Treat Yourself: alleviate back stress

Back Pain. We all know what it is like to have a twinge of muscle aches in our back, or suffer from neck pain secondary to poor posture, or even the occasional bout of persistent pain stemming from the low back!

But what do you do to alleviate it?

Basically, our spine moves in three ways: bends forward, bends backward, and rotates. Bending over sideways is a result of a combination of the three movements.

Movement in the spinal bones occurs as a result of the push and pull of the tiny muscles surrounding these bones. The larger muscles which wrap around the spine (i.e. lattissimus dorsi, trapezius erector spinae etc.) are there to aid in more grand movements such as jumping or dancing. Therefore, engaging these large muscles in response to simple bending forward can hinder the small spine muscles from activating (and thus stabilizing the spine).

Altered muscle firing patterns in the spine can occur from poor posturing, high stress and as a result of injury in another area of our body!

Over time, the larger muscles will be forced to compensate for the loss of stabilizing forces and they consequently become hyperactive. This can lead to muscle spasms and back pain!

Quick Solution:

Grab four tennis balls. Place two on the floor about 6 inches apart from one another and lay on them so your shoulder blades rest on top (on either side of your spine). Then lift your bottom and place the other two on either side of your spine at your low back. From here, roll gently back and forth on the balls to relieve tension and calm down your back muscles.

Relieving the spasms in your back muscles can ease the pain stemming from the altered mechanical relationships caused by the push and pull of these larger muscles.

Do you receive 'maintenance massages'? Have you ever considered why a massage is therapeutic for your body?