How to Treat Muscle Spasms in the Back

We all know that spasms are involuntary contractions of the muscle that occur all of a sudden. When you have spasms in the back muscles, then it is undoubtedly a frustrating experience as your entire body movement gets affected by it. The muscles that are located in the upper back and the lower back region tend to suffer spasms more often. The duration of an intense back muscle spasm can be just few seconds or it may last longer. Sometimes, the back pain continues even after the spasm is gone. This is because as soon as the muscles get contracted, blood flow in the damaged part of the muscles increases and causes inflammation. Therefore, you continue to experience the pain as long as there is swelling.

Causes of Back Muscle Spasms
Some people may get muscle spasms once in a while doing some physically strenuous activities and others may get it quite frequently. A few of the underlying causes that trigger muscle spasms are as follows:

• Traumatic injury to the muscles during automobile accidents or contact sports activities.
• Overuse of the muscles while exercising.
• Poor posture maintained for a long time tend to cause fatigue in the muscles and they suffer contraction.
• Weakness in core abdominal muscles.
• Herniated disk that irritates the nearby nerve often causes spasms on one side of the back.
• A number of underlying diseases that include arthritis, spondylolysis, diabetes, anemia, multiple sclerosis, etc.

Medicine-Free Muscle Spasms Treatment
As soon as you get a muscle spasm in the back, lie down on a flat and firm surface in order to relax the back muscles. While you are in a lying position, elevate your legs. For this, you can place the lower portion of the legs on a chair. Or else, you can put 2-3 cushions below the knee to raise the legs. Roll up a small towel and place it under the neck. This lying position will ease off maximum pressure from the back muscles.

The characteristic of a back pain caused by a spasm is that it tends to get aggravated with movement. Therefore, you must provide proper rest to your back in the first 2-3 days. Thus the affected muscles will get some scope to heal up. During this time, apply cold to the painful site with the help of an ice pack. This will bring down the pain and inflammation by restricting the blood flow to the region. The duration of ice application should be 15 minutes at a stretch and not more than that. However, you can repeat it a number of times after a gap of every few hours.

After the first two days of ice application, the inflammation should subside. Now, you can start applying heat with the help of a heating pad. Again, the heat should be applied for 15-20 minutes only but can be repeated from time to time. The heat will have a relaxing effect on the taut back muscles. It will also ensure faster healing of damaged muscles by improving the blood flow in the region.

After the first 48 hours is over, you can gently massage the affected muscles of your back with the help of medicinal creams that are available in the pharmacy stores. Natural oils like mustard oil or eucalyptus oil is equally effective for this purpose. When your friend or relative is massaging your back, ask them not to exert too much pressure or rub the area vigorously as the pain may get aggravated.

When the pain subsides, start some mild stretching exercises involving the back muscles and the leg muscles. Lie down on a flat surface, bend your knees and place your feet on the ground. Now, hold one knee with your hands and bring it slowly near the chest. Hold this stretched position till you finish counting 10 and then return to the original position. Repeat the same stretching holding the other knee.

How to Treat Muscle Spasms in the Back with Medicines?
When the pain due to a muscle spasm refuse to improve within 48 hours, then doctor need to be consulted. If the pain is unbearable for you, then also you need medicinal treatment. After physical examination of the back, doctors try to identify the cause. If required, x-rays and MRI is also conducted. Depending upon the severity of the pain, they prescribe pain relieving medications like oral anti-inflammatory medicines, narcotic pain reliever and muscle relaxant for treatment. In some cases, cortisone injections need to be administered into the painful site for pain relief.

If it is caused by an underlying problem like arthritis or herniated disc, then physical therapy is recommended. Physical therapists often use electrical stimulation to release the muscle. Here, small amount of electricity is allowed to pass through the affected part of back muscles in order to relax them. As the pain decreases with this treatment, they suggest some stretching exercise that can add strength and flexibility to the muscles and prevent any further injury.

Muscle spasms in the back usually takes a lot of time to heal up. Therefore, you must act patiently and do not expect any quick fix solution to the problem. To divert your mind from the annoying back muscle pain, you can try some relaxation techniques like deep breathing or meditation. You can also read your favorite book to distract your mind from the painful symptoms.