back really flairs up I stick with Aleve. Usually two tablets at the onset of pain if it is severe, then one every 12 hours afterwards until the pain subsides, along with plenty of R&R. I don't like to overmedicate though, so I often just live with a little pain instead of popping pills all the time.

a very low impact exercise - lay on your stomach on the floor. touch your fingers to your shoulders. arch your back and pull your upper body off the floor as much as you can. to make it harder, arch and pull up both your upper body and lower legs. and to make it even harder, extend your arms straight out, past your head.

xcel730 said:

Good link GreenLed!!

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You're welcome. Actually, this is the routine I used to do before:

http://www.nismat.org/orthocor/programs/lowback/backex.html#Ex1

It worked great to keep my lower back pain in check (old logging injury) without much time or effort spent. However, I started doing some other physical stuff and I needed to move onto something that would strengthen my core a little more. Thus the triathlon core building routine.

I usually combine both routines, and that seems to work for me.


A word of caution, though... dealing with sore back muscles is one thing (for that I take Advil, or Aleve if it gets too bad), suffering from chronic back pain due to some sort of trauma (or even poor working posture) is a different animal.

Make sure to check with a PT specialist before you start an exercise routine if what you have is chronic back pain. I was told some exercises might actually complicate an injury.

Thanks everyone. I'll definitely be following the advice / exercise recommendations given here.

For me the combination of old age, arthritis, collapsed discs and damaged nerves means that Monday I will have a decompression/fusion on L4-5-S1. Do yourself a favor and don't get that bad.

Good luck Glasstream. I've several acquaintences who've had very successful back surgeries recently.

Two Aleve and 500mg of acetaminophen (Tylenol) taken every 12 hours with a full glass of water. Do NOT take for more than 1 week.

Abdominal and lower back exercises is the long term solution.

Glasstream15 said:

For me the combination of old age, arthritis, collapsed discs and damaged nerves means that Monday I will have a decompression/fusion on L4-5-S1. Do yourself a favor and don't get that bad.

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I have problems with the exact same disks. Best wishes for a successful surgery and a speedy recovery.

LED-holic, one of best 'treatments' that I've been given over the years has been pull-ups. It allows natural traction and you're developing your abs and obliques while your spine is in that decompressed stage to properly support your back. Do not drop or jump down from the bar - come down very softly or you can do serious damage.

kitelights said:

IDo not drop or jump down from the bar - come down very softly or you can do serious damage.

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Been there, done that... not pleasant...

Yoga. You'll strengthen and stretch things you didn't know you had.

If you have the Oxygen channel, there's a good show on in the mornings around 6am (Or you might wanna record it for later in the day) called, Inhale with Steve Ross.