Other times called a ruptured or slipped disk, a herniated disc in most cases occurs in the lower back of people. It is one of the major causes of the lower back pains and also leg pains. A good number of people are likely to experience back pains at some point in their lives (Between 60% and 80%).
A bigger percentage of people will experience lower back and leg pains as a result of herniated disc.
In most cases, a herniated disc can be very painful, but many people have reported feeling much better after just a few months or weeks of undergoing nonsurgical treatment.
Exercises That Can Help Relieve Herniated Disc Pain
A herniated disc may need at least 1 or 2 days of resting so as to alleviate the pain. However, you must resist the temptation of just lying in bed for days since your muscles require conditioning which aids in the recovery process. If you stop doing your normal exercises and physical activities, then your body might not respond well to the treatment as it would have done.
Benefits of Exercising
Regular exercises are a good way of strengthening and destabilizing your lower back muscles and thus preventing any further injuries and pain. If you have strong muscles, they will adequately carry the weight of your body and bones-thus taking some of the unnecessary pressure off from your spine. But it is advisable to lose some weight even if you have strong muscles to support your back.
Carrying around a lot of weight will constantly strain your back. If you lose weight, it will automatically lower your pain and thus promote your back’s health.
Exercises That Can Help Reduce Back Pain
You don’t have to undergo an intense cardio program or get to lift very heavy weights-aerobics, and simple stretching exercises can be very effective in controlling your herniated disc pain.
Your herniated disc may have been caused as a result of excessive hyperlordosis or even the extensions in your lower back. We have poses like cobra and Superman that hurt more. These simple exercises exacerbate and repeat those same motions which cause injury in the end.
The stretching programs such as Yoga and Pilates can improve the strength and flexibility, and thus offer some relief to acute pain in your lower back and pain.
Flexing and twisting muscles help to provide temporary relief since they reduce some of the muscular tensions around the injury area and maybe create some bit of decompression, but this is only temporary.
A good way of strengthening your core is by not trying to directly extend your back muscles or stretching forward. Working to hold onto your pelvis level and
keeping your core stable will help greatly in reducing the tension of your lower back and hopefully keeping you from the hyper-extending as much.
The doctor can also recommend dynamic lumbar stabilizing exercises. This is a program that involves exercises which work on back and abdominal muscles so as to address flexibility, posture, and strength.
Some of the moderate aerobic activities that can help relieve back pain include swimming, walking, and biking. We have some other aerobic activities that are better suited for a particular condition. If you are not sure of which exercises to do, then the best option for you is to consult your doctor.
If you start an aerobic exercise program, begin slowly, for at least 10 minutes on your first day- and then you can gradually increase your duration each passing day. In the end, you must aim for at least 30-40 minutes of activity for around five days a week.
Regular exercises are very enjoyable and also safest ways of treating symptoms associated with herniated disc. You and your doctor can come up with an effective program which you can stick with, and this will help in reducing your pain. The exercises will make you feel good, and also help in relieving your pain from the herniated disc.
Exercises to Avoid for people who have Lumbar Herniation
It is somehow difficult to figure out well the kind of exercises that one needs to do, and do not, for various symptoms of Lumbar herniated disc. The symptoms include: tingling and numbness in the legs, diminished sensations, decreased strengthens, generalized back pains. Below are some of the exercises to avoid, and some of their safe substitutes.
Avoid doing a standing hamstring stretch.
This can be a problem as it can cause the back to bend forward, and this will place unnecessary stress on the front half of the disc.
Avoid using Deadlifts
A dead lift exercise requires professional mechanics. Even if they are properly done, it might still cause a big amount of compression on the disc. A better substitute to the deadlift is a bridge exercise, where the abdominal and the hips are active.
The Bridge Exercise
The bridge exercise is used to improve the strength of the core body and spinal cord, specifically in the lower back. The way you perform this exercise is to:
- Lay on your back.
- Hands flat at your side.
- Raise your hips to create a straight line between your knees and shoulders.
You want to try and hold this position for 20 to 30 seconds. Also, in order to build up strength you can hold this position for shorter periods of time.