by James - This article may contain affiliate links.
Are you dealing with an injury from strained back muscles? Can stretching help treat the pulled muscles? Should you stretch if you strained your back? Or should you avoid stretching?
Not every stretching is suitable for strained back muscles. Excessive stretches or hard exercise can worsen the injured muscle or prolong the recovery time. On the other hand, light stretching expedites the healing process by increasing the blood flow to the pulled area.
Read on as we explore the ten stretches for strained back muscles and some treatments for speeding up the healing.
We’ll also offer some tips to prevent pulled back muscles.
See the table below if you are in a hurry to see the best products that provide relief from back pain and help you recover faster.
Contents
Strained Back Symptoms ?
Strained back muscles can be pretty painful. Here are some common symptoms that you might experience:
- When you move, you feel more pain in your back, and when your stay still, you’ll feel less pain.
- The pain spreads to your buttocks but doesn’t extend to your legs.
- Having trouble standing up or sitting down.
- Difficulty in walking and bending.
- Muscle spasm in the back.
What to Consider When Stretching With a Pulled Back ?
You may strain your back muscles either because you have low mobility and flexibility or because you weren’t careful during an exercise.
You can perform light stretches to improve your flexibility, increase blood circulation, and speed up the healing process.
Stretches for Pulled Back Muscles ?
Here are some muscle stretches for pulled back to help you ease tension in that area.
Perform them slowly to avoid straining or worsening the issue.
See our post on exercise ball stretches for the lower back for more stretches.
If any of these stretches increase your back pain, stop and see a doctor.
Knee-To-Chest
This movement stretches your hip and lower back and helps relieve the pressure on spinal nerves.
Lie on the bed, keep your core tight, and grab the back of your knee to bring it to the chest.
Hold the stretch for 10 to 15 seconds, then switch sides.
Repeat 5 to 10 times on each side.
Trunk Rotation
This stretch targets the muscles that flex the torso and spine and relieve the tension in the lower back.
Lie on your back and bring your knees toward your chest.
Extend your arm to your sides with your palm on the ground.
While keeping knees together and hands on the ground, slowly rotate your bend knees to the right side and hold the stretch for 10 to 15 seconds.
Then switch sides.
Repeat 5 to 10 times on each side.
This short video explains how you can do the stretch properly:
Child’s Pose
This soft stretch targets back muscles, hips, thighs, and ankles. It can ease tension in your back.
Start this activity with your knees and hands on the mat.
Spread knees to the sides of the mat, let your belly rest between thighs, then place your forehead on the mat.
Relax your shoulder, jaw, and eyes and hold the position for 10 to 15 seconds.
Then slowly put your hand on your ankles and return to the sitting position.
Spine Twist Stretch
The movement is an excellent stretch for any tightness and pain in the lower back and mid-back and helps open up the hips.
Lie on the back with your legs straight on the ground.
With your hand, slowly push your knee toward the floor.
Feel the stretch throughout your back, hold it for 10 to 15 seconds, then switch sides.
Repeat the movement 3 to 5 times for each side.
This video helps you know how to do the stretch correctly:
Pelvic Tilt
Lie flat on your back with your knees bent on the floor and engage your deep core by drawing your belly button towards your spine.
Make your spine flat against the floor, hold for 10 seconds, then relax.
Repeat 5 to 10 times.
This video shows your five lying pelvic tilt exercises:
Seat Forward Bend
Sometimes tight hamstrings are the reason for lower back strain.
Sit on the floor with your back straight and stretch your legs fully in front of you.
Slowly bend your hips so that your belly is near your hips.
Walk with your hands alongside each leg and reach your hands as far as possible.
Hold that position for ten seconds, then gently return to the starting position.
Repeat this process 5 to 10 times.
Supported Bridge
This pose is more common in yoga.
It engages your abdominal, back, and hip muscles without putting any pressure on your back.
See below our top three recommended stability balls you can use for this exercise and many others if you don’t have one already.
Lie on your back and put your feet wide with your ankles in line with your shoulders.
Put your arms comfortably, either on your belly or beside your hips. Tighten your core muscles and lift your pelvis.
Then slide the block or ball underneath your pelvis to support your back.
Rest for 5 to 10 seconds, go up, remove the support and slowly lower your back. Do 10 to 15 reps.
If you experience any pain with this move, stop doing it and see a physician or fitness expert.
Here’s a short video showing how to do the pose:
Other Treatments for Strained Back ?
Besides light stretching, there are a few other ways that you can alleviate your back muscle strain:
Heat Therapy
You’ve probably heard that putting a hot towel on your back can reduce soreness. You may have tried it yourself and felt a minor relief.
Most people complain about towels and hot water bottles quickly getting cold.
An electric heating pad is a more effective solution because it maintains the heat.
However, you need to be careful with the temperature and duration of use.
Otherwise, you may burn yourself if you use it for a long time or fall asleep while wearing it.
We recommend the heating pads below for back pain for optimal results and safety.
They warm up your back and provide superior blood flow.
You can use these heating devices on any part of your body, including your back, shoulders, arms, and legs.
Anti-inflammatory Medication And Antioxidant Fruits
Anti-inflammation supplements like ibuprofen (Advil) or naproxen (Aleve) can help reduce swelling and inflammation and ultimately relieve the pain in the pulled muscle.
While these medications are very effective, they also have many side effects and should not be taken for long periods.
Also, Antioxidant-rich fruits like pineapple and watermelon increase blood flow in muscle tissues.
As a result, they can reduce inflammation and have pain-relieving effects.
Massage
Self-Massage can help relax your muscles, and the manipulation prevents tension buildup.
Here are two kinds of massage therapy that you can do:
1. Foam-Rolling
Foam-rolling also reduces the pulled area’s tension and soreness and helps relieve back pain.
It’s a kind of self-massage that uses a foam roller.
This video shows you how to do foam rolling for back pain relief:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7wSCpnbfB4
See our top three recommended foam rollers below. They can be used for back pain and assist with various exercises.
2. Deep Tissue Massage
Although the name may sound scary and painful, this massage technique is quite helpful with cramped or strained muscles.
In this approach, the masseur applies sustained pressure to break up adhesions in the lower layers of your muscles.
Here’s a short video to give you more information:
Compression
Wearing a compression garment prevents muscle soreness from worsening and repairing muscle injury.
It also enhances blood circulation, accelerating recovery.
You can get full-body pressure garments or muscle-specific pieces.
Check out our top recommended products below if you don’t have one. These Back Brace garments, available on Amazon, have a supported belt in the back and relieve back pain immediately.
Remember not to wear it too tightly; your muscles need blood flow to heal.
Rest
Resting helps your muscles repair themselves and recover.
So, letting your body rest and giving more time to your muscles to heal is an effective way to ease the pulled area.
Lying on your back with a pillow under your knees will also help.
While resting may soothe your pain, we only recommend it for brief episodes. Too much resting can weaken your muscles.
How to Prevent Pulled Back Muscles ?
Here are some tips that can help you prevent back muscle strain. Some of them strengthen your back muscles, and others are precautionary.
- Stretch before and after exercise.
- Do light workouts like walking and swimming.
- Do exercises that strengthen your back muscles.
- Wear supportive and low-heel shoes.
- Shed some weight.
- Improve your posture when sitting and standing.
- Sleep on your side.
Bottom Line ?
Many people experience back pain from strained muscles at some point.
The pain will disappear within days.
However, some stretches and treatments can expedite the healing process.
Last update on 2023-01-27 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
