Lower back muscle tightness is the cause of a muscle spasm. This can be brought on by a strain, overuse or muscle weakness, according to BetterMedicine.com. If your lower back muscles lack strength, and a stronger back muscle pulls on this weak muscle, it can create tightness or pain.

Muscle wasting, or atrophy, results from muscle disuse over a long period, or from malnutrition. The muscle tissue will decrease in bulk and length, which results in a noticeable loss of size and definition.

A bruise occurs when capillaries (small blood vessels) break and bleed into the surrounding tissue. According to the National Institutes of Health, a bruise can occur underneath the skin, within the belly of a muscle or within a bone. Most bruises heal on their own; however, a bruise can result in compartment syndrome.

Spinal stenosis causes narrowing of the bones that make up the spinal canals, or the areas through which the spinal cord and spinal nerves pass. The Mayo Clinic reports that spinal stenosis causes symptoms only when the spinal nerves or spinal cord are compressed.

If you’re hearing a snapping or popping sound when you stretch your rib cage, it is most likely coming from your sternum, or breast bone. Your first seven ribs are connected to your sternum and held in place by ligaments and cushioned by cartilage, all of which move together when you stretch. According to Drs.

Vitamin D is called the sunshine vitamin because the sun’s ultraviolet rays trigger its production within the skin. If your sun exposure and dietary vitamin D intake are limited, you may benefit from a vitamin D supplement.

You can help promote the healing of broken bones with the use of many complementary therapies within Traditional Chinese Medicine. In their holistic approach to health care, two or more modalities are usually used together. Chief among these modalities are acupuncture, herbology, and medical qigong.

There are several different pressure points throughout the body. Depending on how hard they are pressed, these pressure points can bring pleasure, pain or reflexive action.

The tensor fasciae latae muscle, located on the side of your pelvis, helps to stabilize your hip through its connection into a strip of tough connective tissue on your outer thigh called the iliotibial band. Stretching a chronically contracted tensor fasciae latae can help improve the range of motion of your hips.

Although the spine has a natural curvature, it is not designed to have a side-to-side curve. Scoliosis is the result of the spine curving laterally to form an S-shape. This can disrupt the body's alignment and result in pain and deformities. This condition affects 2 to 3 percent of the population in the U.S.

Carpal tunnel syndrome is tingling, numbness or weakness in the hand and wrist caused by pressure on the median nerve — the nerve that passes through the carpal tunnel of the wrist and provides sensation to the thumb, index and middle fingers of the hand.

Don’t let the simplicity of the deadlift fool you -- when properly executed, the old school exercise increases your core strength while working more muscles than any other single weightlifting move.