Herniated disc (Slipped Disc) maybe its not so bad

A Disc injury (slipped disc) diagnosis is a serious matter.  Because a disc takes a long time to heal and is made worse by bending, lifting and sitting – it can mean time off work, a change in life style and possibly even surgery.

Back pain from Quadratus lumborum

So how can this be not so bad?

Well, one frequent cause of back pain is a strain or spasm of the Quadratus Lumborum Muscle. Osteopaths call it the QL.  Its the red one in the picture.  It works by pulling your spine sideways bending you to the left and right.  Also it keeps the spine straight when you have a load on the opposite side – like when your digging or lifting on one side.

So lets think about digging.  Its a common cause of disc injury but also strain  on the  QL muscle.  So I go digging and get back pain.  A disc injury is worse for bending, lifting, coughing,  sneezing and sitting.  Now because the QL attaches to the lower ribs a strain here  is also worse for bending, coughing, sneezing and lifting.  So what if your disc injury is really a QL strain.

If the pain is reproduced by pressure into the QL muscle then there is a good chance that this is the problem.

The good news is that it is easy to treat and because its a muscle injury you can expect some rapid recovery.

At Bodybalance.co.uk osteopaths we treat QL strains often.  We use deep muscle stretching, and manipulaton and sometimes medical acupuncture needles to un-spasm the muscle with some times immediate improvement.

Find out more at www.bodybalance.co.uk.