Dealing with Holiday Back Pain

The holiday season is drawing to a close, and as the dust settles, you may realize you have developed some back pain! Between travel, sleeping in different beds, cooking/cleaning more than usual, and everything else that comes with the holidays, this is common. Thankfully, a lot of these aches and pains can be dealt with through basic movements and getting back into your normal routine. In this month’s blog, we are going to cover some of those basic movements!

One of the more popular gift ideas around the holidays in recent years have been massage guns! Which in turn has led to one of the most common questions we get after the holidays being “how should I use my new massage gun”. Massage guns are fine to be used over any sore and stiff joints/muscles, and really shine when used as part of a warm up (although you can use them any time is convenient). It is important to be mindful of whether the massage gun is aggravating your stiffness/soreness, which may mean you need to reduce the time you are using the gun, the frequency you are using the gun, or need to set up an appointment with us for an evaluation.

Once you have worked on your sore muscles with the massage gun, it’s time to add in some movement. Since we are covering general soreness in today’s blog, we are going to cover some general movements! One of our go-to’s is the Mad Cat/Old Horse (or Cat/Cow). To perform the Mad Cat/Old Horse exercise, begin on all 4’s with your hands under your shoulders and your knees under your hips. Extend your back upward into a “mad cat” position. Next, flex your back downward to sag into an “old horse” position. Slowly transition back and forth between these two positions. Another of our favorite movements is a thoracic rotation on all 4’s, done immediately following the Mad Cat/Old Horse. Place one hand behind your neck with your elbow pointing downward. Rotate your trunk to move your elbow towards your opposite knee. Rotate back, raising your elbow toward the ceiling. Neither of these movements should cause an increase in stiffness or soreness, so feeling worse immediately after doing them is a sign to set up an appointment to see what is going on.

By this point in our routine, you should be feeling loosened up and moving a bit easier! This is where we pull out our number 1 back-pain relieving exercise: walking! Going for a walk has repeatedly been shown to be at or near the top of exercises for back pain. As a bonus, it takes no special equipment and can assist in burning off some of the extra holiday calories. If you already walk regularly, we recommend completing the first part of the routine beforehand to see if it helps! With Kansas and Missouri weather the way it is, we recommend keeping an eye on the forecast and only walking when it is safe to do so. The benefits of walking can be quickly eliminated with a hard fall on ice!

The holidays can be stressful enough without having to deal with pain during or after them. This quick and easy routine can help your body make it through in good shape! If any of the activities increase your pain, stiffness, or soreness, give us a call, shoot us a text, or schedule an appointment online so we can get you feeling better as quickly as possible.