Suffered one of my infrequent lower back spasms chasing the wee man around soft play yesterday.
Pretty bad one this time, walking like I'm about to suffer a Picolax incident and can barely put my own socks or shoes on (my standard guage for how bad a spasm is).
I know the drill and can usually get over a spasm in a few days, but just wondered if acupuncture could help, understood that needling muscles caused them to contract and release, sort of like a 'reset' button.
Worth the £50?
Acupuncture is perhaps the only "alternative" medicine that ha some evidence for it working ( even tho the explanations are bullshine). It certainly can do no harm.
Your other option would be a sports massage perhaps?
Acupuncture or dry needling? Btw I had terible lower back problems . Stemmed from a shorter right leg and crazy tight inner thighs (connected to the leg being shorter). Net, pain in the lower back but the lower back was not the cause. I tended to get pain after doing stuff involving legs like leg day in the gym (or soft play....?).
Find a good physio not just any.
Hmm, don't actually know the difference between acupuncture and dry needling?
Think mine is caused by doing squat style exercises, my back seems to be on a hair trigger and as soon as I try to do squats, or more specifically single leg squats, it goes in to lock down. Every few months or so I'll forget this and start doing gentle single leg squats for knee stability etc. then BOOM! back spasm.
Dry needling is inserting needles deep into the muscle tissue to relax them. As in centimetres . I personally always go for it if available .
I really think you need a physio to evaluate your mechanics (weakness and tightness). I suspect it will be a mix but often right leg muscles and weak abs. Also if you have feet issues it adds to the mix (flat feet or dropped arches).
I have and had a mix of all this and triggered lower back pain from dead lifts and single leg work. 3 years lat r with insoles (proper ones not off Amazon, so podiatrist), Pilates and 10 physio sessions sorting shoulders, legs, chest and legs I now know how to manage it. So many things could cause the pain. Need a pro to review you.
The physio I used to deal with my lower back problems used accupuncture. The cause of the problem was my ITB band being tight and pulling my knee and hip out of alignment. 3-4 sessions to loosen the ITB and lots of exercises to keep it supple solved it.
Actually, she offered me accupuncture or accupressure. I don't like needles so initially went for the accupressure. Once she'd got her thumb into the right spot I was begging for the needles!
When my lower back goes I just use a cricket ball between a wall and my back and sort of roll it around the area that locks up. Reduces the pain immediately (after a few seconds of hurts-so-bad-its-good) and normally by the next mornings it's gone altogether. My GP prescribed me massages but the ball technique is far more effective in my case.
I use a ball regular but wouldn't dream of putting on a muscle in spasm!
Sounds worse than ice picks in the balls.
I always put acupuncture in the same box as crystals and homeothermic stuff.
When my back last went into a spasm the physio suggested I give it a try. 1st session it felt a little better so I went for a second shot and the second session was amazing, just seemed to be like a switch telling the muscles to relax. I had pins in my back, legs, hand and even ear but it worked for me.
Yep, sticking a needle in a muscle does seem to make it relax for some reason, which is why you can get it on the NHS where resources have to be used effectively and therefore only interventions with an adequate evidence base are available.
Unfortunately the waiting list may be too long to dissuade you from going private though..
I was a bit sceptical of acupuncture until we used it on our old basset hound who'd suffered a spinal flexion / damaged discs and conventional surgery solution wasn't feasible. After a few sessions of at a chiropractors, he was soon far more mobile and lived another 8 active years. No one told him sticking needles in his back would make him better!
OK, a bit of mobilisation and messing about with a massage ball (e.g. big hard rubber dog toy!) and it is slowly loosening, as expected. Have found a dry needler nearby, just waiting to see if work insurance will cover it (Axa PPP, they've been pretty good). Cycling holiday in Girona in two weeks, staying hopeful!
I really think you need a physio to evaluate your mechanics (weakness and tightness). I suspect it will be a mix but often right leg muscles and weak abs. Also if you have feet issues it adds to the mix (flat feet or dropped arches).
I don't disagree with any of the above, but day-to-day I'm pretty good, the spasms seem super random, the only thing I think is consistent is if I'm doing a lot of squats.
I would love to spend all my time and money on physios looking at my various a-symmetries and twisted pelvii etc. etc. but the sorry truth is, they all seem to disagree with one another slightly, and yet are all very professional and convincing, which means I no longer know what way to turn or what I should be doing. I'm just sticking to basic core (bridges, supermen) plus some flexibility and mobilisation every morning. Squats keep getting touted as the ultimate exercise for core (and knees) and yet there seem to be so many ways to do them wrong, or my lower back is just too sensitive. Either way I think they're off the menu.
Ultimately the solution for me is probably: don't be a father to large heavy child (too late), don't have a desk job (doubt I'd get paid the same for any other job, thank god for standing desks!) and don't cycle (no chance).