Another idea to take stress off of your low back..

As I have probably mentioned several times we spend most of our time in flexion. If your back pain is persistent and you have tried what I have talked about in a previous post here’s another idea to try to alleviate your pain.

Let’s recap, here is one way to try to relieve back pain,

Standing Back Bend

If you have been sitting for a long period of time or spend much of your time bent forward performing labor intensive work then you can try the exercise in the picture above. As shown, all you have to do is stand and place your hands on the back of your hips and bend backwards 12-15 times. The first few back bends may hurt but it should feel better after a few repetitions. If after a few reps your back pain becomes worse than STOP.

However, in this position we are still weight-bearing and at times we will feel no difference in our pain or possibly feel worse due to the fact that in weight-bearing we place the greatest stress on our discs. So how can we do this same exercise and not be weight-bearing?

Prone Press Ups

As you can see in the picture above he is extending his back while on his stomach. In this position you are not weight-bearing therefore taking pressure off the discs in your back. To achieve this position start on your stomach with your hands under your shoulders. Push up extending your elbows until they are completely extended as shown. Do not pick your hips up off the floor/treatment table when trying to perform this exercise. When you achieve this position EXHALE before returning on your stomach. An EXHALE will cause your hips to sag taking even more pressure off your back/discs. As before perform 12-15 repetitions. If your back pain has reduced but did not completely disappear feel free to do more. Again, STOP if the pain gets worse.

Hope this helps for some of you. I perform the exercise on my stomach weekly as I get left-sided low back pain myself. It is a good way to reinforce extension in our spine even if you are PAIN FREE due to the simple fact that we are usually in a FLEXED position.

Please remember these are simple tips and all exercises are to be performed at your discretion. it is always advised to see your MD or physical therapist if you have SEVERE pain before attempting anything.