Best Exercise For Lower Back Pain Relief

When a person overexerts themselves, it is common for them to experience back pain, mostly in the lower part of the back.  Before you consider surgery, think about what you can do on your own to help solve the problem. Then, maybe you can escape not only the extra pain involved in healing but also the huge heart attack you are bound to have when you see what the bill does to your wallet.  Here are a few tips you might be able to use to help avoid the scalpel.

  • If you have a minor amount of pain in your lower back, try using an over the counter pain reliever, like Ibuprofen or Tylenol.  This may be all that is needed to help the pain go away.
  • Applying hot and cold packs alternatively can also help relieve the discomfort.  Apply the cold packs first, leaving them on for a few minutes and then taking them off.  After applying cold presses for a day or two, apply a heat press, or heating pad.  The heat will help with blood flow.
  • Try doing a few lower back pain exercises.  In other words, exercises that help alleviate lower back pain.  Walking, or stretching exercises are best when recovering from a back strain.
  • DO NOT do toe touches, leg lifts or sit-ups, as these lower back pain exercises are proven to aggravate your discomfort.
  • Do walk around, staying in bed or on a couch can worsen your condition.  Staying in one position could make you stiffen up making you even sorer than you already are.
  • Sleep with a pillow between or under your knees. Doing this will help align your spine, it will also stop you from turning so much in your sleep.  Extra back twists will only cause more soreness in the morning.

The above tips may not help if you have a history of back problems. They may only stop the pain for a short amount of time.  Recurring lower back pain problems sometimes don’t respond to very well to exercise.  In these cases, the matter should be taken up with your doctor or specialist, in order to determine if this is something that can be taken care of naturally, or if the problem has passed that point and surgery must be considered.

Lower back pain exercises

The important thing to remember with lower back pain exercises is that it will usually get better if you stay active and definitely avoid activities that cause pain or strain. The best time to begin exercising for your lower back pain would be when you don’t have any more acute pain. If you still have acute pain it is probably best if you do not begin exercising at this point. You should always consult your doctor before you start an exercise program and it is very important that you only do exercises that don’t increase your back pain symptoms.

With that being said, once you are ready for exercise, we have compiled some of the best lower back pain exercises for you.  The most important point is to not be afraid of pain and that leads to you being immobile. You definitely want to stay active and not be afraid of the pain.

You can group lower back pain exercises into 3 main groups; Aerobic exercise, strengthening exercises, and stretching exercises. Aerobic exercise would be to condition your body (heart and your other muscles) that will maintain your health and speed your recovery.

A few exercises you would want to stay away from, as they can aggravate your lower back pain, are as follows:

  • Touching your toes while standing
  • Lifting heavy weights that require you to lift them above your midpoint (waist)
  • Leg Lifts – This is when you lay on your back or side and lift one or two legs up.
  • Straight leg sit-ups, as well as bent legs, sit-ups, and partial sit-ups.

When you exercise and stay active you may actually relieve your lower back pain and actually help speed up your recovery. When you strengthen your core (stomach, back, and leg) muscles you actually make your muscles less susceptible to injury that can lead to more back pain. When you have stronger muscles it can lower the pressure on your spine, due to better support, and in turn, help prevent disc injury of your spine.

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