How to Loosen Tight Lower Back Muscles

Tight muscles in the lumbar region (lower back) cause severe discomfort and restrict mobility and function, limiting your ability to carry out basic activities of daily living.  You may develop tight lower back muscles due to injury, overuse, strenuous physical activities, poor posture, lack of physical activities, etc. Tight lower back muscles may also be a symptom of chronic lower back pain in Towne Lake, GA. Therefore, you must seek treatment immediately if you notice stiffness in your lower back muscles. 

This article will explore treatment methods at FYZICAL Therapy & Balance Centers—Towne Lake that can help loosen tight lower back muscles. 

Why Do We Have Tight Lower Back Muscles Sometimes?

Tight lower back muscles may result from the following conditions:

Strains And Sprains

A sprain is an injury to your muscles or tendons, while a strain is an injury to your ligaments. Sprains and strains are the primary causes of tight lower back muscles, mostly resulting from overuse. If you have poor posture, do heavy lifting, or carry out sudden movements, you may experience a sprain or a strain.

Degenerative Conditions

Degenerative conditions typically occur due to wear and tear and may worsen over time. Osteoarthritis and degenerative disc disease are common conditions that can affect the back and cause tightness in the lower back. Risk factors for these conditions include age, genetics, obesity, and diabetes.

Injuries

You can sustain injuries to your back from traumatic events like accidents, falls, and sports impacts. These events can cause fractures, herniated discs, and tears. Injuries can result in lower back tightness, depending on their severity.  

Lifestyle Factors

Your lifestyle can also cause back pain. For instance, a sedentary lifestyle can weaken the muscles supporting your spine, making you prone to lower back tightness. Poor sleeping, sitting, and standing posture may also predispose you to lower back tightness.

How Do You Know You Have Tight Lower Back Muscles?

When we say tight lower back muscles, do we mean it in the literal sense of the word? Maybe. Another way to describe this condition is ‘stiff’ lower back muscles. The main issue is that you may find it hard to bend, twist, and engage in any activity involving your lower back movement because it is stiff and has a reduced range of motion. It doesn’t end there, as lower back pain is often an accompanying symptom, especially if you still attempt to move.

You may also notice that you’re standing, sitting, or doing anything in unnatural positions or that tight back muscles are causing some sort of postural change. Furthermore, some people experience brief or sustained movements of muscle contraction, known as muscle spasms. If left untreated, tight lower back muscles have serious potential long-term consequences, like chronic back pain and further back injuries. Moreover, it will always be a long day when you can’t move your back, right? That’s why you should seek help fast.

Treatment options to Loosen Tight Lower Back Muscles

Physical therapy is a very effective treatment method for tight lower back muscles. Like chronic back pain therapy in Towne Lake, GA, physical therapy can utilize several techniques to loosen tight back muscles. The following are some of the methods that a physical therapist may employ or recommend to loosen your tight back muscles:

Therapeutic Exercises

This physical therapy technique is one of the most common ways through which physical therapists relieve pain and restore mobility and other functions. Therapeutic exercises refer to movements and activities that physical therapists design and prescribe to correct impairments, improve muscle strength, and restore function and mobility.  Two major types of exercises can loosen tight lower back muscles. These include:

Stretching Exercises

These refer to controlled movements that can target the lower back's muscles, loosening them and improving flexibility and range of motion. Common examples of stretching exercises that can loosen tight lower back muscles include:

• Cat-cow stretch
• Child's pose
• Piriformis stretch
• Knee-to-chest- stretch
• Cobra stretch
• Supine twists
• Legs-up-the-wall

Strengthening Exercises

These exercises strengthen and support the lower back muscles, loosen tight muscles, and prevent future reoccurrences. Strengthening exercises that can help you loosen tight lower back muscles include:

• Pelvis tilt
• Bridge exercise
• Bird-dog exercise
• Planks
• Side-plank
• Wall sit

Other therapeutic exercises that can help to loosen tight muscles in the lower back region include lumbar rotation, hip circles, etc.

Manual Therapy

Manual therapy is a hands-on technique that physical therapists use to manipulate the body's soft tissues to relieve pain and improve function. Unlike therapeutic exercises,  manual therapy is a passive technique because it requires you to receive treatment from a physical therapist instead of actively involving yourself in the process. Common examples of manual therapy techniques that can loosen tight lower back muscles include massage therapy, joint mobilization, trigger point therapy, myocardial release, strain counter-strain therapy, dry needling, etc. 

Posture and Ergonomic Training

Physical therapists can teach proper posture to reduce strain on your lower back muscles. Maintaining a good posture can reverse muscle tightness and other effects of poor posture on your lower back. They may also recommend some ergonomic adjustments to your home and workplace environment to reduce the strain on your lower back muscles while you go about your daily life. You may also undergo functional training.

Patient Education and Home Exercise Programs

Physical therapists also educate their patients on the causes of their lower back muscle tightness and how to prevent future occurrences. They may also recommend exercise programs that patients may practice at home to loosen their tight lower back muscles and prevent future injuries. 

These and many more are the things you might experience when you are looking to loosen your tight lower back muscles with Towne Lake physical therapy. Since physical therapy is a non-invasive procedure, your risk of developing complications after treatment is little to none. However, you may feel mild pain or soreness after massage and other physical therapy techniques. But these should go away in no time.

Conclusion

Tight lower back muscles can cause severe pain and discomfort, limiting mobility and physical function. When this happens, you may be unable to perform your daily activities or participate in activities you enjoy. This newfound situation may be frustrating for you, causing a significant decrease in your overall quality of life. Fortunately, physical therapy offers a non-invasive yet effective way to loosen your tight lower back muscles. If you suffer from tight lower back muscles, you should consider undergoing physical therapy at FYZICAL Therapy & Balance Centers- Towne Lake.