Self Care Tips for Relieving Low Back and Hip Pain

Have you ever watched infants and toddlers trying to walk? They fall continuously. The kids will look at their parents after a bad fall to try and figure out if they should cry or not because they are not sure how to react. Kids don’t know how to perceive pain yet. Have you noticed everyone perceives pain differently? The threshold of tolerable pain is different for everyone. Some people can withstand incredible amounts of pain, usually women, and others think they have high pain tolerance until they must see the doctor or they get hurt, usually men. Some women can tolerate giving child birth without a single medication while others prefer to be sedated so they don’t have to feel pain. Pain syndromes are different for everyone.

Low back pain is an interesting pain syndrome. It can be multifactorial and many times does not come from the low back at all. People describe their pain as being in their low back but when  they show you where the pain is they point to their hips or glute area. I see this daily in clinic. Most often the glute area is the piriformis muscle in spasm. The piriformis muscle can also irritate the nearby sciatic nerve and cause pain, numbness and tingling along the back of the leg and into the foot. The tensor fasciae latae is one of the hip flexing muscles that abducts and internally rotates the hip. If this muscle spasms can lead to low back pain. The fascia that wraps around the hips spreads across the sacrum and up through the low back and this makes the low back muscles, quadratus lumborum(QL) or multifidus tighten and shorten leading to low back pain. Other common causes of low back pain can be bulging or protruding discs in the lumbar spine leading to pain, muscle spasm and sciatica down the legs or to the feet.

The good news is that there are several self-care tips you can do at home or the office if low back or hip pain starts. You need a tennis or lacrosse ball and a wall or the floor. Watch the video to learn how to release the TFL muscle. This same technique can be used to release the QL, piriformis, glutes and other external hip flexors that are below your glutes. Lean up against the wall or lay down on the floor and move around until you find the tight, sore or muscle in spasm and press into it for about a minute. Then move the ball around and search for other spots and repeat. This is like giving yourself a deep tissue massage and can relieve pain and loosen the muscles and fascia through the hips and low back. A great time to do this is before bed or anytime you’re in pain.

If you are unable to resolve the pain with stretching and self-massage try acupuncture, cupping, & moxibustion. It can help with any type of musculoskeletal injury, bulging or protruding discs, and sciatica. I have helped prevent many clients from needing back or neck surgeries. Our offices are in Pacific Beach and North park in San Diego. If surgery is required Acupuncture will help you recover faster by decreasing pain and improving range of motion. Surgery is not a quick fix and should be used as a last resort. Your body has an innate and incredibly powerful ability to heal itself no matter what the age. Give us a call 401-684-HEAL(4325) or book your free consultation now to get quick relief. End your own suffering today!