Daily Mobility Exercises by Dr. Kelly Starrett › Forums › Back › Left side lower back pain

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    • 07/29/2013 at 11:28 am #70371
      AvatarJakub Lampart
      Participant

      Hey guys,
      For a couple of months now, I have been battling a pain on the left side of my lower back that I believe has been brought on, at least partly, by poor form on squats and back extensions. Lately I picked up Kelly’s book and have adjusted my form to the point where I feel it’s at least pretty good but still the pain persists. While standing straight up it’s not really that noticeable, but when I bend down or lift something heavy I can definitely feel it. In fact, whenever I bend down even slightly, there is almost like a hump on my left lower back. While standing that left side feels noticeably tighter than the right, but it doesn’t really cause as much pain.

      What I believe may be the problem is that my QL on that side is VERY tight, although the spinal erectors and multifidus on that side are a bit tight as well, The lacrosse ball smash exercise that is suggested by Kelly does actually help, but the relief is usually short lived and the pain often comes back later on. I’ve also been stretching the hip flexors and doing glute and hamstring strengthening exercises (mostly to combat some anterior pelvic tilt that I’ve noticed) but this back issue is what’s really killing me.

      Does anyone have any ideas on what exactly could it be and how I could fix it? This issue is really killing me because it’s really holding me back in my training.

      Thanks for any help
      Adam

    • 07/29/2013 at 11:24 pm #72520
      AvatarAnonymous
      Guest

      The pain is persisting because have not rectified the cause of the pain.
      Using technique that is ” at least pretty good” isn’t good enough. Especially if there is already an issue.
      Your body can buffer anything for a time until it won’t anymore and there is no warning its just done.
      The pain and pain continuing a your body’s way of letting you know something is wrong.
      The way you are standing may be an influencing factor in the situation.
      You should not have pain while standing so if you do that is another place that needs work.
      Have you watched any of the episodes about standing?
      The hump is caused from your body creating slack within the system to complete the movement that you are doing. You make adjustments in position that you may or may not be aware of to go around other things that are restricting the movement.
      It sounds like your hips are out of alignment.
      Again if there is pain something needs to be addressed. If there is any pain caused its not a good situation and one that needs to be addressed.
      It sounds like those areas are quite tight and it will take time for you to be able to hold the changed position. You need to work on it everyday for some time as it loosens up. New range with something means new responsibility.
      Have you looked into any work on your psoas?
      This could be an impacting element.

    • 07/30/2013 at 8:19 am #72521
      AvatarKate Harrigan
      Participant

      Hi Adam,

      Sounds similar to something I was dealing with a while ago.  The approach I followed was:
      Sort out a rotated pelvis.
      Banded distractions to the hips.
      I came to the realisation I was never going to get lasting results just smashing the QL without addressing joint position first.
      Smash the QL and psoaas.
      I also used a ball and peanut through the thoracic spine and wrapped a voodoo band around the high leg and worked on hip flexors, adductors and hamstrings.  This was done to feed slack into the system.
      I had been getting the back pain for a year or two.  But think the initial cause was poor rehab from an injury several years previous.  That is to say it was pretty well ingrained in my movement pattern and and it has taken a while to create a lasting change.  I’m no longer getting the pain after around 6 months of working on it.  To be honest I don’t know when it stopped hurting, it just reduced in severity and frequency over time.  Hope this helps.
    • 07/31/2013 at 11:01 am #72529
      AvatarJakub Lampart
      Participant

      Hi guys,

      Thanks for your replies. I agree that my hips are probably out of alignment so I’ll probably start doing the banded distractions to help get them positioned correctly in the socket. Is there any exercises that I should be doing outside of that however?

      Also, that little hump that I get that I bend down is probably the biggest thing that in a way freaks me out. Could it be possibly caused by the misaligned hips or would you believe that it is more because of the tight muscles on that side of the lower back?

      And lastly one thing I want to note is that until I posted I didn’t even realize but I’ve stopped having any real pain or soreness when standing. I’ll attribute this to the smashing I did so far, it’s awesome to see some progress.

    • 07/31/2013 at 1:15 pm #72531
      AvatarAnonymous
      Guest

      You may need to see a chiro to re align your hips.
      The hump could be caused from something that is mis aligned.
      It sounds like something that would be beneficial to have looked at by someone who can give you more information on it.
      Something mis aligned and tight muscles may both be impacting factors.
      Good to hear you are seeing improvements with your standing position.

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