This video, I'm going to show you how to fix your lower back
and hip pain for good. Stay tuned.
Hey, everyone. Dr. Rowe coming to you from SpineCare in
St. Joseph, Michigan. In this video, we're going to go over
easy exercises that can give both quick and long-lasting
relief for lower back and hip pains and to make it easy, I'm
going to break the video up into three separate parts. Each
part works differently. They're going to target different
muscles but they are meant to work together and also in
order. Start with the first one, work your way towards the
last. As a bonus, all of the exercises can be done at home
require no special equipment you may find get quick relief
even within 30 seconds. So, with that being said, let's get
started. So, let's start with a combination exercise that's
going to help loosen and warm the muscles up. Get some good
blood flow in there and hopefully some quick pain
relief. For this one, we need a soft round object like a tennis
ball. Something that is going to roll against a wall. So, a
note with this exercise. As we do it, we're only going to
apply enough pressure into the ball with our body weight where
it's going to be a comfortable self massage not causing any
discomfort and we're also only going to go over muscle not
over the spine because that can cause irritation. So, let's get
into position. We're going to take our ball and we're going
to place it right over the spot that we're having muscle pain
or a lot of tightness, maybe like a big muscle knot. So, in
this case, maybe off to my left side. We're then going to put
our backside against a wall. You want to have it supported
as much as you can and then, we're going to get into a
squatting position. So, have your feet slightly out in front
of you, legs roughly hip with apart, place all of your body
weight onto your heels. From here, very straightforward.
We're going to do what is called a wall sit or a wall
squat. So, we're just going to bend our knees and squat down
very slightly. With this one though, only go down an inch or
two. We're not trying to go into a full squat. We're just
trying to warm these muscles up very slowly and very gently.
So, it shouldn't feel like there's a lot of exertion with
it but as you go down, what you're going to feel is a
really good self massage because that ball is going to
roll over that muscle. Usually feels really good. When you
feel that, just hold this for a second or two and then come
back up like this and just slowly roll over that spot
roughly about 10 times and afterwards, see how you feel.
If it's pretty loose, just switch it over a different spot
and repeat as needed but if it feels like that spot's being
really stubborn and doesn't want to release, this is how we
can take it to the next level. So, let's squat back down and
hold this position but let's take our hips and rock them
from side to side like this, kind of like a pendulum. What
the do is hit those muscle fibers just a little bit
differently and you may find it finally releases but you can
also just put it over a spot and do circular motions with
your hips you can do diagonal experiment with it it's only
going to loosen those muscles up even more and engage them in
a different way and hopefully give us some better results so
if you have a lot of pain off to the side right here this is
how we can pinpoint that let's take our ball right here this
time around instead of putting the whole backside flush
against it just angle your body into the ball like this and
then repeat that squatting motion so this one usually
feels really really good off to the side so give that one a try
and I would recommend to targeting the side of the hip
this way like this because we want to target around that area
especially over the glutes and making sure to go completely
over the cheek area but explore it on both sides left and right
go over any spot that needs it a little bit more and keep
repeating this through different spots and motions
until everything is warmed up and loosened up So, if you're
looking to get long-lasting pain relief, your best bet is
to strengthen the muscles that support the hips and the lower
back. Here's a really easy exercise that you can do daily
in bed or on a floor. To get into position, we're going to
lie flat on our back, have our knees bent roughly at 90
degrees. Take your hands, overlap them, put them over one
knee. What you want to do is try to drive this knee backward
towards your head like this but resist against that movement
with your hands. You're go to feel the top of the thighs
really start to fire. This is going to help engage the hip
flexors which if you're unfamiliar with them a big
instigator of hip and lower back pain. Challenge yourself
to press back as much as you can. Hold this comfortably for
5 seconds. You're going to relax and now what you're going
to do is straighten that knee lowering your leg downward like
this. The key though is not to let your calf or your heel
touch. Let it hover above the bed of the floor roughly about
an inch or two. You're going to feel the core muscles start to
engage. It's really important that we focus on strengthening
the front, the core right here because it will likewise help
support the hips and the back even more. You're going to hold
this comfortably for five seconds and then come back up
and then repeat on the other side. You want to do this whole
complete cycle for five repetitions on both sides and
with each repetition, challenge yourself to build into it just
a little bit more. So, let's take this one to the next level
and focus a little bit more on the lower back and the glutes.
So, this is called the clamshell bridge. We're going
to take our feet and press them together and gently press into
the bed or the floor with our feet. You're going to take your
knees and drive them outward as much as you can. You should
feel a really good stretch forming on the inner part of
your thighs towards the groin and the hips. So, what we're
going to do is hold this position and we're going to
brace our core. It's kind of like taking our belly button
towards our spine and then we're going to squeeze our
glutes. You can take your hands, put them off to your
side like this or on the bed or the floor for support but
you're just going to drive your hips and pelvis upward towards
the ceiling as much as you can. If you have a lot of weakness
or tightness, you may only be able to go up an inch or two.
Do the best you can. With each repetition, try to build into
it just a little bit more but in this position, you're going
to feel a lot of muscles start engage the core, lower back,
but more importantly, the glutes. The glutes are pretty
much the main muscle that you want to focus on if you're
having either hip or lower back pain. It's a huge stabilizer
for both areas. You want to hold this comfortably for 5
seconds. You're going to relax and then you're going to repeat
this five to ten times and with each repetition, again, try to
build into it just a little bit more and if it feels like you
have a little bit more energy, you can always throw in another
set or two. So, this next strengthening exercise is going
to target the glutes but also another muscle called the
quadratus lumborum or the QL which is a big instigator of
lower back and hip pain. The great part about this exercise
is you can do it standing and every time you go up and down
the stairs. Just go to the bottom step. You're going to
place one foot on the step, the other one is going to go off.
Doesn't matter which side is up because we're going to do it on
both but the key with this exercise is whatever side is
off let's say it's my right side right here we're going to
drive that hip upward towards the ceiling as much as we can
focusing on moving through the hips only so we're not trying
to bend the back away like this the more that you drive that
hip upward the more that you're going to feel the muscles off
to the side right here start to engage including the quadratus
lumborum you should focus on feeling it from the bottom of
the ribs into the lower back towards the hip you're going to
hold this comfortably for five set and now we're going to take
this one to the next level by going in reverse so we're going
to again move through our hip lowering our foot this time
down towards the floor as much as we can if you have a pretty
short step don't let your heel or foot touch let it hover just
slightly above this time around you're going to feel a really
good stretch on the other side you're going to hold this
comfortably for five seconds relax and then repeat this 5 to
10 times and with each repetition try to build into it
just a little bit more and then from there, you're going to
switch to the other side and repeat to keep everything in
balance but this one you can do daily every time that you go up
and down the stairs. Here's an easy stretching exercise that
can give instant lower back and hip pain relief. This one is
perfect to do throughout the day anytime you need it but
it's also really good to do after the strengthening
exercises to keep the muscles loose and hopefully avoid
soreness. This one is called the ballerina and you're going
to see here in just a second why we call it that. So,
whatever side that you having pain. Let's say a lot off to
your right side. You're going to take that side's leg and put
it over the other one just like this. So, your feet and toes
are pointed straight ahead. You're going to take the hand
on the other side. So, in this case, it's my left hand and
stabilize that hip. You're going to take your other hand
and put it overhead just like this. Now, you know why we call
it the ballerina. Movement from here, very easy. We're going to
move through our waist and tilt our lower back and upper back
towards the other side towards the non-painful side. So, I'm
going towards my left. As you do this, you're going to feel a
deep opening stretch form pretty much from the bottom of
the ribs into the lower back towards the hip. It hits that
quadratus lumborum muscle really well. You want to go to
a point where it's a comfortable stretch. If you
start to feel pain back off slightly and then you're going
to hold this one for 20 to 30 seconds but if it feels good,
you can hold it for longer and do nice, slow, controlled
breathing. Let out as much tension as you can. From there,
you're just going to relax and then you're going to repeat
this three times and with each repetition try to deepen that
stretch just a little bit more if you want to take this one to
the next level this is what you can do as you get into that
stretch take your hand on the non-painful side and now drive
your hips towards the painful side so I'm pressing my hips
towards my right this will really intensify it so only go
to your comfort level give that one a try but afterwards switch
to the other side and repeat to keep everything imbalance if
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