Article dedicated to all back pain sufferers.

What’s the best way to eliminate the intense physical pain that accompanies back problems?

You’re suffering from bank pain and you have questions.

Despite the hundreds of books and web sites on back pain, “you still need answers”

• Has lower back problems descended upon your life as an unwelcome visitor?

   

• Are you confused as you pain continues to rage out of control?

   

• Are you searching for the best strategies to overcome your back problems?

   

Lower Back Pain affect nearly every one of us at some stage in our lives. To most people low back pain remains a mystery, when in pain we are usually unable to think clearly about our back problem, and simply seek relief from people with particular skills – doctors, chiropractors or physiotherapists – for treatment but in the end only you can really help yourself. Self-treatment such as lower back exercises is now more widely accepted, and will be more effective in the long-term treatment of your back problems than any other form of treatment.

The human backbone or spine is one of the most important and complex structures in your body. They are more than 30 bones of the spine, called the vertebrae, and stacked one on top of the other like a column similar to a stack of cotton spools. There are seven vertebrae in the neck (cervical region), twelve in the upper back (thoracic region), and five vertebrae in the lower back (lumbar region). Special cartilages, called the discs, separate the vertebrae. These discs are similar to rubber washers and act as shock absorbers. These circular, flattened structures are covered with a tough, fibrous lining and filled with fluid. They are able to alter their shape, allowing movement of one vertebra on another and of the back as a whole.

The vertebrae and discs are linked by a series of joints to form the lumbar spine or lower back. Each joint is held together by its surrounding soft tissues, reinforced by ligaments. These ligaments are strong and flexible strands of elastic tissue that look like rubber bands. They come in a variety of widths and lengths, and help to support the vertebrae while protecting the spinal column against sudden heavy blows and jarring.

Muscles lie over one or more joints of the lower back and extend upwards to the trunk and downwards to the pelvis. There are literally thousands of muscles in the back that move and support the spine. Keeping these muscles strong, flexible, and properly balanced with back exercises is the key to eliminating your back pain.

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The purpose of these exercises is to abolish pain and, where appropriate, to restore normal function - that is, to regain full movement and mobility in the low back as much as possible under the given circumstances. While performing any exercises for back pain relief, you should move to the edge of pain or slightly into the pain, then release the pressure and return to the starting position; but when you are exercising for stiffness or to regain lost movement, you should try to obtain the maximum amount of movement, and to achieve this you may have to move well into the pain

Postural correction and maintenance of the correct posture should always follow the exercises. Even when you no longer have lower back pain and for the rest of your life, good postural habits are essential to prevent the recurrence of your back problems.

Lower back stretches is a powerful way to relieve pain from the muscles in your back. It develops flexibility of the spine and creates the conditions for your back to heal. It is probably the most singular and important exercise activity you can perform to ensure that your back will be healthy for years to come. Stretching helps to get rid of back pain, as well as to prevent it. Stretching is very effective for chronic and degenerative conditions of the spine, or for injuries and traumas that have been sustained over a long period of time.

With any type of pain in the lower back the muscles tend to go into painful spasms. This is a protective mechanism of the body to keep you from moving your spine. At this time the muscles in the lower back are in a state of constant contraction and tension, and the muscle tissue tends to become swollen and congested, blood vessels become choked and constricted, toxins accumulate resulting in inflammation. Low back stretches helps relieve these conditions and painful spasms. Stretching helps open up muscle tissue, blood supply and oxygen delivery are improved and toxins are eliminated.

It's important to note when you stretch a specific muscle group in your back, you are also strengthening other muscles as well. Every opposing muscle in your body gets strengthened when you stretch its counterpart. It's impossible not to get stronger even if you're only concentrating on stretching alone. Even if you are at the moment suffering from low back pain, you can begin to stretch the muscles in your spine right now. Starting out slowly and gently, you can gradually increase the stretching as your back begins to loosen up and improve.

Important: Pain is the body's way of telling you that something is wrong. If pain occurs at any time during any stretching exercise, ease back until the pain goes away. If necessary stop and rest a while. Also if you have persistent pain going down either leg, a condition known as sciatica, avoid bending forward until the pain goes away. With any acute back problems, try to avoid bending forward until your back feels much better. Stick to stretches that involve gentle backward bending.

Before starting any back strengthening exercises, It is important to make sure that all injuries have had sufficient time to heal. For this rest is required. After rest, comes stretching, It's important to note never perform any exercises to strengthen the back before a full range of motion has been restored to your back through systematic stretching.

Strengthening exercises involves the contracting of muscles, and when these back muscles contract, they exert a tremendous pulling force on the joints and opposing muscle groups. Over time, muscles that are repetitively contracted do get stronger, but they also get shorter and tighter and more stiff if they are not also systematically stretched.

The exercises that will help and strengthen your lower back involve the leg muscles, the gluteal muscles which are located in the buttocks, the abdominal muscles, and the back muscles themselves. This is because the largest and most strongest muscles, which are also the most critical for movement and mobility, are located in the lower part of your body.

You can do simple and practical exercises to strengthen your back in the midst of your daily activities. These can be done at home, at your desk at work, playing your favorite sport, or while you work out at your local health club or gym.

Walking

Walking should be one of the first exercises attempted after recovering from a back injury or strain. It is one of the most natural exercises you can do. Walking builds up the legs which are essential to support the spine. The stronger your legs are, the more support there is for your spine.

Swimming

If you have access to a pool, swimming can be an excellent exercise for building up the overall health of your back. There is no weight on your spine while swimming, which in turn reduces the risk of strain, or injury on your back. Also swimming involves a lot of stretching of the arms and legs, so it can give you a very good workout without tightening up the muscles in you back.

Jogging

A good jogging program can be very helpful for the health of your back. It's important to stretch before and after jogging, because the back and leg muscles become very tight, which can result in further back problems. If you decide to jog, try to start out with as slow and comfortable a pace as possible.

Cycling

If you enjoy cycling, either stationary or moving, this helps build up the muscles in your legs, which help to support your spine. The only problem with cycling is that it involves sitting in a bent over position, which in turn can increase the pressure on the discs, and bending forward is even harder on your back. You should adjust your seat and handlebars to minimize the bending over position of your spine, and start of slowly say 5-10 minutes each day for 2 weeks, and then double the time if all is going well with your back. After all slow and steady wins the races.

Apart from stretching and strengthening your back muscles, regular exercise benefits your back in a variety of other important ways. It has been shown to lead to weight loss, which decreases the stresses and strains on your spine, Improves self-esteem and overall appearance, and provides added energy to your body. Weight loss helps to improve posture and eases the pressure on the lower spine. Exercise also improves cardiovascular health, with improved blood vessel tone and greater strength and endurance of the pumping muscles of the heart. This leads to increased blood flow to the back with greater oxygen and nutrient delivery to the tissues and cells of the spinal musculature. Increased blood flow also leads to improved removal of cellular metabolic waste products which also promotes the healing of your back pain.

Many people become so intimidated by back pain and refuse to do anything about it, and as a consequence suffer relapse after relapse. Many other people try to become too active too soon after back injury, which only results in further back problems. It all comes down to knowing how much to move and when. I f you get into the habit of listening to your body on a regular basis, and apply the right exercise techniques, you will be able to get rid of your lower back pain, and have a more flexible spine than ever before.