Exercises For Back Pain Relief

Written by Chicagohealers.com practitioner Mark Sobor, M.D. SOMA Pain Management Center--
We all suffer from back pain at some point in our life. Back pain can occur because of a specific injury or it could be ongoing, requiring changes in our lifestyle. Treatment depends on what caused the pain.


Before attempting any exercises, you must rule out that the source of your pain requires immediate medical attention.


Call your doctor if:



Pain is shooting down one or both legs, and the leg(s) feel weak
You cannot control normal bathroom functions
The pain is intractable and cant be controlled with medication



Back pain stemming from an injury

Try to remember what caused your back pain. Was is shoveling snow, lifting heavy furniture or just leaning down the wrong way to tie your shoes? When we reach down without bending our knees, we put tremendous pressure on our lower spine and surrounding muscles. This inherent weakness stems from the time man stopped walking on all fours and became upright. Ideally, we should be using the thigh (quadriceps) muscles in our legs to provide lifting power instead of those in our lower back.


In the 2-3 days following a back injury, you should rest in order to relax the muscle spasm causing your back strain.



Take an anti-inflammatory medication like ibuprofen
Lay flat on your back on a hard surface (carpeted floor) with a pillow under your knees OR lay in a fetal position



Perform these exercises to ease your back pain when you are feeling better:



Lay flat on your back on a hard surface
Pull knee to the chest, one leg at a time, hold for several seconds, release
Repeat 5-10 times for each leg
If you can pull both knees to the chest at the same time without pain, perform that 5-10 times also.



Self-acupressure using tennis balls



Lay flat on your back on a hard surface
Place two tennis balls under your back on either side of the spine, starting with your lower back
Either lay on the tennis balls or, if the pain is not too great, rock back and forth on the tennis balls, putting pressure on your acupuncture points
Repeat, moving the tennis balls gradually up your spine



Chronic back pain

Ongoing back pain has many causes, but much of it is due to one of three factors:



Being overweight, putting strain on our back muscles
Lack of exercise, resulting in weak muscles
Bad posture while sitting, standing or sleeping, resulting in muscle spasms



There is a wealth of information on the Internet and in libraries about how to change your lifestyle habits. For back pain specific guidelines, visit www.spine-health.com or www.FamilyDoctor.org.



Strengthening your back and other muscles to relieve back pain


Our back muscles do not work in isolation. We have to stretch and strengthen all our muscles and joints in order to relieve back pain. In addition to doing exercises stretching our hamstrings, neck, shoulders and spine every day, we should routinely do other low-impact exercises such as:




Walking
Pilates, which strengthens core muscles
Yoga
Swimming
Low impact aerobics
Riding a stationary bike or using an elliptical trainer



There are no guarantees that you will never have back pain. By exercising regularly, bending your knees every time you bend down and maintaining a healthy lifestyle, however, you can minimize the chances of injuring your back and suffering chronic back pain.

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