Back Stiffness

WHEN TO SEE YOUR DOCTOR

* Your stiff back is interfering with your work or home activities.

What Your Symptom Is Telling You

Back stiffness is often a message from the body that goes something like this: Read my hips, spine and shoulders—no more improper movements.

That's because improperly performed movements can cause stiffness and pain. Rearranging the living room furniture, preparing the garden for planting, roughhousing with the grandkids—any activity that you're not used to and not in shape for—can wrench back muscles or ligaments or injure spinal disks. (Disks are the rubbery, doughnut-shaped cushions located between the vertebrae of the spine.) Then the back stiffens up to protect itself from further injury.

"Improper movement is what causes most back problems," says Philip Paul Tygiel, a physical therapist who serves as a consultant for the University of Arizona University Medical Center Back Pain Clinic in Tucson. "How many people say they slowly developed back stiffness? No, they moved wrong, they bent over too quickly, they picked something up the wrong way, and now they're stiff and hurting."

Of course, improper movement isn't the only cause of a stiff back. Too soft or too hard a mattress or sleeping in an awkward position has also been known to create back stiffness.

Symptom Relief

Your stiff back may seem like it's made of stone, but you can snap back to normal, pain-free movement by following these tips.

Imitate a cobra. Here's a simple yoga pose that can loosen your back. First, lie facedown on the floor. Place your palms on the floor directly under your shoulders. Now gently raise your torso off the ground, supporting yourself with your arms and keeping your hips on the ground. Go just to the point of tension and then come all the way back down. Relax for a moment, then repeat the exercise several times, trying to go a little further each time, says physical therapist Wayne Rath, co-director of Summit Physical Therapy and senior lecturer of the McKenzie Institute International (U.S. Headquarters) in Syracuse, New York, and clinical assistant professor in the Department of Physical Therapy at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. Do not perform the exercise if it's painful.

Take a walk. Walking balances the mechanical stress on the spine caused by bending and sitting and allows the disks the freedom to move back into their proper position, says Rath.

Untie those knots. Place your hands in the small of your back, stand up tall and carefully lean backward without bending your knees. This moves your spine in the opposite direction of nearly all your activities, helping to balance the mechanical stress on your disks, says Rath. If you work at a desk, repeat this movement twice every hour on the hour, he says.

Make it hot. In chronic back disorders, moist heat can help a stiff back. The warmth increases the flow of blood and oxygen to the injured area, which speeds healing and brings relief, says Brent V. Lovejoy, D.O., a member of the board of trustees of the American Osteopathic College of Preventive Medicine and director of the Rocky Mountain Medical Group in Denver. Soak a towel in hot water, wring it out and place it on the stiff area of your back until it cools. One caution: Don't apply heat for the first three days following an injury.

Don't be a softy. Does your bed sag when you climb into it? If it does, you might want to think about getting a new mattress. A mattress that provides firm support is usually kinder to your back and may help alleviate morning stiffness.

See also Lower Back Pain; Midback Pain; Neck Stiffness; Upper Back Pain