Self-care – Band of Pain Across Back
Table of Contents
- Activities to Avoid or Change
- For Temporary Relief
- Stretches and Exercises for Longer-Lasting Relief
- Yoga Corner
Here, you will find strategies for relief from a band of pain across your mid-back or across your hips. For more information about how people describe this pattern, look at this post on pain across the hips. If you have pain across the mid-back, look at this post.
Activities To Avoid or Change:
Avoid abdominal work that crunches the abdomen until you get this worked out. Twisting exercises tend to be less likely to agitate this trigger point. This version of the teaser shows how she has rolled onto the top of her sacrum, which focuses the contraction on the lower abdomen and activates this pain pattern.
Many clients come to me with this band of pain across their back when they are bloated or gain sudden weight. This distension of the abdomen tends to overstretch the rectus abdominus and activate this trigger point pain pattern.
If this occurred after an accident or fall, see a professional for help.
For Temporary Relief:
For Pain Across the Top of the Hips
Many clients have come in with this pain across the low back. It releases quickly and consistently with this little routine.
- Rub ice across the top of the pubic bone, right where the green asterisk is in the illustration. You’ll notice that one side is more sensitive than the other. Just do this for a few seconds to shock the skin.
- After icing, stretch the rectus abdominus by pulling your belly button in and reaching up and back.
- Hold that for about 2 seconds
- Return to the normal posture.
- Do steps 2 through 4, three more times.
I often just have the client rub IcyHot over the pubic bone and walk around the table a few times and it goes away.
Some of the cream or an IcyHot Patch are a great relief if the band of low back pain is nagging you during sleep or daily routines. However, I’d use the patch instead of the cream. That cream can be spread around with clothing and usually isn’t fun below the pubic bone.
For Pain Across the Mid Back
Few clients come in with this pain. Because of its location, most people are concerned about internal organ problems. Naturally, they see their physician. On exception, I have a regular client that asks me about this. Again, it releases quickly and consistently with this little routine.
- Rub ice across the arch of the ribs, right where the green asterisk is in the illustration. You’ll notice that one side is more sensitive than the other. Just do this for a few seconds to shock the skin.
- After icing, stretch the rectus abdominus by pulling your belly button in and reaching up and back.
- Hold that for about 2 seconds
- Return to the normal posture.
- Do steps 2 through 4, three more times.
Usually, I just have the client rub IcyHot over their ribs and walk around the table a few times, Typically, the pain fades. I little stretching helps when it doesn’t
Some pain cream or an IcyHot Patch are a great relief if the band of pain across the mid-back pain nags you during sleep or daily routines. However, if you’re wearing a bra, I’d use the patch instead of the cream. The pressure and rubbing of the bra can aggravate the skin.
These self-care activities, like over-the-counter drugs, are not intended to replace appropriate medical attention. If you have concerns about these self-care activities, get help from a professional. Use these suggestions and strategies with discretion and at your own risk. See your doctor when your pain is severe, persistent, or not responding to these simple suggestions.
Stretches and Exercises for Longer-Lasting Relief:
A problem with the joint in the center of your pubic bones perpetuates this band of pain across the back. If you feel the top edge of the pubic bone, you’ll notice that one side is much more tender. Check that again after you do this. If it’s still as tender, do the ice and stretch in the section above. It usually releases and becomes less sore but needs some movement to work out the rest.
You can fix it by squeezing a magic ring or exercise ball between your knees. It will feel a little tender on the inside of your thigh and it will drop back into place with a click. If it doesn’t release by pressing the legs together, put your legs inside and press out a little, then try squeezing it between your thighs again.
After it clicks, do a few of the bridges that I discuss in the Yoga Corner. If you’re not a bendy body, you can grab the back of your shoes or the hem of your pants to stabilize your body and bridge higher.
I’d love your feedback on how this works for you and any suggestions you might have.
Email me at integrativeworks@gmail.com.
Yoga Corner
This yoga pose is great for returning the curve to the low back while balancing the hip flexors’ tension and flattening the abdomen.
To make it even better, use the method in Active Isolated Stretching. Do slow repetitions that you take to the point of slight tension and hold for 1.5 seconds. Pull your belly button in as you lift your hips. Then, drop your hips back to the mat before you do it again. Do ten reps.
If you don’t know AIS, here is a post with a brief set of guidelines.
Bridges are a great standard but some people need something less intense. Spinx, cobra and others can open with less intensity or complexity. On the other hand, advanced practitioners might try more intense backbends like Tiger pose. Look to your yoga instructor for guidance or posts like this on backbends for beginners.
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Tony Preston has a practice in Atlanta, Georgia, where he sees clients. He has written materials and instructed classes since the mid-90s. This includes anatomy, trigger points, cranial, and neuromuscular.
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*This site is undergoing significant changes. We are reformatting and expanding the posts to make them easier to read. The result will also be more accessible and include more patterns with better self-care. Meanwhile, there may be formatting, content presentation, and readability inconsistencies. Until we get older posts updated, please excuse our mess.