Lower back pain is the most frequent ailment that brings people through my doors in Nashville. It can be incredibly tricky to navigate on your own and deeply frustrating. You find yourself asking: Should I work out to strengthen it? Is rest better? Does walking or running help?
If you have read my other articles on injury recovery, you can probably guess my perspective on the root cause of lower back pain and the resulting inflammation: muscular imbalances.
Your Hips: The Foundation of the Spine
Your lower spine sits directly on top of your hip bones, which are housed within the largest muscle groups in your body. Because of this, the tension in your hip muscles directly dictates the position of your lower spine.
In almost every case I treat, lower back pain is caused by a hip imbalance that triggers a cycle of inflammation. This happens in several ways:
- One hip picks up higher than the other, creating a lateral pull on the spine.
- One hip rotates backwards while the other rotates forwards, creating a “twisting” strain on the lower vertebrae.
- One hip tilts forward while the other tilts backward, throwing the natural curve of the lower back out of alignment.
The quest for balance in the body is like a game of tug-of-war. My job is to identify the muscles that are working too hard and pulling your bones out of position. Once these muscles are released and relaxed, the bones naturally fall back into a better position, the lower spine straightens out, and the inflammation can finally begin to subside.
The “Lightness” Factor: Efficiency and Reduced Inflammation
When your body is out of position, there is an immediate loss of power and stamina. Your system has to exert significantly more energy and deal with more internal inflammation just to perform remedial tasks.
One of the most common things people report after a session at Fortitude, besides being pain-free, is how much “lighter” they feel. This isn’t a coincidence. A happy body in a better position requires less energy to move. When we correct the imbalance, the “heavy” feeling of constant muscular strain and inflammation disappears.
The Self-Test: Where Is Your Limitation?
One simple test you can perform at home to see if your hips are out of position is the Forward Bend Test.
As you bend forward to touch your toes, pay close attention to where you feel the limitation. Where is the pain or the stretch hanging out? If you feel the primary stretch or a “pinch” in your lower back, that is a dead giveaway that your hips are out of position and driving inflammation in your spine. Ideally, you should feel this stretch in your hamstrings or calves.
I use this movement to isolate the root cause. After releasing the muscles that are too tight, the hips fall into a better position, which in turn realigns the lower spine. Better alignment equals better range of motion and an end to chronic inflammation.
The Kinetic Chain: A Professional Athlete’s Recovery
Sometimes, the source of lower back inflammation is even further down the chain. Last year, a professional beach volleyball player came to my office reporting lower right back pain. He had noticed a significant loss in his vertical jump and was moving slower on the sand. Despite spending hours foam rolling his back, the inflammation wouldn’t budge.
Believe it or not, the source of his back pain was coming from a muscle group in his lower leg.
By releasing the tension in his lower leg, his hip position corrected itself, and his back pain vanished instantly. He reported back the next day that he was jumping and moving like he had years prior. For him, “getting his spring back” required fixing the imbalance in his foundation to stop the inflammation at its source.
Experience the Fortitude Difference
Our bodies are incredible machines, and seeing how quickly they can flourish and heal from inflammation when given the correct stimulus is the best part of my work.
Stop managing the pain. Start correcting the position. Visit Fortitude Sports Therapy in Nashville today.