A Quick Easy Treatment For Lower Back Pain
For more than 10 years, Dr. Carol and I have been helping our patients deal with their lower back pain symptoms. One of the simplest tools that we have at our disposal is an easy to learn, and easy to do mobility exercise, Almost every new patient, with lower back pain, that enters our office is taught this exercise. It is so simple that we even teach it to people who claim that they are in too much pain to do ANY exercise. This drill is based on a combination of two yoga poses, the cat and the cow pose. The combination of these two poses, and the transition between them allows the patient to be able to move through their full range of motion in their cervical, thoracic, and lumbar spines, without threat of damage to those areas. I cannot tell you how many people have told me that this exercise alone allows them to start their day without pain. In fact, many of my patients will roll out of bed in the morning and make this the first thing that they do upon waking up.
There are a couple of things to keep in mind though. This is NOT a stretch, so you should not be “holding” any position. When performed correctly, the patient will be in a constant fluid motion, and transitioning slowly from one position to the next. The patient should also feel no pain when performing the exercise. So if pain is noted at the end range of either position, the patient should stop prior to reaching that position of pain. Remember that this exercise is being done to return some of the range of motion that may have been lost due to pain, but should NOT cause any increase in pain.
Move well,
