Pain Relief: Lower back pain| pulling activities

Lower back pain| pulling activities

Pain Relief: Lower back pain

Lower back pain can be initiated or aggravated by pulling type activities.

To be able to pull effectively, lower body muscle activity is needed especially that of the paraspinal muscles, abdominal muscles, gluteus maximus, hamstrings, quadriceps, gastrocnemius and foot and ankle dorsiflexors. These muscles going to lengthening contraction to stabilize the lower limb.

During pulling, compressive forces occur at the lumbar disc region of the L5-S1 level and there are high shear forces at the shoe-floor interface. The more slippery the surface, the more the muscles have to contract to guard to stiffen the trunk to prevent the person from slipping.

The forces generated during pulling are dependent on cart resistance, the weight of the load and walking speed.

Upper extremity muscles needed for pulling type activities (also for lifting) are dependent on arm position and the direction of pulling.

The muscles that are needed for effective pulling activities are deltoid, rotator cuff muscles, triceps, latissimus dorsi and muscles at the back of the forearm and the hand muscles. These muscles undergo lengthening contractions and thus subjected to injury.

Pulling tasks require the trunk to act as a rigid cylinder to link and facilitate the force transmission between the ground and the hands.

Using a lifting belt has no effects during maximal exertions on the maximal pull forces generated or the muscle recruitment levels, irrespective of the pulling posture. The lifting belt generally does not increase the rigidity of the trunk and does not increase the pulling strength nor reduce trunk muscle forces acting on the disc.

People find it easier to pull the object behind them using one arm only. Pulling using one arm places the body in a rotated position that produces injurious forces on the spine. It is preferable to use both arms to pull to minimize the torque effect on the spine. If the load is light, and pulling with one arm is easier, then frequently rotate the use of the pulling arm to give the first arm a chance to rest.

Pulling the cart toward you and walking backwards with the load, can be alternated with pulling the cart behind you to rotate the use of different muscles. This prevents the same muscles from having to undergo repeated lengthening contractions which are injurious.

Jennifer Chu, M.D. emeritus professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, pioneered eToims Twitch Relief Method that utilizes surface electrical stimulation to locate motor points (trigger points). The motor points are then stimulated to induce strong local muscle contractions, termed twitches.