Back pain: It can strike suddenly or sneak up on you after a long period of wear and tear. Considering it’s the second most common health complaint doctors hear after headaches, back problems are likely to happen to you sometime during your life. (1)

How long until it gets better? That depends on a few things, such as the type of injury and how serious it is, your age, and your activity level. However, if you commit to taking the recommended steps and the time to recover, Everything’s Gonna Be Alright.

Catch a Fire: Pulled Back Muscle Causes and Symptoms

What people call a “pulled back muscle” may or may not involve a muscle. If it does, it’s called a strain, which happens when muscles or tendons are stretched or torn. A sprain might also cause that ache in your back; that happens when a ligament—one of the bands of tissue that connects bones, muscles, and sometimes organs in your body—is stretched or torn. (1, 2) 

Your spine is very long and has a lot of muscles, tendons, and ligaments attached, so this kind of injury can happen anywhere from your low back to your neck. In the low and mid-back, you can pull a muscle by:

  • Lifting something heavy without proper form
  • Bending or twisting sharply
  • Making repetitive movements over time

Risk factors for low- and mid-back injury include playing sports that involve pushing and pulling (weight lifting included), having weak abdominal (stomach) or back muscles, having tight hamstrings (the muscles at the backs of your thighs), and being overweight. (1, 3)

Fast or sudden movements cause acute neck injury. If the head moves rapidly forward then backward or to one side, the result might be a neck sprain or strain. Causes include car accidents, hard falls, or collisions during high-contact sports, such as football, hockey, or basketball. (4)

A pulled muscle in the lower back may show up with sharp pain, muscle spasms, stiffness, and limited range of motion. (1, 3) Pain from a pulled neck muscle often peaks a few hours or even a day after the injury and may come with muscle spasms, headache, stiffness, tingling, and even numbness in the arms. (4)

Freedom Time: How Long It Takes to Recover from a Pulled Back Muscle

As noted above, it depends on the type of injury and its seriousness. Healthcare providers give a grade to sprains as a measure of severity. Grade 1 means that there is slight stretching in the ligament. Grade 2 means the ligament is torn a little, while Grade 3 means a bigger tear or detachment. (5) Strains follow a similar grading scale, with Grade 3 meaning the muscle is torn so badly you can’t use it. (6) 

It comes as no surprise that the higher the grade, the longer it takes to heal. In the case of an injured back muscle, mild (Grade 1) strains and sprains generally stop hurting 1-2 weeks after injury and are completely healed after 4-6 weeks. With severe strains or sprains, you may not feel relief until the tissue is repaired. Repairing torn tissue might require surgery if it’s too damaged to heal on its own. (1, 6)

Lively Up Yourself: Recovering from a Pulled Back Muscle

In mild cases, doctors recommend the RICE method: rest, ice, compression, and elevation. Right after the injury, this method can help reduce swelling and pain. (6) 

  • Rest means not using the injured muscle if you can avoid it and getting enough sleep to support healing.
  • Ice can mean using anything from a bag of frozen peas to a cold pack you put in your freezer to a cold and compression therapy system, such as GAME READY, which we’ll discuss in the next bullet.
  • Compression means putting pressure on the injury site. You can do this with bandages or cold and compression therapy. The clinically proven GAME READY system integrates cold and compression therapies to help reduce pain and edema (swelling), outperforming conventional RICE methods. (7)
  • Elevation usually means elevating the body part above the level of your heart. This is tough to do if it’s your back, but lying down definitely helps.

Even if your muscle strain is mild, it’s a good idea to consult with your doctor, who may recommend physical therapy or other treatments. See a doctor if:

  • You see a dip or dent in your skin where the muscle is torn.
  • The pain stays the same or gets worse over time.
  • You have shooting pain or pains that radiate down your arms or legs.
  • You have numbness or weakness in your hips or legs.
  • You have a fever or loss of control of bladder or bowels. (3, 4)

People Get Ready: Preventing a Pulled Back Muscle

Not keen on doing it again? There are ways you can help reduce the risk of another pulled back muscle. (1, 3, 4, 6)

  • Exercise to strengthen the muscles in your back, shoulders, abs, and hamstrings. Working the abdominal and back muscles can also improve posture, which can help you avoid another back injury.
  • Stretch regularly, especially before physical activity.
  • Avoid repetitive movements if you can. Take frequent breaks during this kind of activity and use a back brace or other support if you need it.
  • Don’t lift heavy objects by yourself. Even with help, learn proper form to avoid injury.

Sources:

  1. Back Strains and Sprains. Cleveland Clinic. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/10265-back-strains-and-sprains. Last reviewed November 2018.
  2. Ligament. Cleveland Clinic. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/body/21604-ligament. Last reviewed July 2021.
  3. Low Back Strain and Sprain. American Association of Neurological Surgeons. https://www.aans.org/Patients/Neurosurgical-Conditions-and-Treatments/Low-Back-Strain-and-Sprain. Published April 2024.
  4. Neck Sprains and Strains. OrthoInfo by American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. https://orthoinfo.aaos.org/en/diseases--conditions/neck-sprain/. Last reviewed February 2023.
  5. Sprains, Strains, and Other Soft-Tissue Injuries. OrthoInfo by American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. https://orthoinfo.aaos.org/en/diseases--conditions/sprains-strains-and-other-soft-tissue-injuries/. Last reviewed June 202o.
  6. Muscle Strain. Harvard Health Publishing. https://www.health.harvard.edu/a_to_z/muscle-strain-a-to-z. Updated March 2023.
  7. CLAIM-09433. Murgier J, Cailliez J, Wargny M et al. Cryotherapy with Dynamic Intermittent Compression Improves Recovery from Revision Total Knee Arthroplasty. J Arthroplasty 2017;32(9):2788-91.