Are you suffering from a lower back pain? This could be due to an injury to a muscle or a ligament or fracture, improper lifting of weights, bad posture, lack of exercise, or even arthritis. In most such cases, the pain goes away on its own but at times it persists and may need physiotherapy or other treatment. Here are a few exercises which may help you ease the pain. We spoke to Dr. Rajesh Pal, leading physiotherapist on Lybrate who explained two exercises good for reducing lower back pain.
Back Extensions: Lie on your stomach, with arms behind your head, or stretched forward. Now, arch your back up. Stay in this position for about 10 seconds. And repeat. This will increase your ability to coordinate movement via your lower back.
Bottom-To-Heels Stretch: While kneeling on all fours, with the knees under your hips and hands under your shoulders, slowly move your bottom back towards the heels. Take a deep breath while holding on to this position, and then return to normal. You can repeat this 8–10 times. This will help you to stretch the spine and mobilise it.
Dr Shruti Bangera, Senior SME-physiotherapy, Portea Medical, added a few more. Hamstring stretches, bridging, and the lower-back twist.
Hamstring Stretches: Lie on your back and bend one knee. Put a towel beneath the ball of the foot on the unbent leg. Slowly, pull the towel back while straightening your knee. When you feel a slight stretch at the back of your leg, hold on to the position for about 15 seconds. Repeat 2–4 times for each leg. This exercise relieves the back of the leg, which has some muscles that support the working of the lower back, thus improving the overall functionality of your back.
Bridging: Lie with your back to the floor, bending the knees and only heels touching the floor. Lift the hips to the shoulder level until shoulders, hips, and knees fall in a straight line. Be in this position for about six seconds. Rest for about 10 seconds once you come back to the relaxing position. Repeat. This exercise is highly beneficial as it helps strengthen the hamstrings, buttocks, abdomen, and hips, all of which are support systems for the lower back.
Lower Back Twist: Lie on your back while bending your knees and feet flat on the floor. Extend your arms out to the side in a ‘T’ position. Keeping the shoulders on the ground, gently roll both knees to one side. Stay in this position for about 30 seconds and return to the original position. You can also place a pillow under the knees while twisting to each side if the exercise is difficult the first time. How this will help you: This exercise helps to stretch the lower back and glutes.