Symptoms of lumbar muscle strain include these manifestations

Lumbar muscle strain is caused by excessive traction on the waist. The most common causes of lumbar muscle strain are carrying heavy objects, lumbar sprains, etc. The activities of severe patients will be affected, and it will be difficult for them to turn over. Timely treatment and daily care are necessary.

1. Symptoms of lumbar muscle strain

Due to external force, the soft tissues of the waist, such as muscles, fascia, and ligaments, are suddenly over-stretched, exceeding the normal physiological load, causing local acute injury. It is often caused by carrying heavy objects, or suddenly spraining the waist when transporting heavy objects, or bending over to lift heavy objects and suddenly straightening up, causing muscle spasms, etc. There are usually obvious external injuries.

The main symptoms are: severe pain in severe cases, and the patient cannot move immediately; mild cases can move, but the pain will worsen after rest or the next morning, and the patient may even be unable to get up. Examination may reveal lumbar muscle spasm; severe cases have the muscles as hard as a board, and turning over is difficult. Unilateral lumbar muscle sprain can cause scoliosis and limited mobility. There is obvious tenderness in one or both sides of the psoas muscles, and the tenderness point depends on the site of injury. Lumbar sprain often occurs on one side or both sides of the spine and covers a wide range. When the supraspinal or interspinous ligaments are injured, the tenderness points are mostly on the spinous processes or between the spinous processes. When the iliac lumbar ligaments are injured, the tenderness points are often on the upper inner edge of the posterior superior iliac spine. When the lumbar ligaments are sprained, the tenderness points are often located at the lumbar-sacral junction. In severe sprains, pain may radiate along the muscles to both or one lower limb. But generally it only extends to the popliteal plane, mostly on the posterolateral or anterolateral side of the thigh, and rarely radiates to the calf and foot.

Second, the treatment and care of waist muscle strain

(1) Rest: In the early stage after the injury, it is advisable to lie on your back on a cushioned wooden bed for a short rest, with a thin pillow under your waist to relax your lumbar muscles. You can also alternate with lying on your stomach to avoid further involvement of the injured tissue and facilitate repair. For mild sprains, you need to rest for 2 to 3 days; for more severe sprains, you need to rest for about a week. 

(2) Acupoint massage can be performed after the injury. Select Ren Zhong, Sprain, Shen Shu, Da Chang Shu, Wei Zhong and other acupoints. The intensity of the manipulation should be enough to make the patient feel a strong sense of soreness, numbness and swelling. 

(3) Other therapies such as external application of active analgesic plaster for health preservation and bone vitality, oral administration of active analgesics, cupping therapy, acupuncture therapy, local injection of prednisolone, physical therapy, etc., all have good therapeutic effects. 