What a great find this forum is. Thank you all!!!! My horrific morning back pain has just gotten worse. I put up with it when it was mild without complaint because I'm 69 and well things just start sagging and dragging about now. I'm going to try several of the things mentioned on this forum. I had a yoga injury to my psoas several years ago (my own fault) and have forgotten how important it is to keep that muscle strong. My physical therapist is helping and suggests until we get things back in shape that I get up after the 5 or 6 hours of sleep when the pain begins and move around for 20 or 30 minutes and then go back to sleep if I can or take a nap in the afternoon. Because I'm retired this may be helpful. If I had to get up for work like most of you guys it would be a difficult option.  Besides the awful morning pain I've had to give up sleeping with my two cuddley kitties at night as they hog the bed, sleep on top of me and complain when I toss and turn in pain. So behind the closed bedroom door they softly complain and rush in as soon as I open the door in the morning. I think they sleep there all night. Ohhhh please, someone figure all this stuff out soon. In total compassion I join with you all and wish each one of you a pain free future. ♥

I have slept for the last two days without pain!!!!!! :) :) :)

I had the same problem as most people in this forum for the last 4 months.

I still feel a bit of pain (10%) when I try to get up and still a bit once up, when bending the upper part of my body (30%).

The only new thing that I have done for the last two days is the PSOAS stretches (there are lost of examples in youtube). The improvement has been amazing!
I have also started sleeping on my side with a pillow between my knees.

I still think that the bit of the pain left will improve with general strengthening of the abdominal and back muscles. I will keep trying to rid myself of all pain and I will post if I manage.

Thanks CindiK and Hawnsun for my first two nights of proper sleep in months.

OMG i thought i was alone (thank God for the internet)
Same thing horrible pain in the morning only. i have to grab onto something to help pull myself out of bed, trying my best not to bend my waist because i would scream bloody murder. I have to stay stiff as a board until i get up and walk around a bit before the pain subsides. WTFIT?

Its getting worsts its been 4-5 months now and i cant take it anymore.

Thought it was the bed...no sleep on both my daughters bed, same thing, slept on the floor etc. felt like Goldie locks.

SO WHAT IS IT?

My problem started with a low back pain. After some exercises it almost disappeared.  Later the pain reappeared in the middle of the night, around 3 or 4 o'clock in the morning and nothing seems to stop it. When I wake up, for about 20 minutes, I feel this intense pain in by buttock and right leg again and I can only reduce it after some stretching. Then my sleeping hours are gone. I tried different approaches to whatever was causing my sciatic nerves to act so painfully. One day I realized that most of the pain would go way (within 20 minutes or so) after I went to the bathroom for a # 1 or the habitual morning # 2 or just releasing some gas from my bowels. I realized that the pains were more intense when I had load of stool, or my bladder was filled or I had in my intestines ready to be unloaded or let go. So based on that I decided to modify my diet and observe the changes. Now I trying to modifying my meals time so I will go to the bathroom before I go to sleep. This way I won't have much left over in my intestines during the night, I am eating foods that are rich in fiber, avoiding foods that produce lots of gases when trapped in the intestine, and drinking very little liquids before I go to bed. My believe is that these residues of food produce gases as well as an enlarged filled bladder pushes and compress the sensitive nerves in the sciatic region and create that early morning pain. If this theory proves correct there will be some benefits with it. Firstly there will be some loss of weight because you will be eating healthier food. Second it will help to clean your colon tract. Forth, you will be able to sleep more hours and won't feel tired the rest of the day and the list goes on and on. Anybody can try that. If it doesn't help, it won't hurt either. Reply to ***@****
Fortunately I am feeling some progress and hope I am correct in my theory.    

Start with taking body fish oil capsule just before sleep although there are many other remedies for this condition but this is the easiest for all to get , now for sciatic pain I use micro dose of vitamin B1 depending on  which side , unfortunately you can’t get B1 in micro dose  

Hi everyone,

I'm a 27-year-old female in good physical shape. About 2 months ago I started waking up with severe mid-back stiffness that prevented me from finding a comfortable position...and then when I tried to move - ouch! Sharp stabbing pains.

I have tried:
Changing my mattress (no difference except I'm now poorer)
Getting an x-ray (they found a bit of degeneration but they couldn't tell me if it was causing the pain or if it was just a normal part of aging)
Going to physio (no difference, but I'm still faithfully doing the stretches every day)
Sleeping on my back (with pillows under my knees)/side(with a pillow between my knees) rather than my stomach (it actually hurts worse!)

Now I'm currently going to massage therapy, which seems to help. My massage therapist says that my ribcage is twisted/uneven. She is able to correct this through massage (I have knots upon knots upon knots). So this is hopeful but it's not fixed yet.

I'm also trying out yoga and magnesium supplements - just started, so still skeptical.

The only thing that REALLY REALLY helps is sleeping with a Thermacare heat patch all night. I know there's all these scary warnings on the box telling you not to sleep with them because you could burn yourself etc. but I guarantee you won't (unless you have incredibly sensitive skin). They last 8 hours and they haven't eliminated all of the stiffness,but I can sleep through the night and no longer get the shooting pains that jar me awake.

Good luck everyone...and p.s. don't you hate it when people post, "You should go see your doctor"? Yeah I know!!! Been there done that...the doctors are baffled so I'm resorting to the internet...

There are lots of natural remedies for middle back pain if it left side the easiest thing you can get is licorice but natural licorice if you have it in the morning as tea next day you should be much better but homeopathic  Glycyrrhiza glabra 5c is much stronger and better, anyways both work as well you should be pain free in 7 days good luck.      

I am 21 and have had no kids and I experience this severe pain almost every morning, if not every at least 3/4 times a week. I cheered and danced all of my life do maybe that had something to do with it but I have had X-rays, blood work, kidney ultra sounds etc. and everything comes back normal. For about a year I have been trying to figure out where this horrible morning pain in my lower back/spine/kidney area has been coming from! Its hard to describe the pain to the doctors because it doesn't feel like a sore pain it almost feels (as weird as it may sound) like poison in my back! It hurts horribly to take deep breaths and to move. Once I'm up the pain fades within about 15/20 minutes and is gone all day long. It makes no sense I just want to know what it could be!

Awesome news Vanesa.  I agree that the Psoas exercises are the specific solution and the reasons I've personally got myself into this painful situation is that I cycle a LOT and I sit at the computer a LOT, and the two together mean that I never stretch the Psoas!  Good luck and lets keep posted.  Sadly, it isnt a CURE, but it certainly is HELPING! ;) IF I am lazy and dont stretch the psoas, I have farrrrr more pain!  Hawnsun has really helped us here!

I'm glad, CindiK and VanesaScot, that the psoas exercises are helping.  I'm still not 100% yet.  I'd say I'm about 95% better in my lower back. The tightness has shifted from my lower back to my groin area.  It's probably cause I don't have the proper setup for my computer viewing (which I plan to change soon).  Also, I find that if I do the exercises every day, then my psoas muscles are sore throughout the day (not just in the morning).  Probably will experiment with exercising gentler and see if the soreness is part of the healing process.  Any thoughts on this?  Also, it's interesting that you brought up the colon connection, CindiK, cause I've thought about that, too!                  

After years of suffering with pAin I have been diagnosed with anklyosing spondylitis. I am positive for the HLA B27 gene. Read up on it and request the tesf

After years of suffering with pAin I have been diagnosed with anklyosing spondylitis. I am positive for the HLA B27 gene. Read up on it and request the tesf

At birth I had spina bifida and it was corrected at  37 I have unbarrable pain while walking standing and laying down could it be from the condition I once had

I have suffered from this condition for approximately six years.  It has been brutal, and I'm only 30 years old.  I think the answer is very basic, though.  We are simply not stretching enough of the right muscles.    I think the pain is caused by our legs pulling down on our lower backs, and particularly, the outside of the hips pulling and staying short.  The best way to stretch the hips is to fold a leg underneath you as you lay on your stomach, so it cuts across the other leg, and push down on it.  Another simple way to do it is to cross your legs in a chair at a 90 degree angle and push your knee down away from you (not with your hand, but with your leg), while leaning forward over the leg.  Try it now, since you're probably sitting.  I guarantee that it is hard to do this, and that the outside hip muscle is tight.  

We have to be really patient and stretch for up to an hour a day, thoroughly.  I've been doing it this week and the pain is going away.  Today I slept 8 hours for the first time in weeks.

I have very similar issues.... Extreme lower back pain when I wake up in the morning.  It is sooo bad that I can barely get out of bed.  I've noticed that the amount of back pain depends on how many hours I am asleep in bed.  My back doesn't feel too bad if I only get 5 hours of sleep, but then I'm tired all day long.  If I happen to get 8 hours of sleep,  my back hurts like crazy!  The magnesium supplements and getting a harder bed sound like good ideas, also the stretching and strengthening abdominal muscles.             Lots of times, doctors don't really know what is causing our pain.  Its a trial and error process for then unless they see something obvious.

The ANSWER:!!!!!!

I have/had the exact same problem as described on this forum! Wake up about 6am every morning with a large dull pain to my back, sometimes lower, sometimes middle but always uncomfortable and ANNOYING!.  I've tried doctors (head against brick wall scinario), i've tried tablets, ive tried a new mattress etc etc etc etc....

I took it upon myself one morning to sit and research possible reasoning behind this sodding issue and found it to be fairly common.  The ANSWER (for me anyway) - a CHIROPRACTOR!!! Not sure if you lot of heard of back 'manipulation' but it is DEFINATELY worth looking into on youtube etc.  For whatever reason (there are hundreds of reasons) our back is out of line, whether it be posture, bad mattress, old injury bla bla bla it will not improve unless reset by a professional.  Once reset (which is a very relieving procedure in itself) you can look to increase muscle around the spine by working out...swimming, weight lifting etc.. this gives as much support to your spine as possible and makes recurring issues less likely..but the beauty is, just go back again & again & again getting the 'manipulation' procedure because it works!!

What i will say though is that chiropractors 'usually' are not included on the NHS (best to check with your gp).. i have private health care through work with BUPA so that was me sorted.  If you dont have this luxoury i think the average session costs about £50 a pop.  But to be honest, i'd pay half my wage for a decent nights KIP!!!

Hope this helps.

Mat

I to have had this pain for about a year,  I started useing a memory foam mattress and that seem to help for a bit, but it is back now.  I wake every morning with the pain in my back it wraps around my rib cage and into my ovarys.  When I urinate it seems to get alittle better.  Then as the day goes by walking around seems to help, but its back every morning, so discurouageing.  Wish i could just sleep in one day but cant because of the pain, I have to get out of bed.  Any advise please.

I have this exact problem, and had it about 10 years now. It started when i was 14/15 fairly mildly but over just a couple of years quickly progressed to a horendous pain. Like you said, i am unable to predict which mornings this  will happen but when it does sometimes it wakes me in the early hours, other times i just wake up with it. A huge pain radiating from my back, its so hard to explain. I have also notice that I cannot sneeze, cough  or take a deep breath in the mornings as this causes an extreme stabbing pain. Since the age of 16 i have been goin to see doctors and had the following at least twice to try and diagnose: Blood tests, X-rays, cat-scans, MRI's, Physio, Chiropractor, Osteopath and Acupuncture. Eventually I was refered to the pain clinic because they didn't know what it was.........   Please Help! x

I have anterior wedging in my lower back. My hips in  the middle of the night feels like some one has them in a vice squeezing them:( can ANYONE HELP ME???

Can someone please find a cure? How is it going? Even the psoas stretches are not helping me at the moment. I am tossing and turning every 14 minutes from about 4am and its agony just to roll over ... I must admit that going to bed at midnight and getting up a 5am is better! So its definitely more of a problem when sleeping for longer than 5 hours! Hey, this is tough! Honestly feels like colon or kidneys, I think I should visit a chiropractor!

CindiK...This is my first time posting, ever! I am so relieved that I am not alone, but at the same time I couldn't be more frusterated! I have had bloodwork, Xrays, seen a Chiropractor and tried a new mattress and NOTHING has come close to helping. I thought the Chiropractor visit was helping after my first visit, then as time went on I realized it was not at all. I also feel like it's my kidneys. It blows me away with all the comments on how when you urinate in the morning, there is slight relief. I thought I was crazy when I discovered that myself. I was thinking it could be my ovaries, but 2 yrs ago I had a video laperoscapy that came back normal. I am 39 yrs old and have been dealing with this pain for 2 years now. I don't even know what else to do or where else to turn at this point :(

Nicole, to be honest, the psoas stretches DID help. I had ad hoc good nights.  You can google them and find some that you like. Have you tried massaging your stomach or just pressing in deep between the hip bone and the pubic bone. You can push really deep until the pain goes away (as the muscle relaxes). Its pretty painful and a bit scary, because you keep wondering if there are things in there that shouldnt be pushed, but it DEFINITELY relieved my pain completely at about 4am this morning and I woke with my alarm at 6am. I am not sure why this is happening NOR what the cure is, but I am pretty convinced that its the psoas muscle and the internal muscles of the spine between the hips are the culprit.  The feeling though, is definitely a feeling of colon filled with gas as well as chronic back pain between the hips..  I think the fact that one gets UP is more the answer than the fact that one urinates.  We need to be more disciplined to try various activities and see what transpires. Like for example, getting up at 4am, NOT urinating, JUST walking around for 2 minutes, to see if there is similar relief to urinating.  I somehow doubt its organs. I think its a combination of skeletal and muscle. But that's my GUT FEEL, note the pun! hahaha! Why arent doctors onto this?

Hi CindiK,
The psoas exercises were great but did not completely get rid of my groin pain in the morning. So, upon recommendation from an airline friend who works on the ramp loading planes, I just started using a foam roller and have been using it on my quads which are sooo tight.  It's wonderful for myofascial release of any knots in my muscles.  I'm not sure how my quad muscles got so tight but by loosening up these muscles my groin and lower back are getting better.  I just follow the directions which came with my roller; I lie face down with the roller under each quad separately and roll one inch at a time or until I can feel a knot in my muscle (where it hurts so badly) and keep it there while breathing and relaxing into the pain.  He told me to get a good roller (I spent $39.99) which 'gives' a little; you don't want one that is too hard and will hurt too much to use (the myofascial release hurts enough).  Right now I'm still experimenting and not sure if this is the 'cure all' but it seems to be helping.  I'm also using it on my calves & shoulders which are also very tight.  Let me know if you try this and if it was helpful.                

Hi CindiK,
The psoas exercises were great but did not completely get rid of my groin pain in the morning. So, upon recommendation from an airline friend who works on the ramp loading planes, I just started using a foam roller and have been using it on my quads which are sooo tight.  It's wonderful for myofascial release of any knots in my muscles.  I'm not sure how my quad muscles got so tight but by loosening up these muscles my groin and lower back are getting better.  I just follow the directions which came with my roller; I lie face down with the roller under each quad separately and roll one inch at a time or until I can feel a knot in my muscle (where it hurts so badly) and keep it there while breathing and relaxing into the pain.  He told me to get a good roller (I spent $39.99) which 'gives' a little; you don't want one that is too hard and will hurt too much to use (the myofascial release hurts enough).  Right now I'm still experimenting and not sure if this is the 'cure all' but it seems to be helping.  I'm also using it on my calves & shoulders which are also very tight.  Let me know if you try this and if it was helpful.                

A great help against back pain is an acupressure mat. Try Iplikator, it is really effective (based on acupuncture), it heats the zone, makes the blow flow, and relieves pain. I use it every morning as I wake up, and it really helps to start the day with no pain.
Check it out at dolorfree.com/en (or just google it)
Good luck

I actually have a roller, it might be a little hard, but never thought of quads being connected (wow!), but certainly worth a try. I do use it for the glutes and calves. Will give it a go and let you know. Interestingly enough, I did find slight relief after doing a quad stretch. Just the normal one of standing and holding your foot. Ever hopeful!!!  I've actually written to a good orthopaed friend in NZ and waiting to hear if he has any insight, if so, will post!

My orthopaed wrote back. He says I should try stretching the ham strings."Some thoughts from me would be short hamstrings, which often tilts your pelvis resulting in lower backpain. Then when you try and straighten your legs in bed, you tilt your lower back into a gentle natural curve, which it’s not used to any more, resulting in stiffness and pain especially after cooling down and being immobile in bed.And check out this site :"  
http://gentleyogaforstiffbodies.com/articles/hamstrings.html
So I am stretching the hamstrings today and will see if there isnt just a little bit of relief tonight. Hopeful!
Whats interesting with our problem is that its EVERY early morning! ...  After walking for a few minutes, it dissipates ... I hope this hamstring thing works!

Ok, the hamstring thing did nothing for me. BUT THE QUAD stretches are giving me the most relief in 14 months! Stretching them about 3 times a day, mostly after exercises or movement, because they cant be stretched cold. Im definitely finding relief and sleeping longer and not in as much pain when it does wake me!

Ok, the hamstring thing did nothing for me. BUT THE QUAD stretches are giving me the most relief in 14 months! Stretching them about 3 times a day, mostly after exercises or movement, because they cant be stretched cold. Im definitely finding relief and sleeping longer and not in as much pain when it does wake me!

Had lunch with a friend yesterday and mentioned my tight lower back and groin in morning.  She casually mentioned that she had a similar problem and her therapist had her doing stretches for her sciatic nerve.  She showed me one: feet shoulder width apart and heels down but toes slanted around 45 degrees on a step; then, lean your whole body forward holding onto door jamb with legs straight and body straight and feel the calf stretch; hold for 20 counts' do twice.  Repeat a few times throughout the day.  I awoke this morning with calf tenderness but no lower back or groin pain.  Not sure if this is the 'answer' but thought I'd post my latest.  Still stretching my quads (top and outer side).  Also, doing other stretches to get rid of any knots in my body.          

Wow. None? Thats a first! I will try those sciatic stretches right away, then. ') The quad stretches are definitely helping by, I would say, 50%. I am fine til about 5am and its bearable.  Thanks!

Great! How's it going?

Just wanted to clarify the sciatic stretch I'm doing...heels are touching the ground but toes are up at around a 45 degree angle touching the height of a step on a staircase.  I don't have a staircase around so I'm placing my heels on the ground and my toes at an angle on a heavy, hollow concrete block (make sure it doesn't shift while you're doing the exercise), 2 feet from a wall and leaning forward into the wall.  When you're leaning, tuck your butt in (it really increases the calf stretch).  I remember that my calves would get extremely tight every so often at my last job which required a lot of standing and walking.  The tightness probably never went away (even if I haven't felt it in my calves lately) but migrated to my lower back and groin muscles.  Also, every so often my sciatic nerve would act up, but not lately so I never would have guessed that it could be the cause of all my recent problems.  Anyway, hope this might help in your recovery.
Keep me posted and let me know if you come up with any other exercises.          

The calf stretches are working!!! Biiiig time! Doing them as you said. Plus rubber bands around toes and pulling! Ouch! But it's working EVERY night since I started!! THANKYOU!! THANKYOU!!!

Thanks for your thread on the psoas muscle. I, like almost everyone else in this thread of postings, has been experiencing low back pain for years and, for the past year or so, it has been especially bad after waking in the morning. Like so many others here, the pain goes away (almost completely) after I get up --- when I am standing and walking around.

I saw your thread on the psoas and elsewhere saw a diagram for the psoas stretch where you kneel on one knee with the foot of the other leg far in front. I did that stretch once (moving my pelvis toward the ground) and found significant resistance. It seemed to reduce some tightness in my lower back. I tried the stretch a few minutes later and the resistance was much less. I did a few more of that kneeling stretch (holding on to a chair or bed to steady myself) that evening.

The next morning my stiffness and pain on getting up was much less.
And by doing the stretch a couple of more times, the tightness and pain
were almost immediately resolved.

After doing the stretch for just a few days now, I find (like CindiK) that
this may be a 90% solution rather than a 100% solution. But I think
that I may need to also stretch the quadratus lumborum muscle, which
wraps the lower back just above the psoas and iliacus muscles.

Here is a great web page on a stretch for the  quadratus lumborum muscle --- http://www.floota.com/QuadratusLumborumStretch1.html

That site (floota.com) also has a great, detailed guide on stretching the psoas muscle to maximum benefit. See the link at the bottom of the page-link above.


---

I should point out that I was referred to a sports medicine doctor
(for low back pain) back in 2007. He took x-rays and showed me that I had scoliosis in my back.
(It looked really bad to me, but he said it was not real bad. I guess you have
to be bent into a pretzel to be considered bad --- like when doctors say
350 mg/deciLiter trigycerides is nothing compared to what they've seen in
some patients --- even though 350 is over twice the recommended 150 max ---
and some doctors recommend 100 as the max. I guarantee you, anyone with
350 and above triglycerides for a period of years is going to have serious
cartilage and vision problems. 350 is nothing to pooh-pooh about.)

Anyway, he recommended physical therapy so I went to a physical therapy
clinic next door for about 12 sessions, about one per week. They DID have
me doing a 'hip flexor' stretch -- the one done on your back with one knee
at a time to the chest. I see on the internet that that stretch is often
recommended as a stretch for the psoas and iliacus and quadratus lumborum.
But it never did anything for my psoas --- or, I should say, nothing
significantly helpful for my lower back pain.

I point this out for others here. That is, if you are doing the stretch
LYING ON YOUR BACK with one knee at a time to the chest, it will probably not
stretch your psoas adequately. You will probably get more benefit from
the KNEELING stretch --- with your back semi-erect and one foot-and-knee forward and the
other knee on the ground behind you. Move your pelvis GENTLY toward the
ground to feel the stretch.

And when you feel you no longer get significant stretch/resistance that
way, you may wish to try the psoas stretch at floota.com where he actually
shows a loop over the back foot. With the back knee on the ground (and the
body on the edge of a bed), the loop is used to pull the back foot toward
your head. Of course, this again should be done GENTLY.

I hope to report back with closer to 100% resolution of
the back-pain-in-the-morning problem --- after trying the quadratus lumborum
stretch (done with pillows under the waist, on the edge of a bed), and
after trying the loop-over-the-foot psoas stretch.

---

One more thing I should mention: I 'rescued' my back x-rays, that were
taken in 2007, from the doctor's office, since I knew they would just throw
them away eventually and never look at them again.

I have suspected for several years now that my scoliosis (and my lifetime
of incidents of lower right back cramps) may be due to one leg being slightly
shorter than the other. And, in fact, for a couple of years now, I have
been wearing a heel lift in my left street shoe or tennis shoe --- since, when
looking in a mirror, it seemed that the left-heel lift straightened a slight
tilt that I could see in my upper body.

Sure enough, when I looked at the bottom of the front view x-ray, I noticed
that the 2 lowest points of my pelvis did not determine a horizontal line.
One point was about a quarter inch lower than the other.

This may not seem like much, but a quarter inch drop over a distance of about
a foot corresponds to the floor of a 12 foot wide room dropping about 3 inches
from one side of the room to another. Any marble or pencil dropped on that
floor is going to definitely roll to the low side of that room.

And a tilt like that of the surface on which the L5 vertebra lies, over a period
of decades, is bound to have an effect on the spine.

What I am getting at here is that people with the back-pain-in-the-morning
problem should probably have a deternination made whether they have some
scoliosis (the kind many doctors consider 'mild') --- and, if so, see if
they can get a determination made whether they have one leg shorter than
the other (even if it is only a quarter inch or so difference).

I have not been able to find any place on the internet (even at chiropractic
clinic and orthopedic clinic web sites) where they describe a foolproof
way of determining whether one leg is shorter than the other. But the x-ray
examination that I describe above, to determine if your pelvis is tilted,
is better than anything that I have found so far.

By the way, while you're at your doctor, get your triglycerides checked.

---

More later on psoas and quadratus lumborum stretching.

Nice book, Uniquename!  Good luck! New discovery, even if its not a cure : curling on my side in a ball (curl lower back in and upper back in) in the wee hours of the morning (after a wee!), gives me the next 3 hours of less restless sleep. Had MRI today. Clueless doctor. Voltaren suppositories!!!  He thinks its psycological stuff!!! Do you have any emotional problems, he asks? Yeah, Im thinking about them at 3am! He's very pro using drugs and painkillers. That's a first! I loved the permission!  Didnt sit at computer yesterday ; had a better night last night.  Mmmm. Makes you think!  Might try Bowderchoff's idea of a few pints one night and see how that goes!  BUT, Im a cyclist and so I am often dehydrated, and it doesnt make for a better night, if anything, the opposite is true - but perhaps the alcohol has something in it!! ;)) Any improvements on your side?

A happy update for you - I have no more morning back pain! Here’s what I did:

Find a Chiropractor who specializes in Active Release Technique (ART). Mine is great! I saw several doctors, sports medicine specialists, and physiotherapists, and she was the first health professional to understand what I was talking about when I said, “My back only hurts when I sleep!”
I also find massage therapy to be helpful. You can look up how to do self massages with tennis balls too.

Also, I started doing beginner’s yoga twice a week and started stretching for 45 minutes to an hour every day. Yes, EVERY DAY...it’s annoying but my muscles need it after years of office work and 6 months of daily pain!
Here’s what I do:

1.Cat/cow stretch,child’s pose, child’s pose with arms stretched out to the left, child’s pose with arms stretched out to the right (about 30 seconds each, 5 repetitions of this sequence)
2.From hands and knees (tabletop position), sweep one arm up to the ceiling and look up at the arm. (Repeat 5-6 times for each side)
3.Lying-down glute stretch – “thread the needle”
4.Lying-down psoas stretch (grab one knee, bring it in to your chest)
5.Lying down twist - drop both knees to one side, look in the opposite direction
6.Seated – butterfly stretch
7.Seated – hamstring stretch, one leg at a time (once you get to the point where you can reach/grab your feet, this becomes an awesome back stretch)
8.This stretch, for the muscles in between your shoulder blades: http://www.drbackman.com/rhomboid-muscle-stretch.htm
9.Pigeon pose
10.Warrior 1 and 2
11.Kneeling psoas stretch (http://www.floota.com/PsoasStretch2.html) with one modification. My Chiro told me not to do the hard lunge...so I keep everything at 90 degrees, tilt my pelvis forward, raise one arm (the arm opposite the kneeling leg) and then lean over the side of my kneeling leg.
12.Calf stretch – up against the wall or on the steps
13.Chest stretch against the wall: http://www.fitsugar.com/Wall-Pec-Stretch-Explained-1806590
14.Neck rolls – chin to chest, right ear to right shoulder, head tilted back, left ear to left shoulder

Of course I’m not a doctor, don’t push yourselves to the point where a stretch is painful etc. etc. I just had to develop this routine on my own because doctors were so clueless about this problem and ended up scaring me more than they helped me!

And stick with it! The Chiro/ART combined with daily stretching has taken about 3.5 months, with gradual improvement and a couple setbacks. But I feel like a new woman!

Also...use heating pads! I slept with mine on all night, which most people are scared to do, but it reduced my agony to manageable levels and let me sleep through the night. If you don’t want to use it while sleeping, use it before you stretch to warm up your muscles.

Good luck!

try applying vintegino balm each day before you go to sleep. it really helps.

I got the same thing everything came.out normal now i found out. Its rib problem read about it n the symthoms n ull find out more.things about it im still.with.this horrible pain );

I just started using the grid foam roller on my thighs.  I lie face down on the floor with the roller under my thighs and my entire weight on the roller.  Slowly I roll up and down my thighs and concentrate on the knotted areas (where it hurts the most).  I also do the same on my calves.  Seems to be alleviating the morning groin and lower back tightness.

My rolfer also mentioned that she recently started having groin pains in the morning and recommended that I start taking Boneup by Jarrow along with vitamin D3.  She claims that the groin pains subsided in a few months.

Also, hadn't been following my own advice by stretching my calves regularly (overextended in my daily life).  However, I have the feeling that my thighs weren't getting the stretch it needed so I'm working on that area now that my life has calmed down a little.

How are you doing?      

Same symptoms here... Frustrated. Flank pain after hours of sleep, fatigue, abdominal pain, uti. Like symptoms, kidney pain, bloating, belching,muscle pain, body aches, nausea, vomiting, anxiety, ovarian cysts,.... I currently have a gyn, urologist and soon to be seeing an internist and possibly an endocrinologist. It is a muscle, skeletal, kidney... Whole body issue.... I have been suffering with this issue for years and i am tired of it. Not only is it my health that is being affected but it is affecting my family's as well.. I have been searching all the Internet .. And I keep getting steered towards an adrenal gland disorder..., the flank pain is a build up of toxins in the blood stream caused by the adrenal glands not working properly, producing too much cortisone or not enough.... This in turns affects your other body systems.... I really hope this is the cause.... Worth a chance to get tested!! All my labs and basic test that are run rutinely are normal. I'll let you all know how it turns out.

I've been having problems with morning back/hip aches and stiffness on and off for approx. 20 years now. When it first started back in my 30's, it took me 15 min. to inch myself out of bed most mornings. I felt like I was crippled for a half hour, and worried if I could go to work or not. Then like magic I was back to normal. I went to the doctor twice complaining, and all he said to me was to take advil! I was very dissappointed that they couldn't help me.
Then all of a sudden I didn't have morning problems anymore for about 10 years. Now the problem came back a few years ago, but not as bad as in my 30's. I've noticed that on the weekends my back/hip pain is worse. So I'm thinking it has to do with drinking port wine, and trying to sleep longer than I do on the weekdays. Also if I haven't pooped the day before, it can aggravate the situation. So, I try to drink Metamucil everyday and eat a high fiber diet, and drink lots of water. I should start drinking less wine(1glass instead of 2+), and try not to sleep more than 7 hours. One thing I need to do is to start exercising again.....I think that would help a lot! I thought of buying a firmer mattress pad, but listening to some of the comments, they said it didn't work. I love to sleep, and it's so frustrating to wake-up at 3 or 4 in the morning with pain, and you can't find a comfortable postition wether you're on your back,sides or belly. I hope we all find a cure one of these days!

I have had this problem before,  and the times that I don't have pain in the morning are the nights that I wake up and go to the urinate in the middle of the night. Maybe the bladder gets too full and causes pain in the kidneys. I never saw a doctor about it, but it wouldn't hurt to try setting an alarm to use the restroom half way through the night.

Had lower back pain every morning for 5 years, now every night before bed I drink two lemons squeezed into a half a glass of filtered water and no pain now and it;s been 1 month pain free!!!!!

I had mid back pain in the mornings for the past few years.  It only hurt in the morning until I got up and after 30 mins or an hour I felt nothing.

I hypothesized it had to do with posture, so I started laying on the floor when I watched TV.  I did this for a couple weeks, and now the pain is gone.

I think it had to do with posture, especially sitting on the couch at my home. I haven't felt any back pain in months now.

Also i'm 5'8" 135, very healthy young man.

That is exactly what is happening to me! going on a year now, but I have also narrowed it down to red meat, suger (such as ice cream) but not milk, and deep fried foods. I never thought of limiting my liquids, but I will do that! Thank-you, I do not feel so alone now!

Two lemons and two limes, pulp and seeds too with a half a glass of water before bed. Let me know.

I've had the problem 5 yrs but since the lemons and limes I walk right down the stairs in the morning like I never had the problem, but when I stop with in a few days things start to tighten back up so hope this helps

Ive been pain free for almost 10 months now since I started adding running to my daily cycling exercises. I am also doing Bootcamp which is pretty hectic with push ups and core and all sorts of exercises using body weight.  But all the relief started when I realised that the psoas was the problem as per my previous comments.  So instead of sitting in front of the computer and cycling most of my life, I have added more all round exercise. So I would say, for me, it was the psoas screaming to be stretched and reacting to being in a crunched position for most of my life!!