How to Deal with a Back Spasm: 5 Home Exercise Tips
By Kate Feinberg Robins What Is a Back Spasm? If you’ve experienced a back spasm, you know it can be incredibly painful, start suddenly, and last several days. The good news is most muscle spasms can be managed through home exercise and over-the-counter medicine. (For more on causes and medical treatments, we recommend the Cleveland Clinic’s website .) A back spasm is basically when a muscle in your back contracts involuntarily and will not release. In our experience, it feels like sudden shooting and debilitating pain (usually accompanied by crying ☹️). Here are some tips we’ve learned that help get us through when it happens. 1. Slow Down Be patient with yourself. It can take weeks for the pain to go away fully. Often a spasm is (in part) your body telling you that you’re doing too much and forcing you to slow down. (And maybe next time, we can remember to slow down before it happens and avoid it altogether 🤔.) 2. Keep Moving This is the hardest and most important part. When it feel