I am at a breaking point emotionally from the pain I am in and have experienced. I don’t know what to do. I have had back pain my entire life but this is unlike anything before. I am 27 I have been a bartender/server since I was 16. I recently had to stop bartending due to covid effecting income and my back pain increasing. I work at a farm now 6 days a week and have noticed a sky rocket in my low back pain episodes. I spend most of my time bent over, squatting, pulling weeds on my hands and knees, dragging weeds and moving equipment. It’s pretty laborious but I really don’t want to give up on it. It’s been my dream to be in a position like this where I am not dealing with customers or being micromanaged by emotionally abusive owners/managers/coworkers. I love my job. I am spending every evening in severe amounts of pain. It feels like hot rods are sticking in my piriformis, gluteals, serrates anterior, hamstrings, and it’s beginning to crawl up into my teres major, rhomboids and traps. I take hot baths, use ice packs, I use a Tens machine regularly. I see a massage therapist as much as I can afford which is about 2-3 times a month. I see a chiropractor and recently tried acupuncture. This is the first month that I have really started this regimented treatment of this pain as it has begun to be unbearable at times. I am not getting any better. I feel hopeless and defeated. I am 220lbs right now and I know my target weight for my age and height and stuff should be around 135-155 lbs. I can’t exercise because of the amount of pain I am in and I am always fearful of making it worse. At this point I am afraid it will get so bad that I will have to quit my job and find a desk job. That is my nightmare. I am almost graduated from massage therapy school and I am also fearing I won’t last long as a therapist if I can’t help myself with these issues. Can anyone send me advice or have any idea what is happening to me? I could even just use some hope at this point. Thank you.
Crippling low back pain: I am at a... - Chronic Myofascia...
Crippling low back pain
I suffered with a lot of pain for a lot of years. I fixed myself by learning to use my body the way it's meant to function - strong, balanced and pain-free.
If you are not using the right muscles you are using the wrong muscles which is when muscles get sore and spasm. All the muscles you list are ones that take the strain when your body is not balanced and aligned. The problem only gets worse and the pain spreads - as you've found, until you learn to improve your posture (the position your body is in) and use the right muscles.
The "right" muscles to focus on are the "5 main muscles of movement".
The pelvic floor and rectus abdominis are the body's "Base-Line" muscles. The primary muscles to focus on. Working with your Base-Line provides the central support needed for healthy movement. The pelvic floor muscles are the base of the body, they should be like a secure basket at the root of all movement. Look at Kegel exercises to get you started.
When the rectus abdominis muscles are not used sufficiently the strain is transferred to the lumbar muscles and onto the spine = back pain/sacral pain. (Our vertebrae are there to protect the spinal cord, they are not a set of blocks to keep us upright).
If you have a look at the image on this post:
healthunlocked.com/fibromya...
you can see how the rectus abdominis runs from pelvis to chest (the lumbar vertebrae are not shown). Focusing on activating your rectus abdominis takes the pressure of the lumbar muscles. The rectus abdominis muscles are made up of 'panels' of muscle, think of each section activating from pelvis to chest - think longer and stronger with every in-breath.
Keep 'breathing with your Base-Line' and start to feel the power of these muscles.
I use the roll-down action a lot, as I activate my Base-Line I start to roll forward thinking of the movement being supported by my Base-Line - I think of these muscles as the body's core pillar of strength from where the rest of the body extends.
For the legs:
Gluteus maximus - big ass muscles. Hands on buttocks feel for them contracting. Working with the gluteus maximus reduces the stain on the other gluteal muscles. The gluteus maximus covers a lot of complicated anatomy that gets very sore if these muscles aren't sufficiently used.
If you lie on the floor with a hot water bottle or a ball or something under your buttocks and focus on activating your gluteus maximus you should be able to move about to put some gentle pressure on the sore muscles to help them relax.
Rectus femoris - from shin to hip bone. Like strong poles down the front of each thigh, aligning the hip and knee joints when fully active.
healthunlocked.com/fibromya...
The trapezius muscles are important for the upper body, supporting the head and arms though a full range of movement. The trapezius extends from midback to the back of the skull, and out towards each shoulder. Like a blanket of muscle that should be smooth and free to move. Movement of the upper body should begin from the lower trapezius muscles - think of lifting your shoulders up from under. Imagine your arms including the scapula bones - like wings that can spread wide.
Study these muscles, find them on your body and think about activating them. Building the connection between mind and muscles will allow you to improve your positioning/posture and allow the stressed muscles to relax.
Working with the 5 main muscles of movement, starting from Base-Line changed my life by letting me release the pain and work towards a body that is balanced and aligned.
If you've any questions I'm happy to help. Hope this makes sense!
Wow thank you so much! This is really great information and I will look into all of this. I think you are spot on. I know my core isn’t very strong and it’s gotten very weak so it makes sense that other areas are having to take on the weight and movements. Thank you!
I can't stress enough how important these 5 main muscles of movement are to our physical (and mental) health. Learning to connect with them, to activate them fully and to be aware of the sensory feedback they provide (awaken my sense of conscious proprioception) to let my feel my posture and know how to move to improve it by working towards a body that is balanced and aligned with a full range of natural movement. I had no idea how much movement I was missing until I started to recover.
I'm guessing you're fairly comfortable with the anatomy due to to massage therapist training? It seems to put a lot of people off!
Consider the "anatomy of alignment" - the midline anatomy of the body that should align on the median plane.
Linear midline structures:
Linea alba (between the rectus abdominis)
Nuchal and supraspinous ligaments (between the trapezius muscles)
5 easily palpated midline landmarks are:
1 - pubic symphysis
2 - navel
3 - xiphoid process of sternum
4 - jugular notch of sternum
5 - external occipital protuberance.
Working with your Base-Line muscles connects the first three landmarks. The pelvic floor as the solid Base of the body linking to our central Line via the pubic symphysis. Thinking of activating and extending the rectus abdominis muscles section by section from pelvis to chest, imagining the linea alba becoming straighter between the pubic symphysis, navel and xiphoid process.
From Base-Line then imagine the line continuing up your back between the trapezius muscles to the back of the skull.
The nuchal ligament is a very neglected structure, it should be easily palpable as the head is moved forward and backwards but the upper body often is so restricted in movement that this is not possible.
Have you studied myofascial release techniques?