About a week and a half ago I had a brutal set of back spasms. Over about 24 hours I had multiple painful jerking spasms in my back, often resulting in my knees buckling. I also noticed tightening and spasms along my groin/thighs and inner knees. Over the day my hips became imbalanced and I noticed a distinct "tilt" to the left when standing. I know some of this has been caused in the past by tight psoas mucles, aka the "hip flexors" or for those who hunt, the equivalent of the "tenderloin" in other mammals. And yes, my loins were tender! As I rested on a heating pad on my back, I checked my hip flexors and they were tight. So tight they felt like solid cables, not flexible muscles!
So all weekend activities were canceled, lots of rest, NSAIDs, heating pad (heat is better than ice for muscle spasms btw) and gentle stretching. Standing up felt better than anything except laying flat, so I mainly stood around and walked or laid flat. Ugh. Over the next week everything slowly resolved and now I'm back to slowly increasing range of motion and confidence in loading my back muscles. So here's some tips-mainly for me for next time, but if they help you that would be good too:
-Stretch. Daily. Stay ahead of problems
-Heat as soon as spasms start. No ice for muscle spasms-save RICE for injuries/overuse problems
-Stay ahead of anti-inflammation with NSAIDs and lots of water.
-Understand your limitations as you age. When workouts become irregular, be extra careful with lifting/bending.
-Alignment care is a must! I'm ok with chiropractors but others use other methods.
I hope this one is just about over, and you don't suffer from muscle spasms. This was a bad one!
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