Holistic Therapy for Chronic Lower Back Pain, Does it Work? – Part 3
- 6 days ago
- 12 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
Kicki Hjortmarker is known for her broad knowledge and extensive experience working with the human body and mind to heal injuries and chronic pain conditions. She is the founder of Swedish Balance, dedicated to help people live a balanced life pain-free.
Chronic lower back pain is rarely caused by one single issue. In this article, we explore the often-overlooked role of the psoas muscle and how tension, imbalance, lifestyle habits, and stress can affect the lower back. You’ll discover holistic, body-aware approaches to easing pain, restoring balance, and supporting long-term healing.
The role of the psoas
Since the psoas is such a central muscle in the body, connecting the lower and upper body through the lumbar spine, running along the inside of the pelvic bone, and attaching to the inner thigh (the lesser trochanter), it has a major impact on the lower back. If it shortens or tightens, it literally pulls on the lower spine, the discs, and the vertebrae.
It gets tighter with a lot of sitting since it’s in constant contraction. When it’s shortened, it will pull the lumbar spine forward and down. So, when you stand up, the lower back will feel tight or compressed, but you were just fine as long as you were sitting.
If you also see that your bottom sticks out more than usual, it’s a sign of a tight psoas. You can also check if your lower belly protrudes more, your hip bones point downward slightly, or your lower back arches deeply.
The psoas can simultaneously be too tight on one side and too weak on the other side, and thereby it’s creating an imbalance and lower back pain.
Another aspect of the psoas is its location behind the intestines. A tight psoas can put pressure on the intestines, and you end up with constipation or diarrhea without having any idea why your stomach is upset. This pressure can lead to tension and pain in your lower back as well.
10 last tips to conquer lower back pain
1. Psoas
Things you can do to loosen up the psoas:
Lie down on a foam roller horizontally and place it under your sacrum (the very lowest part of your spine, above your tailbone. Your gluteus muscles and your piriformis are attached here.) Your upper back will be on the floor, and your hips will be elevated on the foam roller. Start with bent knees as the psoas responds better to a gentle stretch and softening rather than an aggressive stretch. After you feel that the psoas has softened, you can go ahead and lengthen your legs if you’d like.
Slow pendulum-like leg movements when standing on one leg can also help ease the tension.
Another way is to put a ball on the floor, then gently lie down on the ball, on the side of your stomach/inside of your pelvic bone, face down.
Brace yourself with your arm strength to not put too much pressure on this delicate area, as you will push intestines to the side when trying to reach the psoas and illiopsoas.
Do not try this if you believe you might have fragile stomach tissues or if you don’t have enough arm strength to brace yourself!
Doing a hip flexor stretch can also be helpful. Stand on your knees. Put one leg out in front of the body (Like a lunge), knee bent at a 90 degree angle. One foot and one leg are now in front of you. You might want to hold onto a wall or chair on one side to help you balance. Your torso should be upright. However, if your psoas is super tight, you won’t be able to hold your torso upright here. The same thing goes if your major hip flexor is really tight.
If it’s no problem for you to stand here, start to bend the leg in front of you while your torso is still straight up, and go as far as you can to get a good stretch. You should feel a stretch in front of the hip and thigh. You might even feel a slight stretch into the stomach.
Sitting “Indian style” is also a way to open up the psoas and get it to relax.
If none of the above is working, seek help from a bodyworker or similar professional who can help release the psoas with manual work. A professional can work hands-on of the inside of your pelvic bone, and close to the spine, to release the psoas. You can also get help with active releases and exercises specific for your needs.
2. Abdominals
I’m mentioning the abs just briefly here, as it is so individual how to strengthen the abs to not make things worse.
I work with a lot of people who will easily “throw their back out” if they start strengthening their abs on their own.
So, something that is safe for almost all will be to do a “C-curve”. I wouldn’t recommend this if you have a herniated or bulging disc, though. Wait until it’s healed.
Sit on your sit bones (Ischial tuberosity) either on the floor or on the edge of a chair.
Bend your legs towards your chest, and let your knees fall open to the sides. Keep the bottom of your feet towards each other. You can place your hands on the outside of your legs.
Slowly and slightly, inch by inch, roll behind your sit bones and roll onto your sacrum, so that you create a C-curve with your spine. Make sure that your legs stay open. This is to make sure that you don’t start to work with your psoas and major hip flexor instead of with your lower abs.
Repeat this as long as it feels good, doesn’t strain your back, and as long as it feels like you’re using your abdominals only. Also, pay attention to whether you have the same amount of weight on each sit bone. If not, adjust. This means that you will have to soften/let go of the side that has less contact with the floor. It can be helpful to put a hand on the tighter side and imagine that you exhale through the tension.
3. Pilates and yoga
Pilates and Yoga are excellent exercise forms to help your back heal. The two forms have much in common, but a true yogi would disagree since yoga really is about meditation. True yoga is about meditation, and the exercises are meant to prepare the body for quiet meditation in stillness. However, for an unstable back and an unstable core, I prefer Pilates because you are supported by equipment. It’s very safe for your body!
I strongly recommend taking private classes until you are stronger, or there is a significant risk that you work incorrectly and hurt yourself. I meet way too many people who are unaware of their body movements and restrictions, and end up hurting themselves in a class with multiple people, more so in a yoga class, since yoga is usually done without supportive equipment.
Pilates is great because it will strengthen your whole body with a focus on the core. It will improve posture, increase flexibility, and build full-body strength.
It supports healthy, balanced, and efficient movements. The Pilates method emphasis is on controlled movements, precise, and intentional.
The emphasis is also on breath coordinated with movement, deep core activation, neutral spine alignment, balanced muscle development, and mind-body awareness.
4. Stretching
The most natural stretch for your lower back would be to curl up in a ball, but it won’t have a long lasting affect. Instead:
Lie down on the floor and pull one leg into the chest at a time to get a gluteus stretch. Press the other leg down onto the floor, and you might experience a slight stretch in front of the thigh and hip as well.
Release tension of your spine both in flexion and extension. The Cat-Cow stretch is great for this:
Stand on hands and knees. Arch your back up to the sky (cat), pull your belly in slightly, and drop your head down. Reverse the movement and drop your back down/ arching down as you lift your head up. Repeat at least five times, and increase the range of motion each time.
Supine twist: Lie down on your back, bring your knees towards your chest, and tip both knees to one side. Look the opposite way to get a complete spine twist. Then reverse.
Release the psoas: If your back is arching constantly, and your belly protrudes, then your psoas is too tight. To stretch and release the psoas, see note 11 “Psoas” above.
Hamstring stretch: Lie on your back. Lift one leg and loop a strap under the foot. Pull the strap with the leg towards your face. If it’s too much of a stretch, you can use a towel instead and place it somewhere under your leg, and keep it slightly bent. Then pull the leg towards your face.
Open up the hips and release the lower back by taking a wide stance. Bend your knees and sit down as far to the floor as your knees allow. Drop your bottom towards the floor, and also drop your tailbone towards the floor. Put your hands on the floor for support. Drop your head towards your chest to get a complete spine stretch.
5. Homeopathic remedies, ice, heat, shower, and other topical solutions
A great homeopathic treatment for your back is ice and heat. If you are achy and have had discomfort for a long time, heat can work really well to loosen up tension.
If you recently injured yourself, it’s safer to go with ice. When it comes to an acute or recent injury, there is often severe inflammation involved. You want to make sure to ice this, and “not put more heat on the fire!”
In some situations, it’s helpful to use both heat and ice:
Put ice on the part of the body that feels hot due to inflammation and keep it on for 10-20 minutes several times a day.
At the same time, you can put heat on another body part that feels tight but not hot (usually you don’t feel pain here) to create relaxation of the whole body.
You can also switch between heat and ice on your injured area once the inflammation has calmed down to increase circulation. The tissues will be cycling between vasodilation (blood vessels open) and vasoconstriction (blood vessels narrow).
Take a nice hot shower to relax the tension in your whole body, and thereby take the edge off the tension in your injured area.
Regarding ointments, Arnica is a go-to topical solution for inflammation and bruises.
A topical Cayenne pepper ointment with its active ingredient Capsaicin and Vitamin C has a variety of benefits, such as being anti-inflammatory. It also supports collagen synthesis. Analgesics such as peppermint gels can be affective short term.
The last few years CBD oil has also become very popular as it has the capability of decreasing pain, but, it needs to be a trustworthy brand and its efficacy has to do with how it has been sourced. Additionally, some of my clients swear by lidocaine patches.
6. Supplements and medication
Magnesium-rich foods and supplements are helpful for spasms and cramps.
Ibuprofen is also an over-the-counter medication for minor aches and pains, such as headaches, muscle aches, arthritis, and backaches. If your pain is severe, ibuprofen might not help you.
However, the prescription dosage is much higher than what you can buy over the counter, and that can possibly ease your pain. High-quality bioavailable turmeric is also helpful in reducing inflammation in the body.
7. Get help
Having work done by a professional on tissues that affect traumatized nerves, muscles, and discs will help create more space and bring blood flow to the area to clear up inflammation.
If your condition is severe, you may want to consult with your doctor to see if bodywork is safe for you.
Get help from a professional who does bodywork such as Manual Tissue Release, Trigger Point release/Neuromuscular Therapy, Myofascial Release, Craniosacral Therapy, Somato Emotional Release, Reiki, Lymphatic Drainage, Visceral Manipulation, which can greatly reduce inflammation and pain symptoms.
Multiple healing methods may be needed. The very solution to heal and deal with your back trauma may be through a program including a strengthening system such as Pilates.
8. Fasting
Fasting can help in your efforts to combat chronic pain, but it’s not going to heal the dysfunction or imbalances in the myofascial or myoskeletal system. Fasting can take the edge off the pain by reducing inflammation in the body.
Many types of back pain, especially those related to arthritis, disc degeneration, or nerve irritation, have an inflammatory component, so I strongly suggest you try a way to reduce inflammation.
I usually go on a three-day water fast when I want to reduce inflammation in my body. I notice a tremendous difference in the healing of wounds, and my one bunion is reducing in size significantly.
If you aren’t used to fasting, make sure to consult with someone who knows how to guide you through a fast. It’s also advisable to consult with your doctor to make sure a fast is safe for you.
9. Grounding
Grounding can help you to cope with chronic pain and to “get out of your head and back into your body”. The best way to do that can be to “Feel Your Feet”! Feel your feet on the floor or on the ground outside in order to feel present, to reduce overwhelm, and to calm down stress symptoms and anxiety.
It’s about coming back to a steady, regulated state of mind. To get out of your head, follow this exercise:
Name 4 things that you see around you.
Name 4 things that you hear around you.
Name 4 things that you feel.
Say this out loud to yourself, and make sure your eyes are open. To physically ground yourself:
Feel the weight of your body being supported by the earth.
Feel the contact to the ground beneath your feet. How does it feel? What’s the texture and temperature like?
As you lessen the tension in the muscles and bones of your feet, you will be able to relax your whole body.
If you simply cannot relax your feet, sit on a chair and then still keep your feet on the ground or floor. Then imagine that you’re exhaling through your feet and into the ground below, imagining that threads of energy is extending from your feet, connecting you and your feet to the core of the earth. Imagine that these threads of energy is reaching deeper into the earth with each breath.
It can also be relaxing to massage your feet gently, and then put them back on the ground.
Also see part 1, note 5 “Meditation and Breath.”
Electrically explained, connecting an electrical system (which our bodies are) to the earth will prevent shocks, static, or charge build-up.
Studies have shown that our bodies will change charge quickly when connecting directly to the ground/earth with your bare feet, and the whole nervous system will slow down and relax.
10. How to deal with a relapse
Relapse will happen! Usually, because you feel really good, you push yourself, and you do something stupid!
Yes, I have done it many times! I feel really good, feel like I don’t have a back problem anymore, and I pack on the weights at the gym, and soon the muscles will pull me into a major imbalance.
When this happens to you, be careful about how you’re stretching. It’s easy to over-stretch an inflamed and weakened area, and you will make the pain worse.
Instead, move into a position where you don’t feel any pain. Hopefully, it feels really good as if you could stay there forever! So, stay there for a minute as long as it feels good!
Hold this position until you feel a release, as if the tension is letting go. You feel a little more relaxed. Then move into the next position that feels good.
Make sure to go really slowly! Limbs can affect your back tremendously, so make sure to also move arms and legs into a position that feels good. You can stand, lie down on the floor, or sit while you do this. Whatever makes you feel better.
If you do this for a while, moving into several different positions that feel good and wait for a release, you might be able to feel one or more areas that are the culprit to the back trauma and pain. You can use a ball for these areas. Lie down on the ball with static pressure.
Don’t roll around on the ball on your painful area. If you have hit a trigger point, it needs static pressure to let go. If you don’t feel a release, you might be pressing too hard.
Again, move slowly and be patient! Do this consistently! Rest may be necessary, and also make sure to follow the tips and suggestions above.
Do never say: “stupid back”! You made tension happen, so instead, thank your back for all that it does for you!
Take care of your health and back pain now!
Call or text Kicki Hjortmarker @ 1 (323) 404 6613
Email: kickis_therapy@icloud.com
Read more from Kicki Katarina Hjortmarker
Kicki Katarina Hjortmarker, Holistic Bodyworker
Kicki Hjortmarker has a solid background in the hands-on healing field, treating people with injuries and chronic pain conditions. With a holistic approach, she integrates Neuromuscular Massage Therapy, Craniosacral Therapy, Hypnotherapy, Reiki, Pilates, and more.
To practice the artistry of mind/bodywork and massage therapy has been Kicki's lifelong passion.
It started with the awareness of her own body as a child and ballet dancer, and, later, as a gymnast who developed chronic lower back pain whilst on the Swedish National Team in Rhythmic Sports Gymnastics.
Decades later, she overcame nerve damage and temporary paralysis in one hand.
This taught her to trust the healing power of body and mind, and that the body prefers holistic healing methods over conventional treatments.
Her mission is to encourage and inspire others to do the same: To trust the healing power of body, mind, and spirit!"
