Category Archives: Causes of Back Pain

Causes of Back Pain, Natural Back Pain Relief

Do Nerves Cause Back Pain?

December 17 Kathryn Merrow Leave a comment

Do nerves cause back pain? It’s possible, but…

Doctors know a whole lot! And naturally, patients believe their doctor because our doctors are smart. That’s a good thing!

But sometimes they just don’t see the whole picture. Why?

It wasn’t part of their training in med school. There is just too much to know. And that’s also why some doctors or therapists specialize in getting down to the root causes of back pain.

So, if your doctor says your back pain is caused by a nerve, the next question is: “Why?” What is the structure that is pressing on the nerve?

And, the next question is: “How come?”

Let’s say Continue reading Do Nerves Cause Back Pain? →

Causes of Back Pain, Natural Back Pain Relief, Self Help

Does Your Car Seat Cause Your Back Pain?

October 11 Kathryn Merrow 4 Comments

Does your back hurt more when you drive? Do your neck, back or even hands start to hurt when driving? Does your car seat give you a pain in the neck?

It’s not a surprise to me because I’ve sat in lots and lots of car seats and I don’t like ’em.

Some designers seem to think that car seats are for lounging. C’mon now.

Drivers are supposed to be alert and able to see the road. I’d like to be supported rather than reclined. It’s not a movie theater.

1. Lumbar support. Sometimes car seats don’t have anything to support your lower back while you are reclin…I mean, driving. If you don’t have a lumbar support you can create one easily and cheaply. Fold a hand towel into quarters or eighths or whatever thickness fits between you and your car seat. It goes behind your waist.

If you have access to a small baby pillow or a batt of fiberfill that will work, too. You might even find a nicely shaped lumbar support at the dollar store. When I found a bin of them at a dollar store I bought several. Those are some of the best dollars I have ever spent!

2. Sometimes car seats recline so much that your head is forced to jut forward. That strains upper back and neck muscles. If you can put your seat into a more upright position that will help.

If you cannot adjust the seat to be more upright, pad the back of the seat. You can pull a t-shirt over the seat and place padding behind it. The t-shirt will help the padding stay in place.

3. Lots of headrests stick out too far. All I can figure is that the designers are trying to support the heads of people who are really dysfunctional and are ignoring the folks with nice, neutral, straight posture.

It’s really annoying for someone with nice posture to sit in those cars; they cause head and neck pain and knots in your upper back in short order. What can you do if your headrest sticks out too far? Well, you could throw it out the window like one older gentleman told me. Or you could just pad up the seat back so your whole body will move forward.

And in some cars adding a lumbar pillow or support like we talked about above can move you forward just enough so the headrest won’t bug you as much.

So your back pain might not be your fault. If you hurt when you drive it could well be your seat. If your car seat isn’t comfortable for you, give yourself some props, cushions or supports. Create your own custom seat so you can drive without back pain.

Here’s another idea: Sometimes use the lumbar support and sometimes don’t. Or use differently sized back supports. Switch it up so you keep flexing your muscles and spine in different ways. That will keep things flexible.

We like flexible, relaxed backs. They don’t have pain.

Causes of Back Pain, Natural Back Pain Relief, Self Help

How Stress Causes Back Pain and How to Get Rid of Stress-Induced Pain

September 11 Kathryn Merrow Leave a comment

Do you really mean it when you say that someone gives you ‘a pain in the back’? If they cause a lot of stress for you, that could be exactly what’s happening.

We tend to use words that describe how we feel. Getting a pain in the back, the neck, the rear–those are all real feelings that can turn into real honest-to-goodness pain.

Stressful emotions can cause back pain. Here’s how:

Think of a stressful situation or person for a moment.

What happens to your body when you feel stressed? Some part gets tight. Muscles get tense.

Is it your jaw? Your upper shoulders? Or, do the muscles in your lower back tighten up?

How can you get rid of the pain in your back naturally?

Meditation can help. When you learn to meditate you become an observer. Things are not so stressful because you just let them happen without emotional involvement.
Breathing can help. Deep, even breathing settles down bodies.
Exercise helps. We were born to move! When we stop moving, stress builds up. You need active movement! Choose something you enjoy and JUST DO IT!

This may seem very simplistic. In fact, way too simple especially if you have a lot of pain. But here’s the deal:

Bodies heal all the time.

The more help you, yourself, can give your body the quicker Continue reading How Stress Causes Back Pain and How to Get Rid of Stress-Induced Pain →

Causes of Back Pain, Natural Back Pain Relief, Self Help, Upper Back Muscle Knots

What Is The Most Common Cause Of Back Pain?

August 30 Kathryn Merrow Leave a comment

What is the most common cause of back pain that you wouldn’t normally think of?

We expect to have back pain when we work our muscles too hard but what else could make your back hurt?

Here are three causes you might not have thought about:

The most common cause of back pain is under-use of muscles!

This happens when you spend too much time sitting. We were built to move–to walk, swing from trees and all the things we don’t do much anymore. We are supposed to use ALL of our muscles but we mostly use just SOME of them.

That makes muscles unhappy so they get knots and they complain. Weak muscles are easily overstretched and that is a common reason for muscle pain in your back.

Poor nutrition causes muscle pain in your back. Muscles need minerals to function well and a lot of the things we eat don’t supply all of the nutrients that used to be in (real) food. (<–click to article.) Worse yet, some of the things we eat actually deplete our bodies of necessary vitamins. Yikes!

Poor posture causes back pain, too. Poor posture is often caused by poor habits–slouching, leaning to one side, sitting with your head way forward, ‘forgetting’ to stretch. If you have the feeling that you are curling forward it’s time to stretch. Get your arms up and back, (<– click to article.) squeeze your shoulder blades to your spine, lift your chin.

You may have noticed that all of the most common causes of back pain are things that can easily be fixed. But you have to take action!

Take control of your posture and nutrition, get moving and USE your body and you can get rid of the most common causes of pain in your back. 🙂

I created a program to help people get rid of the nasty muscle knots in their upper back but it actually has solutions to all of these causes of “plain old back pain,” too.

Just click the link –> to learn more about Knots In Your Back Gone!

Causes of Back Pain, Self Help, Upper Back Pain

Muscles In The Front Of Your Body Cause Muscle Pain In The Back Of Your Body

August 23 Kathryn Merrow 2 Comments

Muscles in the front of your body can cause pain in your neck and back. It’s true!

Sometimes pain in your back is caused simply because tight muscles in the front of your body are pulling and causing strain and stress in your back muscles.

Sometimes the tight muscles in front cause trigger points. Trigger points are crabby areas of muscle that cause pain elsewhere.

By massaging, rubbing or pinching the following muscle groups you can help the muscles relax. You might also be able to knock out any trigger points that are causing your back pain. 🙂

Chest muscles can cause back pain.

This link will take you to an article with more information about stretching your chest muscles.

http://simplepainrelief.com/2012/08/19/a-good-stretch-for-neck-and-upper-back-pain/

Rib muscles can cause back pain.

The good thing about the rib muscles in the front and sides is that you can reach them yourself to rub and massage them. Pinch them if you can and lift them. Roll tender areas of muscle and skin between your fingers.

Abdominal muscles can also cause back pain.

You can also massage, pinch, lift and roll the muscles on the upper abdomen. You want to pick up muscle, not just skin. If you lean forward a bit it will be easier to pinch the muscles. This is much easier to do if you don’t carry too much weight in your abdomen.

When you find tender areas, those are the muscles and tissue to focus on. Spend more time massaging tender areas than places that don’t have discomfort.

You may discover some very, very uncomfortable tissues in the front of your body.

And if you pay attention you may also find that your back feels a bit looser and more happy after you treat and relax the muscles in the front of your body.

You could also notice the next day that you feel a little tender or bruised where you were treating. That’s a perfectly normal reaction that happens when tight tissues are manipulated.

Drinking extra water (and lots of it!) can help prevent a lot of the tenderness following ‘deep tissue massage.’

We want to have long, relaxed front muscles. By helping the muscles in the front of your body relax you will prevent muscle strain in your back.

If you’re suffering with “knots” or muscle spasms in your upper back, you may like to check out this page: Knots In Your Back. It will tell you all about a simple program I created to help people just like you (and me) get rid of our knots forever!

P.S. I don’t have knots any more. 🙂

Causes of Back Pain, Lower Back Pain, Natural Back Pain Relief

What Causes A Wide Band of Pain In Your Back

July 31 Kathryn Merrow 6 Comments

Do you have pain in the middle of your back? Does it feel kind of like a wide band of pain below your shoulder blades?

Or do you have a wide band of pain across your lower back?

Rectus Abdominis Muscle Causes Back Pain — Wide Band Of Pain In Your Back

You know how I’m always telling you that muscles are the largest cause of pain? Well, this may come as a surprise. It’s still muscles but if your pain pattern looks like the red areas in this picture, the muscle to blame is in the front of your body!

The abdominal muscles right next to the midline of your body (rectus abdominis) can cause referred pain into your back. This happens when the muscle develops trigger points. Trigger points cause referred pain.

Sometimes only one side of the rectus abdominis has a trigger point but it still causes pain on both sides of the back.

How can you get rid of the trigger points that cause your back pain?

You could have someone rub on your back until the cows come home but it won’t help if your back pain is caused by muscles in front of your body. You have to relax the trigger points in that abdominal muscle to relieve your back pain.

See the X‘s on the abdominal muscle? Those indicate the locations of trigger points. Those are the areas to treat.

The easiest way to treat those Continue reading What Causes A Wide Band of Pain In Your Back →

Causes of Back Pain

Medical Test Results for Back Pain in Rhomboid–What Do They Mean?

June 20 Kathryn Merrow Leave a comment

What do medical test results for back pain mean? Does it all sound like Greek to you? That’s because it’s a snapshot of that moment.

A diagnosis doesn’t necessarily mean ‘forever.’

Here’s an email I received from “Keith”: Keith had an intense stabbing pain in his right rhomboid. It even hurt to breathe.

Hi Kathryn,

I do regular workouts at gym and martial arts. For many years I often get a stiff neck or intense stabbing pain in my right scalpula or rhomboid (I am right-handed). It occurred once during heavy barbell shoulder press (overhead) and once when stretching out after a back workout when I held my right arm straight out and with my left hand pulled it towards the left side. It almost felt as if something gets torn in my back.

The pain is so intense it hurts when I breathe, too, and only reduces after muscle relaxants. I took an MRI and the diagnosis came out as ‘broad-based left paracentral protrusion of C5-C6 disc indenting the anterior subarachnoid space abutting the left C6 exiting nerve root. Mild ligamentum flavum prominence seen at this level indenting the posterior subarachnoid space’.

I cannot understand this and the doctors did not tell me what to do about it except ‘don’t work out hard!’.

Can you tell me specific exercises to perform and which ones to avoid? Your input will be very helpful.

Here’s my response (please remember: I am not a doctor.)

Muscles can be torn and so can their attachments at bones. If you cannot lift weights with perfect form you are lifting too much weight.

Back pain happens for a reason. A medical test tells Continue reading Medical Test Results for Back Pain in Rhomboid–What Do They Mean? →

Causes of Back Pain

Does Your Mattress Cause The Knot In Your Back?

June 12 Kathryn Merrow Leave a comment

Your mattress definitely could be causing the knot in your back or shoulder!

Here’s how:

1. An OLD mattress could be the problem or part of the problem if it sags or has depressions. If the “holes” or depressions don’t feel comfortable to you, figure out a way to fill them.

Sometimes you can bolster up an old mattress by propping it from the bottom or padding the top. You might put a piece of plywood underneath or even move the mattress to the floor.

There are foam toppers that range from cheap to expensive. A flat one can be folded over to make twice as much padding where you sleep.

A NEW mattress could also be the problem if it doesn’t fit your body well. If it’s too firm, a foam topper will help. People with large-boned frames or wide hips need a place for the bones to go.

If your new mattress is too soft…wait, I’ve never found a new mattress that’s too soft. I guess you’d have to return or sell it.

2. Do you always sleep on your side? The SAME side? That can do it, too, because you may be smashing your shoulder, tilting your neck, shortening your chest muscles and straining the muscles in your back on that side.

3. Side sleeping also Continue reading Does Your Mattress Cause The Knot In Your Back? →

Causes of Back Pain, Self Help

Do Flip Flops Cause Back Pain?

June 3 Kathryn Merrow 2 Comments

Summer’s here. Are you wearing your flip flops? Are you having back pain? I’m betting yes because you are here reading this article. 🙂

If you are young, healthy, active and fit with great muscle tone your flip flops might not be causing back pain yet. The problem is that we are not all fit or active with great muscle tone.

If you don’t have beautiful natural arches in your feet (if you have flat feet) that by itself will create back pain. Having no arches in your feet causes you to lose the natural curve behind your waist and in your neck.

Here’s why:

Your feet are the support structure for your whole body. They need arches to do their job correctly. Your feet are your foundation.

Wearing flip flops with no built-in arch support to support your flat feet allows you to stay in poor collapsed posture. They weaken your foundation.

But a shoe with a good arch support built in that fits your foot will help you stand up. It will help you get or keep the natural curves in your back that you used to have. Those natural curves will help you avoid back pain.

A good sturdy arch support that fits in your shoes will Continue reading Do Flip Flops Cause Back Pain? →

Causes of Back Pain, Neck Pain, Upper Back Muscle Knots, Upper Back Pain

Why Do You Have Muscle Knots In Your Back?

May 28 Kathryn Merrow Leave a comment

I received the cutest email today from a man who has knots in his back. He said he loves to slouch but when he does he gets pain in his upper back and in his head.

He loves to slouch.

He gets pain when he slouches.

His question was whether therapy would help him get rid of the pain.

But he said he knows it comes from slouching and he just loves slouching on the couch so much!

Well, I told him that he already knows the answer. In fact, he did a really good job of diagnosing where the pain comes from.

I also said that if the therapist helps him get a strong back and relax the muscles in the front of his body and neck it would help a lot. Mostly, it will help keep him out of slouching positions.

And since his body will be more balanced, if he does still slouch once in a while, it won’t be so likely to cause the pain in his jaw and the knots in his back.

That’s the type of self-help information you can get for your own “muscle knots” in your upper back if you go to –> Knots In Your Back Gone! (I made it easy just for you.)

Slouching and slumping can definitely cause muscle knots in your back!

Your new goal is to correct your posture to avoid back pain naturally. 🙂

SIMPLE BACK PAIN RELIEF