I'm going to show you seven exercises to help treat back and sciatica pain. These exercises are McKenzie exercises, which can be really helpful in helping reduce both your back pain and/or leg pain.
These exercises all help by loading your spine in one specific direction or plane of motion to help alleviate symptoms It's important to determine which plane of motion or direction your spine responds best to. You know you're responding well if you have leg pain and it starts to move closer to your back, or if you just have back pain and that back pain starts to improve. What you don't want is if you do the exercise, pain in your leg to start to move closer to your foot, or pain down your leg to start to intensify If you do have a lot of pain in your leg already and you find that leg pain is moving up, that's great. Don't be alarmed if the pain in your back or glute area temporarily worsens as you do that because all of that pain centralizes to where its coming from.
Back exercise number one is prone lying. So if you have some back and leg pain or just back pain start by lying on your belly. Its a simple movement, but it places your spine into a little bit of extension which can start to improve your range motion.
Back exercise number two, prone lying on elbows. To do this exercise you are gonna lie on your belly and just prop yourself on your elbows. This is gonna to start put a little bit more extension load on your spine If you have some back pain here that's tolerable and your leg pain is not worsening spend about a minute here to start to see what happens. Leg pain should start to move closer to your back. Or if you just have back pain it may start to improve with time If this exercise starts to cause pain but moves farther down your leg or intensifies pain already in the leg please stop.
Exercise number three prone extension in lying. To do prone extension in lying or a prone press up, you're gonna put your hands directly under your shoulders and then lift your upper body off the ground. Try about ten in a row and see what happens within your back and/or your legs. As you do this exercise, you want to move yourself as far up as you can go and get your spine to your end range extension. If your hips come a little bit off the ground, that's okay Just make sure you keep your belly nice and relaxed so your back can stay like that. If you find your leg pain is getting better moving closer to your back that's great, keep going. If you find the back pain is moving and your range motion is improving as you go that's great. You can do ten sets and then start to do every two hours throughout the rest of the day.
Back exercise number four, lumbar extension in standing. To do lumbar extension in standing you are gonna put your hands behind your back and then lean as far back as you can go comfortably. The key is to move as far as can because you want your spine in its full end range extension. Because that's gonna really start to change your symptoms Try ten in a row like that and then observe what happens in your back and within the leg if you have leg pain. Leg pain should start to move closer to its origin in your back and if you have back pain it should improve as you go. You may find also that you get easier or better range motion each rep and that’s a really good sign.
Back exercise number five is flexion in lying. To do lumbar flexion in lying, you want to lay on your back. And then you're gonna bring both your knees towards your chest Take your hands pull towards you and then relax. You should pull them as far as you can go to try to get your spine to that end range flexion motion. Start with about ten and monitor what's happening both in the back and the leg. If you have leg pain, it should start to move closer to where its coming from in the back If you have back pain, it should improve with each rep. If anything is making your leg pain or back pain worse please discontinue.
Exercise number six, lumbar flexion in sitting. To do lumbar flexion in sitting, you are gonna sit in a chair Scoot forward a little bit. Then slide your hands down towards your ankles, lean as far forward as you can comfortably. Try about ten see what happens both in your back and in your leg If leg pain is getting better, it’ll move closer to where it's coming from that's great. Your back pain is improving with that, that's great If leg pain is worsening, please discontinue. Try about ten if you don't notice a big difference, then I want you to use a little self over pressure. So you're going to go down towards the ankles and then take your hands and pull yourself at your ankles to get a little extra motion. Try ten like that and see if that starts to improve your leg pain or back pain.
Exercise number seven is lumbar flexion in standing. To do lumbar flexion in standing, you are gonna stand, feet about hip width apart slight bend in your knees and then I want you to lean forward as far as you can go. Reach for the ground. You’re gonna have your hands slide along your legs to give yourself a little support with this. Try about ten. If it's hard for you to balance while bending forward or its a little too much pressure this can be modified just by placing your hips against a wall to help support you and then doing the same motion. With each repetition, you should be to as far as you can observe what happens both in your leg and back Ideally leg symptoms are moving closer to the origin in the back and if you just have back pain, back pain improves as you go.
To learn more about the McKenzie method for treating spine pain and sciatica pain, please visit us at Spine-health.com and thanks for watching.
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