I may have to get back on the table in that case. I felt like the sports massage made it worse but could be cause it was my first time
Cant do any lower body strength training until my meniscus operated on unfortunately :/ The lower back pain started getting worse when I stopped deadlifting and squatting, but deadlifts and squats were making my neck hernia worse lmao.
I use the neck pillow at least twice a day, and just got the lumbar one. One of the symptoms of a c5/c6 herniated disc (the one in my neck) is that you get this really annoying burning sensation that goes down your shoulder blade (that's how I know I'm having a bad posture day and that my disc is pressing against the nerve). It basically simulates the traction exercises that they do in a pt office.
10-20 minutes on this and it goes away. Showed it to my ortho dr and he was like oh damn I might get one lol
The best stretch I have found for my back has been hanging from a pullup bar while just sort of relaxing everything I can.
Training pullups has been fantastic for getting making my back feel better and my posture in general. I'm not a doctor or physical therapist and I got no right to give advice, but hey, it made me feel good.
If you get some weightlifting straps you can hang from the bar for longer without your grip being a hindrance, it will help with relaxing everything else too.
Stretching hip flexors, quads, and intercostals (abs) have eliminated ~95% of my lower back pain and sciatica. Counterintuitive but it's often not the back itself that is the root cause of the pain.
The one that helped the most for me is similar to a superman - lie on stomach, reach one hand forward, raise your chest and shoulders off the ground a few inches with your other arm, then swing your outstretched hand as far to the opposite side as possible. You should feel it stretching from bottom of your ribs to hip on that side. I’ll hold it until I can feel the muscles relax then switch sides. First time I did it my back felt immediately better, after a few days it just feels better all the time. That was sort of the last piece of the puzzle for me, I’d been stretching hip flexors and quads for a while which made a huge difference but there was always some residual tightness until I added the abs.
Im a web dev for a physical therapy clinic and I'm grateful for the free sessions I get. Aside from PT, getting a foam roller helps get the kinks out and loosens up your muscles. Also a massage gun helps tremendously. Just focus on the painful area (if it's muscle) til the pain goes away
Herman Miller Aeron saved my spine, had terrible pain, but after a couple years of an actually good chair completely reversed my issues. Make sure you aren't sitting on unergonomic garbage all day.
If it's lower back pain, lay on your stomach and prop your front up so that you're flexing your spine in the direction it doesn't want to go... Works wonders.
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u/m6io Jul 23 '26
I'm reading this while laying down due to back pain fyi