Have you ever gone too hard at the gym and woke up the next day with a tweaked back, barely able to get out of bed? Or worse yet, have you ever stepped off a curb too quickly, felt a sharp jolt in your lower back, and then been laid up taking ibuprofen around the clock?
‘Throwing your back out’ is often how people describe an acute muscle strain (acute = comes on suddenly). And muscle strains can be incredibly painful! In these situations, when you’re in so much pain, it’s often hard to know what to do (except lay around in bed rueing the day you ever decided to do that workout or go for that walk).
Of course you already know that I’m going to tell you to call your friendly local physical therapist (and if you’re in Durham, North Carolina, I know a really good one! 😉 ). But let’s say you did that already and can’t get in for a few days. What are you supposed to do in the meantime while you’re in agony!?
I have good news and bad news. The bad news is that unfortunately acute strains usually do last a few days to a few weeks before the worst is behind you; healing is a natural process that just takes time. The good news is that there are a few things you can do in the meantime to help you feel better!
(And hopefully just knowing that things will indeed improve will already help you feel a little better as it has been shown that fear and uncertainty associated with injury can actually increase our perception of pain. This is very normal as it can be scary not knowing if you’ll ever feel better. So first, rest assured that most pain usually resolves with time. )
Here are a few strategies that you can use that might make you a bit more comfortable while you ride out your injury.
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Heat/ice
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This is an obvious one but still worth mentioning. There’s a lot of debate on which temperature is best to use so I wanted to clear things up. Traditionally, people have always used ice for acute injuries. However, ice decreases blood flow to an area. While this does provide a numbing effect (and therefore gives short-term pain relief), it actually prolongs healing as we need blood flow to heal. So while I understand the desire to reach for an ice pack, I would encourage you to switch to heat if it feels okay.
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TENS unit
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TENS stands for transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation. While it can sound scary, it’s really just a fancy name for a small machine that uses a low level of electricity to provide a pain-relieving effect. These handheld machines are usually pretty cheap and available for sale at a local drugstore (or on Amazon).
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(Quick note: do not use a TENS unit if you have a pacemaker. If you have another medical condition and are unsure of whether or not it would be safe to use, please check with your primary care provider first.)
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Gentle movement
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It’s usually instinct to not want to move after throwing your back out. And of course if you really feel that you need to rest, you know your body best. But as a physical therapist, I will tell you that small, gentle movements can often help you feel better. Remember how I said that we want blood flow to a healing muscle? Well movement is a great way to improve circulation! Here is an example of some exercises (linked to videos) my patients have used when their back is injured; I’d recommend trying 10 of each exercise at least a few times a day. Remember to go slow and only go as far as feels comfortable to your body – if that means your movements are tiny at first, they’re still beneficial.
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Modify your routine as needed
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While I firmly believe that movement does help heal, you are obviously not going to be moving as well as you typically do if you are injured. Injured patients often report the most pain when attempting to bend forward, lift heavy objects, and twist their bodies. And whether we think about it or not, most of us do a lot of bending, lifting, and twisting on a daily basis! So how do we go about our day when it seems like everything we do hurts us? Well, as simple as it sounds, we do the best we can to move without bending or twisting, at least in an uncontrolled manner. One trick of the trade is the log roll, which is a way to get into and out of bed without twisting your body. Using this roll can often make a huge difference in how you feel as you won’t be unnecessarily twisting (and therefore putting a big stress on your strained muscles) every time you get up.
People often ask me about taking Ibuprofen or another over-the-counter (OTC) medicine. OTC meds can certainly help at times, but you don’t want to overuse them either. I always tell patients that it’s a personal decision. If you had a headache, would you take an Advil? Some people would and some wouldn’t. So do what feels best for you. But I wouldn’t recommend taking meds for longer than 3 consecutive days as they are meant for short-term use and can have ill effects when taken in excess.
If you’ve used all these strategies to no avail or if it’s been more than a few days of severe pain, I urge you to call your friendly, local physical therapist so that they can help assess you further. Remember that in North Carolina, you do not need a physician’s referral to make an appointment with a physical therapist (and often seeing an MD first delays your time to getting the physical therapy care you need!). So if you’re in pain, contact us today so that we can help you feel better soon!
