012 751 2707 | 065 988 3075 info@centurionchiropractor.co.za

Lower Back Pain exercises can give you relief, but doing anything wrong can leave you in more agony. Is Lower Back Pain bothering you? Many people suffer from Lower Back Pain sometime in their lives. Most back pain is mechanical, meaning day-to-day life stresses lead to overload. Some causes are more serious such as a fracture, and these require medical attention. See a chiropractor if the pain is constant, wakes you up at night and includes leg pain. For less-serious back pain, the best way to keep them at bay is to stay active and an occasional visit to your Chiropractor. The natural response to pain is to do less, but the opposite also holds true with certain Lower Back Pain symptoms. The reason for this is that exercise helps muscles relax and increases blood flow to the area.

Here is a list of what might or won’t work for your Lower Back Pain symptoms

1. Don’t just lie there
It is tempting to rest until the pain subsides, but being in bed for more than a day or two may make your back pain symptoms worse. Simple activities are best when you are starting to recover from pain and walking is an excellent activity to start with. Walk 10-15 minutes twice a day at a moderate pace.

2. Stretch out
The right stretches help calm Lower Back Pain spasms. Do back-friendly stretches in the morning and evening, 8-10 times each.

3. Find out which moves make lower back pain worse
The most common Lower Back Pain cause is usually one which causes discomfort while standing. Causes include sitting for hours without using your chair’s backrest and habitually standing with locked-out knees. If your back feels better with your knees bent you probably have extension syndrome.

4. Don’t work through the pain
If it hurts to bend backwards, don’t. Pressing into a painful position can cause further tissue damage and aggravate exciting damage. If workouts hurt, focus on stabilizing moves like planks.

5. Straighten up
Slumping and slouching is often a culprit in Lower Back Pain symptoms, especially among overweight or obese people. The pelvis can tilt to stabilize additional weight on the skeletal system, causing lower back muscles to tighten. If you slouch, practice good posture. Align your spine a few times a day by standing straight, lining your head, shoulders, hips, knees and feet. This helps to alleviate tension when you have Lower Back Pain. And for women, wear shorter-heeled shoes. Wearing high heels may contribute to an unstable postural alignment.

6. Don’t skip your warm-up
Many Lower Back Pain issues occur when we suddenly put pressure on the spine without warming up. Before attempting activities such as resistance exercises or working in the garden, perform some simple stretches. Before any exercise, warm up for 5-10 minutes with a low-level cardio routine, such as walking. This helps get blood circling and may help you avoid injury or worsened back issues over time.

7. Don’t lift heavy objects or practice high-impact moves
Avoid pain-causing activities during or immediately after exercise. Mils muscle soreness that comes on 24-48 hours after a workout is normal and should go away on its own. High-impact activities like running, jumping, step aerobics, basketball and anything that puts stress on your joints can worsen Lower Back Pain symptoms. Avoid these until the pain subsides and replace them with non-impact activities such as walking.

8. Don’t lift weights overhead or on your shoulders
Shoulder presses and other overhead weight moves stress the spine and shouldn’t be done when you have Lower Back Pain. Using weights overhead adds pressure to the spinal disks. Also, avoid exercises in which a weight rests on your shoulders.

9. Don’t limit yourself to land-based exercises
Pool exercises may help you get on your feet faster. Swimming can help ease the pain as it is a good, non-impact aerobic exercise that doesn’t put pressure on the spine.

10. Don’t ignore the hurt
Most Lower Back Pain symptoms are self-limiting, if you don’t make them worse, there is a chance they will heal within days or weeks. But if it does not go away on its own, don’t ignore the pain and continue to work out, this can cause further damage. Rather go and see your Chiropractor. Plus, an excessive activity can reinforce the movement patterns that helped you develop Lower Back Pain in the first place. So take another look at the back exercises you are doing. Chronic pain should lessen once these issues are corrected.