- Okay folks, Brad and I are gonna show you ten ways
to relieve your spinal stenosis pain.
- And I have it, so I know.
- Yeah.
- ♪ Bob and Brad, the two most famous ♪
physical therapists on the internet.♪
- Alright Brad, one, two and three
are evolving your hip flexors.
- Sure.
- They're really important when it comes
to spinal stenosis, - Yeah
because what they do is if they're tight,
they'll pull on your pelvis and make your back arch.
And if you have spinal stenosis,
you do not like an arched back.
- Right, anything that makes this happen
or this happen is irritating. - Is worse, right.
So Brad, do you wanna show one, two, and three.
- Sure.
- You know, Bob, I have a the thing about this
but you know, the second most useful thing for stairs is
- Stretching!
- Absolutely.
- This works out perfect for - Yeah.
- And I, I've had even elderly people do this.
- And if you have two handrails
it makes it very safe and controllable.
So it depends how tall you are
but you may go to the second step or
or maybe even the third step, but what we're gonna do
make sure you have some shoes on, if you have smooth steps
so it's safe and you grip, is you're gonna lean forward.
- And he is stretching the left side, not the right side.
- Oh, I'll do it this way. - Yeah, right.
So we're stretching the hip flexor, which is deep,
right in where the pocket is and it, they actually connect
up to the spine, the lumbar spine and the hip.
- And the pelvis, yeah.
- Yep. So we're stretching right here.
You know, you get a little range of motion
on the other leg too, so it's a win-win situation.
- So he's gonna start by going forward and back.
- Yep. Ooh.
It feels good too, Bob.
- Then number two, he's actually gonna go side to side.
- Oh. So I'll actually move this so they can see it.
- Oh, very good point.
Good point, Brad.
Okay, number two with Brad.
You're actually gonna stretch the hip flexor side to side
in the same position.
- Right.
So I'm gonna hold on and - Back and forth, yep.
- go over here and over here.
- Gonna get different fibers.
- Yep. I'm gonna go up to this step
'cause it feels a little better.
- Sure.
- Better stretch, no pain, feels good.
- You wanna jump to number three already, Brad?
- Sure. Well obviously we'll do that with both legs.
- Right, right.
- Okay. Number three - Even out.
The rotation. So you can rotate one way
- So it makes circles with it.
- Circles, right.
- This is kinda like interesting Bob.
This is a family show, but this is very technical.
It does - Right, it does help.
- It definitely stretches that hip
and those hip muscles in a different manner.
- All right.
We'll stop that now and we'll move on to number four.
All right.
Number four.
I want you to get outta bed correctly, Brad.
So we're not gonna go like this, which puts a lot
of stress on the back and then turn, twist like this.
- Right.
- We're gonna instead gonna bring your legs up, roll
over to the side as one unit and I'm gonna tighten my abs
how I do this.
So I can actually try to poke my fingers in my abs
and I can feel they've tightened up and support my back.
So then I lower my legs off the edge of the bed,
keeping my abs tight the entire time.
- Right.
- And really is a comfortable way of getting outta bed.
I've had a lot of people who just the tighten
the abs really make a difference.
- Right, so it's just like putting the back belt on.
It supports that whole lumbar spine.
- Well, speaking of back belts Brad,
I would recommend using one
if you have a lot of pain when you're walking.
- Right. Or if you're just doing an activity that you know
your back is gonna be bothered and this is what I do.
I have a back belt.
If I'm gonna do some yard work, but walking
if it bothers you walking, you get a nice
I like these stretchy nice elastic ones with Velcro.
You can put it on there.
And then there's secondary straps right here
and they're also Velcro and elasticy and you can tighten up
- Elasticy?
- twice as, yeah elasticy, I looked that up last night.
And then if you want it looser, because you're going to
not be so active, but you wanna keep the back belt on,
they work wonderful.
- Right.
- It feels very comfortable and I'm a happy person.
- If you can only walk like 20 feet without a belt
but you can go half a block with a belt, it makes sense
to use a belt - Right, exactly.
- All right, number six.
Brad, you like this one, don't you?
- Yes. Yeah.
So for example, if I'm standing for any length of time
you know, more than a few minutes doing a task
doing dishes or whatever, with the dishes
you can open up your cupboard door and
- Just stick your foot in.
- Yeah. You put one foot up a little higher.
This is about six or eight inches
and it just changes the position of your back.
- Right.
- Puts a little bit of flexion on the pelvis
and relieves it. And you'll go right to left
every couple minutes as your body tells you.
Having two levels like this can be nice
because it actually gives you another option
and it changes the stress on the back.
And you can go here to here.
You know, if you got a work desk
that might be a really good option as you're working.
- Right.
- To do that.
And you know, you can back it up
and do a little stretch like you just did on the steps.
It's a, a wonderful scenario. - There you go.
Thanks Brad.
So when you have a spinal stenosis, Brad
you always have shopping cart syndrome where
it feels better when you lean on a shopping cart and walk.
- Right.
- So if you can't walk very far without a walker,
you should get one just for walking.
- Right - I mean
- So the, the leaning doesn't make that much difference
as the fact that you're, I, you know, you're
you're opening the spinal, the stenosis area.
And just a little bit like this can
- You're opening up the canal.
- Yep. It is kind of one of those things that you have to
be careful so you don't lean too far because
- Right.
- You know, that's a postural thing too.
- You wanna stay up as, as far as you can, but
- And just grabbing a hold of that
can allow muscles to relax - Right.
- and give you some security too.
It depends on your level of stenosis.
Oh, there we are.
- All right.
Number eight is actually a positional treatment, Brad.
You, you like this one, you're a big fan.
- Right, particularly if I've irritated my back
and I need to give it some quick relief and it,
it sustains and it lasts for quite a long time actually.
- We're using a leg wedge here
but you could actually put your legs
on an Ottoman or a chair.
- You'd be lying on the floor then, of course.
- Right, exactly.
And then in addition to that
you, where's the ice pack, Brad?
- Well, Bob, yeah, we're gonna use, we got a cold pack
that's gel. - Two choices.
- Has to be soft.
- Right. We got ice pack. Which you like, right?
- Yep.
- All right.
Versus a far infrared heat pad.
- Yep.
- Now these are pricey, but they penetrate two point
- Three six inches.
You know, if you have a regular electric hot pack
you can use that as well.
It will not penetrate near that deep
but they still feel good.
- Feels a lot better in winter
than it does in the summer Brad, right?
- Yeah, yeah. So that's really a personal thing
whether you use the hot pack or the cold pack
and I actually will use both
depending on the time of year and how things are going.
- Yeah. You'll often fall asleep like this.
- Oh yeah.
- Then kick outta the way - Yeah, I've taken this to bed
with me and lie like that, fall asleep
and after a couple hours, I don't
- I bet your wife is thrilled.
- And my back feels good.
Yeah. Well, she's always thrilled, Bob.
It's a wonderful scenario.
- What a great marriage, huh?
Sorry.
Number nine Brad is actually the way you perform a squat.
- Right.
- You know, a lot of people make the mistake
of putting the legs too close together.
- Yeah. And we're not talking
about necessarily squats in the weight room
but just to squat to lift something up.
- Right.
- Oftentimes people will, will do this
and you get wobbly and it puts more stress on the back.
- Right.
- Get your feet out wide and then
keep that posture and go down with your squat.
You may wanna put a hand on something
because you don't wanna be lifting something heavy anyways.
- You know, Brad, even when you're doing dishes
or something at the counter, put your legs out wide.
- Mhm yeah.
- You know, you could feel a little better
base support for the back. - Absolutely.
And I've gotta tell you, Bob.
I dunno if we got time for this
but when my stenosis was bad before,
before I did my stretching, walking would bother my back.
And if I would squat right there in the road,
oh, it would feel good.
- Give you some relief.
- Stretch that back.
And then I can walk further with less breath.
- Good tip, Brad.
All right, the final one, Brad.
Number ten, is actually the sleeping position.
We're gonna, when you sleep on your back
I want to have a couple pillows under your knees.
- Don't worry about that stuff, Bob.
- A little flexion of the back, right.
And if you're on your side, I want you to go ahead
and put a pillow between your legs
because this will stop the back from rotating.
You know, keep it nice straight while you're lying in bed.
- It just feels good on the knees too.
It's just a - I agree.
- A very pleasurable position.
- I've done this for years
even though I don't have the trouble.
- Right. You probably did it when you were a kid too
and didn't know it.
- All right, that was ten Brad.
I think one of those will help you at least.
But really one, two and three,
those stretches are really good in the long run.
- Right. And they're nice to do, especially in a stairway
but again, I'm sure they're gonna find two or three,
two or three of these are gonna be relieving for,
for these people.
- And they're gonna say thank you, Bob.
They will be grateful - and Brad.
- Oh no. That's, it's all on you today Bob
I'm, I'm just on the side by.
- Peace to all of you.