Whether your lower back is stiff regularly or only on occasion, it’s critical to pay attention to your body and take efforts to relieve tension. A stiff lower back can deteriorate over time and lead to more serious issues. It can also impede ordinary activities like reaching down to pick something up off the floor.
Pain, spasms, and cramping may accompany tightness in your lower back. Your back may feel stiff, rigid, and cramped, and the discomfort may feel like a persistent, dull aching. Tightness in your pelvis, hips, and legs is also common.
What Causes Lower Back Stiffness?
There are many underlying causes of a stiff back, and knowing the brief list of possible causes will help you:
- Tight Hamstrings
Your hamstrings become shorter when they are tight. These alterations may impact the curvature of your lower spine, causing the spine to become misaligned with the pelvis (hip). As a result, you may experience stiffness in your lower back, which may or may not be accompanied by discomfort. When you bend your spine forward, the stiffness is usually more noticeable.
- Bad Posture
The tension on your spine is increased when you sit on the edge of your chair or lean over your computer, which can cause stiffness and pain. Sedentary behavior can worsen these changes, resulting in spine stiffness within an hour of sitting. Maintain an upright sitting posture to avoid back stiffness.
- Degeneration of Spinal Disc
The shock-absorbing cushions between your vertebrae that distribute loads within your spine are known as spinal discs. Degeneration of these discs can occur as a result of aging, affecting their biomechanics.
When a disc degenerates, the fibrocartilage component breaks down, water is lost, and the height of the disc decreases. Spinal stiffness might result from these alterations, especially while bending.
3 Stretches to Help Relieve a Tight Lower Back
You may enhance your lower back flexibility and strength with a variety of basic stretches and exercises.
- Child’s Pose
This mild resting yoga pose soothes pain by relieving strain on the lower back. It aids in the lengthening, stretching, and alignment of the spine.
- Sit back on your heels with your knees together or slightly apart, starting from a kneeling position. A bolster or pillow can be placed beneath your legs, chest, or forehead.
- To fold forward, hinge at the hips, extending your arms in front of you or resting them next to your body.
- Allow your body to fall heavy as you relax totally and release any tension.
- For 1 minute, stay in this position.
- Cat-Cow Pose
This yoga pose improves spine flexibility and gives your hips and tummy a good stretch. Throughout the action, pay attention to your core muscles as you contract and release them. If you’re feeling particularly stiff or sore, go slowly and carefully with the action.
- Create a tabletop posture with your weight evenly distributed across all four points.
- Inhale as you lift your head and lower your stomach to the floor.
- As you exhale, arch your back to the ceiling.
- Maintain this pose for at least one minute.
- Knees to Chest
This stretch helps to extend and stabilize the pelvis while loosening lower back muscles and increasing flexibility.
- Lie down on your back, legs extended.
- With your fingers interlocked around your shin, bring your right knee to your chest.
- Hold this position for 5 seconds before letting go of your leg.
- 5 times on both legs, repeat this stretch.
- Then, with your hands, arms, or elbows, bring both knees into your chest.
- For 30 seconds, stay in this position.
Anodyne Spine is one of the best fitlife clinics in Delhi. Our team has experience in Neurological Physiotherapy, Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy, Sports Physiotherapy, Pre and Post Surgery, Rehabilitation, and Dry Needling. We can also help you with Back Pain, Neck Pain, Knee Pain, Sports Injury, Sciatica, Slip Disc, Cervical Spondylosis, Disc Bulge, Frozen Shoulder, and Arthritis.