Can You Cure Your Lower Back Pain With Abdominal Exercise?

Why do so many people with lower back pain do endless abdominal exercises? From sit ups to crunches, you may have done literally thousands of these yet your lower back pain remains - and no six pack!

If these exercises are used often, why do they not cure your low back pain as well as they should?

Are you doing your exercises correctly? Should you change the type of exercise? Buy another machine you see on TV - you know the latest and best way to do abdominal exercises.

Yes you see them everywhere, you have tried many machines, changed the style and still no dramatic changes.

The answer to your problems is actually simpler than you realize.

Do you want abdominal exercise to change your lower back pain, or to just improve overall structural stability - and definitively if you want a six pack. You need to do the following:

Firstly you need to stretch the muscles that work opposite to your abdominals. Why? If they are too tight then your abdominal will be weaker. Just like a see-saw - one side goes up and the other down. So, if one muscle is too tight, the opposite will be too weak. If you are trying to change your abdominals then you need to stretch both the lower back muscles (erector spinae) and the hip flexor muscles.

Secondly, if you want to change the strength of the abdominal muscles you must improve their nerve and blood supply. Fail to do this and you can do thousands of sit-ups, crunches etc and still take forever to change the muscle strength.

If the nerve or blood supply is compromised, the abdominal muscles will lose power and strength. Abdominal exercises will then fail to change the muscle. This change in nerve and blood supply can come from various structural changes in the lower back or pelvis. It can also happen from chronic abdominal weakness and the supply changes because of habit. The nerve and blood supply to the abdominals can be stimulated with various reflexes; one is on the inside of the thigh. If you rub your inner thigh and it is tender compared to rubbing elsewhere. Then chances are the nerve supply at least is lower than it should be.

The low back and pelvis can be corrected using simple stretches and joint mobility methods to re-balance the pelvis and lower back. Lower back pain is commonly caused by both weaker abdominal muscles combined with minor joint disruption in the area.

Either way, both situations can be changed and then the abdominals will strengthen easily and quickly if you stretch the opposite functioning muscles and improve blood and nerve supply. Lower back pain is easily corrected if you target the right mechanisms that create it. Weakened abdominals is one of most common causes of low back pain, especially chronic lower back pain.

Back Stretching Exercises - Make This Pain Go Away!

Back pain can be one of the most painful and uncomfortable feelings we lug around with us every day. Does this sound familiar? Back pain is an ailment that should be taken very seriously. A great deal of times, back pain is the starting symptom to a much more serious injury. Therefore, we want to make sure we are performing back stretching exercises to see if we can work it our ourselves, or it might just be time for a visit to the doctor.

When performing back stretching exercises, be careful not to over exert yourself or to put to much of a workload on yourself. You can cause more damage than good and you may in fact be stuck on the floor not able to get up from the exercises I am recommending for you. At any rate, just start slowly and work yourself into a nice steady, but controlled routine.

Here are a few exercises you can begin with:

1. Lie on the floor, back facing down, knees bent upwards, feet flat on the floor.
2. Grab the back side of your thighs and pull your legs towards you until a comfortable stretch is achieved.
3. Hold this pose for approximately 10 to 15 seconds and slowly return to starting position.
4. Repeat this exercise for 15 repetitions

Next, I would try this one:

1. Lie on the floor, back facing down, knees bent upwards, feet flat on the floor.
2. Push the small of your back down and into the floor by tightening your lower abs
3. Hold this pose for approximately 10 to 15 seconds and slowly return to starting position.
4. Repeat this exercise for 15 repetitions

While these are a few basic back stretching exercises that you can try, there are many more out there to be found. Feel free to find others that work and are comfortable for you. Properly stretching your back and removing the pain you are encountering can be wonderful. If you are serious about your health, don't procrastinate any longer!

Got Back Pain? - Check Out These 4 Lower Back Exercises For Relief

Your lower back is one of the most aggravating spots on the body to get pain. Nevertheless when cared for in the correct way your low back pain will go away for good. This is where lower back exercises come to the rescue. If performed on a regular basis these exercises will not only get rid of back problems but they will also prevent them form returning.

The further bonus of back exercises is that they help to strengthen the whole body. If your back injury is fresh you should start out with lower back stretches and work your way up to the back strengthening exercises we outline below.

Remember to consult your doctor ahead of attempting these or any other exercises for lower back pain.

Just some quick reminders before you get cracking:- put on comfortable attire that you can bend and stretch in without restriction; warm up your core muscles, this is very important; if you get sharp painful sensation at any point in time STOP IMMEDIATELY; keep abdominal muscles tight throughout the workout.

Now that we have that out of the way let us jump right into these back pain exercises:

Back Extensions: Start off by lying down on the floor on your tummy, with your arms by your sides. Following that, lift your shoulder blades and head off the floor. Go up as high as is comfortable for you. Maintain this position for around 5-10 seconds, breathing normally, and then carefully lower the shoulders and head back to the floor. Never tense up your shoulder muscles. Do 5-10 reps.

Back Hyper-extensions: Lay down on your tummy. Then lift your head, left arm and right leg off the floor, as high as you can go comfortably. Keep pose for 5-10 seconds, and come back to beginning position. Repeat the exercise with the opposite arm and leg. Breathe normally for the entire routine. Complete 5-10 reps.

Pelvic Lifts: Begin by just lying down with your back on the floor. Bend knees and keep feet flat on the floor. Contract the abdominal muscles and raise your hip off the floor a few inches, in a curling motion, without raising your buttocks off the ground. Keep the position for about 5-10 seconds, after which you can slowly lower hips back to the ground. Do not forget to breathe normally while keeping the pose. Do 5-10 reps.

Knee Ups: Start out by lying down flat on your back on the floor or any steady surface. Bring up your right knee up to your chest, hold the knee with both your hands, and draw it towards your chest slowly, while holding the left leg in a straight line. Maintain this position for 30 seconds, then let go the leg. Repeat with the left leg. Perform 5-10 repetitions per leg.

Get Your Lower Back in Shape With the Right Treatment

Before getting to know about lower back pain treatment, it is important to know what the lower back is made up of. The lower back also known as the lumbar region is made up of five lumbar vertebrae, which supports the weight of the upper body. This explains why it is an area that can be easily affected when right care is not taken.

Causes And Treatments

There are various reasons that could hinder the proper functioning of your spine. Your spine could be affected due to mechanical problems, injuries, acquired conditions and diseases, infections and tumors.

The degree of pain varies from person to person and situation to situation. Understanding the type, location, and severity of your backache makes it easier to know cause and hence the treatment that needs to be used. Although in most cases the pain goes away within a few days, there are also occasions that require a more extensive medical examination followed by an appropriate treatment. Lower back pain treatments are available to counteract each of these conditions.

A normal backache is usually treated without surgery. However, lower back pain treatment may include medication, exercises and sometimes bed rest for a day or two. Medication included over-the-counter analgesics, anticonvulsants, some antidepressants. Exercise is considered one of the best options for speedy recovery from a hurting back. It helps strengthen the back and abdominal muscles. Some therapists use core stabilization, a bunch of exercises that enables the muscles of your trunk to keep your spine and body stable. These exercises not only enhance posture, balance, strength, and coordinated movement of the body, but also help to protect the body from injury.

Stay Active Stay Pain Free

Studies indicate that those who continue with their activities in spite of their backache showed signs of improvement sooner than those who stayed in bed. There is also another belief that bed rest may worsen the condition, hence it is always good to resume normal activities as soon as possible for a normal pain.

Surgery is the last option only when non-surgical methods have been unsuccessful in back pain treatment. Most surgeries are performed to treat spinal stenosis, a spinal fracture caused by an injury, a spinal infection such as ostemyelitis or an abscess, a spinal tumor or herniated discs. Here it is important to note that in most cases herniated discs can be treated without surgery.

Strengthen Lower Back

If you experience chronic back pain or injury or just have a weak back then it's time to start strengthening your back muscles.

Back pain is usually the cause of weak muscles, and this is most common in the lower back. The muscles that you need to concentrate on strengthening are your core muscles.

Your core muscles are very important for the support and stability of your spine. These muscles include the abdomen, back muscles and buttocks. By strengthening these core muscles you greatly reduce the risk of back injury and in most cases can eliminate back pain all together.

Lower Back Exercises

The Plank: Lie on your stomach, place elbows and forearms on the floor and support your self in a push up like position while balancing on your toes. Hold this pose while tightening your abs.

Wall Squat: Stand with you back against a wall with your feet about a foot or two away from the wall. Slide down into a 90 degree angle and hold this pose.

The Bridge: Lay on your back with your knees bent. Tighten your abs and raise your buttocks off the floor until your body is in a straight line. Hold this pose while keeping your abs tight.

Leg Lifts: Lie on your back with your legs straight. Slowly lift your legs off the floor about a foot or two and then hold while tightening your abs. Slowly lower your legs back down.

Side Plank: Lie on your side and place your elbow and forearm on the floor. Tighten your abs and hold your body up in a straight line. This is just like the plank except on your side.

There are many more exercises that you can do, but these are some of the best and most popular for strengthening your lower back and core muscles.

Spinal & Pelvic Pain Stabilization Exercise

Spinal pain is very common, and has been a frequent topic in my Research Reviews over the years. The estimated lifetime prevalence for cervical (neck) pain is 35-40%, 11-15% for thoracic (mid-back) pain, 60-80% for lumbar (low back) pain, and 15% for pelvic pain. Despite our best efforts clinically and with advanced imaging, the exact cause of most cases of spinal pain remains elusive.

In the early 1990s, Panjabi proposed a mechanism for the development and recurrence of spinal pain. His model focused on spinal stability, which assumes that three subsystems are responsible for the biomechanical stability of the spine - the articular (or passive), muscular (or active), and neural subsystems.

This theory was expanded to include the pelvic joints in the late 1990s (by Vleeming et al.), while other groups were beginning to discover the importance of deep spinal muscles in low back pain patients (the Queensland, Australia physiotherapy group - Jull, Hodges, Richardson, Hides etc.), and developing biomechanical models of the spine which would revolutionize spinal rehabilitation (McGill and colleagues at the University of Waterloo).

Collectively, this work has generated numerous advances in low-tech spinal rehabilitation that has changed the way we approach and treat spinal pain conditions. Stabilization exercise now forms a cornerstone of spinal treatment being administered successfully by many professions.

The aim of this study was to conduct a systematic review of the literature investigating the efficacy of stabilization exercise for spinal and pelvic pain. Randomized clinical trial were included if they met the following inclusion criteria:
participants had to be adults (> 18 years old) with pain in the cervical, thoracic, low back, or pelvic area
symptoms could be referred to the arms or legs
studies had to mention explicitly that at least on group received specific stabilization exercise - described as activating, training, or restoring the function of specific muscles of the spine or pelvis
stabilization exercise could be applied in isolation or with other therapies
at least one of the following outcomes had to be reported: disability, pain, return to work, number of episodes, global perceived effect, or health-related quality of life

All relevant and customary databases were searched, yielding 194 studies, 13 of which met inclusion criteria and were included in the review. The authors provide a study-by-study breakdown, from which the following relevant findings and trends were observed:

overall, there is some evidence that specific stabilization exercise produces modest beneficial effects for people with spinal and pelvic pain
stabilization exercise was, in general, superior to no treatment, or treatments such as usual care and education
the effects of stabilization exercise did not appear to be any greater than effects of spinal manipulation of conventional physiotherapy (but all are considered beneficial)
specific stabilization exercise was not effective in reducing pain or disability in acute low back pain (however, there is some evidence that it can reduce recurrence after an episode of acute low back pain)
specific stabilization exercise is beneficial in the management of chronic low back pain
single trials show promise for stabilization exercise in the treatment of cervicogenic headache, neck pain, and pelvic pain

Conclusions & Practical Application:

Overall, this review indicates that specific stabilization exercise is useful in the treatment of many types of spinal pain.

A few points mentioned above deserve further discussion. First, the fact that stabilization exercise seemed ineffective for acute low back pain shouldn't be a surprise. Those of us who see acute low backs know that these patients respond best to pain relieving interventions like spinal manipulation, acupuncture, electrotherapy, ice etc. Once pain is alleviated, then a stabilization program can begin.

In my experience, a patient who is in pain has little if any interest in properly activating and rehabilitating deep stabilizing muscle function! This observation leads to another point that stabilization exercise seems beneficial in the management of chronic low back pain. Normally these patients have recurrent episodes of back pain that must be managed acutely, and rehabilitated to prevent or reduce chronicity. This seems to be where the stabilization approach fits best according to the current level of evidence.

The final point is that (as always) more quality trials are needed to clarify the role of stabilization in low back pain, and continue to build the evidence base for neck and pelvic pain conditions.

A primary goal of all manual medicine professionals should be to reduce recurrence of spinal pain (does "treat the cause" ring a bell here?). Becoming familiar with the implementation of spinal stabilizing exercise can be a valuable tool in your practice, and your patients will appreciate it. Now that the clinical research is beginning to validate the earlier theoretical work, this approach looks like it will become a mainstay in manual medicine.

The Causes of Extreme Lower Back Pain And How You Can Cure It Successfully

Causes Of Extreme Pains In the Lower Back.

Extreme lower back pain has a number of causes. This type of pain becomes more common as we age. This is due to changes in bone density, muscle strength and disc structure. Although back pain can occur anywhere, it is most common along your lower back in the lumbar region. Quite often, it is due to lifting objects that are too heavy that in turn causes your muscles or ligaments to overstretch generating great pain. Lower back pain may include dull, sharp or persistent pain that may be chronic or acute.

When the spine is overworked, this may cause a disc (connective tissue pad between vertebrae) to rupture or bulge. This type of damaged disc may place pressure on nerves/blood vessels of the spinal cord sending pain signals to the brain as well as generate a malfunction of the body part they innervate.

Extreme lower back pain may also be caused by muscle damage or bone lesions due to injury. Scar tissue may develop from injury that may generate a weak spot. Other causes may include arthritis, osteoporosis, viral infections, joint disease or congenital spine malformations. Being over weight, pregnancy, lack of exercise and improper sleeping positions can contribute to lower back pain as well.

In some cases, extreme lower back pain may be caused due to an internal medical condition. Inflammatory Bowel Syndrome including Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, kidney dysfunction and pancreatitis may contribute to lower back pain. If you are diabetic, you may experience bad back or leg pain related to nerve damage. All of these symptoms require immediate medical attention as this may develop into permanent damage.

Treatments For Extreme Pains In The Lower Back.

With extreme lower back pain, you should be properly diagnosed by a physician to make sure the appropriate treatment is applied. Listed below are some simple treatments that are recommended to get relief from extreme lower back pain.

Rest

More often than not lower back pain is due to some form of muscle strain. Resting the spine for a few days

is good to prevent further damage to your muscles. However, more than a few days of rest will do more harm than good. You will need to begin physical therapy as soon as possible. Exercise is necessary to strengthen the muscles that are damaged.

Anti-inflammatory Medications

Over-the-counter non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) such as aspirin are helpful in reducing the amount of inflammation and decreasing the amount of pain, you may experience. Your doctor may prescribe a stronger NSAID depending on the severity of your pain.

Warm Compresses

Heat packs or a warm bath will help relieve tension in the muscle as well as increase blood circulation to the area. Greater blood circulation to the affected area will bring in more oxygen and nutrients and carry away wastes allowing for rapid healing.

Exercise

The most important part to relieving back pain for the long-term is to exercise. You need to increase muscle strength and flexibility. It's a good idea to consult a chiropractor or physical therapist initially so that you learn the right exercises to do as well as do them properly. Later you can exercise on your own.

Muscle Relaxers

Physicians will sometimes prescribe muscle relaxers to keep your damaged muscle from tensing. This may also happen with other muscles that have not been damaged because they are trying to take over lost function. Either way, this will allow you to continue your exercises with greater ease.

Epidural Steroid Injections

These injections are often used around the spinal nerves to decrease inflammation at the site of damage.

Spinal Surgery

If medications and physical therapies are not giving you the relief you need, you may have to consider surgery. Back surgery is considered the last resort and requires serious consideration. Your doctor will help you determine if this is right for you.

With any kind of back pain that persists, you should see a doctor to get a proper diagnosis. This will determine proper treatment. Even with extreme, severe lower back pain, proper exercise, warm compresses and pain/inflammation medications may work wonders. If the pain isn't responding to these treatments, you may require some form of surgery.