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olskool said..
At least 4 times a day i need to stretch n relieve pressure in lower back. Similar exercise to Mark. To get a deeper stretch,laying on back cross the upper leg behind the lower knee as you twist. Feet dont need to be on floor. Just where comfortable. You can use your hand to lightly pull down on knees to open n stretch the lower back n glutes.
Cat n Cow are good strengthening exercises. Foam roller is also beneficial.

got it, thanks olskool!,

looked it up, I have been doing cat and cow too, but did not know that was the name!

After that last lower back spasm started being careful to not slouch, also use my hand on a knee for support when I lean over, also had all my gear on the floor so was always bending over at home to pick-up/put-back stuff, so built a small table to hold the gear at home, really helped. At a site now have a small 20 L bag for all the small stuff I need for the board and sail instead of lugging a big duffle bag filled with all kinds of stuff back and forth from the car to the rigging area. Back has been doing good.

No longer a fan of chiropractors. Never helped me in the nearly 5 years I used them. Haven't had back problems since I started doing Pilates.

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philn said..
No longer a fan of chiropractors. Never helped me in the nearly 5 years I used them. Haven't had back problems since I started doing Pilates.

Chiros (DC) are very limited in what they can do technique-wise, but a good DO who practices osteopathic manipulation medicine can do amazing things to fix an issue, so can a good MD who has specializes in sports medicine and learned how to adjust a body like a DO.

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Sandman1221 said..

philn said..
No longer a fan of chiropractors. Never helped me in the nearly 5 years I used them. Haven't had back problems since I started doing Pilates.

Chiros (DC) are very limited in what they can do technique-wise, but a good DO who practices osteopathic manipulation medicine can do amazing things to fix an issue, so can a good MD who has specializes in sports medicine and learned how to adjust a body like a DO.

Everyone's circumstances are different, but in my case DC and DO were just treating the symptoms. The cause was weak core strength. Once I fixed that I no longer needed the palliative care they provided.

i never stretch my back however i use a winch!

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philn said..

Sandman1221 said..

philn said..
No longer a fan of chiropractors. Never helped me in the nearly 5 years I used them. Haven't had back problems since I started doing Pilates.

Chiros (DC) are very limited in what they can do technique-wise, but a good DO who practices osteopathic manipulation medicine can do amazing things to fix an issue, so can a good MD who has specializes in sports medicine and learned how to adjust a body like a DO.

Everyone's circumstances are different, but in my case DC and DO were just treating the symptoms. The cause was weak core strength. Once I fixed that I no longer needed the palliative care they provided.

Good point philin, now that I think about it DCs, DOs, and sports medicine MD never talked to me about how to avoid the issues I had, ie. exercises. Kept me coming back! But one issue, vertebrae in middle of back slipped sideways, was due to picking up 18' kayak to my shoulder in a motel room while bending sideways due to very narrow space between bed and furniture. Did not want to leave kayak on car O/N for fear it would get stolen, had tightness with occasional minor pain in the middle of my back for 6 months before a DO popped vertebrae back into place by using his stomach to push on the rib of the slipped vertebrae.

The other thing I did for my lower back was to move things in the kitchen that I used a lot, from the bottom shelves to chest to head high shelves, what a difference! And when I do need to get something low, bend knees while putting one hand on one knee for back support, that helps a lot too.
Does not help being taller with a relatively longer back.

Finally confirmed what is causing my occasional lower back spasms or milder lower back tightness/pain. I have a lowish chair in my lanai, it is really deep with thick cushions, so I just get my back to touch the rear upright cushion with my calves touching the front of the seat cushion, then as I sit there the thick seat cushion compresses and that lowly causes my lower back to curve and slide forward a little, straining it. Do not feel a problem when in the chair, only hours later when bending my lower back for something do I get a spasm followed by lower back pain and tightness for several days to a week, or a milder symptom of suddenly feeling lower back tightness and pain when bending over for a couple of days. Solution was to put a thick dense cushion up against the rear upright cushion in the chair, that makes me sit more forward in the chair and calves are no longer touching seat cushion. Now my lower back stays straight even when the seat cushion compresses because I am sitting more upright now, instead of leaning back into a deep chair with thick soft cushions. And putting my feet up on a foot rest puts even more strain on my lower back, so will avoid doing that.

So the most recent incident occurred yesterday after sitting in the chair for awhile in the morning drinking coffee, took ibuprofen which helped but not completely, so then remembered Arnica and used that too it helped, today just using Arnica and lower back feels pretty good, no pain when just standing or sitting!

Here is a lower back stretch I use on the 4th day after getting a lower back spasm or just lower back tightness and pain, sitting upright in my lowish lanai chair with feet flat on the floor, I start to lean forward slowly bending at the waist and sliding both hands down my shins while gripping them to give support, do this slowly with elbows moving to the outside of my knees until chest touches thighs and hands are resting on top of arches, try to relax in that position as long as I am comfortable or a few minutes, then when I straighten up I put my hands on my knees and then press/pushup to lift my chest to an upright seated position without using/straining the lower-back. Repeat several times, really helps to loosen up tight muscles in lower back. What I need to remember is to do that stretch when my back feels good! Have a page sized note next to chair to remind me.

20+ years ago I had lower back pain/spasms, which was diagnosed as a weak/sloppy spine. Lots of things can cause your back to spasm, usually the muscles being stressed (which you won't notice) and then turning into a spasm. I simply worked on building my core strength (lots of ways to do that with some research), and my problems went away. I have been doing at a minimum of 2-3 weight workouts a week (20% related to my core) for over 20 years. I am now 77. With that said, I always go through a warmup of sorts before doing anything that involves my back. I do stretch some, but it's more about working and warming the muscles a bit, which does minimize later pain. I believe that at my age, doing toe touches for example puts undue stress/compression on my vertebral discs which is not good, but I do try to maximize my range of motion, just carefully.

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NCUSAGUY said..
20+ years ago I had lower back pain/spasms, which was diagnosed as a weak/sloppy spine. Lots of things can cause your back to spasm, usually the muscles being stressed (which you won't notice) and then turning into a spasm. I simply worked on building my core strength (lots of ways to do that with some research), and my problems went away. I have been doing at a minimum of 2-3 weight workouts a week (20% related to my core) for over 20 years. I am now 77. With that said, I always go through a warmup of sorts before doing anything that involves my back. I do stretch some, but it's more about working and warming the muscles a bit, which does minimize later pain. I believe that at my age, doing toe touches for example puts undue stress/compression on my vertebral discs which is not good, but I do try to maximize my range of motion, just carefully.

Thanks!, good to know. I think my main problem was my posture in the lowish chair with thick compressible cushions, I noticed many times how my lower back would start to bend with butt sliding forward a little as the cushion compresses, but it kinda felt nice as I was drinking my morning coffee, but really just a bad habit that made me hurt later on!

Modified chair so it is not so deep, that puts me in a more upright seated position so that as the seat cushion compresses I do not slide forward but instead stay in position with my butt just sinking straight down into the cushion.

Agree with you about toe touches from a standing position, but in a chair, like I described above, it feels good and I think is safe for my lower back while stretching it out gently.

The other issue I have, is I have a really nice massage chair that I use as a recliner most of the time. From the seat to the head there is a wide deep channel in the back of the chair for the roller assembly to move up and down in. For a long time, years, I just placed a thin pad over the channel in the chair back, as a result my spine was not supported, and while it felt fine I think is was not good, so I put a piece of dense foam in the channel to fill it in (when not using as a massage chair), and just added some less dense foam to level out the chair back left to right so it now gives support to the full length of my spine and back, like a regular recliner would. Will see if that helps, but it felt a little strange at first because I was not used to having my lower back being supported firmly.

The seated pike stretch that I describe above works great, the big difference between the standing pike stretch and seated, in when standing and leaning over the lower back gets stretched while it has to hold onto the hanging upper body, and that creates tension. In contrast, with the seated pike the weight of the upper body is resting on the thighs, allowing the lower back to completely relax and stretch out. 4 sessions, 2-4 min. each, today and lower back is pain free and not using any pain meds, or Arnica gel.

Would that be a good stretch for a disc protrusion?

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Sparky said..
Would that be a good stretch for a disc protrusion?

I would consult with a sports medicine doctor about that. With that said, lots of people have bulging discs, and many do not know it because it does not press on anything sensitive like a nerve.

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philn said..

Sandman1221 said..

philn said..
No longer a fan of chiropractors. Never helped me in the nearly 5 years I used them. Haven't had back problems since I started doing Pilates.

Chiros (DC) are very limited in what they can do technique-wise, but a good DO who practices osteopathic manipulation medicine can do amazing things to fix an issue, so can a good MD who has specializes in sports medicine and learned how to adjust a body like a DO.

Everyone's circumstances are different, but in my case DC and DO were just treating the symptoms. The cause was weak core strength. Once I fixed that I no longer needed the palliative care they provided.

^This!!!
Floppy guts cause a myriad of back probs

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Sandman1221 said..

Sparky said..
Would that be a good stretch for a disc protrusion?

I would consult with a sports medicine doctor about that. With that said, lots of people have bulging discs, and many do not know it because it does not press on anything sensitive like a nerve.

So with that being said you may have to be careful broadly giving advice that people stretch forward (in flexion) because some may have disc injuries which could be worsened by forward flexion? Disc injuries that they may not even know about? Others may have stress fractures in their spines which can be worsened with extension exercises?

I have a tight lower back that can spasm from time to time. I also have had a really hard time with an impinged shoulder which I have seen all manor of medical help for stopping just short of injections and surgery.

I happened across some information written by a retired ortho surgeon which basically outline that if we kept "hanging" we wouldn't have half the issues we have with out bodies caused by modern lifestyle. Basically just do a dead hang for as long as yoy can several time a day, so everything needs to be relaxed apart from your grip, in total hang time you are looking for at least a minute a day. If hanging is too tough initially just take some weight off standing and taking as little weight as you can bare to.

3 weeks in my impingement is almost gone and back never felt better, posture is better and never waking up feeling stiff in my lower back/hips like before...

Food for thought

I often "hang" by putting my hands on a small wall or railing and leaning forward. That way I don't have to grip. Having said that, keeping my grip muscles active during winter is probably a good idea.

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Sparky said..

Sandman1221 said..

Sparky said..
Would that be a good stretch for a disc protrusion?

I would consult with a sports medicine doctor about that. With that said, lots of people have bulging discs, and many do not know it because it does not press on anything sensitive like a nerve.

So with that being said you may have to be careful broadly giving advice that people stretch forward (in flexion) because some may have disc injuries which could be worsened by forward flexion? Disc injuries that they may not even know about? Others may have stress fractures in their spines which can be worsened with extension exercises?

I am just letting people know what worked for me, to each their own! But I like the hanging idea, need to set something up where I can hang out for a minute or two!

As for the seated pike, if you wanted to tie your shoe laces while seated, you would be doing a seated pike essentially, who said tying your shoe laces was bad?

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Sandman1221 said..

Sparky said..

Sandman1221 said..

Sparky said..
Would that be a good stretch for a disc protrusion?

I would consult with a sports medicine doctor about that. With that said, lots of people have bulging discs, and many do not know it because it does not press on anything sensitive like a nerve.

So with that being said you may have to be careful broadly giving advice that people stretch forward (in flexion) because some may have disc injuries which could be worsened by forward flexion? Disc injuries that they may not even know about? Others may have stress fractures in their spines which can be worsened with extension exercises?

I am just letting people know what worked for me, to each their own! But I like the hanging idea, need to set something up where I can hang out for a minute or two!

As for the seated pike, if you wanted to tie your shoe laces while seated, you would be doing a seated pike essentially, who said tying your shoe laces was bad?

Do you tie your laces with both legs together and straight out in front of you? I bend my knees.

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Sparky said.. Others may have stress fractures in their spines which can be worsened with extension exercises?

Fixed easily with Six10.

Guys !
Poor Sandman .

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remery said..
I often "hang" by putting my hands on a small wall or railing and leaning forward. That way I don't have to grip. Having said that, keeping my grip muscles active during winter is probably a good idea.

it's amazing how quickly my grip strength/stamina has improved doing this hanging business hasn't taken long at all, and I notice it when sailing also so win win on that front!

So went to have my coffee in the modified chair this morning, and saw my "Stretch Back" note, so did that first thing using seated pike, lower back was kinda tight after laying flat all night, did the stretch 2X and back feels good and I find I am standing, and sitting straighter on a stool (no back support), without thinking about it.

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Sandman1221 said..
So went to have my coffee in the modified chair this morning, and saw my "Stretch Back" note, so did that first thing using seated pike, lower back was kinda tight after laying flat all night, did the stretch 2X and back feels good and I find I am standing, and sitting straighter on a stool (no back support), without thinking about it.

So you took part in a randomized control trial?

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Sparky said..

Sandman1221 said.

So you took part in a randomized control trial?

Certainly not randomized, and no controls, just a one off! Off course the fear of having another spasm may have convinced me to sit straight!

Best thing you can do for your back is to start lifting weights. Good technique, below parallel barbell back squats; deadlift; bent-over barbell rows. Basically "strong lift 5x5" program. If you sit a lot, do couch stretch daily.

What I am finding is if I do a seated pike stretch 1st thing in the morning I sit straight even when on a stool with no back support. Starting to think I was subconsciously stretching my lower back in seats with and without back support by slouching. Problem is that with that type of lower back stretching there is a load on the lower back (upper body), while with the seated pike stretch there is no load because upper body is supported by the thighs and when coming out of the stretch I use my arms to lift my upper body off my thighs, so again no load on stretched out lower back.