Lower back pain has become one of the major public health concerns. Considering its prevalence, it is a common condition that clinics offering physical therapy services treat.
So, what do physical therapists recommend for treating the pain?
According to physical therapists, several approaches can help. One effective treatment is physical therapy in Boise, which involves different exercises.
Therapeutic Exercises Suitable for Lower Back Pain
Typically, therapeutic exercises are learned or performed under a physical therapist’s guidance and involve several approaches. Some of these approaches include the following:
1. Lumbar Stabilizing Exercises
A strong spine requires legs and hips to support our lower body and twist, bend, and walk effortlessly. Muscle inefficiency in the legs and hips is proven to cause pain and spinal instability.
Stretching exercises may help strengthen and activate muscles like hamstrings and iliopsoas. They also support force transfer across the legs, pelvis, and back while improving coordination between the spine and hip.
2. Cat & Cow Pose
We must lie on all fours and keep our backs straight to exercise. Then, bend our spine both upward and outward towards the ceiling.
We must maintain this pose until we feel a stretch in our backs. Afterwards, we need to bend our backs downwards and inwards until we feel a stretch in our lower backs. We should repeat this ten times.
3. Knees to Chest
This involves lying on our backs, gently pulling our knees on the chest, holding for a few seconds, and releasing. Do this for around 20 seconds, release it, and repeat it about five times. You may perform the entire sequence up to four times a day.
4. Side Bend
Side bend exercises target the sides of our backs and abs. If you find it difficult to have balance, try to hold a table or counter with one hand and use the other stretch on the other side.
5. Supine Bridge
The exercise entails lying on our backs with our arms on the ground. It also entails tightening our glutes and abdomen while slowly lifting our hips off the ground as we keep our backs straight. Then, lower our butts slowly and hips back to the floor. We should repeat the process ten times.
Benefits
One of the primary goals of physical therapy is to get our backs to do the things we love the most and accomplish everyday activities with less pain and more ease. Other benefits include the following:
- Increase range of motion
- Improve function
- Provide self-management and education techniques
In conclusion, lower back pain doesn’t just prevent us from doing daily tasks. It also interferes with our quality of life. Fortunately, a few exercises, like a supine bridge, side bend, and cat & cow pose, may help to alleviate the pain. Just make sure you consult a professional therapist to guide you through. With a therapist by your side, you can create an exercise or therapy plan to treat your condition.