A back muscle spasm is an involuntary contraction of one or more muscles along the spine. This can lead to muscles becoming tense or sore.
Causes
Spasms in the muscles of the back can be triggered by issues with the muscles themselves, where the spasms are triggered as a response to an increased level of strain that is placed upon the back, but they can also occur due to non-muscle related causes such as:
- Nerve damage.
- Back or neck injuries.
- Spinal disorders such as a herniated disc, spinal stenosis, or spinal osteoarthritis.
- Compression of the spine.
Symptoms
Spasms can occur in any section of the spine, be it the lower, middle, or upper back. Symptoms of back muscle spasms include:
- Twitching (spasm) of the muscle.
- Soreness, back pain, and painful muscles.
- Stiffness and reduced range of motion. This may include difficulty twisting the spine or bending to pick something up.
- Muscle weakness, which may be accompanied by an inability to properly hold one’s torso upright.
Treatment
Muscle spasms in the back are oftentimes the result of minor injuries to the muscles of the back and may go away on their own after a short period of rest. However, you can ease the pain and other symptoms that appear, and also shorten the recovery period by using one or more of the following self-help and home remedies:
- Taking anti-inflammatory drugs to reduce the inflammation and pain. Before you take any medication, consult with a qualified medical professional (your doctor) and ensure they are only for short-term use, as it is not recommended to consume pain medication for extended periods of time due to the side effects they can cause.
- Taking muscle relaxants to help reduce the tension in the muscles
- Applying an ice pack or a heated pack to the affected area. An ice pack will help reduce inflammation, while a heated pack helps increase the blood flow to speed up recovery.
- Engage in physical therapy. Working with a physical therapist will help you build muscle strength in those muscle groups that are the weakest and most prone to injury, and it is also a great way to improve your spinal mobility and reduce stiffness and pain.
- You can also engage in spinal decompression therapy with a special orthopaedic device called the Backrack, to reduce the effects of compression and lengthen your spine.
Backrack Spinal Decompression Device
As little as 20 minutes of spinal decompression exercises with the Backrack 2-3 times a week can greatly improve your spinal health and significantly reduce your pain.
What spinal decompression therapy does is to have the nodules on each row of the rack push into the spaces between your vertebrae on each side, increasing the intervertebral space between each segment.
When this happens, any nerve that might have been trapped, or any disc that may have been pushed out of space because of the pressure that was placed on it when the spine became compressed, will be released from the pressure.
As a result, when a nerve is no longer trapped or a disc no longer rubs against other spinal structures – including the muscles of the back – pain receptors are not triggered anymore, so there are no more pain flare-ups. This allows not only for pain relief and reduced number of muscle spasms, but also for prevention of both issues.
Please note: if your symptoms do not improve with rest, seem immediate medical advice diagnosis or treatment. Any advice provided in this article is not a substitute for professional medical advice and care.
Author: Spinal Backrack
