Low Back Injuries/Conditions - low back mystery muscle

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low back mystery muscle

Printed From: CyberPT - Your Online Physical Therapy Resource
Category: Patient Forum
Forum Name: Low Back Injuries/Conditions
Forum Description: Patients can post questions and experiences about low back injuries/conditions.
URL: http://www.cyberpt.com/ptforum/forum_posts.asp?TID=863
Printed Date: Feb 19 2025 at 1:27pm
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Topic: low back mystery muscle

Posted By: Ask a PT
Subject: low back mystery muscle
Date Posted: Jun 22 2011 at 9:21am

Our user asked: "Hello, I struggle with chronic lower back pain. I had herniated disc surgery when I was 20, but went back to having pain a year later. I learned some really helpful exercises in PT, but I still have flare-ups and it's a challenge to manage them. One muscle that I constantly have trouble with, no matter what I do, is this mystery muscle I can't identify. It's just below my rib cage, and I can only access it if I poke it from the side. I angle my thumb in towards my spine, and up a little, and it's very deep, but VERY sore and tight, all the time. I have a picture of me rubbing it here: "......" I don't know what to do. It never relaxes, it always hurts, and I don't know why. Do you know what muscle it is? How can I stretch it or exercise it? Any idea why it might hurt so bad every day?"

Ask a PT Response: "It could be a number of muscles involved, serratus posterior inferior muscle, quadratus lumborum or erator spinae muscle. Without physically examining you, I would not be able to determine what may be contributing to your problem.
It would probably be a good idea to see a PT so that a physical exam can be performed in order to determine which muscle(s) may be involved or if it is even muscle at all. Some contributors to pain in this area could be: muscle imbalance, myofascial dysfunction, joint dysfuction (lumbar & ribs), postural dysfunction, etc."