I’ve been trying these low back stretches for pain relief for years and living more happily and healthily.
If you are also suffering from lower back pain left side or right side, you can also apply these exercises.
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Why Do You Have Lower Back Pain?
Back strengthening exercises are helpful, I confirm!
Yet to send the back sore off forever, you had better know the sources of pain and treat all completely.
Then, according to experts, there are 7 frequent causes for lower back pains.
Muscle stain
Most commonly, lower back pain is resulted from sudden injuries to ligaments of muscles connected to the lower back after you move, twist, or bend too much. Because, this part supports most of your body’s weight, you might suffer from terrible strains and spasms.
At that time, you often find stiffness around your wrist and buttocks, which restricts the range of motion. Sometimes, you cannot even maintain a normal posture.
Fortunately, such muscle strains will only last for one or two weeks, and shorter if you do good lower back stretches.
Bad posture
Lower back pain is common for people at the offices or workers, mostly since they sit or stand with bad posture for too long. For example, they lean too far back or slouch forward too frequently.
This is a bad – very bad habit to break.
If you find yourself doing similar things at work, then break this bad – very bad habit. Your back will thank you.
Unhealthy conditions
If your body is not in shape, you will usually feel pain, here and there – especially around the lower back. This is because you lack the energy to strengthen your core muscles in your back, buttocks, hips, and others on your sides.
Sciatica
The pain is sourced from the sciatic nerve before running down the spine (lower back) and your legs. Sometimes, you feel like an electric shock.
Moreover, the pain is often on one side, so you might want to search for treatments for lower back pain right side or left side.
Then, you should know that trying to relax by sitting in one place for hours will even worsen the case. Instead, do exercises to strengthen the lower back that I recommend later on.
Herniated and degenerative disc
Lower back pain is one of the very first symptoms of herniated disc disease.
Accordingly, pressure on the disc – due to an accident, repetitive injuries, or the most commonly the aging process, causes it to push out of the standard shape and result in pain and numbness.
Even worse, the discs between the lower spine and the bones are hurt and torn. They cannot heal themselves without a proper amount of blood. As a result, they protrude backward and compress the nerve, which causes pains down into the limbs.
Spinal stenosis
A spinal stenosis condition occurs when the tube through the spinal cord is not wide enough and gets squeezed badly. It might be owing to infection, injury, or arthritis. Or, some people were unfortunately born with a narrow spinal canal.
Other medical conditions
If it is not because of one cause as above, your lower back pain might have resulted from other health conditions, for example, kidney issues, gallbladder, a tumor, etc.
At that time, you have better had a health checkup in the hospital.
Low Back Stretches for Pain Relief Exercises
There are many back stretching exercises for the lower part that you can try. If you have a personal fitness trainer, it is better to ask him or her for a specific exercise that suits your conditions.
Otherwise, you can refer to the following good lower back stretches. I’ve tried some of them at home, and the pain goes forever.
#1. A balasana child’s pose
You might do not remember, but the most comfortable time of us is childhood when we are almost free to do anything, like how we lie down and sleep.
Then, yoga pioneers came up with the child’s pose as the very first resting posture for beginners to help them relax the hips and the spine. Even better, this is proved to be one of the most successful therapies for inner thighs and low back pain.
How to perform?
- Knee down on the carpet or a stable surface hip-width apart. At the time, keep an erect spine. At the beginning you might feel discomfortable a bit, so you can a towel or cushion underneath or on the top of your thighs.
- Take a deep breath before pulling down the torso while placing your hips on the heels.
- Then, inhale and raise the arms overhead. Exhale while bending the torso forward from the joint of the hip.
- Your forehead should be on the ground and get the abdomen to lie on the thighs. Hands are pressed straight into the ground, with fingers pointing ahead.
- Hold right there for 1 or 2 minutes with a deep breath. You can repeat the pose several times before you start with other exercises.
Disclaim: Good as it is, I do not recommend this pose for those suffering from disc problems. If you still want to try it, ask your physical therapist in advance.
#2. Supine spinal stretch
Still you and the carpet.
This time, try the spinal twist developed by Supta Matsyendrasana. As can be seen from the gif, you just need to lie down comfortably with hands open on two sides. Then, bend the left knee over the other and toward the ceiling. Remember to press into your feet and lift your hips slightly above and to the left.
Do not hold your breath. Instead, inhale and exhale deeply and comfortably.
The benefits of this supine spinal twist are to stretch the lower back, chest, and glutes, and especially to work as a heart opener so that blood can circulate more quickly and smoothly. It also increases spinal mobility and digestion.
#3. Knee-to-Chest Stretch
Take a short break between the lower back stretching exercises, and try this new therapy called the knee-to-chest stretch, You can do a single-leg stretch or use both knees.
- Lie down comfortably on the carpet or the floor.
- Bring one leg up and then the other. Grasp your leg with both hands.
- Gradually pull the knees toward your chest to the point that you feel a movement and relax in your low back.
- Hold for several seconds and let go of your knees gently to the floor.
- Repeat with two sides or one from another side.
Not only does the knee-to-chest stretch help reduce the low back pain, but it also improves the joint flexibility and reduces the stiffness in the spinal stenosis or spinal arthritis.
#4. Back pain relief seated twist
You can also twist your spine while sitting, it is helpful to as a low back stretch for pain relief too.
Now, let’s get started:
- Sit upright with two legs extended straightly and hands rest comfortably beside the thighs.
- Do a warm-up by creating length in your spine, Accordingly, bend the right knee close to the thigh and with its sold on the floor. Hold the right shin below the knee. Take a few breaths and change to the other legs.
- Place the right hand behind the hip to support your body weight. The left arm, at the same time, hugs around the right leg. Otherwise, place the upper arm outside of the thigh. Then, twist inside out and hold there for 1 minute.
- Repeat the pose on the other side.
For a while doing this pose, you will get a significant relief on the low back. What’s more, you will eat better because the seated twist stimulates digestion and the performance of kidneys and liver.
#5. Sphinx stretch
The following low back stretches for pain relief requires a bit more complicated skill to bring out the most effective result. And your back will thank you!
You can refer to the tutorial by Debbie Stevens of The Yoga Center as I shared with you above. Or, you can simply follow some steps:
- Lie on your belly, with legs side by side and the tailbone toward the heels and pubis.
- Rotate the things inwardly so that your lower back lengthens and widen.
- Keep your mind quiet and breathe deeply.
- Set the shoulders parallel to each other and set the elbows under the shoulders. Inhale deeply before lifting your head and the upper torso above from the floor.
- Draw the lower belly, between the public bone and the navel, from the floor and stay for 1 minute before releasing the torso and belly to the floor.
- Relax then repeat the pose several times if you like.
Go, Go away The Low Back Pain!
I have some easy poses to relieve the lower back pain right at home. Give each one a try and figure out which remedies are the most suitable in your case.
Before you leave this post, I wish your back pain will be got rid of soon and you can enjoy life with comfort.
