In this video, I'm going to show you how to decompress your full back
for instant pain relief. Stay tuned!
Hey everyone, Dr. Rowe from SpineCare in Saint Joseph, Michigan. In this video, I'm going to share with
you my personal favorite spinal decompression exercises that are going to target pretty much
everything from the base of the neck all the way down to the tailbone. They're safe, effective and
can be done at home and the other great part is they're not going to require any special pieces
of equipment. You may find that this gives you quick, instant pain relief in the back -- in as little
as 30 seconds! So let's get started with it and decompress the lower back, middle back, and upper
back right now! All of these decompression traction stretches and exercises are going to focus
on the full spine, or the full back, but I know that people are going to have a little bit more going
on in one certain area of the back. So let's put an emphasis on those spots. Let's work from the upper
back and then go into the middle back, to the lower back. The first one is going to be for more of
the neck and the upper back. I'm going to be using an elevated flat surface for this. You can use the
edge of a bed, a chair, or a desk. I'm also going to be using a towel for this, just a hand drying towel.
If you don't have one, I'll show you how to do it without a towel. I'm going to start off on the knees
so put a pillow or a towel underneath. The first part, let me show you how to do this decompression
stretch without a towel. If you feel the back of your head right here, you're going to find at the
base of the skull two large bumps. That is our contact point for that. I'm going to take this
part of the palm, just the nice meaty portion and cup those spots and put my hands around my ears.
So watch how I do this. I cup around the ear and then put that palm right over those two spots. I'm
going to bend the elbows like this, and then I'm going to go into kind of like a yoga pose known as
the child's pose. I'm putting the back of my arms on that elevated flat surface and then I'm going
to anchor my upper body weight just like this. The movement is simple, I'm going to basically start to
lower my butt down towards my heels while my palms right here lift up towards the ceiling, and when
you do this you're going to feel a great stretch, a decompression stretch, into the neck that works its
way into the upper back. The more that you lower your butt down your heels, you're going to start to
feel it throughout your back possibly, all the way down to the tailbone. Go down as far as you feel
comfortable. Once you feel a great stretch, hold this for up to 15 seconds. You're just going to
relax, from there take a breather, and then repeat -- and when you repeat, try to take your butt down
towards the heels just a little bit further to make sure that you get that extra stretch. Do this
five complete times. How I like to do this one, with the towel, because I think you get a better stretch,
is to take the towel, put it around the base of the neck and then pretty much do the same thing
but you're just going to take the ends right here and what you're going to do from there is pull,
almost at an angle like a 45 degree angle, while you then lower your butt down. I feel that this
stretch is just a little bit stronger and it's easier to control. Obviously, I think it's also a
little bit more comfortable, but give them both a try and go with the one that you feel works better
for you. So this next way to decompress our full back is going to put a little bit more emphasis
into the middle back. Especially, in between the shoulder blades. Let's do this one at the edge of
a bed. So the first part, what I'm going to do is roll up a large bath towel and place it over the
shoulder blade region. This is going to help create a pivot point to help traction open that spot just
a little bit more, and then from there I'm just going to simply lower my head and shoulders off
the edge of the bed. When you do this, gravity is going to help take it and traction open the
upper back, into the middle back, the shoulder blades region. Try to go down as far as you're
able to go. When you get to a very comfortable stretch, try to hold this one for 15 to 30 seconds.
Come back up, take a breather and then from there do five complete repetitions. Really focus on
your breathing while you do this too because it'll help reduce a little bit more tension.
How we can take this to the next level is to take our hands, place them behind our head like
this, and then just simply wing our elbows down towards the floor. When you do this, you're going
to feel a great stretch in between the shoulder blades and also in between the area where that
towel is located. Really just try to intensify that stretch as much as you're able to.
Again, holding this for 15 to 30 seconds and doing five complete repetitions. You can also do a
different variation where your hands are more out, right like this. Give them both a try and go with
the one that you feel is a little bit better of a stretch for you. If you want to take this to even
the next level, let's take a small weight like a water bottle and just simply straighten our elbows
out like this and allow that weight to go down. So we're taking our head down towards the floor
and then our arms and water bottle are also going down at the same time. This is going to put a great
stretch into the middle back region, and again you want to hold this one for up to 30 seconds
and do five complete repetitions. From there, you can change the location of the towel and go over
different spots as needed. So one of my absolute favorite ways to decompress the fullback at home
is using the cobra pose. This one is going to be especially good for anyone that has lower back
pain or sciatica pain that's caused from a pinched nerve, or a bulging disc, anything like that in the
lumbar spine. I'm going to be using a rolled up bed sheet for this. Let's place it over the lower back,
especially over the spot that you can pretty much pinpoint with that pain. We can do this one in bed
or on the floor. So the cobra pose, what I'm going to do is go on my stomach like this and I'm going
to raise my upper body, kind of arching at the lower back, while my hips and pelvis are kept as
flat as possible. Try to make sure that they're not being raised up. You can start off doing a
half cobra, or if you're able to, go into the full cobra. How to intensify this is we're going to then
take our arms and move it forward and take the slack out on the sheet on the lower back.
What you're going to notice is wherever that sheet is located, it really puts a nice pivot point into
there and intensifies that lower back traction. Only go to your comfort level. Once you hit that
point, do nice slow controlled breathing and try to hold this position for up to 30 seconds. From
there, you can relax and then simply try to do five complete repetitions, going a little bit further
with it each time to help decompress those spinal discs, and then simply from there you can move the
bed sheet up and down the lower back to target different spots. This next decompression exercise,
we're going to go to the edge of a bed. Place it where your hips are at the edge and put a
pillow underneath for extra comfort. I'm then going to just support my upper body weight
with my hands, like this. You may find that you can also do this on a couch since it probably will be
a little bit lower than a bed. So the movement is very simple. What I'm going to do is tuck my chin
towards my chest and then I'm going to just simply crawl out with my hands as far as I'm able to go.
Really just use your fingers to pull yourself forward. When you do this, you're going to feel
a great traction being built from the upper back all the way down into the lower back. Only go to
your comfort level. You can hold this position for an extended period of time -- 30 seconds, 45 seconds,
possibly even a minute if you feel like you are comfortable, but you just want to focus on nice
controlled breathing, and when you're ready, just simply bring your arms back up like this. Take a
breather, and then repeat. On the next session, go a little bit further with it just to get that extra
traction, that decompression, into those spinal discs to help relieve pressure, and hopefully give
you more pain and tightness relief. If you want to get even a more intense stretch with this, instead
of going on your hands what you can do is go on your elbows. This will put the back at a little
bit of a different position, and again you're going to feel a great stretch into the lower
back, the middle back, and the upper back -- and from there you can just take your arms even further
to try to get that extra stretch. 30 second holds for five times. So here's another decompression
exercise that you can do at the edge of a bed or couch. I'm going to support my upper body weight
on the couch or the bed, and also put a pillow underneath my stomach for extra support. My hips
to my knees, my legs should be pointing straight down towards the floor. I'm going to also support
my lower body weight on my toes, just like this. So already in this position, you should feel a gentle
stretch in the lower back. This is how we're going to focus on getting a full traction into the back.
Let's take our arms and straighten them out at the elbow, and tuck our chin slightly towards our chest,
and then take our fingers, right here, dig into the bed or the couch and just simply draw yourself
forward as much as you can. When you do this, it's going to intensify the traction in the
upper back, into the middle back, and then into the lower back. Only go to your comfort level.
You want to do nice slow controlled breathing while doing this, and hold up to 30 seconds if
you feel comfortable. You can do it longer, 45 to 60 seconds, but from there you're just going to
relax, take a breather, and then do it again -- and on this next one, go a little bit further with it (with
your fingers) to help increase those spinal joints and relieve more pressure onto the spinal discs
with that decompression traction. How to take this to even the next level, what we're going to do is
we're going to take our towel and do an exercise very similar to that first one. Let's put it at
the base of the skull, and then support our upper body weight on our elbows like this, tuck our chin
towards the chest and we're going to take the two ends (with our hands) and just simply pull forward
with it. When you do this, you're going to feel a great traction, a great stretch into the upper
back, going down into the lower back. Again, try to hold this one for up to 30 seconds, longer if
you feel comfortable, and then you're just going to simply relax and then do five complete repetitions.
Each time, go a little bit further with it just to help open up those spinal joints and give
more pain relief. If you liked the video and got a lot of relief, please show us your support by
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questions, please leave them below. I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Thank you for watching!