If you are suffering from an aching back, stretching may not cure your back pain and in fact may only make it worse! Now I know what you are thinking – you are saying to yourself wait a minute I thought stretching was great for a bad back. Doesn’t stretching relax and strengthen my muscles? Doesn’t it relieve pain? Aren’t stretching exercises the first thing all athletes do before beginning and event like running, swimming, etc.? How safe is stretching for relief of my back pain?