By the end of the day, you feel like there are tense spots all over your lower back. You can even touch these kinks in your back, and they feel sore and tender when touched. 

The kinks you’re feeling are known to medical professionals as myofascial trigger points. These are areas of a muscle that have become tense or their fibers are misaligned, and they’re the main cause behind an issue called myofascial pain syndrome. Medical research reports that myofascial pain syndrome is responsible for up to 85% of all musculoskeletal pain. 

A physical therapist has the expertise to help you determine why you’ve developed kinks in your lower back. Furthermore, these medical professionals offer effective treatment for myofascial trigger points in your lower back. 

Three reasons you may have developed kinks in your lower back:

1. You’re sitting with poor posture — Many people extol the virtues of good posture. It turns out that they may be onto something when it comes to myofascial trigger points. Medical professionals believe that poor posture is a factor that increases a person’s risk of developing muscle kinks. The reason? Poor posture can make muscles more susceptible to the microtraumas that lead to myofascial trigger points. 

2. You’re stressed — Your body tends to react in specific ways when you’re stressed. Physically, you might notice a tensing of your muscles. This is because your body releases chemicals and hormones that increase muscle tension. It does so because it’s preparing itself for a fight-or-flight response, and either action requires lots of muscle activity. Staying in this state for too long can easily lead to kinks in many areas of the body. 

3. You’re using your back muscles too much — Doing the same movements over and over can also lead to kinks in your lower back. Some examples include bending over to pick up objects or twisting to grab objects. Such movements require the same lower back muscles to move the same way over and over, which can lead to microscopic tears in your muscles. It’s these tears that can lead to myofascial trigger points. 

Franklin Rehab offers top-notch treatment for kinks in your lower back

Searching for help treating the kinks in your lower back? Our Franklin Rehabilitation team is primed to help you address myofascial trigger points throughout your body. First, our physical therapist will do a free screening of your back to confirm you have muscle kinks. They will then construct a physical therapy plan that’s unique to your specific needs and designed to break up kinks and prevent their return.

Contact our team today for more information about how we can help you address lower back issues or to schedule your initial appointment.