hey everybody it's doctor Jo, and today I'm going to show you five ways to
relieve back pain. so let's get started.
so I'm going to start off lying down. if you can't get on the floor, that's okay
you can do these on your bed or a couch. so get a comfy pillow, and when you're
lying down, you're going to prop up your knees. so just starting off, we're gonna
do some pelvic tilts. and so pelvic tilts aren't big movements, but they're easy
movements to do, and they work a lot more than you think they do. so a pelvic tilt
is just like it sounds, you're gonna tilt your pelvis back. so sometimes it's hard
to see that movement. you're not using your feet or your legs to push back,
you're using your hips and your core muscles to roll it back. and imagine that
you're just flattening out your back onto the floor or the bed. so once you
get that role or that posterior tilt back, you're just gonna hold it for about
three to five seconds and then relax. so you should be talking, you shouldn't be
holding your breath, or you should be able to talk. you don't have to talk
while you're doing it, but breathe normally be comfortable while you're
doing it. and maybe just start off with about five, doing the three to five
second holds, and that really just kind of gets those pelvic muscles, those core
muscles working. and so it's a really great exercise. after you do those, then
you're going to go into a bridge. bridging is one of my favorite exercises
especially for the back just because it gets it moving. so with a bridge, you
really want to again use your core. you're gonna use your glutes and your
hamstrings some, but you really want to lift up with your core and your back. and
you're gonna kind of roll your back up like one segment at a time. you don't
have to stop at each segment, but you're just not going up and down fast. you want
to go nice and controlled. so you're just rolling up high as you
comfortably can. you might not be able to get quite as high as me starting off, if
you have some back pain, and then roll back down. so just a little pause at the
top, but making that nice smooth movement, coming up, and rolling back down. and
again I'm not pushing hard through my legs, I'm really trying to lift up
activating those core muscles, and that's what's going to help with that back pain.
so this is kind of a combination of an exercise and a stretch,
really to get the back loosened up, but started to get some exercising as well.
another way to relieve back pain is using acupressure. and the folks at Artree
company, sent me their Artree acupressure mat set. and so what's really
nice about acupressure in general is acupressure is really just using
pressure points on the meridians. and what that does is that helps activate
and increase circulation to the body. so it really does have some science behind
it. sometimes people think you know just acupressure in general isn't quite as
sciency, but it really does help improve circulation. and improving circulation
really helps the healing process. so what I really like about acupressure sets, and
what's cool about this is it comes in a nice travel bag, and so then you can take
it with you when you want to go places. but what's really neat about this set is
it has the mat, and it has a pillow to go with it. and it also has a nice user
guide for you as well. but what is really neat about this is it's made with
buckwheat hulls so it's all-natural and the pillows, and it also comes in different
scents like chamomile, lavender, or mint. and so that just kind of helps with the
healing as well because that helps relax your body. so you can see here these
spikes are also FDA compliant which is really nice because if you're using
these pressure points, and you're putting it directly on your skin, you really want
to have it being compliant with the FDA. so this is the pillow here, and I really
it's really comfortable, I really like this, and then this is the mat here. and
so what's great about the mat is you don't have to do it on the floor. you can
do it on your bed or your couch, again or you can do it sitting in a chair at work,
or something. so what's usually recommended since these are you know
spiky and a little bit sharp, you want to start off with just a little bit and
work your way up. so it's usually recommended maybe 10 to 15 minutes and
starting with your shirt on, but then you can progress from there. so if you want
to lie on it like this, again kind of getting it set up you don't have to use
the pillow, but I like using the pillow to help with the neck as well, and just
kind of rolling back on it. and you can do it relaxing and a quiet
place if you want to watch TV while you're doing it, or again if you want to
in your chair while you're working. and again this increases that blood flow,
so it helps relieve muscle tension, it helps relieve muscle pain, and sometimes
even when people have some insomnia, you get on this for a little bit before you
go to bed, again increasing that blood flow increasing that energy really helps
out. and if you're interested in purchasing the acupressure set, make sure
and click on the link up there, or in the description below. so now that I've got
some good circulation in my back, let's go into some stretches. so lying down,
again remember you can do on your floor, or your bed, or your couch, we're going to
go into a knee to chest stretch. and this really helps loosen up the low back. some
people ask because there's some bending if you have a disc issue or something
you shouldn't be doing it, but this doesn't really Bend that back enough to
make a difference. so a knee to chest stretch is pretty safe to do with almost all
injuries. so with a knee to chest stretch, I like keeping both knees bent up. so
even when you bring one up, you can keep it up. some people like to put it down.
that's fine, you're just getting to get a little more hip flexor stretch on the
other side as well, but I think this kind of helps support
your back a little bit if you're really trying to stretch out that back. it's
just like it sounds, you're gonna bring your knee up to your chest. if you don't
have any knee issues, you can put your hands on top up here, but I like to put
them underneath just so I'm not putting so much pressure on that joint. and then
all you're doing is just bringing your knee up towards your chest as far as you
comfortably can. and you should feel just a little stretch in the low back and
kind of through the buttocks area there into your glutes. but again you can see
there's not really a whole lot of bend in the back where some people think that
it is sometimes, so just getting that nice stretch. sometimes you might feel a
little pressure in the front, but this is a full stretch so it's going to be a 30
second hold. ideally if you have the enough time to do it, you want to stretch
both sides for the 30 seconds and then do three on each side.
some people like to do them all on one side, and then switch. I personally like to
alternate. so whichever one you want to do is it's going to work just fine, but
really holding it for that full 30 seconds. so if you don't have time to do
three, then just do 30 seconds maybe once or twice on each side, but that thirty
Seconds is really important to get to. and so the
last one which is going to be a stretch again it's going to be another one of my
favorites which is Child's Pose or prayer stretch. and so the reason I
like this so much is again because it's really a whole body stretch. now if you
have some knee issues, sometimes this is a little bit uncomfortable. so you can be
a little bit higher up. if you can get all the way down, that's really the best,
but you can see I'm stretching out my knees. I'm stretching out my feet, my hips,
my back, and I'm going to even stretch out my shoulders and arms as well. so you
can do the prayer stretch or the Child's Pose a couple different ways. you can
start on your knees, if you're comfortable on your knees. and just slide
forward as far as you comfortably can. and really just try and relax down. again
this is that full 30-second stretch, holding it, getting that nice stretch
through the back, and the arms, and the legs, and everything. but if that's a
little bit uncomfortable, again if you need a little bit less bend in your
knees, you can kind of start up on all fours or in quadruped, and bring
your arms out first and then come down. so see I'm not going as far down, but I'm
still getting a good stretch. it's a slightly different stretch, but this is
kind of a way to modify it if your knees or your hips don't quite get that motion
that you need. so there you have it. that's 5 ways to relieve back pain. if
you're interested in purchasing the acupressure set, make sure and click on
the link up there, and don't forget to subscribe by clicking down there. and
remember be safe, have fun, and I hope you feel better soon.