need advice back problem

jennlos · February 2009

I was getting ready to go to the gym and I stretch at home nothing over the top just normal. Somewhere between that and getting my son in and out of the car I pulled a muscle in my lower left side of my back it hurts. When I got to the gym I was hoping that it would just worked itself out but after 20 min on the elliptical I was sooo done:grumble: . Now I am home trying to rest and looking for any remedies that may be helpful. I am not goin to let a little pain get into my way of what I am doin and want to get back to working out as soon as posible. I have a hot tub so other then that and aspirin I am not sure what I could do to fix it. Any suggestions would be great. Thanks in advance. :happy:

jennlos · February 2009

I was getting ready to go to the gym and I stretch at home nothing over the top just normal. Somewhere between that and getting my son in and out of the car I pulled a muscle in my lower left side of my back it hurts. When I got to the gym I was hoping that it would just worked itself out but after 20 min on the elliptical I was sooo done:grumble: . Now I am home trying to rest and looking for any remedies that may be helpful. I am not goin to let a little pain get into my way of what I am doin and want to get back to working out as soon as posible. I have a hot tub so other then that and aspirin I am not sure what I could do to fix it. Any suggestions would be great. Thanks in advance. :happy:

Isabelle · February 2009

You could try physiotherapy or massotherapy. Some ice treatment may help too.

Winter23 · February 2009

Keep taking Aspirin or Iduprofen they work best for sore muscles as they have anti inflammatories in them. Alternate between heat and cold. 20 on 10 off. Heat will relax the muscle and ease pain, cold will help with inflamation which in turn will help with pain, but be carefull cold will also make muscles cramp if you do it too long. I would only use cold for 10 min and use heat for 20. And keep to light, gentle stretches for a few days where the muscle was pulled so as not to aggrivate it.

yellow_pepper · February 2009

Nix the aspirin and take ibuprofen around the clock. It will only be effective if you keep taking them.

Sleep on your back or side - not on your stomach. Arching your back prevents it from healing. Any back stretches that you do should be bending FORWARD at the waist, or twisting slowly.

If your pain gets worse or does not go away after 2 days, go to your doctor, who will likely send you to a physical therapist, and may prescribe muscle relaxants in addition to ibuprofen around the clock.

12by311 · February 2009

I have constant back pain, so I am really no help here.

However, I do go to yoga journal and do the yoga specifically for the upper/lower back and it really does help.

StiringWendel · February 2009

Stretching exercises are important. Be gentle at first. But some of the muscles you want to make sure you stretch out (gently) are your hamstrings, glutes, and hip flexors (and if possible, the inner thigh muscles as well). And take it easy in returning to exercise! Listen to your body and if it says 'This hurts', stop doing it. That is very important.

When I strain my back, I usually don't do any activity for 48 hours, and then slowly easy myself back into walking. increasing the length everyday as my back sees fit. Usually within a few weeks, I'm back to normal activities, but I start my day--everyday--with a good long stretch of those muscle supporting my back (including yoga). It really has cut down on the amount of time it takes me to get back to normal AND the number of times I strain my back muscles.

Hope you feel better soon.