Starting off with a seated hip flexion, seated trunk rotation, and different arm movements will help loosen up the muscles.
Then beginning with exercises, pelvic tilts and bridges do a great job of strengthening the hips and back as well as stretch the areas out.
Next, go into stretches after the muscles have been moving with a supine trunk rotation, knee to chest, and a hamstring stretch in long sitting. These will help loosen tight muscles around the back and hips.
Now, go to all fours, or quadruped for a cat/cow or cat/dog and a prayer stretch or child’s pose.
Finally in a seated position, a thoracic side bend and deep breathing with a jumping jack motion will help the mid to upper back as well.
Percussive Massage Therapy using a massage gun (aka percussion massager) for back pain relief uses fast, soft pulses over a short amount of time to get deep down into the muscle fibers.
In this video, I teamed up with Dr. Jen, a pelvic floor physical therapist who also happens to be pregnant! She'll show you her top 5 exercises to help relieve low back pain when you are pregnant by mobilizing and stabilizing the pelvis.
Mid back pain can make it difficult to perform everyday activities. Here are some of my favorite mid back stretches and exercises to help relieve the pain.
Lower back pain can often be relieved, and even prevented, by strengthening the core. So here are progression exercises to help strength the core in the front, side, and back.
One of the most effective back pain relief stretches is the prayer stretch, also known as child’s pose. However, this popular stretch can be challenging for those who cannot get down on the floor or put pressure on their knees. Fortunately, there is an excellent alternative: the seated rolldown stretch. This modification provides a comprehensive back and whole body stretch without the need to kneel or lie on the floor.
Upper back pain or thoracic area pain is sometimes caused by trigger points or muscle knots. Trigger points are basically when a specific area on a muscle gets irritated and tightens up into a ball or knot.
The biggest myth about back arthritis pain relief is that exercise makes the condition worse. However, this couldn't be further from the truth. One of the most beneficial exercises for back arthritis is bridging. Bridge exercises are great to do every day, but make sure to progress slowly so it doesn’t get inflamed.
For a herniated disc, to relieve the back pain, you want to do extension exercises and stretches to help push the disc back into the space in your spine.
Therapeutic Yoga can help relieve back pain by incorporating physical therapy & yoga. Trudy, a fellow PT & registered yoga teacher, stops by to show me stretches & exercises for back pain relief.
This 20-minute back pain relief stretching & exercise routine is done in real-time so it’s easy to follow along. Since back & hip muscles are often the same groups of muscles, it may also help relieve hip pain.
