Lower Back Pain Exercise Guide
Exercise Your Way To A Pain-free Back
By Jarrett Kruse
It’s important to consult a doctor or other professional in getting the proper diagnosis and treatment for lower back pain. But chances are that any lower back pain treatment you seek, at least for common conditions, will include a program of low back pain exercises in conjunction with other treatments. The most common back pain symptoms affect the lower back, but even ones that produce upper back pain are minimized by regular exercise. Lower back pain exercises can be essential to any program of lower back pain relief, and strengthening your muscles and improving your range of motion through exercise is critical to all kinds of back pain prevention.
When you are suffering from acute injury, it may be impractical to begin a program of exercise until you are somewhat healed. As soon as your health care provider believes you are able, however, it’s important to introduce exercise into your recovery, either through a physical therapist or a program of prescribed exercises. Lower back exercises are designed to strengthen core muscles, those that support the spine, including those of the back, abdomen, and buttocks and provide a long-term solution to pain. The first step is always stretching to make sure you minimize your risk of injury. Many web sites can demonstrate how to do prescribed exercises. Some common exercises to strengthen core muscles are:
- Pelvic tilts, to stretch the back and strengthen the abdominal muscles
- Crunches to strengthen abdominal and back muscles
- Gluteal stretches—stretching the muscles of the buttocks
- Piriformis stretches—stretching the muscle under the gluteals
- Back and leg stretches to improve range of motion
- Hamstring stretches—stretching the back of the thigh
- Side or waist stretches to improve range of motion
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