After lifting and working around the house and yard my back gets very sore and I have experienced sharp spasms. I have led a very sedentary life until recently and I believe the problem is muscle weakness.
I do have a family doctor and he examined my spine and he agrees with me.
So, has anyone experienced the same thing and what did you do to fix it?
My doctor gave me some exercises to do with a small length of rubber tubing to strengthen my back muscles; it’s only been a few weeks, but I think there’s been some improvement. Also, the cats love the rubber tube thing and not only gather around when I’m doing my exercises, but I have to hide it when I’m done to keep them from dragging it around the house and possibly chewing it to pieces.
Can he send you to a physical therapist? It would really help you out to have someone who can actually physically assess your back give you advice on stretches.
Some general advice, if your doc is ok with it, would be to take walks. The movement helps stretch and strengthen your back muscles. Heat and cold alternating can also soothe sore muscles.
The back is a minefield of potential problem. I’d heartily suggest a physio, and if necessary, they (or your GP) should refer you to a specialist. I see you’re in Canada so assume you’re covered healthcare wise?
Yes, by all means go to a physiatrist, if that is an approach that suits you. Or you could just try to increase your activity and add stretching. It wold be pretty easy to google the types of exercises that are generally prescribed for back patients, and you could probably add/experiment on your own.
Not meaning to diss seeing a dr/therapist. For some people, it means a lot to get such an opinion. And if someone does not have much experience with exercise/activity, it could be helpful. But then you just have to arrive at some program of stretching/exercises/activity that you are going to stick with. And start easy, and only increase gradually.
Good luck. And recognizing that you ought to do something and wanting to is a BIG part of what is needed.
I have been dealing with back pain and I was not able to reliably manage it with exercise. I decided to:
I didn’t want to guess about what the problem was, and didn’t want to do exercise that would make it worse. I also didn’t want to do exercise that would not be helpful (I’m all in to efficiency!)
The actual physical therapy is so few and far between (twice a week for a month) that I don’t think the PT itself will make a long-term dent in my pain. But I’ve got a team of professionals telling me what to do and how, and if I keep it up I’m hoping it will result in strength or good habits that will help me be more pain free.
Yes, you can Google all sorts of exercises but why take the chance of doing the wrong ones?
When you say spasms, I assume you’re talking about a muscle contracting and not releasing as opposed to a muscle twitch. You’re working with a doctor, so you’re probably using the correct word.
When I get them in my lower back, it feels like there’s an ice pick stuck in me, right next to my spine. Often it’s painful enough for me to go to the doctor.
While I’ll agree PT (at home or professional) is probably a good way to go, especially if it’s a chronic condition. I’ve had good luck with muscle relaxers (I like carisoprodol/Soma) or painkillers. The first time I saw my current doc with this complaint I mentioned my surprise that he went straight to that instead of telling me to do some stretches. In his opinion, if you can get out of pain, you won’t be spending all day walking funny trying to protect that area. The sooner you can be pain free (even with drugs), the sooner you can move normally and the muscle will let go.
So far, it’s always worked for me. I can be in pain for a week or two, but after 24-48 hours on muscle relaxers I can feel it working itself out.
Clearly experiences vary since Joey P had a good experience with muscle relaxers; I have not. Any muscle relaxer that relieves the pain also completely knocks me on my ass. If you want to find a way to both manage your pain AND continue to be productive for the rest of the day, I would caution you to manage your expectations.
Personally, the best solution I have found is cortisone shots in my soft tissue. I did try physical therapy, and while it did provide some degree of relief, it was minimal. And considering how much it costs each session ($50 with insurance) and how much time you have to take out of your schedule to do the therapy, I really didn’t find the benefit worth the cost and hassle.
FWIW when I get lower back pain after working I actually found a yoga pose that stretches the lower back muscles and relieves the pain. It’s called Trikonasana (Triangle Pose.) Check out some youtube videos on it. I’m not a regular yoga practitioner but that pose works for me, I hold for 10 seconds each side.
I’m just coming off of a back spasm three weeks ago. Mine are right above the tailbone and it can take a week before I’m walking upright again and a month to be totally back to normal. They seem to reoccur about every other year and apparently during hot weather. The first time it happened, the onset was instant and the pain was so great, I literally thought I’d been shot.
It’s sort of reassuring that most of the time we hear about back spasms in the media, it’s because a professional athlete is out of a game or practice. A young person at peak physical conditioning with access to the world’s finest care suffers from the same thing I do. Yep, me and NFL quarterbacks have a lot in common. OP, too.
To be fair, that’s why I specifically mentioned Soma/carisoprodol. I won’t take Flexeril or Skeleaxin. I’ve only had scripts for them once or twice and it was 20+ years ago, but a single pill would have me wiped out for days. I’d have to take a quarter of a pill to even hope to be able to function the next day. Carisoprodol doesn’t do that to me.
Carisoprodol is metabolized into meprobamate, a strong tranquilizer. As such I don’t prescribe it.
Muscle relaxers don’t really relax muscles, they just sedate. That’s what breaks the spasm, not any direct action on the muscles.
Over 80% of back pain problems are driven by musculo-skeletal and myofascial pain issues. Best treatment in those cases is physical therapy, home exercise programs, stretching routines, relaxation training, and muscle knot/trigger point massage. Best meds for them are tylenol and low dose NSAIDs like ibuprofen. IMHO.
I had 6 appointments with a physical therapist and she set up an exercise regimen that really helped. The most useful one: feet on an exercise ball, elevate hips, hold for 30 seconds. Three times a day, five minutes each session. Strengthens your core.
In my case, PT took care of it.
I had some back issues earlier this year. Back in February, I picked up a 40-lb. container of cat litter at the store, the way I usually do without any problems, and put it in the cart. Pulled it out of the cart so the cashier could scan it. Transferred it from cart to trunk of car. Took it out of the car and took it down to the basement next to the litter box.
At each step of the way, my back let me know that, for whatever reason, this time it wasn’t happy about it. And my back ached all afternoon.
A week later, I’ve been feeling OK for days, so I go out for an early morning run. About 3 houses up the street, my back goes into painful spasms. I stop, turn around, walk home.
Then I start having spasms just from stuff like bending over the sink when I brush my teeth.
Sounds bad, huh? I’ll confess I was scared. My wife’s not in good health, the Firebug’s small for his age, weighs < 70 lbs., so I’m the one in our household who has to do the serious lifting and carrying and whatnot. That would all fall apart if my back’s a mess. And a good deal of my self-image is wrapped up in being an active, healthy, outdoorsy person.
Went to see the doc, the doc prescribed physical therapy, the PT said my spine was out of alignment and needed straightening out - and she did some stuff to my back that apparently did exactly that! She also prescribed some exercises, which I did, but the back-straightening was the main thing, I’m convinced. Because after five or six visits, my back felt as if none of this had ever happened.
My last PT visit was back in April. My back still feels fine. Jill the PT is my miracle worker. 
Almost all of you people are talking about fixing back problems. I suggest that the OP doesn’t have that, in the way most people think. If you have a sedentary lifestyle and you do a bunch of repetitive chores with lots of bending, one should expect a sore back. Daily or every other day simple strengthening of the low back is the plan. Going to a PT for this is pretty big overkill, unless you have some gold plated insurance coverage and extra time on your hands. Just start doing some “supermans” and pelvic tilts in the morning or evening.
I used to have terrible back spasms, and yoga completely fixed it for me. Start with gentle classes!
In Ontario, physiotherapy is only covered by public insurance in very limited circumstances. Pretty much only if you were hospitalized for your injury. And it would be very unlikely for a GP to refer you to a specialist because your back is sore after doing chores. I have my doubts Alberta is more generous.
Lots of good advice already. I also got a lot of help from this series of videos: Bob & Brad - YouTube
This happened to me one time. I had no idea what it was, (and thought my internal organs were failing, or something like that). The doctor told me to take one–and only one–large dose of ibuprofen, which I otherwise never take. It worked perfectly, and the spasm stopped. He emphasized that it should be one very large dose, but you say a low dose. Why the discrepancy?
The Asian squat. It stretches everything, gently and just a little bit! Do it ten to twenty times before physical activity. Do it after, if back is sore. It works a charm for me.
Good Luck!