TLDR: Research now shows that movement is better, within reason, than resting all of the time when trying to decrease pain and recover. But as always, just how much and type of movement, depends on each person!
I’m going to start this answer to this question with “IT DEPENDS!” I will get more into that and why the full answer does depend because in general, when it comes to back pain, moving is better than resting.
For a long time, research and medical professionals believed that resting was the best way to get your back pain to go away. Just lay around and do nothing until that back pain goes away. Over time though, we have continued to learn that this is the exact opposite of what we need to be doing when we have low back pain.
It turns out that resting and laying around doing nothing, trying to make your low back feel better, can have the opposite effect because it can cause further weakness and stiffness. Since laying around causes muscle weakness and decreased mobility and increased stiffness, you will most likely find that after you’ve been laying around for a while and then trying to get up and move again, you may notice that you are actually in more pain.
It may seem backwards, because as somebody who has suffered from back pain, the main thing I want to do when my back is bothering me is to just lay around and do nothing! And while it may feel good in the moment, when I try to start moving again, it is so hard to get up and get going and I have more spasms and more pain and more difficulty moving. So when it comes to low back pain, we have to do what may be counterintuitive to you!
Gentle movement and not staying in one position for too long is generally your best bet (again, keep in mind this depends on your specific situation!)! Moving around keeps our muscles from getting weaker and allows for decreased stiffness and fewer complications as a result of resting and weakness. Moving around, walking comfortably is a good movement, and changing positions will help you to stay looser and prevent worsening of stiffness and muscular changes that can contribute to worsening pain.
So in general when it comes to an episode of low back pain, you want to keep yourself moving. Change positions frequently, find the positions that are most comfortable for you, keep yourself walking and moving, and get help from a physical therapist as soon as you can! The physical therapist will help to figure out more specific exercises and mobility work based on how you got injured, what your symptoms are, what makes your pain worse, and what makes your pain better!
We started this with “it depends” because different injuries and different people can require different things, so keep in mind this is general advice that works for general injuries in many situations! And that is why it is SO important to work with your physical therapist to figure out SPECIFICALLY what will work best for you!
If you don’t have a physical therapist to work with yet, this is your sign to get in touch with me today! Email me today at livewithoutlimitspt@gmail.com and give us a follow on Instagram (click the button below!) for more daily information and tips and tricks!
Thanks for being here!
Dr. Katie
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