You may be lucky - it may just be a psoas muscle spasm.
When it happens, does the pain seem to concentrate in the lower back? Does the pain make you bend forward and walk like an old man shuffling along, looking at the floor? Does the pain decrease when you force yourself to stand up straight and walk like a marine on a parade ground?
I get mine when I overdo it lifting, rotating and putting down heavy objects. The psoas muscle on the right or the left will spasm (I get mine on the left) and not want to relax.
Heat or cold will relax the muscle a bit, offering a short period of relief. But the muscle will go back into spasm soon after the therapy stops.
You can google "psoas muscle pain" and get all kinds of advice online, but this is what works for me:
I have a foam roller and a very firm rubber ball about halfway in size between a hardball and a softball (you can get these cheap at a Walmart). I mostly use the rubber ball, but you can use the edge of the foam roller. The key is to put the ball directly against the muscle that has tightened up, and roll on it with your full weight. It HURTS, but a minute or less directly on the pain spot will force the muscle to elongate and stretch, taking it out of spasm. I'm not a cussing man, but I sure want to when I'm putting weight on that spot!
If you do it right, you will get relief immediately - no drugs, no surgery. Sometimes I have to repeat it to get it completely gone, but that's because I'm too much of a wuss to take the pain more than about 20 seconds or so at a time.
Good prevention helps a lot - strengthen and stretch the core muscles, and learn how to lift without hurting yourself. A physical therapist taught me that you should never twist with a heavy object in your hands. Have your toes pointing in the direction you are lifting and move your feet to the direction that you are putting it down. Also, stand up straight and walk like you're pushing off with your back foot and coming down smoothly on the heel of your forward foot. - if your forward foot is slapping down on the floor as you walk, you're doing it wrong and contributing to your back problem.
An X-ray with a good back doctor or a GOOD chiropractor will show you whether you have a bad disk or it's just a muscle spasm. If the doc suggests surgery, be SURE to get another opinion! I had a good friend who was a back surgeon, and he said surgery is the last resort - you're at about equal odds at whether it gets better, stays the same or gets worse!
If it seems this fits your problem, do some reading on the subject and give the rubber ball a try. For me, it's fast relief for the price of some moaning and groaning.
Last edited by czech1022; 06/17/22.
