Hi, it’s Dr. Cicala from Balance Living Chiropractic in Rochester Hills, Michigan. I have a lot of patients who come in with lower back pain, and I just want to show you what I show them in terms of doing some home exercises that can help with lower back pain, sciatica, and disc herniations.
The adjustment is very important. Decompression is very important. We’ve got to get those things in there to get patients better. But doing exercises for the lower back will help you get better faster and possibly even prevent you from having to come see myself or another chiropractor.
We’re going to do four exercises. I would tell you to do them in order to get the back warmed up.
Donkey Kicks
The first thing we’re going to do is what we call a donkey kick. You’re going to go on all fours, just like so, and raise one leg up, kind of like that, and bring it back down. Then you’re going to do the other leg.
You’re going to alternate these legs back and forth, just like that, for sets of 10—five on each side. I would do three to five sets of those on a daily basis.
That’s, to me, step number one. That’s going to help open up the pelvis, get the lower back moving gently, and help get the core stronger as well.
Bird Dogs
The second thing we’re going to do is cat-cow. I lied—the second thing we’re going to do is bird dog.
For bird dog, you’re going to start in the same position. Go opposite arm, opposite leg. Hold that for a second, bring it back in, and go to the other side—opposite arm, opposite leg—and bring it back in.
Same thing as the first one: We’re going to do sets of 10. We’re going to do about three to five sets of those.
You start with the donkey kick, and then you move to the bird dog.
Cat-Cow Stretch
The third one is going to be the cat-cow stretch. This is a very common stretch that people may already know if they have a disc issue. It’s very important that we’re isolating the pelvis and the lower back as we’re doing this stretch.
Again, you’re going to be in an all-fours position. Keep yourself nice and neutral, and then start to rock the pelvis in and bring it back out. It’s not a quick motion—just a nice, fluid motion in and out like that.
You should feel a nice stretch in that lower back, opening up the disc. You’re going to keep pumping like that. You’ll probably do this for about 30 seconds at a time, and that will help open up the disc.
Cobra Stretch
If you go through those three stretches and things seem like they’re feeling better and you’re not getting exacerbated, you can go into a cobra stretch.
However, if you are in a very acute situation with lots of sharp pain, I would hold off on this one.
For the cobra stretch, you’re going to start by lying down. You’re going to bring yourself up and try to bring your arms straight, with your head up. You’re going to hold it like this for 20 or 30 seconds, and then you’re going to come back down.
What to Do if the Exercises Exacerbate Your Symptoms
The combination of those four stretches can help open up your disc, open up your lower back, get the back pain to start to decrease, and help with herniated discs, sciatica, and those types of things.
If you have not tried those, again, go in that order. If they exacerbate your symptoms, you probably want to stop at that point and maybe go back to them later in the day.
If all that stuff does not fix you or help you within a week or so, I would suggest that you come see a chiropractor—either myself or someone out there—and we would love to help you with that lower back pain, herniated disc, or sciatica.
