Mornings can be a tough time for people with low back pain.
Often, this morning stiffness can make it challenging to start your day and get the ball rolling.
So if you find your back pain acting up in the mornings when you wake up, try this quick physical therapist approved spinal mobilization movement to get things loosened up.
Just aim for 6-10 reps and always work in a pain free range of motion.
For a written description of the Cat and Camel exercise, check out the Exercise Video section of the blog.
In my physical therapy practice in Toronto, I often get people who have been in fairly chronic low back pain for a good chunk of time, something you might be familiar with.
So let’s use your situation as an example.
Because of the length of time you’ve been suffering, there’s a good chance that you’ve been to see at least one, if not multiple, health care practitioners such as physicians, physical therapists or chiropractors.
One of the most common self or health professional “prescribed” treatments that you’ve probably been given in the past is to statically stretch your low back.
Sound familiar yet?
In fact, you could even google low back pain relief related terms and you’d probably come across dozens upon dozens of websites all proposing various low back static stretches to get you feeling better.
Unfortunately, for most of you, stretching your low back in this manner doesn’t deal with the root causes of your low back pain.
Sure, it’ll feel good.
Temporarily. Stretching usually does.
But feeling good doesn’t always mean doing good. And in this case, stretching the poor muscles of your lower back is probably not a good idea.
Don’t get me wrong.
There are times when those tissues do need to be stretched out, but it’s not as often as most people think.
So what’s the solution?
What should you do instead?
What you need to do is stabilize your spine. Unfortunately, here’s where it gets a little more complicated.
Stable doesn’t mean immobile. In this case, stable really means mobile under control. Control being the operative word.
In the following clip, the Cat & Camel mobility exercise is demonstrated.
This movement is geared towards keeping your spine limber while still keeping control.
It’s NOT about going as far as you can, it’s about going as far as you can, UNDER CONTROL.
