I've had a nagging pain in my right lower back for decades. I think I've found the culprit: A weak psoas muscle.

[Mashmont]

Ladies and gentlemen, have you had a dull pain in your lower back for a long time? If you sleep on your side, is it especially painful when you get out of bed? If you stand for long periods, does it hurt worse than usual? People are quick to jump on the "well maybe you have arthritis and need a shot". I hate that quick diagnosis, because it may not be arthritis at all.

The problem could be a weak psoas muscle, also known as the hip flexor. The psoas major muscle is one that attaches at the lower spine and the upper thigh. It is the one muscle that connects the upper and lower body. It is very much an interior muscle, and when it is weak, it manifests itself in a lot of mysterious low back pain. The psoas gets weak from sitting. Sometimes you feel it when you walk, because it is repetitively used in walking. That's not really the same as strengthening it.

Some instruction says to stretch it by assuming a lunge position and leaning backward. That does offer temporary relief, but to get to the root of the problem, you have to strengthen the psoas. A highly effective way is to lie on your back, grab the bottom of your couch and raise your legs a foot or so off the ground, three sets of ten reps. It will hurt at first, but it's a good hurt. This isn't the same as a crunch. The grabbing of the couch engages the psoas in a way a crunch won't. The opposite of the psoas muscle is the quads and glutes, so you must achieve balance by also doing some deadlifts or squats. I've added crunches and planks. It's improved steadily for the three weeks I've been doing it, and my back problem appears to be gone.

Fingers crossed.

 

[OhPleaseJustQuit]

Ladies and gentlemen, have you had a dull pain in your lower back for a long time? If you sleep on your side, is it especially painful when you get out of bed? If you stand for long periods, does it hurt worse than usual? People are quick to jump on the "well maybe you have arthritis and need a shot". I hate that quick diagnosis, because it may not be arthritis at all.

The problem could be a weak psoas muscle. The psoas major muscle is one that attaches at the lower spine and the upper thigh. It is the one muscle that connects the upper and lower body. It is very much an interior muscle, and when it is weak, it manifests itself in a lot of mysterious low back pain.

Some instruction says to stretch it by assuming a lunge position and leaning backward. That does offer temporary relief, but to get to the root of the problem, you have to strengthen the psoas. A highly effective way is to lie on your back, grab the bottom of your couch and raise your legs a foot or so off the ground, three sets of ten reps. It will hurt at first, but it's a good hurt. The opposite of the psoas muscle is the quads and hamstrings, so you must achieve balance by also doing some deadlifts or squats. I've added crunches and planks. It's improved steadily for the three weeks I've been doing it, and my back problem appears to be gone.

Fingers crossed.

.

I'm going to talk to my chiropractor about this. Back pain just keeps getting worse.

Good luck!


.

 

[Mashmont]

.

I'm going to talk to my chiropractor about this. Back pain just keeps getting worse.

Good luck!


.

Good luck to you!

 

[OhPleaseJustQuit]

Good luck to you!

.

My late hubby experienced this and allowed the lumbar injections, which did nothing.


.

 

[EvilCat Breath]

I had pain in my right lower back. It was spinal stenosis. My spine was scraped and it's fine now.

 

[Mashmont]

I always think weightlifting cures all ills, but it could be I've been lucky all my life.

 

[odanny]

I always think weightlifting cures all ills, but it could be I've been lucky all my life.

It can definitely help.

I hurt a muscle in my rotator cuff, by weightlifting. I tried stretching and various exercises to strengthen the muscle, after letting it rest for 6 weeks (helped the most) , but nothing was working to get rid of the pain. I went back to doing nothing, letting it rest, and I got some more temporary relief. It wasn't long before it started hurting again, from sleeping on it or even long walks could cause a flare up.

Then I started doing chin-ups. After a week the pain was greatly diminished, and now it appears it is finally gone. Chin-ups were the key to strengthening whatever muscle was causing pain. A doctor recommended surgery if it persisted.

That wasn't happening.

 

[Woodznutz]

Ladies and gentlemen, have you had a dull pain in your lower back for a long time? If you sleep on your side, is it especially painful when you get out of bed? If you stand for long periods, does it hurt worse than usual? People are quick to jump on the "well maybe you have arthritis and need a shot". I hate that quick diagnosis, because it may not be arthritis at all.

The problem could be a weak psoas muscle, also known as the hip flexor. The psoas major muscle is one that attaches at the lower spine and the upper thigh. It is the one muscle that connects the upper and lower body. It is very much an interior muscle, and when it is weak, it manifests itself in a lot of mysterious low back pain. The psoas gets weak from sitting. Sometimes you feel it when you walk, because it is repetitively used in walking. That's not really the same as strengthening it.

Some instruction says to stretch it by assuming a lunge position and leaning backward. That does offer temporary relief, but to get to the root of the problem, you have to strengthen the psoas. A highly effective way is to lie on your back, grab the bottom of your couch and raise your legs a foot or so off the ground, three sets of ten reps. It will hurt at first, but it's a good hurt. This isn't the same as a crunch. The grabbing of the couch engages the psoas in a way a crunch won't. The opposite of the psoas muscle is the quads and glutes, so you must achieve balance by also doing some deadlifts or squats. I've added crunches and planks. It's improved steadily for the three weeks I've been doing it, and my back problem appears to be gone.

Fingers crossed.

I had that pain as well, but it went away eventually. I believe that most lower back pain is caused by extreme fatigue, and mental stress, throughout the body, thus exercise will only aggravate or prolong it. What is needed is adequate rest for the whole body and mind.

 

[Mashmont]

It can definitely help.

I hurt a muscle in my rotator cuff, by weightlifting. I tried stretching and various exercises to strengthen the muscle, after letting it rest for 6 weeks (helped the most) , but nothing was working to get rid of the pain. I went back to doing nothing, letting it rest, and I got some more temporary relief. It wasn't long before it started hurting again, from sleeping on it or even long walks could cause a flare up.

Then I started doing chin-ups. After a week the pain was greatly diminished, and now it appears it is finally gone. Chin-ups were the key to strengthening whatever muscle was causing pain. A doctor recommended surgery if it persisted.

That wasn't happening.

I've heard this before. People have chronic problems, and hitting the back muscles like that clears them up. I'm finding the same thing with my psoas muscle. Strengthening it has cleared up a bunch of nagging problems.

 

[Blaster]

Some folks have spinal stenosis.

 

[Mashmont]

Ladies and gentlemen, have you had a dull pain in your lower back for a long time? If you sleep on your side, is it especially painful when you get out of bed? If you stand for long periods, does it hurt worse than usual? People are quick to jump on the "well maybe you have arthritis and need a shot". I hate that quick diagnosis, because it may not be arthritis at all.

The problem could be a weak psoas muscle, also known as the hip flexor. The psoas major muscle is one that attaches at the lower spine and the upper thigh. It is the one muscle that connects the upper and lower body. It is very much an interior muscle, and when it is weak, it manifests itself in a lot of mysterious low back pain. The psoas gets weak from sitting. Sometimes you feel it when you walk, because it is repetitively used in walking. That's not really the same as strengthening it.

Some instruction says to stretch it by assuming a lunge position and leaning backward. That does offer temporary relief, but to get to the root of the problem, you have to strengthen the psoas. A highly effective way is to lie on your back, grab the bottom of your couch and raise your legs a foot or so off the ground, three sets of ten reps. It will hurt at first, but it's a good hurt. This isn't the same as a crunch. The grabbing of the couch engages the psoas in a way a crunch won't. The opposite of the psoas muscle is the quads and glutes, so you must achieve balance by also doing some deadlifts or squats. I've added crunches and planks. It's improved steadily for the three weeks I've been doing it, and my back problem appears to be gone.

Fingers crossed.

Update: I talked to a PT. He said he problem is a compressed spine, and that I need to bring my knees up to my chest for 20 seconds three reps. It has helped.

 

[initforme]

Working your way up to a very heavy squat will fix the issue. The older you get, the harder one works out.

 

[Concerned American]

The problem could be a weak psoas muscle, also known as the hip flexor.

It could be a minor subluxation of a vertebrae in the middle of your back. I was misadjusted by a chiropractor about five years ago and the result was a pain in my hips similar to your description. After he suggested that it was arthritis, I quit going to him. I took to a regimen of soft exercising following my daily shower and after about six months I was pain free. I've been pain free for a couple years now. This was my experience, yours may be totally different.

 

[initforme]

It could be a minor subluxation of a vertebrae in the middle of your back. I was misadjusted by a chiropractor about five years ago and the result was a pain in my hips similar to your description. After he suggested that it was arthritis, I quit going to him. I took to a regimen of soft exercising following my daily shower and after about six months I was pain free. I've been pain free for a couple years now. This was my experience, yours may be totally different.

And stretch the lower back good. Start weightlifting. Go easy gradually adding weight. You really cant overdo it unless you become unreasonable and try for 400 plus.