Stretching exercises to relieve lower back pain
94Self management of lower back problems can save time and money – and bring faster relief
If you’re like a majority of adult humans, you occasionally experience lower back pain. It may come from exercise, or just simply maneuvering your body in a slightly unusual position – for example, lifting a heavy object out of a car trunk or suddenly reaching to catch something. When it happens you know immediately that it will affect you for days or weeks to come.
Relief can come in a pill, certain types of stretching exercises, surgery and just the passage of time. According to two studies recently reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, non-surgical therapies including stretching and exercise can have almost as great an effect as surgery in relieving back pain over the long haul.
So if you’re inclined to address physical challenges without drugs and surgery, read on. This article provides 12 exercises you can do at home or a health club to alleviate lower back pain.
Lower back pain: Why am I hurting?
The lower back (a.k.a., lumbar region) is a complex of bones, ligaments, muscles, tendons and nerves that together are amazingly adaptable to a wide range of movement and function. But the complexity of this region is also why it is quite vulnerable to injury, considered by scientists an example of incomplete evolution of the species. Modern civilization has done us few favors in how we sit at desks and in car seats for extended periods of time, which tends to tighten the muscles and other softer tissue (tendons) into one position. Excess body weight can contribute to back woes, but even fit, athletic people suffer back pain.
Jump out of the car after a long drive and your natural instinct is to stretch – which is a smart adaptive technique. Whether you already have a strained lower back, or wish to prevent one in the future, adopting a varied and balanced stretching routine can help keep you functioning, upright and capable of sticking to your workout schedule.
Of course, if just launching an exercise routine you are advised to consult your primary care physician to check where it fits into your overall health profile. By and large, exercise on some level can be done by almost anyone if approached intelligently. This is no simple, rosy platitude: I work in a rehabilitation facility and observe amazing people overcoming serious physical adversity through exercise, including individuals who have lost limbs, are morbidly obese or who have suffered from strokes.
Immediate response to acute case of lower back pain
Most minor lower back pain involves strained muscles and ligaments in the lumbar region. Many people (myself included) can attribute this to hereditary factors (my father had the same problems I’ve had, and I learned a great deal from the exercises prescribed by his doctor). But simple activities or overexertion can cause this condition in almost anyone. As soon as you notice back pain, execute the following stretch positions:
Relax the back as best you can. Lie flat on the floor, face up, then pull the knees to the chest and grasp them with your hands. Gently rock back and forth on the lower back in that position to massage the area and to stretch it out (gently).
Fold knees over the opposite side. Lie flat on the floor, face up, then pull your knees to your chest with your hands. Next, extend the right leg straight out (parallel to floor, resting the heel on the floor), then use the right hand to pull the left knee (still contracted) over the right leg and toward the floor on your right. Hold that position for 10 – 30 seconds, pressing the knee ever closer to the floor as you also push your left shoulder back toward the floor.
Cobra position. Lie flat on the floor, face down and toes pointing backward. With hands positioned approximately at the armpits, press down so that the shoulders rise up. Extend arms fully while pressing the hips toward the floor. Hold for 10 – 30 seconds.
Table positions. Place knees and hands on floor, face down, forming a tabletop with your back. First, curve the spine so that the tabletop dips to a U-shape and hold that for about 10 seconds. Now, curve the back in the opposite direction (“scaredy cat”) so the spine humps up; hold again for 10 seconds. Cycle through this four or five times.
When you’ve finished with these stretches, you are advised to ice the area (use a bag of frozen vegetables such as corn or peas, affixed with a belt or wedged against a seat back) and take an anti-inflammatory medication (ibuprofen, for example). Apply heat to the area only after several days have passed (3-5 days later, if pain continues). Sleep with the knees bent, which you might promote with a pillow propped underneath or behind the knees.
In the days following a back sprain
Several other exercises can be performed that will continue to stretch your back and adjoining muscle groups and their connective tissue such as the quadriceps, hip flexors and hamstring muscles. If these latter groups are tight, they tend to pull the back muscles tight with them.
These exercises are broken into three groups: things you can do by yourself with no equipment, stretching exercises that require a stability ball (the 3+’-diameter inflated balls frequently used for core training) and modalities that require someone else to help you.
By yourself:
Reach for your toes. Stand with feet spread as wide as your shoulders. Hang from the waist, keeping the knees locked out (legs straight), not straining to actually touch your toes but simply allowing gravity to pull gently on the back, hamstrings and connective tissue.
Standing crunches. Stand with feet spread as wide as your shoulders (again). Clasp your hands behind your head as if doing crunches, then rotate while reaching the left elbow toward your right thigh, rise back to center, then reach the right elbow toward the left thigh. Repeat ten or more times, engaging the abdominal muscles throughout but remembering the point is to stretch the lower back from oblique angles.
Foot on table. On a sturdy surface two, three or four feet higher than the floor, place the right foot while the back leg remains straight and slightly behind you. Lean into the right foot, hinging the whole body in that direction. Hold that position, pressing as far as you can comfortably, for at 30 – 60 seconds. Repeat on the opposite side.
With a stability ball:
Relaxing rolls. Try this both face up and face down. Simple splay across the ball and roll it up and down the spine. Focus on loosening your back side.
Hanging seated. Sit on the ball as if it were a chair, but with knees spread wide. Drop the shoulders, head and arms between the knees forward toward the floor, feeling the gravitational pull on your lower back. Hold for 30 – 60 seconds.
Side hangs. Lie across the ball on your side, with the ball approximately at your hips and your feet stacked (right on top of left when lying on the left side). Roll toward your head to shift your center of gravity in that direction, which should pull your right leg upward, effectively stretching the side core muscles. Hold for 20 seconds or longer, then repeat on the other side.
With a friend or trainer:
Squeeze the L. Lie flat but raise your legs up straight and together to form a letter L (you may need help getting there). Have your assistant gently press your legs toward your head, gently, instructing that person on what you can tolerate. After holding it in one place for ten seconds, strive to push it one or two more inches further.
Knee folded over. Refer back to the exercise above, “Fold knees over the opposite side.” Ask your partner to exaggerate, gently but progressively, the stretch by pressing your shoulder toward the floor. For example, when the right leg is folded over the left, have him or her press down on the right shoulder.
Do it right
With all stretching, a few key points should be considered:
- Do not bounce or pulse. You want to gradually stretch soft and semi-soft material. A bouncing action could tear the muscle or tendon – not what you want.
- Start gently, then increase the intensity. Only press to the point of slight discomfort and hold that for a while. If you want to progress your flexibility, take a deep breath then exhale; as you do, deepen the stretch a little bit more.
If pain persists despite your best efforts – say, after two or three weeks – you should seek the advice of a medical professional.
# # #
Russ Klettke is a certified (ACE) fitness trainer, speaker and author of “A Guy’s Gotta Eat, the regular guy’s guide to eating smart” with Deanna Conte, MS RD LD (Marlowe & Co., 2004; available where books are sold and in hundreds of public library systems in the U.S., Canada and Europe). The book focuses on ways to eat healthier for people who might otherwise eat processed and fast foods. For more information on the writer, follow him on Twitter @RussKlettke or visit www.RussKlettke.com.
Stay limber, eat right
 | Amazon Price: $67.17 List Price: $83.00 |
 | Amazon Price: $4.01 List Price: $15.95 |
CommentsLoading...
Thanks Habs. Everyone should check out your article in how it describes the physiology of the back. Managing back pain is easier when you understand the mechanics.
a very nice and precise article. good work Russ.
Great hub! Thanks!
Hi, Russ. My fiance keeps having lower back pains and he refuses to have it checked by the doctor. Which brings to the question: Why are men so stubborn?! Haha, kidding. :-p I've bookmarked this page so I can let him read it later! :-D Thanks!
I totally agree that alot of people can self-manage their back pain using exercise. Another usefull thing is sitting tall and using a rolled towel in the lower back. This helps to prevent back pain that can develop into a herniated disc.
Sandra McFaul
www.herniateddiscguide.com
Great article Russ - the exercises you describe are ideal for those with lower back pain. The main point though is in the first 48 hours use ice, after that then stretch or exercise. Great post though, if you have time I have information on back pain that may be useful, it is on back pain relief - feel free to visit my blog at http://blog.back-pain-advisor.com
All the best
Dr Graeme Teague
Nice article and very informative, and some very good exercises you have pointed out. I suffered from back pain myself, and took pain killing drugs one after another. But then I realized that lower back exercises in the form of stretching and strengthening the back was the only cure to relieve my pain.If only more people would come to realize this, the problem of back pain would discontinue to rage out of control.
http://www.lowerbackexercisesblog.com
Thanks
padeire
I agree with you, stretching really do wonders on our lower back. It helps ease out tension on it making it more flexibilty. Anyways thanks for sharing this wonderful hub with us!
Jason
thanks for the tips,,but can u place some picture for easy understaning, as that will help more
Exercises are a great way to strengthen the low back. They help support treatment, but you can't exercise away structural problems. The pain almost always goes away, but that is not always so with the original cause.
Absolutely, Rob. Get your problem properly diagnosed if possible. But so very often, a health care provider has no economic incentive or belief in the individual that they will prescribe exercise for what often is a problem with inflexibility or imbalanced muscular development. Twenty years ago I went to doctors, chiropractors and a naprapath, and not one of them recommended what I learned on my own through reading and talking to people with similar problems. Now, research shows that exercise/physical therapy can, in many circumstances, be as or more effective than surgery.
Back pain is the worst. Do you know anything about tailbone pain??
In my medical massage education and experience, I know that most lower back pain is caused by the muscles being overstretched. Considering that most people have poor posture, lower back pain is extremely common. I always recommend my clients stretch the opposite way. I recommend this stretch: lay face down on a flat surface, arms by your side with palms down, lift head and arms back (like a swan dive) and hold for 3-5 seconds. Do about 10 daily and after a few weeks you will notice a considerable difference. I am very happy to see people writing about stretching because it really is extremely important in maintaining healthy muscles.
Great hub! You even included one of my favorite exercises - standing crunches.
I love health and fitness. Thanks for sharing your knowledge. Looking forward to more hubs.
I just sprained a back muscle for the first time and it has been hurting soo bad. I've missed days of school and have difficulty even standing up. I talked to my doctor and she suggested that I keep stretching the muscle and if i can stretch it in hot water. These exercises will help a lot cuz I did a few and even now my back feels a little better. Thanks a lot! ;D
Great Hub! Very important information! Unlike most health care providers, I do prescribe physical therapy when dealing with my patient population--Chronic pain patients. The most difficult part is actually getting patients to comply. I don't know how many times I've been told "It makes my pain worse." Many patients are unwilling to press through the soreness to get to real benefit. I appreciate this comprehensive look at specific exercises that are beneficial for low back pain. Maybe over time, attitudes will shift, and people will realize that surgery may not be the right answer, and will look to exercise for true healing. Thank You!
Things that are written here are true. Self help is the best advice anyone could give to someone who is suffering from a lower back pain, as the best way to heal or even prevent it, is to do exercises, be active, and avoid situations when prone stance is required. The exercises are very effective as well. Thanks, the information is appreciated.
I use to have a lot of lower back pain until I started a stretching program and I've been pretty good now for about 10 years.
Very good hub :) It is so true that stretching makes a world of difference . Everything listed is very usefule too . I would have to add either an aqua fitness routine and/ or swimming too .
Thanks. I use to have pain in my back and this works pefectly.
With all the sports I practiced as a younger man I am very glad that I listened to my trainers about STRETCHING it has paid me dividends. To this day I still stretch every day and thankful I was taught how to do it properly. I enjoyed this post very much, thank you for keeping us all informed. It will help many out there to improve their conditions.
Thanks saddlerider. I too had an early introduction to the importance of stretching from competitive swimming. And yet even this week I've learned an aching in my legs is due to tightening from a combination of running, leg strengthening exercises and sitting at my desk 10 hours a day. The ache goes away with good stretching and rolling on a a 9-inch diameter styrofoam cylinder.
Great article. Self rehab should be a part of any back pain recovery. Check out some of our educational videos on http://www.purechiro.ca
Thanks for posting agreat hub!
Thanks for very useful tips. Finally a hub that really is informative! I will follow these steps. If you re interessted, I have collecton some back pain product reviews on my blog:
Thanks for the tips. What's the best thing to do when the pain is so bad you can barely stand or anything else? I just went through this and am still a bit stiff.
Val
Serious pain should always be taken seriously. On the rare occasions I get a flare up of my own back (usually from something unusual, such as a gardening task), my instinct and method is to lie face up on a floor and pull my knees to my chest. I rock gently and then pull the right knee with the left hand, gently, to the left side. Slowly pull, slowly stretch. Hold for 10+ seconds, then return to center and execute the same move with the other limbs. Or, sit on a kitchen chair and hang your head between/below the knees. Hold at least 10 seconds, rise up, and repeat. You need to try to relax the back muscles, so massaging them also helps -- if you can mentally connect with them and get them to ease up the tension as you massage.
peach for your toes. Stand with feet spread as wide as your shoulders. Hang from the waist, keeping the knees locked out (legs straight), not straining to actually touch your toes but simply allowing gravity to pull gently on the back, hamstrings and connective tissue.
If you've ever groaned, "Oh, my aching back!", you are not alone. Back pain is one of the most common medical problems, affecting 8 out of 10 people at some point during their lives. Back pain can range from a dull, constant ache to a sudden, sharp pain. Acute back pain comes on suddenly and usually lasts from a few days to a few weeks. Back pain is called chronic if it lasts for more than three months.
Most back pain goes away on its own, though it may take awhile. Taking over-the-counter pain relievers and resting can help. However, staying in bed for more than 1 or 2 days can make it worse.
If your back pain is severe or doesn't improve after three days, you should call your health care provider. You should also get medical attention if you have back pain following an injury.
This is such an awesome hub. Very contemporary and indeed breath- taking. I am so privileged to read this hub because I am duly informed and educated. Hoping to read more of such hubs from you. Cheers!
D.Virtual.Doctor
I'm going to have to try some of these moves - thanks!
I found that doing yoga helped my back tremendously.
For the past 10 - 15 years I have had troubles with back pain, often debilitating. I recently was diagnosed with 2 herniated lumbar discs after an accident at work (Firefighting). The Neurosurgeon offered a round of Physical Therapy to try and delay inevitable surgery until later in my life. Within just 6 months of PT, which consisted almost entirely of the stretches in this article, I was for the first time in years and years - PAIN FREE. I continue with the stretches above, along with core strengthening, weight and cardio training, and a proper diet to eliminate the need for surgery.
Re-hydration of the discs is very important as well, so drink a lot of clear fluids. Also, delay any heat treatment for the initial acute injury stage as this will increase the swelling in that area. Use Ice (frozen vegies) for no more than 20 minutes at a time for the first few days, then alternate with heat (20 min) after that.
If you have back pain and are unable to have a regular life...If you are tired of always hurting and can't see an end to your pain, go see a physical therapist now. The information in this article and blog can and will change your life for the better!
Thanks Firedad. As a triathlete, I've also had shoulder and knee problems, plus plantar faceitis, that were successfully addressed through various forms of stretching, exercise and, sometimes, rest. Surgery and pills are not necessary as often as people think.
You're right about when to apply ice and heat -- I wrote about it on another site: http://www.hairloss.com/home/hot-or-cold-treatment
Great tips...useful article. Thanks.
But natural ways are the best: visit:http://www.solvedhow.com/2011/01/get-rid-of-back-p
Thanks man i will try ur tips from tmro onwards.... bcoz i have LBP for past 2 years...... once again thanks for sharing......
I think the Cobra Position is similar to the 'push-ups'. I think I need more chest and arm strength for this type of exercise. I hardly could carry myself when executing. I could barely lower my hips.
Great hub! Thanks for sharing.
Definitely need to relieve my lower back pain through stretching. Thanks for sharing!
I really agree that exercise still is a good way of keeping a balanced diet. .
Did your Neurologist do an EMG yet to see if a neural is being pressurized in your hands or leg yet. I would also obtain a Orthosurgeon or Neurosurgeon to see what their cure is and can let you know if it`s necessary to have surgical procedures. Get more than one viewpoint and trust you may obtain a Dr. to help soon.
James Makker, MD
I have a trapped nerve from my left lower back down to antiinflammatorymy left outside calf muscle. The pain is severe in my left calf region and I could not walk a few weeks ago. I am on painkillers and anti-inflammatory tablets but with little effect. I find hot baths help a bit and I can now walk a little. Any advice welcome.
TENS doesnt work for me anymore..it numbs the pain and dries out the area being treated. Does not work well with dry skin, and neither does those heat rubs..TYlenol causes tinnitus effect and IB 800 doesnt cure problem. Muscles relxers dont relax the muscles.
..and this is all medicaid will afford. They wont pay for xrays, MRI etc...and when they do they tell you nothing is wrong...have had issues for past 10 TEN years and NO RELIEF. NONE.....
But can I at least get disability.....NOPE. I must be faking it because Im (now) 30 and cant work or lift objects, or recently WALK....
SO WHAT are people like me to do when this starts all of a sudden and DOES NOT GO AWAY but worsens with time?
Asking me to stay active is the worst recommendation you can give. Telling me im lazy and need to get back to work will get you sued and kicked in the face..
I DEMAND ANSWERS.. WHAT CAN BE DONE?
Will the VA PAY for this sort of treatment, most likely NOT. TRI-CANT is extremely unliikely to either...
Johannes: Your diagnosis goes WAY beyond my expertise. So I'll venture only to ask questions:
• You mention no version of physical therapy being tried. Have you not been steered in that direction?
• Was this caused by an injury and came on suddenly with that, or did it develop naturally over time?
I am looking for such a post, thanks for sharing such valuable information.
I have found that these are great therapy for my back and siatica pain. It really works.
pain of vetebral colum
Very helpful. I could have used these info a year ago when I pulled my back. I'll keep it handy in case I have future incidents.
Four stretches demonstrated in video
Other articles on back stretching and flexibility
- Back Pain Often Ends Without Surgery
For two specific kinds of back leg pain, back surgery offers the fastest relief -- but those who choose nonsurgical treatments get better, too, a new study shows. - Yoga May Help Ease Aching Back
Study Shows Effects of Yoga May Help Reduce Need for Pain Medication - Sit Back, It's Better for Your Back
A study suggests that sitting upright for hours at a time -- for example, when working at a computer -- may lead to chronic back pain. - Psychological Approach Helps Back Pain
Researchers say psychological interventions like biofeedback, relaxation techniques, and cognitive behavioral therapy can be more effective than more traditional treatments for reducing back pain. - Bad-Disk Reboot: Back Pain May Not Mean Surgery
NPR interviews Dr. James Weinstein of Dartmouth College, whose research found that surgery is not necessarily a better choice for lumbar disk herniation. Weinstein advocates conservative, non-invasive treatment.
Benefits of better health/fitness
- When Fitness Means Life or Death - Well - Tara Parker-Pope - Health - New York Times Blog
“When people think of fitness, they think of athletes and bulging biceps and running to the gym and doing squats,'’ said Dr. Peeke. “What I’m trying to do is get people strong enough to be able to survive 21st-century living.'’
habs178 4 years ago
Fantastic article! It's amazing how people fail to realize that continual exercise and stretching MINIMIZES lower back pain.