back pain when arching inward

Hi all

the last few months I have been suffering from some discomfort in my back.

The pain started when I would sit at my desk and stretch (think of yawning and stretching your arms out). When I arch backwards as if to pull the top of my bum upwards and push chest outward i get a pain around the top of the lumber region

The pain started in summer 2010, a few months after I started back jogging.

After a bit of reading online the only self diagnosis I can come up with is:

1.some sort of impact from poor running form ( bad arch support or something)

2. Sleeping position. Mattress needs replacing (again poor support)

3. Anterior pelvic tilt. hip flexors have always been tight from not stretching after jogging and 9-5 desk job. Maybe tight hamstrings/glutes adding to this.

I've since given up jogging because of knee pain.I do some weights (nothing too heavy) and the pain has never caused any discomfort while doing them so I just continued on.

I do get a pain in my back when doing hanging knee raises so I knocked them on the head too

I also get pain after standing for periods or after walking the dog it can be worse

I think its muscular because I just used biofreeze gel and that seems to have lessened the pain

hopefully someone can recommend some stretches or exercises to help

Sorry for the long post

Thanks for reading
Steve

I wouldn't say it's definitely muscular from what you've said, the pain when arching sounds like it could be tight facet joints (spinal joints) that are painful on close-down. If you imagine your spine joints roughly sitting like this normally = , when you bend backwards the back of it closes down and gives you something like this < . Rubbish I know but best i can do and hope it makes sence!! You say you sit at a desk, its not uncommon for a few of these to tighten up and cause a bit of pain, which can in turn can cause muscle or other pain. That's one possible answer. Another is that you have simple low back pain which is extremely common, but if this is the case it's been shown to be quite important for recovery if you don't avoid things just because they bring on a bit of pain - pain isn't always a sign that you're doing more damage.

If you want exercises to try then you could start with a bit of lumber flexion stretches (bending your spine the opposite way to what you say hurts). An example would be standing and touching your toes, or lying on your back and pulling your knees tight into your chest. If you imagine it, both of these will bend the bottom of your spine the other way and open up the back of the joints, kind of like this > . Could also try some core strengthening exercises which have been shown to help with LBP.

This said, these are only good if that is indeed whats causing your pain, and theres now way anyone can know for definite if they don't see you in person so i'd still recommend going to see someone in real life if you consider it bad enough that you've searched for and joined a physio forum.

Thanks Bobo, that makes sense alright

the odd time I was tipping my toes as a stretch , probably not doing it often enough though

Hi Steve !!
Read through your post .. Well I want you to check few things ,
1) What kind of chair do u use at your work place , does it support your spine completely or only supports your upper back ??
2) Do you frequently take breaks while working or sit on the chair foe hours together ??
3) Does your pain get agraveted on activity ?? or is it present constlantly throughout the day ??
4) Does the weather has any effect on the pain ( winter increases the pain and in summer its less ?)??
If you are able to reply to my quests , i think i would be able to give u a perfect set of exercises and help you better ..
Regards,
Radhika

Hi Radhika
1) chair would be decent I suppose..if it was anything it would be my own bad posture that would be causing problems... (not sitting corrctly)
2) I would take breaks every hour at least... bathroom breaks etc
3) pain mainly only bothers me when i'm arching backward but recently has started when i bend forward. doesnt bother me when I'm deadlifiting or bent over rows
4) weather doesnt affect it

Thanks for your reply
Steve

Steve, I read your post and the conclusion one should arrive at is yes, there may be some sort of misalignment in your spine. If you have never been to a Chiropractor before, it certainly rings true that after many years of use, just like your car, it may be time to get an alignment. Denver Chiropractor on Google

Hi Steve !!
Now that you have told me that your own posture might not be correct , It is possibility that you have got the pain due to improper posture ..
Or it might be merely due to muscle spasm ...
The stretches that you can do are :-
1) lying on the matress ,taking both the knees to chest ,holding for 5 counts ,5 sets .go through this site for demo:-http://www.exrx.net/Stretches/GluteusMaximus/Lying.html
2) These 5 stretches would really help :-
Five Fantastic Stretching Exercises
Try out these stretches 3 times a day and your pain will defenately reduce with in 2 days if it is due to muscle spasm ..
Regards,
Radhik

Thanks all

will take a week off any exercises and do some stretching