Table of Contents
Tight Lower Back Fascia
Tight lower back fascia can cause pain and discomfort. Tightness in the fascia of this area of the back can cause your chronic pain. It can also lead to tightness issues. Watch the video to learn more.
Fascia vs Muscle Dysfunction
Muscles and fascia can become dysfunctional together. Muscles and fascia can become tight due to issues such as bad posture. Certain exercise activities, if done improperly, or by overdoing the activity, can also cause tightness.
Fascia can also become tight due to previous injuries, increased stress and anxiety and even from a lack of hydration.
Typically it can be easier to treat the muscles versus the fascia. At times the fascia can become super tight. It can literally stick to pain sensitive structures such as nerves, bone, muscles, tendons, and ligaments.
Tight fascia can exacerbate or mimic muscular symptoms. I will clarify what I mean by “mimic”. At first glance, the therapist can make an assumption. They can think that, because of a patient’s symptoms, it is strictly muscular in origin. Because of this assumption, this can cause the therapist mind-set towards a treatment direction. At times the muscles can become more of the focus versus separating the two. This is in regards to treatment.
In this writing we will discuss the importance of separating the two. You treat both but more of the other when it comes to chronic issues. This is especially true with tight lower back fascia
What are some of the symptoms?
Tight lower back fascia, specifically in this area (note the picture above) can cause these symptoms:
- General lower back pain and tightness
- Limitations in motions such as trunk rotation or side bending
- Pain and tightness of the lumbo-sacral region
- Glute/hip pain and tightness
- Sometimes a pulling sensation when moving in certain directions
Fascia can cause local pain, tightness and discomfort. Tight fascia can also cause disruptions further away from the specific tight area. This is true for tight lower back fascia. Depending on the degree of tightness, one can feel pulling into the hamstrings. This sensation can also extend up the mid-back. It can even reach the sides of the ribcage.
Treatment
Treatments for tight lower back fascia can be very uncomfortable. This can be based on how long the patient has had the condition for and how tight the area is.
Typically what occurs is that the tight fascia is the primary structure to target. The muscles become secondary.
Over the years, I gave observed clinically that when there is a chronic issue with pain and tightness. It is more than likely that the fascia is involved. The muscles are secondary.
This is a reason for why chronic issues of the lower back persist. The reason for this is that at times a therapist can treat the muscles. The muscles can be very stubborn to relax. And even if the muscles do relax, the treatments can be short when it comes to long standing relief.
If the treatment mindset is to relax the fascia first, then the muscles will relax more. They will do so to a greater extent and more rapidly.
If you are encountering chronic lower back pain and have had many treatments with minimal results. It can be time to have a different mindset in regards to treatment approach.
Contact is and we can discuss your particular case.
More Resources:
Did you know that tight fascia can cause headaches? Watch this video to learn more. There is a muscle that links lower back pain and shoulder discomfort. Learn about it here.
