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Back pain in quarantine? Let us help!

HELP! I HAVE BACK PAIN BUT I’M IN QUARANTINE!

By now we have all heard of those usual COVID-19 symptoms, cough, fever, sore throat, fatigue, and persistent headaches. But what about those other symptoms that a person can experience after testing positive for COVID-19? Back pain.

According to the CDC, common symptoms of COVID-19 are fatigue and muscle aches, but what a large amount of people are reporting after testing positive is a severe bout of lower back pain. As a physical therapist, I treat acute and chronic lower back pain often. This is arguably the most common thing as a profession that we treat in the outpatient setting. Acute back pain is defined as an injury to a region of your back that began 3-6 months ago. Chronic back pain is an injury that has lasted greater than 6 months. Acute low back pain is best treated by movement and the sooner a person can return to normal activities the less likely they will develop chronic pain.

So, do you find yourself resting at home, just testing positive for COVID, but having severe lower back pain that you can’t do anything about? Here are a few tips and tricks to help you fight that acute low back pain while you’re in quarantine!

Images are from MedBridge website. Please note you can do all of these exercises laying in your bed or on the floor. If it is too difficult to lay on the floor please do not attempt!

1. Lower Trunk Rotations – begin laying on your back and bend your knees so your feet are flat on the surface you are laying. Bring your knees and your feet close together and begin rocking your knees from side to side. Go over as far as you can, but avoid any increase in lower back pain. You should feel a stretch in your lower back or your hips. Repeat 20-30 times.

2. Pelvic Tilt – begin laying flat on your back and bend your knees so your feet are flat on the surface you are laying. Using your hips, try to tilt the small of your back against the surface you are laying. Your hips should raise just slightly towards the ceiling. Repeat 20-30 times and hold 3 seconds.

3. Ball Squeeze – again lay flat on your back, place a small ball, rolled up bath towel, or a pillow between your knees and GENTLY squeeze your knees together. Repeat 20-30 times and hold 3 seconds.

4. Piriformis Stretch – lay on your back and cross one leg in a figure 4 over your opposite knee. Push your knee you are crossing towards your feet until you feel a stretch in your hip. Hold 30 seconds and repeat 3 times on each side.

Once you are out of quarantine we would love to evaluate you at our clinic to show you other things you can do to manage your back pain! Give us a call at (866) 412-5554 to get scheduled. #wetreatthat

Written by Lexi Krehbiel, PT, DPT

Better Care. Better Outcomes. (2020, November 20). Retrieved December 03, 2020, from https://www.medbridgeeducation.com/

Symptoms of Coronavirus. (2020, May 13). Retrieved December 03, 2020, from https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/symptoms-testing/symptoms.html?utm_campaign=AC_CRNA

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