Did you know that about 80% of us will experience lower back pain at least once in our life time? Some, unfortunately, will experience them more frequently. And moreover, some will experience various degrees of pain spanning just a few days, weeks and even longer. And if your pain is acute and not as serious to require immediate medical attention, then one of the best ways to get relief is to be active. As I mentioned on a previous blog post about the benefits of walking for your lower back pain, exercise is a great way to relax those muscles and target the area of pain with increase blood flow. Bottom line, exercise helps facilitate the healing process in the area of pain.
One caveat to this is the fact that you need to perform the appropriate type of exercises in order to get relief from your lower back pain. Why? Because doing the wrong type of exercise may further aggravate your pain … and that’s an exercise in futility! So what should you do? Well, read on to find out …
Rest a few days then start moving your body. Simple activities, such as walking for 15 minutes, two times a day, is great to do while you are recovering from lower back pain.
Perform stretching exercises. Do them right, and they can calm your back spasms in the lower back. Here are two types of stretches you can do, twice a day, in the A.M. and P.M. It is recommended that you do about 8 to 10 reps each …
- Back-pocket stretch: For this stretch, you need to stand, and place your hands behind you like you are putting them in the rear pockets of your pants. Then while you are in that position, look up and stretch your back.
- Press-ups stretch: For this stretch, you need to lie on your stomach and place your hands on the floor in a push-up position. However, rather than do a standard push-up, you want to push up your upper body only, sagging your lower back and having your hips to the floor. Keep that pose for a few seconds.
If it hurts, stop! The best advice is to don’t continue working out if you feel pain in your lower back. Just a thought, but it could be those very movements that caused it. So when it hurts, stop, and switch to exercises that don’t require much movement, such as planks.
Focus on good posture. Back pain could be caused by bad posture. Take time during the day to “straigten-up” by aligning your spine. Do this several times a day, by aligning your upper body and lower body while standing up.
Take advantage of the water. That is, water aerobics and swimming. These non-impact workouts, which do not put undue pressue on your spine, are known to help relieve your lower back pain and get you back on your feet in good time.
If you plan to include some exercises for your lower back, you should take another look at the back exercise you are planning to do. Ask yourself if the lower back pain exercises are too intense, high-impact, and/or whether the movements involved have the potential to do further damage to your back.
