Back pain while hiking?

Have you considred seeing a deep massage therapist? Works wonders as what you are describing doesn't sound skeletal to me.

I suffer from back pain at times, some when hiking. My back pain is caused by my hips, more often than not. My hips are naturally tight, and they tend to pull my lower back out of alignment. For me, it's key to stretch regularly. I stretch when I go to bed and when I wake up when hiking, to keep things as loose as I can, and will stretch during a hike if I feel things tightening up. The stretches I focus on are back, hip and hamstring (tight hamstrings will also pull your back out of alignment). Also taking a relaxant or a anti-inflammatory before bed helps.

By Eric Cressey and Mike Robertson.

It's all about dynamic stretching, which is a pretty sensible and unconventional approach.

Google it look for it on You Tube…

It worked for me, healing from a grade 3 spondylolisthesis in L3/4/5 after months of PT didn't.

HYOH, YMMV, etc.

i solved most of the pain issues by using beefier packs and carrying light stuff in them. how it's packed matters too, make the pack narrow and tall. UL is great where it works better, but it's not always the case.

Hi Kevin

I have no idea what your back is doing, but have you considered the possibility that the pain in your back is a combination of (lack of exercise)/(too much sitting) AND foot/shoe problems?
Oh yes – sore feet from bad footwear can repercuss all the way up to the middle of your back.

Cheers

Your situation may be different, but in most cases back pain can be reduced by core strengthening exercises.

When my core gets out of shape, my back hurts when backpacking.
I sea kayak which happens to be a good core exercise when done properly.

Others take joy in other methods I find tedious, but there are many options.
Leg lifts, sit-ups and others are the more common treatment for back pain.

My back gets a little stiff sometimes, may be totally different than you, but

Bend over and touch your toes, bend over as far as possible without being too much. Hold it for maybe 10 seconds. Rotate left and hold. Rotate right and hold. Stand straight up and arch backwards and hold 10 seconds. Rotate right and hold. Rotate left and hold.

Several times a day. Rather than just holding in one position, move around a little – have you ever seen a cat stretch?

I have compressed disks in my back, but I have a series of exercises that I can do to relieve the pain. And it's a dang good thing, too! Because on our last trip by back really went out, nine miles in, and only one day into a five day through hike.

Exercises got me back in the pack, and we finished the hike.

the story is in the TR section of this forum…

Kind of sorta. My "backpain" was actually due to overexercising my quads (front of thighs) from running/jumping with a bulletproof vest on vs. the relatively poor shape of my hamstrings (back of thighs, basically). My physical therapist used other words akin to hamstrings of an 8-year old girl. The military basically had me x-rayed/other imaging telling me: (a) if it turned out to be a bone problem, I would see an MD, … (b) if a muscle problem, I would see a physical therapists, and (c) if neither, then a massage therapist. Pretty basic.

It was indeed a muscle problem corrected by a few months of "lovingly" applied physical therapy (i.e. "do more reps, an 8 year old girl can do more than that…" and other words of encouragement, probably to get me out fast as the govt doesn't worry about billing but does worry about the treatment queue). Doing hamstring curls "cure" on the rare occasions it strikes again (i.e. if I slack off on hamstring exercises) but it is becoming rarer. Probably need to bring some bands on the next week long hike though.

There are probably as many reasons for back pain as people.

I sometimes get back pain with certain packs, but not others. It tends to be relieved if I can make my pack really tight and hard. I can also relieve the pain by sticking a small stick about an inch in diameter or so, maybe 2 inches, in between the pack and the pad against my pack (Gossamer Gear pack). The stick is horizontal, parallel to the floor. I hiked thousands of miles on the PCT with that stick. Without it I was in excruciating pain. With it I had no pain.

Workout. Having a strong core takes pressure off of your spine. And you will be much better conditioned overall. Ab exercises are great, but squats, dead lifts and bench press make for a much stronger core, because your body uses your abs to stabilize.