SIMPLE DAILY MOVEMENTS TO REDUCE LOW BACK PAIN

Does your back hurt?  Most likely it has at one time or another.   The reasons for low back pain are many, and that is probably why very different treatments help many individuals.   A physical therapist is trained to assess and treat your individual low back pain which may be different from your neighbor’s back pain.  Here are some general guidelines may help the majority of us.
 

We put too much stress on our backs in a forward bent position.  Examples include seated activities like computer work, studying, or too much slouching.   Stooping, lifting, gardening, and yard work can create problems.  Childcare is full of risky activities for your spine. Like putting your child into her car seat.
 

Back pain can sometimes move into one or both legs.  This pain may be felt in the buttocks, down to your knees or even to your toes.    Your condition is likely worsening if your pain moves farther away from your back.   On the other hand, you are likely improving if the pain is “centralizing,”  which means it is moving out of your leg and getting closer to your back where the problem began.
 

If you are doing an exercise or getting into a position which makes your pain spread, that is an indication that you may be doing the wrong motion.  If the pain centralizes, then you are likely doing the right thing.
 

One of the best ways to help or prevent low back pain is to practice proper posture.  If you are standing, pretend there is a string in your chest and it is lifting you upward, like when you take a big chest breath and you grow taller.   Keep your shoulders and the rest of you relaxed.  If you are sitting, the same principles apply, however you will likely need the help of a rolled-up towel or lumbar support behind your low back to assist your good posture, especially if you are sitting more than 15 minutes.
 

Some of us get hurt by keeping sustained forces on our spine like sitting in the car or in front of the computer for many hours.   To break up the duration of this force, try backward bending before, during and after those activities that are making you forward bend.  After the trip to the grocery store, get out of the car, backward bend and then unload the groceries.  Before gardening, backward bend several times before pulling those weeds.  Take a few backward bending breaks if you’ll be in the garden for a while.   At the end of the day lie on the floor and do a few press-ups.  Or lie on your stomach, propped up on elbows and read for 5 minutes.   If you haven’t moved in this direction in years, proceed slowly.
 

If you do these exercises, you should feel some strain, but not pain.  Remember if you get pain into your buttocks or legs, or your back pain increases and lasts, then you should stop these exercises.
 

A little prevention goes a long way.  Changing positions frequently, staying active, maintaining ideal weight, aerobic activity, and core strengthening all help with the health of your spine.  But don’t forget to maintain the range of motion of your spine in the backward bending position.  We don’t do that motion very often in our daily lives, so use it or lose it.  And if that’s not working for you, visit your physical therapist.

For a PDF of the exercises discussed above, click here >>

Being the "Master" of Your Pain

Often when we have pain we easily fall into a pattern of allowing it to “control” us and every aspect of our life, especially if the pain is chronic in nature. Pain can be generated by multiple sources, sometimes simultaneously. Depending on the source, varied techniques, self-  treatment options and devices can be used to help ease or alleviate the cause. Your physical therapist can offer you many options in pain management techniques and the following describes just a few options you can try.
 

Breath Control
 

Pain can be triggered by stressful events and can be controlled often through your current “state of mind”. You can change your state of mind by changing the quality of your breath. A technique where you slow your breath down and extend your exhalation, triggers the relaxation response and diminishes a stress (“fight or flight”) response of the body.  It allows you to focus on something simple to control and be less sensitive to pain. Try the following: position yourself in a comfortable position and start by gently slowing your breath. Breathe out through your mouth with pursed lips (like when drinking from a straw) pulling your belly in as you blow out. Then, to inhale, close your mouth and release tension in belly and breathe in somewhat more quickly. Try gently extending the length of your breath to a 4 count inhalation and 8 count exhalation.

Stretching-Types (targeted area, contract- relax, yoga, therapy ball, foam roller)
 

Follow your therapists’ instructions on region specific stretching techniques; there are usually multiple methods to stretch any particular area. Also, research has shown for the majority of people or situations, stretching can work best when performed on tissues that are “warmed up”.  Avoid bouncing or forcing a stretch in any one position.  Also, keep in mind some of us  or certain muscles/tissues are “flexible enough” and you may not need to stretch this region. Use the breathing technique as listed above to enhance your stretching effectiveness. Contract relax stretching involves taking a limb or muscle to a comfortable end point of stretch and gently contracting the opposite muscle group against your hand (stable object) and then releasing. Often you find that you can stretch a few degrees further after doing this.
 

Many beginning yoga enthusiasts find they need to work on calf, shoulder, hip stretches in preparation for their first yoga encounters. Focus your attention on these areas as you prepare to join a beginning yoga class.
 

Exercise tools/devices can be used to assist you in your stretching. Therapy balls large and small can be leaned on to assist in supporting your body for stretching. Foam rollers can be especially helpful in trunk and leg stretching; ask your physical therapist for advice.

Self Massage - Acupressure, “the stick”, theracane and other hand held devices
 

Muscle tissue can present with tender points (myofascial, fibromyalgia related) and/or trigger points. Self massage, self acupressure, massage with a device (“ the stick”, theracane, tennis ball in sock) can aide in your work to “release” the tension in the muscle or related connective tissue by adjusting the  “calibration” of the muscles’ preset tension sensor (golgi tendon organ; muscle spindle) by holding pressure on a tender/trigger point in the muscle.  This point can “reset” the muscle/tendon resting and “anticipated need” for tension in an overused muscle.

Soft Tissue Mobilization/Massage Techniques

Varied techniques can apply here. One technique, ASTYM , can be quite helpful for chronic symptoms such as plantar fasciitis, lateral epicondylitis (tennis elbow), myofascial pain as it helps to  break down abnormal scar tissue and allows patients to then rehabilitate the region to normal flexibility, strength and function.

Tissue/Joint Traction
 

Often when tissue is “pinched”, it can be a source of pain. This can occur throughout the body, including shoulder rotator cuff tendons or a small joint in lumbar spine (facet). Sometimes gentle stretching parallel to the tissue fiber direction or joint can ease these symptoms. Postural alignment can provide some relief by allowing more “space” for the involved joint or tissue to function more easily.

Interested in learning more about how Physical Therapy can help decrease pain? Contact our clinic by phone or visit our website >>