Does back pain stop you from living the life you want?
Does your back, butt, or thigh hurt or when you sit or drive?
Do you avoid bending over to pick things up because you’re afraid it will hurt your back?
If any of these describe you, then you’re in a similar situation to many of the patients we see at Solutions Physical Therapy & Sports Medicine. Fortunately, some pretty easy exercises can help you beat back pain and get you feeling normal again.
However, before you learn the exercises, you need to understand the cause. Back pain with sitting and driving is often caused by repeated or prolonged bending of the spine. This puts pressure on a part of your spine called the disc and it also stresses the muscles that keep your back strong.
The good news is there are simple exercises you can do to relieve pressure on the disc, strengthen the weak muscles, and get pain relief.
Pelvic tilt microbreaks
In today’s world it’s very difficult to completely avoid sitting. When you have to sit for awhile, your back muscles are often shutting down and increasing pressure on the spine, disc and nerves. The pelvic tilts give your back muscles a bit of a wake up and gives the nerves and spine and chance to “re-set” a bit.
Try to sit as tall as possible when doing this. Think about lengthening your spine. You can pick the time interval that works for you, doing this every 20 to 30 minutes initially. Then gradually try to increase the length of time between microbreaks.
Prone Press Up
Start by lying flat on your stomach and press up as high as you can like the video shows. Some pressure in your low back is normal, but don’t push through any sharp pain.
This should be a fairly comfortable position. Hold for 2 seconds at the top and then come back down. Do this 4 to 5 times a day, 15 to 20 repetitions each time to start. It sounds like a lot, but getting the frequency right can make a big difference. As your back pain become less frequent, you can decrease how often you do this exercise.
Bridges
Bridges are a great way to improve your ability to improve the movement of your back as well as regain some strength and endurance in your low back muscles and glutes. Initially try to hold at the top for 10 seconds and do 2 sets of 10 reps. The focus here is on keeping some arch in your back as you move up and down. As they get easier, you can increase the hold time at the top of the movement, trying to work up to 30 sec holds for 3 sets. 1 to 2 times a day usually works best when starting out.
None of the exercises above should make you hurt more. If you’ve tried these and you’re still hurting, we can help you!
At Solutions Physical Therapy & Sports Medicine, our physical therapists are experts at treating back pain and will develop a plan to help you beat it.
Call us at 703-299-3111, or click here and a member of our team will schedule you an appointment with one of our expert physical therapists.
What happens if you don’t try have a plan to fix your back pain?
- You don’t look forward to vacations because your back hurts to drive
- You avoid playing with your kids because your afraid of hurting your back
- You get out of shape and are more likely to get other diseases and injuries
But WITH a plan to fix your back pain you can live the life you want again.
The exercises above are a great way to get started. They don’t require a ton of time and are pretty easy to do correctly.
But if you want an expert to listen to your unique problems and guide you to success, a Solutions Physical Therapy & Sports Medicine physical therapist will create a plan specifically for you.
You’ll feel confident that you have knowledge and ability to beat back pain and do all the things you want.
Call us at 703-299-3111, or click here to schedule your appointment and start your path to healing.
Working to keep you living your best life,
The Solutions Physical Therapy & Sports Medicine Team
