5 Common Reasons you may have Stiff Back

QI Spine Clinic, 3 years ago

Let’s understand common reasons you may have a stiff back. We will learn exercises that may help reduce the muscular and joint Stiffness in and around your Lower back.

1. Sitting Posture: During the pandemic, most of us have restricted ourselves to the confines of our homes. We spend more than 12 to 14 hours on our gadgets, from doing official work to social media entertainment. We spend hours slouching in the “C “shape of the spine instead of sitting upright in the natural “S” shape. This can cause:

• Increase in disc pressures in the spine
• Degenerative Disc Disease
• Weak upper back, neck, and lower back muscles
• Superficial muscles of spine becoming tight

This can lead to Stiff Back and Low back pain.

2. Disc Bulge or Herniation: Acute Low back pain caused by heavy lifting or sudden awkward movement. The sudden increase in spine load through the spine eg returning to the gym after Covid break or suddenly playing cricket or golf after the break. This can result in

• Muscle spasm or strain.
• Disc bulge or Disc Herniation.
• Sciatic nerve compression or inflammation

3. Weak Or Tight Muscles: A lack of capacity of your lower back muscles to handle the amount of load and external force they are being exposed to overtime. This is caused by a lack of localized strength of the lower back and or poor movement patterns. Muscle Imbalances, which are caused by overuse of some muscles and weakness of others.

Muscles that become Tight:

• Psoas Muscle (Hip Flexors): If your Hip flexors are giving you back issues, you need to find out why the Psoas is stiffening up and stopping your spine from moving freely, and only Then will you be on your way to a PAIN-FREE Back. Psoas muscle attaches to the spine become tight resulting in the back problem. Stretching these muscles can help you relieve the stiff Back.

• Hamstring Muscles: The tightness of these, make the muscle short. This can result in disrupting the alignment of the spine, causing pelvis tilting and causing stiffness in the back. Hamstring Stretching can relieve stiff back pain.

• Quadratus Lumborum Muscles or QL: They are found on either side of the lumbar spine ( lower Back ) are important muscles that help stabilize the lower back. They connect the lower spine to the pelvis and assist with movements like side bending and raising the hip. Tightness in these muscles can also result in low back pain and a Stiff Back.

• Piriformis Muscle and Gluteal Muscle: Tightness in these muscles can give you a stiff Back and sometimes Sciatica.

To reduce Stiff back we must improve the mobility of the above muscles. We should have active control of the joints in different positions, translating into ease of movement. This result is mitigating an Injury.

Muscles that become Weak:

• Gluteus Maximus : Hip Bridge, Super Man
• Gluteal Medius: Side-Lying Hip Abduction
• Internal & External Obliques Muscles: Obliques Muscle Activation, leg lowering exercise.
• Core Muscles: SLR, Knee in and Out, heel slides,
• Spine Extensor Muscles like Erector Spinae: Superman

4. Arthritis: When back pain persists for weeks and months it is important to identify the cause. Arthritis is a very common condition giving chronic back pain.

• Osteoarthritis: These are the degenerative changes in the cartilage around the joints at the back of your spine. This can cause stiffness in the morning, eases off as the day progresses.
• Inflammatory conditions of the Spine. Group of a condition called Spondyloarthropathy. Ankylosing Spondylitis is one of inflammatory arthritis of the spine and large joints. It affects young males during adolescence. It causes fusion of vertebra and causes hunch back. It results in a stiff back and causes a bamboo spine.

5. Spinal Stenosis: Central or Lateral canal stenosis can cause Stiff spine and leg symptoms.

Treatment for Stiff spine involves

1. Identify if the problem is Mechanical or Non-Mechanical. Mechanical Low back pain and stiff back will change with movements. Non-Mechanical low back pain could be inflammatory.

2. Rule Out the Red flags: For back problems, the followings signs and symptoms indicate urgent Medical attention.

• Inability to control bowel. Inability to pass urine.
• Numbness in the saddle area.
• Inability to stand or walk.
• Unexpected weight loss. E.g. Tumours
• Severe back pain from a fall could be a fracture
• Compression fractures
• Fever or Infection
• Kidney stones

3. Physical therapy: Directional Exercises based on a thorough assessment will result in pain relief. These medical movements will relieve your Stiff back and get you back to doing all your activities giving you long-term relief.

4. Once the acute pain is better. Physical Therapy Treatment involves identifying the Weak Muscles by doing Digital Spine Test. Basis this identifying the root causes and working on weak muscles.

5. Treatment would include stretching the tight muscles like Psoas, Hamstrings, Quadratus Lumborum and Piriformis.

6. Ergonomics Evaluation is essential to the success of the treatment along with the maintenance of the correct biomechanics while doing everyday chores.

7. A good Ergonomic chair is essential to the recovery from a Stiff back. A good Lumbar Support cushion-like @Sitplus can be useful to maintain the correct Ergonomics.