Throwing out your back is the most common cause of back pain.
If it happened to you, you want to fix it as quickly as possible.
But to fix it correctly and in a way that it doesn’t come back, you’ll have to know what happened and how you can fix it.
That’s what I’ll explain in this post.
I’ll explain in detail what happened and how you can fix it. I’ll also give you options to prevent it from happening in the future.
So let’s start.
What happens when you throw out your back?
Throwing out your back happens when you lift something or twist your back, and your back muscles are unable to stabilize your back fast enough. That’s when you pull a muscle causing the sudden pain and inability to move.
When you perform these activities, your muscles have to support your back and deliver the forces. They have to react fast to unsuspected movements. But when these muscles react to slow, they pull extra hard to compensate. That is when you pull a muscle, and you throw out your back.
What not many people know is that it’s the small back muscles that have to perform this task. That why it even happens to bodybuilders and people that work out a lot. With these activities, you train your big back muscles that help you to lift heavy weights. It doesn’t train the small stabilizing muscles in your back.
That’s why people that throw out their back also have a history of back pain when standing, sitting, or lying down. These are activities that also require activation of these muscles.
When is my back pain serious?
Radiating pain down one leg after throwing out your back can be a sign of a herniated disc. Also, numbness or weakness in one leg could be a sign of a damaged disc.
When you feel numbness around your thighs or groin, loss of bladder control or weakness in both legs you should see a doctor as soon as possible since these are signs of a serious back injury that need immediate medical attention.
When your pain is limited to only your back, you don’t have to worry. In that case, there is no need for an MRI or X-ray because it’s not going to show you anything.
Throwing out your back takes 4-6 weeks to heal completely. Often, it doesn’t even matter what you do, as long as you keep moving.
How to fix your thrown out back with three exercises
The most important thing you need to do to fix your back pain is to keep moving.
Sitting or lying down will increase the stiffness of your back muscles even more. It makes it harder for you to get up and moving again.
You can put an icepack on your back to reduce the inflammation caused by the pulled muscle. It will reduce your pain quickly and enables you to start doing the exercises that will restore the mobility and functionality of your back. Ice only heals the first 48 hours after the injury.
After that, you’ll need to switch to heat to help the repair process in your body.
Now it’s time to start the exercises that will help you fix you’re thrown out back.
Threw my back out exercise 1: Restore the mobility of your back
The first exercise is designed to restore the mobility of your back. It will make it easier to use your back. Moving your back aids the repair process to ensure fast pain relief.
Perform the exercise like this:
- Lay down on your back on a firm surface
- Bend both knees and place your arms in a 90 degrees angle
- Now rotate your knees to one side
- Rotate as far as you can but keep both shoulders on the ground
- Hold this for 10 seconds
- Repeat this five times for both sides
You can also find the exercise in this video.
You will notice that it becomes easier and less painful the more you do the exercise.
That’s why you should do this exercise as often as you can.
Threw my back out exercise 2: Restore the stability of your back
The second exercise focuses on training your multifidus muscle. These are the muscles you’ve likely pulled when throwing out your back and are the leading cause for your problems.
Research shows that the following exercise specifically trains these muscles.
That’s why it’s an essential exercise to prevent throwing out your back in the future.
Perform the exercise like this:
- Lay down on your back on a firm surface with your knees bent
- Lift your pelvis
- Repeat this ten times
You can see how to perform the exercise in this video.
As you can see in the video, these exercises know several difficulty levels. Find out which variety fits your situation and try to build up your performance towards the last stage.
You can make it even more difficult by putting both legs onto an exercise ball. It teaches your muscles to react to the changing forces caused by the ball that wants to roll away.
If you’re able to perform this variation, you won’t throw out your back again.
Threw my back out exercise 3: Increase the strength of your back
Since you’re in pain for a while after you threw your back out, you’ll have to train your other muscles as well to regain their strength.
Perform the exercise like this:
- Lay down facing the floor.
- Now lift your chest, arms, and head of the ground.
- Repeat this ten times.
- Make sure you keep your feet on the ground.
You can see how to perform this exercise in the picture.
Perform these las two exercises twice a day for maximum results.
That’s how you treat you’re thrown out back correctly.
How to prevent throwing out your back
The following tricks will prevent throwing out your back:
- Exercise regularly
- Train your back muscles for faster reaction
- Don’t smoke
- Get enough sleep
- Don’t be scared to use your back
Exercising increases the strength of your back muscles, but also reduces your chance to injure yourself. Especially training your back muscles to react faster to sudden changes can prevent throwing out your back.
Also, smoking and lack of sleep influence the quality of your muscles, which can cause problems. You should make sure to fix these issues.
The last and most important thing is that you shouldn’t be scared to move your back. It’s a strong and capable instrument. Misusing it increases your risk of injuring instead of preventing it despite what people think.
You can find out here how to use your back correctly.
Conclusion
You can fix your thrown out back easily within a few weeks, by doing the exercises shown here.
If you need further assistance with your back pain, you can contact me by e-mail, and I will try to help you.