Alleviating Low Back Pain

While a hugely vast topic, we can focus on some of the prime offenders that cause low back pain. Outside of specific injury, much of the low back pain or tension people experience is caused by soft tissue and fascia. I’ve talked about the lower crossed syndrome in previous posts and how that imbalance can create low back pain, but today we’ll deal with the posterior musculature.

Thoracolumbar fascia (diamond shaped, low back center)

At the base of the back is a large, multi-layered area of fascia called the thoracolumbar fascia. This is an attachment point for many muscles like the lats, glutes and transverse abdominus to highlight just a few major ones. You’ll notice that this means there are back muscles coming into the fascia superiorly, leg/hip muscles coming in inferiorly and core muscles coming around laterally from the front. Basically this area is a primary connector of the upper and lower body and therefore gets a lot of use. As you can imagine this means that excessive tension in any of these muscles can have an adverse affect on how the low back feels. This is where stretching and foam rolling for the back and hips comes into play.

Don't forget the lats when foam rolling

Starting at the top, when rolling the back out on a foam roller (like I’m sure you’re already doing right?) spend a little time tipping to one side of the back and giving it 10 – 15 good passes before going to the other side. This will target the lats, which can not only cause tension but also limit overhead range of motion. Side note: If you stand with your back against a wall and can’t rotate your arms all the way up overhead and touch, you’re presenting limited range of motion and this is a good place to start.

Using a lacrosse ball for myofascial release of the glutes...

  

...and the hip external rotators. If this is extremely painful start leaning up against a wall so you can moderate the pressure better.

Next we’ll focus on the lower half. Foam rolling, or better yet using a lacrosse ball, on the glutes and hip external rotators can really do amazing things. The glutes obviously get a tremendous amount of use and can therefore get pretty “junky” if you don’t give them some attention. With the lacrosse ball I generally spend a minimum of 30 seconds in each area searching for "hot spots" and really working the affected areas. If you're using a foam roller the same 10 - 15 passes is a good place to start, but you may want to add more in the long run. The lacrosse ball, while definitely more intense, can get into the muscle better and really loosen the hips and glutes up so give it a chance even if it's tough at first.

Interestingly, the glutes and lats have a common line of pull through the thoracolumbar fascia meaning they work together, especially during locomotion. This is why the left arm pulls back at the same time the right leg does when running. The left lat pulls the left arm back while the right glute pulls the right leg back, drawing a diagonal line of pull through the thoracolumbar fascia. 

The common line of pull between the lats and glutes.

While these techniques can really work wonders we must remember that loosening tight tissue is only half the battle; strengthening weak areas is a must for lasting improvement. 

-KO