Sacrum Pain & Low Back Pain

Sacrum Pain can be characterized by aching or sharp pain. It is usually a pain in the low back or a pain in the butt. Quite literally sacrum pain is often described as 'a pain in the butt!'. The sacrum is a portion of the lowest part of the spine, which extends into your tailbone. Many muscles attach to the sacrum, and often we work with clients who have pain in their sacral area that is completely related to a chronic postural strain or muscular issue. Some of the muscles that attach to the sacrum, and can cause pressure in that area are the gluteus maximus, otherwise known as your 'cheek muscle', the deep lateral rotators are several muscles UNDER the glutes, plus hamstrings, hip flexors and pelvic floor muscles. If you've had diagnostic images (X-rays, MRI, etc) taken of this area, without any evidence of the cause of your pain, it is VERY possible that some of these muscles are causing it.

Just from that brief description of the muscle structure, you can understand why low back pain or sacrum pain can be complicated. The point of pain isn't the only place you want to look. There are so many muscles causing pressure on this area, like a suspension bridge with some of its suspension wires out of whack, that all of these may need to be addressed to work fully with the problem.

Cases of low back pain, including sacrum pain has increased over the past decade, due to the postural patterns from the modern workforce. Never before have so many people been sitting for so long, working in front of computers! Sitting (or standing) for long periods can create tension patterns inherent in low back problems, because of the shortening of the hamstrings, hip flexors, and other muscles attached to the pelvis and low back. Our bodies were truly not meant to sit for long periods of time. In fact, our bodies work best when we don't stay still for long periods at all!

Our muscles are made to move, stretch and contract through full ranges of motion. So, when we are still for long periods of time on the computer, or any other holding pattern, the muscles involved in the holding pattern continue to contract even when you don't need them to anymore. When they hold for long periods of time, they get tighter and tighter, until the pressure on the nerve running through the muscle eventually creates a pain sensation. This will frequently become a chronic pain pattern, because the muscle has become tight over time and might need a little help in letting go...through massage, stretching or some other form of exercise or strengthening of the surrounding muscles.

Since we often have people ask us for suggestions about products and exercises they could use at home to help with sacrum pain, we highlight items which are inexpensive and can make a difference.

There are several things you can do at home to improve sacrum pain when it is related to muscular restrictions! To start off, stretching, using ice in a therapeutic way and moderate exercise to unravel the restrictions. We always have a soft gel ice pack, in our freezer. It's helpful for decreasing inflammation in injuries. Please remember with ice, though, that 15-20 minutes is what is recommended for the most benefit. If you leave it on for longer than that, your body will 'send' more blood there to *increase* the temperature to avoid hypothermia in the tissue. This can possibly increase inflammation. You will also want to remember that ice helps to send the blood away from the region, then part of the benefit, is that the secondary flush of fresh blood to the area brings new nutrients and increases pliability in the tissue. Although ice doesn't 'feel good' to most people-most of us don't like to be cold- the after effect is helpful for most sore areas. Pay attention if you are using heat already for an may feel good while it's on, but if it's throbbing or more sore 45-75 minutes AFTER you apply heat, that may be a sign of increasing inflammation in the area (this can be common if it's over a joint). The lumbar support helps the muscles in the low back from becoming fatigued during long periods of sitting, but will not keep the muscles in the upper leg or hips from shortening.

If you are interested in getting the pdf of a few of the stretches we show our clients for relieving chronic low back pain, just opt-in to our newsletter on the right, and you'll get access to download them right away. These are some stretches we suggest to clients who want to alleviate some of the pressure on their low back. You'll see that it addresses hip flexors, hamstrings and glutes. These are strong muscles which get tight from the chronic postural strain of holding a particular position...frequently standing or sitting. Our muscles were made for movement, so any time we are 'holding' a position for long periods of time, we may create some issues with tight patterns.

If you were to look at a muscle chart, you would see there are many muscles which attach to different parts of the pelvis and lumbar spine, which can strain the way the others contract. Primary muscles we address (massage/stretch) if a client is experiencing sacrum pain or gluteus maximus pain are: hamstrings, hip flexors, glutes, IT band, abdominal and low back muscles.

We go into detail about the low back pain trouble-causing postures and the anatomy and biomechanics in our

BodyPain Matrix(TM) System for Chronic Lower Back Pain. It involves a video and ebook training program. If you want to know more about what you are doing wrong (that may be causing tough low back pain restriction in the muscles) every day, and how to correct it to alleviate that pressure and pain, you will want to access this program.

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