Back Pain Relief Routine You Can Do At Home

Many struggling with lower back pain will resort to stretches and practices that do not help the lower back injury at the root cause of their problem. Unfortunately they fall into this trap of chasing ever-diminishing short term relief at the expense of longer term recovery. This is because the practices fail to consider the problem at the root cause of low back pain, buttock pain or sciatica.?

This routine is designed with good spine health in mind, as such it is a routine that is designed to relieve the strain that is at the root cause of your lower back injury. It provides relief for the low back injury.

To watch the full video click here.

How to do the back pain relief routine

This routine is a great option for daily practice, you can complete the routine 2 to 3 times a day or more frequently if you are in more pain. It is going to have a cumulative effect, in that as you do it more, its benefit will build. It takes around 10 minutes to complete so it is perfect to fit in throughout your day.

The video above is a live demonstration of the routine that you can literally follow along with with all of the timings taken care of!

Mobilising the hips for back pain relief

The first part is about stretching the muscles of the hips in a way that does not make your lower back injury worse. For these stretches there are common mistakes that people do not realise they’re making which we’ll cover below. For each stretch you’re holding it for 30 seconds, relaxing into the stretch.?

Hamstring stretch for back pain relief

The mistake people make here is that they round their lower back over and reach down towards their toes. This flexes the lumbar spine, bending it in a way that is not good for injuries.

Hip Flexor stretch for back pain relief

The mistake people make here is that they arch the lower back, which can spell trouble if you have injuries particularly at the last joint in the low back, this error can immediately give you sharp back or sciatica pain.

Glute stretch for back pain relief

This stretch is commonly done with a twist and forward bend in the lower back, similar to the hamstring stretching mistake. This is not a good movement to be doing when you’re in the midst of low back pain.

How these stretches help relieve your lower back pain

These stretches are there to keep your hips as mobile as possible, this is a short term benefit but when you do it without making the mistakes above, you are able to give the hips a little bit more mobility for the short term. This means that your lower back has to do less work, which decreases the moment to moment strain. For these stretches, the mistakes mean that movement leaks into the lower back, first at L5/S1 and then into L4/L5, the two most common root causes of low back pain.

Providing the stretching benefit without the aggravation from the mistakes is a great first step!

Stretching the low back for relief from back pain

These next two stretches work in two distinct ways, both of which take pressure off the discs in the lower back, and create a little more space without large amounts of inappropriate movement. They allow you to target the cause of lower back pain by taking pressure off the discs in the low back, particularly L4/L5 and L5/S1.?

They are gentle, safe stretches that help give your discs a breather. They are load bearing structures and it is the load of daily life that challenges them. So being able to periodically provide a rest is very helpful!?

Bed decompression to stretch the low back safely

This stretch across the bed is a great one to provide a gentle pumping decompression of the lower back that you are in control of. It mimics the way in which IDD therapy or “spinal decompression” works in the clinic and provides you an at home way to help regularly decompress your lower back, you’ll feel a slight ache in the lower back as the stretch comes on.

Towel decompression to safely stretch your low back

The towel decompression is a great one to take pressure off the discs in the low back, the muscles and ligaments of the lower back and support the natural lordosis – the backward bending curve in the lower back. This natural lordosis is constantly under attack from daily life, especially in those that spend a lot of time sitting every day. The flattening of the lower back curve creates tension in the low back muscles and ligaments as well as squashing the discs more.?

By alleviating the tension in that low back, in this safe way, you’re able to avoid the need to use measures such as knee hugs or child’s post, stretches that feel nice but are far inferior to the towel decompression!

Bonus tools for back pain relief

When you finish this routine a great extra tool to help manage the excess inflammation in the low back is the use of icing, or preferably contrast bathing. This helps prevent congestion in the lower back that builds up around the nerves causing pain, stiffness and other sensations you might be feeling in the leg associated with “sciatica”. If you want to learn more about this you can check out the full step by step guide on contrast bathing for lower back pain and sciatica.

Another great tool that you can do before this routine to help with the muscle tension is the use of massage guns, far superior to self massage, foam rollers or massage balls. They are well worth the investment and are very accessible these days. If you have one check out the full live routine on how to use a massage gun for back pain relief.

Long term back pain relief

It’s all well and good doing this routine, it is a great back health routine and way to provide that relief from back pain and sciatica safely. However, you must marry this routine with proper strengthening work to safeguard your lower back, and direct the rehabilitation process. Too many do not partake in the proper rehab work for fear of making things worse, but it is the only way to get long term results! We know this from thousands of members and patients over the years. If you need more help with this and how to get started with strengthening work, check out the free 80 minute fixing back pain masterclass or join the membership to the Back In Shape Program.