Back Pain Stretches & Exercises for Lower Back Pain

Lower Back Pain relief Stretches and Exercises
Dr Barry Marks, Chiropractor, Orange, CA 92868

Therapy Ball Abs

In order to keep your back healthy and strong, you need to keep the “front” of your back tight. That means your abdominal muscles (abs) must be firm.

Try this alternative to regular sit-ups or crunches.

• Lie flat on your back with your legs resting on a large Swiss/Therapy ball.
• Reach your arms out and curl your shoulders up off the floor, hold for 1 second.
• Lower your shoulders and repeat.
• As in all ab routines, go until you cannot do another. Rest for 10 seconds then repeat. 2-3 sets like this should be sufficient.

You may substitute a chair or the side of a sofa for the ball.

To really work your abs, try different exercises and mix things up to work all aspects of the abdominal wall. Try a set of Therapy Ball Abs, followed by a set of Regular Crunches then a set of Oblique Crunches.

For more information about back stretches and exercises check out Free Back Pain
Remedies Book

Lower Back Pain Stretches, More Exercises for Back Pain

Lower Back Pain Stretches and Exercises
Dr Barry L Marks, DC
Orange, CA

Lower Back Arch

The lower back arch is good to stretch out and elongate your entire spine. This may relieve pain and tension from back strains, disc herniation, bulging discs, degenerative disc disease and arthritis.

• Assume a hands and knees position
• Arch your back up 
• Tuck your tail and head downward and squeeze lightly while exhaling
• Take a breath in and straighten your back then repeat

For more information on lower back pain exercsies and treatment go to http://orangespinaldecompression.com

Exercises, stretches for lower back pain

Lower Back Pain Stretches and Exercises for Back Pain
Dr Barry L Marks, DC
Orange, CA

A good stretch for lower back pain due to disc herniation, bulging disc, degenerative disc disease, sacroiliac strain and tight lower back due to a strain is the Knee-to-Chest stretch.

• Simply lie flat on your back
• Bend your knees and grasp them with your hands
• Pull knees up towards chest and hold for a 5 count
• Lower slightly and repeat

An alternative is to use only one knees at a time or to bring one knee up towards the opposite shoulder and hold. This is good for stretching the sacroiliac joint.

For more information on back pain and lower back pain exercises go to
Cure for Lower Back Pain

Back Pain Treatment Orange County

Back Pain Treatment Orange County
By back pain specialist Dr Barry Marks, DC Orange, CA

Back pain treatment tips between chiropractor, therapist or doctor visits:

• Alternate heat for 15 minutes and ice for 12 minutes
• Rest on your back with your knees over the back of a couch or chair for one hour 2-3 times each day
• Get up and around as much as pain will permit; too much lounging will make your back even more stiff.
• Ask your doctor for “natural pain relievers” or “natural muscle relaxers” such as Formula 303
• Drink lots of water; poorly hydrated muscles are prone to spasm and have a hard time recovering from injury
• Try the “Child’s pose” back stretch periodically throughout the day to relieve muscle tension
• Have a positive outlook; positive thoughts are therapeutic and can help you heal faster
• Be patient; back pain can be tricky to treat. Allow your doctor adequate time to figure out what will work for your particular condition. In general, most types of back pain will see signifcant relief within 1 month. After 1 month, if you have not improved at all, it may be time to look further into your condition with an MRI or other examinations.

Try these tips between your back pain treatment visits, they may help you get by as your back heals.

For more information on Back Pain treatment in Orange County visit:
www.orangespinaldecompression.com

The 3 Exercise Workout

Dr Barry L Marks
Chiropractor Orange, CA

You’re busy I know. Busy-ness is the number one reason why people do not exercise. And if you are suffering from back pain or even if you just want to get in better overall shape, you CAN do it with only 3 exercises in about 7 minutes a day.

Now I have to warn you, this routine will not create a muscle builder out of you. You will not become an Olympic athlete and it is not a miracle routine that will transform your unconditioned body into a chiseled piece of marble overnight, but you will get in much better shape in a very convenient and quick workout with no cost or equipment.

And if you are a back pain sufferer, these exercises will help build your core strength. This is a routine I often prescribe for spinal decompression patients in my Orange office.

The 3 Exercise Workout involves performing each exercise in succession without rest. Completion of all 3 exercises is 1 set. After one set, rest for about a minute then repeat. Attempt 3 sets. The number of reps you do depends on your conditioning. Do each exercise until you cannot do another rep with good form. So may be doing 3 reps or 30. Just be sure to do them cleanly.

The 3 Exercise Workout

1. Push Ups

Push ups are an excellent exercise to work your arms, chest and back. When performing push ups make sure you are doing them correctly with good form. It’s better to do fewer high quality push ups than more sloppy ones. Imagine your back is a board and keep it perfectly straight while you raise and lower your body with your arms. Start with hands shoulder width apart. As you get stronger you may try bringing your hands closer together or for more of a challenge, do push ups with your feet elevated on a work out bench, stair or couch.

If you cannot perform a regular push up, then try the alternate push up on your knees.

2. Hundreds

This is a Pilates abdominal exercise similar to a sit up, but uses different body positioning and the pumping up and down of your arms at your side while holding your legs up or out. This exercise works your abs, but also your arms and thighs. For beginners do the exercise with your legs straight up. Intermediates try your legs out at a 45 degree angle with knees straight. Experts can lower their legs to within an inch or two of the floor.

3. Donkey kicks

The donkey kick works your back, buttocks and hamstring muscles. Start off on all fours. Lift one leg up and try to kick the ceiling then lower and lift the other leg. Continue to kick until you reach fatigue. If you have back pain, you may have to kick lower or kick out behind yourself rather than straight up, which can arch your back and cause pain.

The 3 Exercise Workout can be done anywhere, any time. I suggest beginners do this routine every other day. While intermediate and advanced athletes may want to do this daily or as part of their overall fitness routine. You CAN do this routine… it only takes a few minutes and you get a great workout without the cost of a gym, trainer or equipment.

Dr Barry L Marks, DC has over 22 years experience in chiropractic and is a former Associate Clinical Professor at a leading Chiropractic College. His articles, books and seminars have helped many suffering from back pain and other ailments find a solution to their problem even when other methods have failed.

“Help For Pain of Bulging Discs”

If you are sufferingg from back pain or sciatica due to disk herniation, bulging discs, degenerative disc disease or a slipped disc, here are a few tips to help ease the pain. These tips may not be a cure for lower back pain, but they will provide back pain relief while you are pursuing a lower back pain treatment program.

What causes the back pain from a bulging disc?

The pain comes from two main sources:

1. The disc itself has nerves in its outer fibers. When a disc has been injured and is bulging and swollen, these nerves become irritated and send out pain messages to your brain. Your brain interprets the pain messages and you feel the characteristic pain. The pain is usually deep and achey and is located in the central area of the spine or just slightly off to one side or the other of the spine.
2. If the bulging disc or disk herniation is large enough, the spinal nerves will be irritated which causes referred pain down to the buttocks, thigh, leg or foot. This is called “sciatica.” How far down the leg the pain travels depends on which nerves are involved.

So now you know where the pain comes from and that’s just great, but…

What can you do for back pain relief?

This article is going to assume that you are already under the care of a doctor and you are trying to solve your problem with some sort of medical/chiropractic/acupuncture/physical therapy treatment. Although you may be in the middle of a back pain relief program, you may still be experiencing pain. So what to do while you’re waiting for this treatment to “kick in” and make you feel better?

Here’s what I recommend to my spinal decompression patients:
(Do these in order, one immediately after the other.)

1. Hot shower, hot wet towels or moist heating pad for 15 minutes

2. Knee to chest stretch

3. Disc & sciatica relief position while lying on ice
(remove ice after 12 minutes, keep laying in this position for 1 hour total)

Perform this routine 1-3 times a day to get relief from back pain due to disk herniation or bulging discs.

If you are suffering from back pain or sciatica due to disk herniation, bulging discs, degenerative disc disease or a slipped disc and you’ve tried drugs, shots, chiropractic, acupuncture and/or physical therapy without success, you owe it to yourself to at least look into spinal decompression. Get a Free Guide to Severe Back, Disc and Sciatica Pain written by a former Associate Clinical Professor and a noted OC Spinal Decompression specialist and author with over 22 years experience here:
http://www.orangespinaldecompression.com/

“Do 100 Sit-ups Part 2″

This is Part 2 in a quest to do 100 sit ups a day to aid your lower back pain treatment or just for general fitness.  

Warning:
If you are having more than just mild back pain from disk herniation, bulging disc, degenerative disc disease, stenosis or other cause of back pain, go back to this article (Do 100 sit-ups per day) and stick with those abdominal core exercises for back pain.

If, however, you are not in severe pain and are in fairly good shape and ready to advance your ab workout to the next level, then try these variations on Pilates, Yoga and rehab abdominal strengthening exercises.

Swiss Ball Crunch A
Lie on floor with legs resting on therapy ball. Reach arms out at a 45-degree angle, lift torso off floor hold for a second, lower then repeat until fatigued.

Swiss Ball Crunch B
Sit on your therapy ball with your feet firmly planted on the floor. Roll with ball until you are on your back. Assume crunch position and lift your torso up until your abs tighten. Hold for a second, lower and repeat until fatigued.

Jack Knife
Lie on floor on your back with feet together and hands together, simultaneously lift your leg and arms up towards each other until only back is on the floor hold for a second, lower then repeat until fatigued.

Swiss Ball Side Lifts
Lie on the floor with a therapy ball between your ankles. Lift your shoulders and legs off the floor hold for a second, lower then repeat until fatigued.

Bicycle Crunch
Lie on your back in crunch position, lift your left elbow and right knee up towards each other, lower then repeat until fatigued.

Variations:

• Basic:
  Do the exercises as described above, 1 set of each exercise until fatigue

• Advanced:
  Quickly do as many reps as you can in 20 seconds, rest for 10 seconds then move to the next exercise until all exercises have been done. That would be 1 set. Rest for 30-60 seconds between each set. Do 1-3 sets.

Try adding these advanced core muscle exercises into your lower back pain treatment program to tighten up your abs and stabilize your back.

“Back Stretches for Bulging Discs: Side Stretch”

Back muscle pain and back pain from strain, subluxation, stenosis, disk herniation, bulging disc and degenerative disc disease can be relieved by this simple side stretch exercise.

This stretch can be used as part of a spinal decompression rehabilitative program or for general fitness. The goal of the side stretch exercise is to elongate and relax the lateral muscles of the back and abdomen. Muscles such as the latisimus dorsi, the quadratus lumborum, erector spinae and abdominal obliques are effectively stretched with this core muscle exercise.

 

Side Stretch

Begin by sitting on the floor as shown. Lift one arm up and lean to the side. Make sure you feel the muscles stretch all along your side from your lower back up to your shoulder. Hold for a count of 5 then release and repeat 10-20 times.

 

Switch sitting position and stretch to the other side.

 

Alternate version often seen in Pilates and Yoga workouts is to use a therapy ball (Swiss ball). Stand holding therapy ball over your head with both hands. Slowly bend to the side while reaching out with the ball. Hold then repeat 10-20 times each direction.

Add this stretch to your lower back pain treatment plan to help get back pain relief.

 

Core Strengthening Exercises for Lower Back Pain: Butt 2

This is the second buttocks/pelvis exercise for core conditioning to help cure back pain from strain, subluxation, herniated disk, bulging disc, degenerative disc disease, facet syndrome, stenosis, chronic back pain and failed back surgery. Patients undergoing spinal decompression will benefit from these exercises when they make the transition back to active exercise. The goal is to strengthen and stabilize the pelvis and lower back.

Donkey kick
Assume a hands and knees position on floor. Lift one leg up and extend up and out. Hold for a few seconds then lower and lift the other leg. Repeat 10-20 times each leg.

Alternate #1: When lifting the leg, bend the knee at a 90 degree angle and push your foot towards the ceiling.

Alternate #2: For advanced users, perform the kicks in rapid succession for 20 seconds, rest for 10 seconds then repeat for 2-4 sets.

Try this exercise to strengthen your buttocks. It will increase your core strength and assist in stabilizing your lower back.

More core exercises coming soon!…

Core Strengthening Exercises for Lower Back Pain…Butt 1

Buttocks and Pelvis
The buttocks and pelvis muscles are an important part of core conditioning and should be a part of every back pain therapy program. These muscles are often overlooked in favor of their abdominal and back muscle counterparts. The following exercises are common among Pilates, Yoga, Chiropractic and physical therapy practitioners to strengthen and stabilize the pelvis.

Bridge

Lie flat on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on floor. Push down with your feet while lifting the buttocks off the floor. Hold the pose while tightening your buttocks for a few seconds then lower. Repeat 10-20 times.

Alternate #1 for more advanced users: After you lift your buttocks of the floor, gently oscillate your pelvis up and down a few inches several times before lowering.

Alternate #2: Swiss ball version. Place feet on therapy ball and push buttocks off of floor.

 

 

 

 

 

More core strengthening in the next post…