DID YOU KNOW TIGHT HAMSTRINGS CONTRIBUTE TO LOW BACK PAIN

Author: Inaya Lakhani, BSCKin

HERE ARE 3 WAYS THAT YOU CAN LOOSEN YOUR HAMSTRINGS AND RELIEVE ANY LOW BACK PAIN YOU HAVE

First, let’s start off with the HOW

• HOW are hamstring related to lower back?
  • In one sentence, the tighter the hamstrings, the more they pull onto your lower back. 

When your hamstrings are tight, they pull on your pelvis. Since your pelvis is connected to spine, the lack of flexibility in the hamstrings tends to push your pelvis forward, causing a curvature in the lower back, which contributes to your pain. As you all know, the legs are two thirds of our body and the largest muscle groups are comprised in the leg. This goes to show that tight hamstrings can contribute to other injuries as well. For example, hamstring flexibility can help with your balance and improve shooting nerve pain down the leg due to sciatica. 

If you are having prolonged back pain and heightened soreness, evaluate your hamstrings and do the stretches below! Researchers have indicated that the severity of low back pain is related to the extreme tightness of hamstrings (Radwan et al., 2015). 

Second, let’s see how we can help loosen our hamstrings and gain the flexibility back. 

• Before we start with the stretches: 
  • Ask Yourself: 
    • Is my low back pain constant?
    • On a scale of 0-10, what is my low back pain at?
    • Does my pain increase or decrease after performing the stretches?
    • How does my posture vary throughout the day?
  • Now, we know that lower leg muscles contribute to our posture and balance.  That being said, tight hamstrings limit our motion in the pelvis (Mistry et al., 2014). Consequently, the limited motion of the pelvis will affect the severity of low back pain, as well as the curvature of the lumbar spine will be more exaggerated leading to increased soreness. It is important to treat tight hamstrings and take steps towards 

Let’s stretch it out: 

• Hamstring stretch lying down: Lie on your back with your legs straight. Tie a belt or towel around the foot of the injured leg. Hold the other end   of the belt in your hands. Lift your leg up keeping it straight and maintain the stretch by pulling on the belt with your hands. Maintain the stretch and relax.
• Hamstring stretch standing: Stand with one foot on a stool in front of you. Straighten your leg and stick your buttock out to arch your lower back. Lean your body forward until you feel a stretch behind your thigh. Maintain the stretch for the recommended time.
• Seated hamstring stretch: Sit on the floor with both knees straight out. Try to touch your toes with both hands. Make sure your toes are straight up. Keep back straight. Hold this position.
• Chair hamstring stretch: Sit up in a chair and place your foot on a stool and the other leg at 90 degrees. Roll your hips back as to slightly arch your lower back to accentuate the stretch. The toes of the stretched leg should not be pointing forward but lifted up. Relax. When you bend your body forward, do not bend your knee. Keep your leg straight.

Tags: physiotherapy, physiotherapist, healthandwellness, health, wellness, achesandpains, healthytips, PT, naturalpainrelief