hey everybody it's Doctor Jo, and today
I'm going to show you five simple
treatments for back pain. so let's get started.
so the first one is just gonna be a simple
pelvic tilt. pelvic tilts are great for
the spine, for the low back, just to get
everything loosened up, but in a soft
gentle way. so with a pelvic tilt, you
want to prop your knees up. and the goal
is you're tilting your pelvis, that's
what I was called a pelvic tilt, to
flatten out your back, but you're not
using your legs to do it. you're using
your core muscles and your pelvic
muscles to do it. so if I am pushing and
my bottom comes up off of the floor, then
that's using my legs and that's not
really doing the pelvic tilt. so
sometimes if you want to put your hands
underneath the curve of your spine just
so you can feel yourself pushing down on
it, you can, but what you want to do is
just tighten up those muscles, and you
should be able to see that pelvis kind
of tilting back, flattening out my back.
so once you get there, then you're gonna
try and hold it for about three to five
seconds, and then relax, and do about five times
just to start off with. but then you can
work your way up to ten to fifteen, and
if you get to that many and it's pretty
easy then you can probably move on to
something else. so the next thing is
going to be a bridge. for a bridge, you're
still in the same position, but this time
you're using your glutes and your
hamstrings to activate to start
strengthening some of those areas which
help with low back pain. so when I go up
into a bridge, a couple things you want
to do. you want to make sure you go one
segment at a time. so you're not just
popping up and coming back down. you're
really controlling that movement and
you're also driving your knees forward
when you come up. so you're not just
bringing your your bottom up like this,
you're kind of driving those knees out
in front of you to bring the hips up. and
you don't have to stop at each segment,
but you can make it smooth, but that's
kind of how you want to go one segment
at a time nice and smooth coming down.
and you should really get a nice squeeze
at the end. get those glutes activated
because those are so important
when you have back pain. if those are
weak a lot of times that you have back
pain. so another great treatment is to
relax those deep spinal muscles along
your spine and a great way to do that is
kind of with trigger points. and so what
you want to do is really get on specific
spots that are painful and just press on
them and relax your body and just let
those muscles relax. there's a couple of
different ways to do that. you can use a
lacrosse ball, you can use a foam roller,
but the folks that vital spark sent me
their cordus. and the reason this is
really really cool and I like it, as you
can see that there's a space in between
here for where your actual spinal column
goes, where the spinal processes go in
there. so sometimes with something like a
lacrosse ball, you're just getting one
side or with a foam roller it's getting
the the whole spine itself, but this
allows it so you're not getting pressure
on the spine you're actually getting the
pressure on the muscles on the outside
of the spine, and that's what you're
looking for those deep spinal muscles.
what's also really cool about this is it
has the three different spots. so you've
got your cervical one this this kind of
set so it gets those because all the
spinal column is different in those
segments. it has the dorsal area which is
our thoracic area or down into the
sacrum, and then it has the lumbar one
which is bigger which of course because
those vertebrae down there are bigger. so
it's nice because it has those different
options, but make sure if you get this
that you check out their manual because
they have very specific instructions for
this. this is something that if you're, if
you don't use it right, you're probably
gonna end up being more sore. so I'm
going to show you just briefly how to do
it, but make sure and read everything
because there's also some
contraindications that you might not
want to use this if you have that. but
there's a lot of things that it helps
for for back pain, spinal stenosis,
sciatica, things like that. so it's a
really good tool but just make sure it's
appropriate for you. so the biggest thing
is the flat part goes on the floor. so
then it kind of comes up into a triangle
to the spot that you want. now this is
solid so when you're starting off you
might not want to start off on the hard
floor. you might want to start on
your bed or on a couch and it tells you
all that. or you can do it sitting in a
chair so you're not getting quite as
much pressure. you can also put a towel
over it to take off some pressure, but
I've been using this for a little while,
so I've gotten to the point where I'm
really comfortable just with it being on
the floor, but it should always be
tension and pressure, it should never be
painful. so if it's painful you're not
doing it right, or you really don't need
to do it. so I'm gonna do the lumbar
portion for for the back pain, but a lot
of times you want to start up at the
neck, the cervical, and then move your way
down. so this is great for neck pain,
thoracic pain, low back pain, sacral pain.
so all of those this really helps and
it's really good and relaxing. to do, so a
lot of times to start off you want to
start off with just some deep relaxing
while you're doing it. make sure the
middle of your spine goes there, so these
are on the outside portions where the
the transverse processes are. where all
those deep spinal muscles are. so bending
your knees up should help to start off
with, and then I'm just gonna use my
fingers to kind of find a spot. sometimes
where I'm a little sore, and then I'm
just gonna slowly come down. and again
the instructions do show you ways that
you can use like books or boxes or
something to kind of prop up a little
bit, so you're not getting quite as much
pressure. when I first started off doing
this, I did I started on the couch, and it
was it was really really comfortable, but
again at this point I've gotten used to
it and it's it's comfortable just on the
firm surface of the floor. but I wouldn't
start off with it there. so you really
just want to really relax. do some
diaphragmatic breathing which is
breathing through your belly, and then at
each segment that they show you usually
want to lie here for about three to four
minutes. so I'm not going to lie that
long, but it's just a really great tool. I
can feel that pressure specifically on
those muscles and then after you're here
for a little while then a lot of times
you just feel that tension and release,
and that's just like a trigger point. if
you were going to go see your physical
therapist or healthcare provider and
they're pushing into that spot and just
holding it there like a trigger point,
and then a lot of
times and you just feel it release, and
then that muscle lets go. and so
sometimes it's hard to do that to
yourself, so that's why this is just a
really great tool to use. so if you're
interested in purchasing the cordus,
make sure and click on the link up here.
so then the next exercise or treatment
is going to be a trunk rotation. so we're
gonna lie back down. after you've gotten
everything nice and relaxed, now we're
going to kind of do a side-to-side
movement. so we've kind of gone in this
plane now we're gonna go side to side. so
this one I kind of bring my feet a
little bit closer together because you
want your knees to stay together for
this one, and then you're just gonna
gently roll your knees over to one side
until you feel a little stretch through
there. you might feel it in your bottom a
little bit, kind of coming up the lower to
mid-back. just hold it for about 10-15
seconds. it doesn't have to be anything
like a 30 second hold unless you want to,
and then come back and rotate over to
the other side. so you see my bottoms
coming up a little bit, but my upper part
of my back and my shoulders are staying
down because that's where you want to
get that rotation in that trunk area. so
again that 10 15 seconds. I do maybe
three to five on each side just to get
you really nice and relaxed.
and then so the last treatment is just
gonna be a simple knee to chest. again
these should be nice and comfortable and
relaxing. so some people if they've got
some groin pain issues, if they're
bringing their knee up to their chest,
they end up kind of hurting a little bit
right here. if you have any pain anywhere
you shouldn't do it because what you're
trying to do is stretch out that low
back. so what I like to do is grab
underneath just because sometimes people
have knee pain. you can grab up here, but
if you've got some knee pain, arthritis,
if you're pushing here sometimes that
puts a lot of pressure there, so I like
to grab underneath. this is your choice,
whatever is more comfortable. and then
just pull up towards your chest as far
as you comfortably can. this is going to
be a full 30 second hold, and then you're
gonna do three on each side.
now some people do ask what should I do
with the leg on the other side. you see I
have mine bent up. when you have back
pain, if your knees are bent that takes
some pressure off of the back, so I like
keeping it bent. some people say they
feel more of a stretch if they put it
all the way down, which is fine.
you're maybe getting a little bit of a
hip flexor stretch as well, but if you
really want to focus on that low back
stretching it out, I would just bring
that knee up. so you're relaxing in so
again 30 seconds 3 on each time, on each
Side, and then those should really help
loosen everything up. so those were 5
simple treatments for back pain. if
you're interested in purchasing the
cordus, make sure and click on the link
up here. and don't forget to subscribe by
clicking down there. and remember be safe
(make sure you read the manual), have fun,
and I hope you feel better soon.