Hi all :
I am getting some lower back pain after my soccer game.
which yoga poses can help me ?
Thanks to all!
Now you’ve been around here long enough to know you’ve not provided enough information for a therapeutic reply.
To only share you are “getting some lower back pain” is but a sliver of the picture yet you expect an effective reply? We’re yoga teachers not magicians.
You get back based on what you put in.
LOL. Thanks Gordon!
Pain the lower back usually when I get up from the bed, especially the night after my game. Near the hips I can say.
I can do squats and all that stuff.
Don’t know what more to add except “ouch…”
Oh dear I have so many questions still!
When you say lower back not the the hips do you mean localized over the vertebrae or distal to that into the musculature of the erector spinae (adjacent to the vertbral column)? Or more distal and into the sides of the lower back. Is it bilaterally equal (equal pain on both sides)?
How would describe the pain? dull, sharp. ache, stiff
Any numbness into the legs at all?
Have you found anything that reliefs the pain? activities, stretches, positions, rest from soccer, hot shower?
Have you found anything increases the pain? rotating the spine, bending forward or any certain movements?
So initially the pain is there when you wake up after a soccer night? Does it lessen after you get up and moving? How about a hot shower- does that help?
How long have you been playing soccer? Are you just getting back into it or have you been playing consistently for awhile? What are you doing for soccer warm up? Are you currently doing any strecthes afterward and if so which ones?
I have more questions but I’ll leave it there for now!
[QUOTE=Kristie Eccleston;84773]Oh dear I have so many questions still!
Or more distal and into the sides of the lower back
Yes
Is it bilaterally equal (equal pain on both sides)?
No
How would describe the pain? dull, sharp. ache, stiff
ache
Any numbness into the legs at all?
No
Have you found anything that reliefs the pain? activities, stretches, positions, rest from soccer, hot shower?
rest from soccer
Have you found anything increases the pain? rotating the spine, bending forward or any certain movements?
side bending
So initially the pain is there when you wake up after a soccer night? Does it lessen after you get up and moving? How about a hot shower- does that help?
Yes, reduces when I get and moving
How long have you been playing soccer? Are you just getting back into it or have you been playing consistently for awhile? What are you doing for soccer warm up? Are you currently doing any strecthes afterward and if so which ones?
10 years. Do some regular warm-ups and stretches.
It would be helpful to know what your current practice is like and how it is or is not helping you. Asana isn’t a pill to prescribe for this and that. And this sort of thing really requires assessment (in-person).
I encourage students to dialogue with their teacher. When they do not have a teacher then I’m actually more concerned about their willingness to take asana direction from the abyss of the Interwebs.
Generally speaking, things manifesting in the back either come from the back OR come from the front and are expressed in the back. Of course here we know exactly what is causing your issue … soccer. And having a sports background myself I can assert you’re not thinking about decreasing or discontinuing play.
Please outline what you are doing physically in terms of asana for hip opening and warm up/cool down, topically for addressing muscle fatigue, and nutritionally to support your athletic pursuits.
Initially, my brain wants to go towards a quadratus lumborum issue-perhaps a strain or pull. However this would be extremely premature and inconclusive for me to do so. I would need to see how you’re moving and I would need to palpate into the lower back. I highly recommend you see a physio therapist to determine exactly what the issue is and go from there.
As for a specific asana, I am going to refrain from giving a specific stretch for the QL because I don’t know what stage your injury is in…Also the pain may reside in the QL area but be caused by something other than that ie. a functional problem with the the group of muscles commonly referred to as the hip flexors.
That would lead me to my other questions that I have yet to ask. How long has this been bothering you? Does it ever increase in pain during your soccer? Or how about after? Or is it just upon waking in the morning after soccer?
Which side is it on? Is it on the side of your kicking leg? What position do you play and what type of movement do you do repetitively? IE is it aggravating by just running (do you jog or run outside of soccer and have you noticed any problems there?) Did you recently change your game at all? Ie increase time played, or position played, or applying a coach’s correction that uses your body any differently?
Also we (and hopefully a experienced physio that you’re going to see…) would need to assess your warm up and cool down. Generally if I know someone isn’t going to take a rest from their sport we give them a very lengthy warm up routine that does NOT include any deep stretch, rather a very gradually progressive routine beginning with just light or even passive range of motion then moving slowly into the more demanding movements. A cool down would include a full body stretching routine- or this is where one could put together a nicely customized asana practice for maximum recovery. Recovery has much to do with nutrition as well so supporting yourself there is just as important.
Oh my goodness all you asked for was a specific asana to help with your lower back pain and ened up with all these questions- sorry about that. If your pain is only upon waking in the morning after soccer it may be in the early stages and a knowledgeable physio can help prevent it from getting worse and affecting your game.
I hope you can understand why it would be a little foolish to recommend something without actually seeing you. I will say this though, for all the stretches you do trying to open up the back say forward bends etc, please do just as much for the front (in the hip flexors)! Move with caution in the deeper and affected area stretches and listen to your body.
I bet your psoas is tight and you may have an out of whack sacrum. Supported bridge pose would be a great thing to try as well as lizard and getting the quads to lengthen. If you have access to an inversion table, hang out a few minutes! Many people with low back discomfort just need a good psoas stretch. Hope that helps but if it doesn’t, get a massage and some cranial sacral work.
Anne
violetmoonyoga.com
I agree with the above. Having said that, I can say what helps my lower back. Legs Up the Wall help me stretch my hamstrings so I don’t cheat, and I don’t stretch my lower back. Now, you can always figure out a way to cheat, so be careful to have perfect form. Hold the pose for a long time. I find that activities like running build up the hamstrings and want to tighten them eventually, if one does not keep up with making sure they are stretched. I think this is particularly true for males, who have testosterone and can begin to bulk much easier than females. I have a male friend who danced on broadway, and he was way more flexible than I was. He said he had to constantly stretch because the dancing, though it required flexibility, built up his leg muscles and made them tighter. I imagine soccer requires a lot of sprinting, which will continually want to bulk up those leg muscles (hamstrings, hip flexors, and all the muscles listed above). Hope that helps. I’m new here. Take what’s useful and throw out the rest.