How Stretching Helps Relieve Back Pain?

Active forms of back pain exercise (physical therapy) are typically necessary to rehabilitate the spine and help alleviate back pain. Importantly, a regular back pain exercise routine provides patients with the means to help avoid recurrences of low back pain, and helps reduce severity and duration of potential future episodes of low back pain.

Why stretching or exercising for healing?

• The natural stimulus for the back to heal is active back pain exercises, done in a controlled, gradual, and progressive manner.
• Movement distributes nutrients into the disc space and soft tissues in the spine to keep the discs, muscles, ligaments and joints healthy
• And the converse is true too - lack of exercise can worsen back pain by leading to stiffness, weakness, and de-conditioning

Generally, a patient’s back pain exercise program should encompass a combination of stretching exercises (such as hamstring stretching),

• strengthening exercises (such as dynamic lumbar stabilization exercise
• Mckenzie exercise, or other back exercise programs)
• low impact aerobics (such as walking, bicycling, water therapy or swimming)

Stretching as part of a back pain exercise routine

Almost everyone can benefit from stretching the soft tissues "the muscles, ligaments and tendons" in the back and around the spine.

The spinal column and its contiguous muscles, ligaments and tendons are all designed to move, and limitations in this motion can accentuate back pain.

Patients with chronic back pain may find it takes weeks or months of stretching to mobilize the spine and soft tissues, but will find that meaningful and sustained relief of low back pain typically follows the increase in motion.

Some stretching exercises include

Wall Slides

1. Stand upright with your back against a wall and feet shoulder width apart
2. Slowly bend your knees, sliding your back down the wall, for a count of five until your knees are bent at a 45 degree angle.
3. (do not bend too much further than this as it will cause increased strain on your knees)
4. Hold this position for 5 seconds
5. Begin straightening your knees for a count of five, sliding up the wall until you are fully upright with knees straight
6. Repeat the above steps five more times
7. Do three times per day

Prone Leg Raises

1. Lie flat on your stomach
2. Lift one leg off the ground 2 feet into the air
3. Hold for 10 seconds
4. Relax
5. Repeat with opposite leg
6. Repeat the above steps five more times
7. Do three times per day

Supine Leg Raises

1. Lie flat on your back
2. Lift one leg off the ground 2 feet into the air
3. Hold for 10 seconds
4. Relax
5. Repeat with opposite leg
6. Repeat the above steps five more times
7. Do three times per day

Supine Leg Raises

1. Lie flat on your back
2. Lift one leg off the ground 2 feet into the air
3. Hold for 10 seconds
4. Relax
5. Repeat with opposite leg
6. Repeat the above steps five more times
7. Do three times per day