FYI: Low Back Pain

This serves as a public service announcement...

Most instances of Low Back Pain (at least in my experience when treating people) do not primarily involve the "Low Back" (that is, the lumbar spine and immediate vicinity). Most of the time, it is the Gluteus Medius muscle which is involved. The next time you "throw your back" out, and have a hard time getting up out of bed or out of your seat, or even have a hard time walking, try pressing (or having someone press) the region just lateral to and off the sacrum, in the soft tissue just beneath the iliac crest (the hip bone). From there, try moving laterally, staying just below the crest of the ilium as it rises and falls. You will likely find one or more points that are very tender, and appear to reproduce the pain you feel in your lower back. You may have to press deeply to experience this.

Tension in other places, like the Erector Spinae or the Quadratus Lumborum, may be contributing factors, as can structural alignment issues, but much of the time, relief can be obtained simply by focusing pressure on and releasing these points on the Gluteus Medius.

Recently, I've made it my crusade at ICAOM (Acupuncture School) to tell my students about these "secret points." Too often acupuncturists are taught to use "point formulae" for symptoms without really understanding the specific conditions for their applications. And too often acupuncturists (and, for that matter, doctors, bodyworkers, everyone) forget that palpation of the body, of the affected tissues, TOUCH, basically, is at the foundation of all healing.