My Back Is Seizing Up – What Should I Do?
Category: Back Pain | Author: Stefano Sinicropi
If you’ve ever had your back seize up during activity, you know just how painful and debilitating it can be. But what exactly is going on in your spine when it seizes up, and how should you treat it? In today’s blog, we take a closer look at what’s going on in your spine when your back seizes up, and how to treat these issues.
Why Is My Back Seizing?
A couple of different underlying causes can lead to the feeling of your back seizing up, but the most common issue is due to an intense muscle spasm. A herniation of a spinal disc can also lead to a similar sensation, but the more common cause is a muscle spasm, so that’s what we’re going to focus on for the remainder of the blog.
Your back seizes up when a muscle or a group of muscles involuntarily contracts. This once flexible muscle is now rigid, making movement not only difficult but oftentimes quite painful. It’s typically triggered by a moment of acute stress, like if you twist your spine too far in one direction or try to lift too heavy a package. However, less intense actions can also lead to your back seizing up if your muscles are in a weakened state.
So what can put your muscles in a weakened state that could elevate your risk for a spinal muscle spasm? For starters, your muscles thrive when they get a healthy amount of vitamins, nutrients and blood supply, so any actions that could restrict these availabilities could put you at risk for a back seizure. That includes but is not limited to:
- Eating a poor diet
- Being dehydrated
- Smoking
- Not getting regular exercise
- Being overweight
Treating My Seizing Back
So what should you do if your back has seized up and it’s making movement and activity painful? Begin with some rest and anti-inflammatory medications, and once your spine starts to feel better you’ll progress to actions like physical therapy and exercise. These will help to strengthen the affected area and increase your range of motion, which will allow for easier movement.
However, your exercises won’t just be focused on your spine. Your core plays a huge role in stabilizing your spine and providing support to the area, so core muscle strengthening is a must for anyone who is dealing with a seizing back. And of course, you’ll want to work on targeting some of the risk factors we listed above. Staying hydrated, giving up smoking, getting regular exercise and improving your diet are all great ways to both prevent spinal muscle spasms and treat them once they develop.
So if your back has been seizing up and you want help getting it under control, reach out to Dr. Sinicropi for all your spine care needs.
