Treating Lower Back Strain

Back strain is also known as pulled back muscles. Back muscle strain is the most common cause of the back pain. Muscle strain in the back is commonly due to overuse or overload of the muscle. When the muscle is stretched beyond its endurance a back muscle strain or tear develops resulting in injury and inflammation. Inflammation results in pain and can also trigger muscle spasms.

Symptoms of the upper back muscle sprain include pain and muscle spasms felt between the bottom of the neck and the top of the hip region. Cure for upper back muscle strain involves following all the standard methods of treatment for back strain.

Lower back strains or lumbar strains are more common than upper back strains. Lower back strain occurs when the ligament holding the bones together are torn from their attachment. The surrounding soft-tissue is inflamed resulting in the pain. It can be quite debilitating since the lumbar sprain/strain is hardly a small injury. Differentiating a sprain from a lumbar muscle strain may prove to be difficult since both the conditions will show the same symptoms. The common symptoms are muscle spasms and pain around the lower back generally relieved by rest.

When a patient approaches the physician asking, what do I do for lower back strain, the physician recommends the following general methods of back strain treatment.

a) Bed rest soon after the injury not exceeding 48 hours to allow the inflammation to subside. The muscle spasm is also controlled.
b) Anti-inflammatory and relaxing medications
c) Physical therapy exercises for stretching and strengthening the muscles. If there is a lower back muscle injury, simple lower back strain exercises for improving the condition of the muscles of the hip and abdomen region are performed.

If the symptoms persist further evaluation with x-rays, MRI, CT and bone scan are done for an accurate diagnosis.

90% of the patients experience complete recovery from severe back strain in about a month’s time. In recent times, chiropractic method of treatment for recovering from severe back strains has gained immense popularity. This technique believes in the principle that it is possible to treat musculo-skeletal disorders with manipulations or minor adjustments to the spinal vertebrae