Recently a massage therapist said I had a tight Quadratus Lumborum and Erector Spinae, she worked on me for a few sessions and I did stretches but said there was something preventing these muscles from loosening up. I have since noticed through doing specific stretches that I have a tight Tensor Fascia Latae and a tight psoas both on my right side. Would this be the reason for not being able to loosen up the other muscles. What can I do? Thanks.

Hi Cinderella,
I don't know for sure, but it's possible that your quadratus lumborum and erector spinae muscles are tight because they're protecting an area of your spine. For example, a person with a damaged disk will often find that the muscles right around that area become very tight, kind of forming a splint around the bad disk.

I thought for years I had a problem in my quadratus lumborum (that's what the chiropractor said). When I finally got an MRI, it turned out to be an annular tear in the left side of my L5-S1 disk.

It doesn't hurt to do gentle stretches, but you might want to get an MRI to check into that area of your spine to rule out any disk problems. (Have we talked about this before? My brain is so forgetful these days.... )

Stretching the psoas will be good for both muscle spasms and possible disk problems, so it's not a bad idea to do psoas stretches any time. That's one muscle that usually doesn't get stretched enough, and it tends to get tight, which can cause problems in the vertebrae and disks later.

Best of luck,
http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/heart.gif Telzey

Thanks Telzey, I am reasonable sure my psoas has something to do with my problems. After 7 years of the medical profession I am trying to solve my own problem. I havent had an MRI but my brother has the same probs as me and had one only to show nothing much. I have had a couple of sets of X-rays. I have always had a bit of groin pain with my back troubles which has been ignored mostly, so I figure maybe thats where it all lies. The sacroiliac joint is also affected. Thanks for your advice.

Hi Cinderella,

sounds like we have some similiar problems.....chiro, massage therapist and PT all say I have very tight muscles in my back. I've had fusion surgery 3 years ago but am having problems again.........nothing showed up on the CT scan to show herniations but facet joints are showing "degenerative changes". So.........I have tried SI joint injections, am now trying facet joint blocks to see if that helps....

I also have had significant groin pain, pain in my thigh and pain down my legs. It is so much like the problems I had before I had my surgery.......I cannot beleive they don't see a disc problem on a CT scan. I'm discouraged to say the least!

Keep me posted and let me know what you find out based on your symptoms.

thanks
diane

Hi, a tight psoas muscle can cause groin pain, I have a little and am currently trying to stretch it out. I overdid it and made it worse so now I am doing it slow. I also have reflux which is also a symptom of a tight psoas muscle. I have to self diagnose as I cant find a solution with the so called experts. Good luck to you.

How are you correlation reflux with the psoas?

I'm with the rest of you on this, my pelvis and low back are affected. And you're spot on about that one -- if we injure our back, the supporting structural muscles will act like a girdle. They should act like one anyway, and that's the goal of using exercise to strengthen the muscles to support the spine upright -- if the muscles are weak it can encourage collapse.

The guarding aspect of tensing your muscles will form a girdle of the wrong sort, though, you may lose some of the natural lordosis in your spine to protect, and it also makes perfect sense that you'd have groin and hip pain.

I've got the groin thing going too, and it sucks.

I have one very lax psoas on the right, and I'm doing what you're doing, which is trying to "self fix" that which I can by altering my posture, my gait, checking my foot placement every single time I step, watching how I sit and stand,...I probably look like I "sat on a stick" if you know what I mean!

Anyone have any luck with acupuncture or acupressure for the muscle spasms, or the tight muscles which result from guarding? When I got massaged regularly (2 -4 x month) I did GREAT. (It also pays to work with someone sensitive to your specific back issues or they'll go pushing and torquing your spine).

Shiatsu massage uses trigger point therapy, much like acupressure to help relieve muscle tightness.

And if you really like your pain, I'd highly recommend ROLFING! It was some of the best work I've ever had done on adjacent, compensating tissues (such as my legs, buttocks, and upper back) because of how tight they became trying to protect my weakened low back,...but I could not endure Rolfing on my damaged low back.

My first trainer was also a physiotherapist and she gave me some pretty interesting exercises to try that I'll share if you'd like. Let me know.

I have read that if the psoas is tight it can cause digestive problems as it can cause the oesophegus to be pulled forwards.

It kills to do the butterfly stretch too, so I wonder if my adductors are also tight and causing groin pain??

There are three iliopsoas muscles, but they function as a single unit. The psoas major connects actually to the T12, the minor to L1, and the iliacus right into the groove of the iliac crest. The sartorius connects from the iliac spine straight down to the medial aspect of your knee.

Chronic contraction of the iliopsoas muscles (usually along with the low back muscle) results in anterior tilting of the pelvis. You are correct in assuming that if the contraction remains, spasms, or is so tight that they cannot relax, this constant tilt can play a significant role in your low back as well as any of the innervations leading from your lumbar spine. The nerves that run through our lumbar region can affect a number of functions and organs within our abdominal cavity, including our bladder, intestines, stomach, sex organs.

A good indicator is that what affects the psoas is the body's position relative to gravity. For this muscle to be activated the movement must be performed AGAINST gravity. That's why we cannot do what lots of other people can do, and must alter positions in which we sleep, stand or sit, and why certain altered pelvic positions provide relief. (One reason I tend to "squat" when talking to people instead of sitting or standing).

The opposing muscles are the abs, and that also explains why one usually relates to the other, and why people with "bad backs" have problems doing abdominal work. We need to modify our form to accomodate tight psoas or flexors.

If you want to train flexibility of your psoas, perform torso curls at the limit of hip flexor length, so your back is actively stabilized on the floor by your ab work. In other words, do not put your feet too close to your butt when doing mat crunches because then your back is passively stabilized not actively stabilized.