Low back issues
Most people will experience some form of low back pain in their time. Low back pain is the leading cause of workplace absence and limitation in activities throughout most of the world and can lead to an economic burden on individuals, families, communities, industry and governments (Pandey, Kumar & Das, 2018). Thus suggesting low back issues need to be addressed. One of the muscles we are going to talk about in our MotionPlus Monday blog is The Quadratus Lumborum (Q.L).
#The Anatomy of the quadratus lumborum
Origin Posterior border of iliac crest
Insertion Inferior border of 12th rib and L1-L5
The quadratus lumborum can perform four actions:
Lateral flexion of vertebral column, with ipsilateral contraction
Extension of lumbar vertebral column, with bilateral contraction (based on line of force passing ~3.5 cm posterior L3 rotation axis)
Fixes the 12th rib during forced expiration. The quadratus lumborum assists the diaphragm in inhalation
Elevates the Ilium (bone), with ipsilateral contraction ("hip hiking").
When this muscle is sore, most just want someone to rub this muscle to help decrease the pain and help with the relief of pain. Brownie points for the person in your life that helps with this as this can be difficult. Studies for trigger point therapy Takamoto , Bito , Urakawa, Sakai, Kigawa, Ono, Nishijo (2015) saw that trigger point therapy can be good for low back pain, however, this was in acute low back treatment. Other research for chronic low back pain saw that exercises was used to help improve function of the lumbar spine area (Suh, Kim, Jung, Ko and Ryu, 2019). However, at the end of the day all you want to know is how can you help yourself and how long is it going to take?
Here is a couple of exercise to get you started, on your journey. There is plenty more on my youtube channel. Link to the side
This is not medical advice if pain persists go see your healthcare professional
Effects of compression at myofascial trigger points in patients with acute low back pain: A randomized controlled trial. (2015). Takamoto K., Bito, I., Urakawa, S., Sakai, S., Kigawa, M., Ono, T., Nishijo, H. European Journal of Pain. 19(8):1186-96. DOI: 10.1002/ejp.694
Effect of Stretching on Shortened Quadratus Lumborum Muscle in Non-Specific Low Back Pain. (2018). Pandey, E., Kumar, N., & Das, S. Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy Journal,11(2): 80-86. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/339043425_Effect_of_Stretching_on_Shortened_Quadratus_Lumborum_Muscle_in_Non_Specific_Low_Back_Pain
The effect of lumbar stabilization and walking exercises on chronic low back pain (2019). Suh, J, H., Kim, H., Jung, G, P., Ko, J, Y., and Ryu, J, S. Medicine, 98(26). Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6616307/