Here are some exercises for Disc Herniation or Discogenic Sciatica. The exercises are part of the McKenzie Method. The exercises are an attempt to take pressure off the sciatic nerve by helping to mobilize the disc back into the place.
Check with a health care professional before you attempt these exercises to ensure that it is safe for you.
Do the exercises slowly and gently. Failing to follow the instructions or consult with a health care professional could cause your symptoms to worsen.
Try to breathe slowly and keep your body relaxed. Do not tense up or hold your breath as this will invite muscle spasm.
You should not feel any pain during the exercises. If you do feel pain, decrease the range of movement by stopping before you get to the point of pain. Continue the exercise within the pain free range.
Stage one where the instructor is on his elbows is the safest position. Do not attempt the other positions until you can do the previous position safely with absolutely no discomfort for 2 days.
Be very careful about going into the position where you are supported by your hands. Only do this position and the subsequent “side bending” pose when you are no longer in the acute or subacute phases
If you cannot find a comfortable, pain free way to do these exercises, discontinue immediately and seek the advice of a health care professional.
Do the exercises in a set of 3 for a minimum of 3 times a day for best results.
Just got back from Spain via Amsterdam and I thought I’d share a few tips on how I coped with all the hours of sitting in a cramped little seat with the tiny fork and knife set, the tiny meal, served in the tiny dishes, with the tiny drink in the tiny cup….. I’m still a bit jetlagged and my ipod alarm clock woke me up at 6 am for some wacky reason (ghost in the machine), so now could be the perfect time to hammer out this article that I’ve had in my mind for a year.
When travelling, the biggest enemies are inactivity and improper posture. The combination of them both leads to soreness or stiffness in the lower back, legs, shoulders or neck. Here are a few tips that will help:
Use Your Pillows & Blankets
This step should help to reduce the postural strain that improper sitting places on your body.
Sit with your hips back against the back of the seat to get the maximum support from the seat.
Place the blanket or pillow (personally, I like to fold the blanket in half) between the small of your back (the curve just above your hips) and the seat back. This will help to support your lower back in its natural curve and reduce low back pain. It is especially helpful if you are suffering from any disc related issues
Place the pillow behind your neck and keep the back of your head rested firmly against the headrest so that you can feel your neck being supported. This helps to keep your neck in its neutral curved position and reduce neck stiffness.
If you follow these steps you should feel like your upper body is fully supported in a more natural position. You should feel less strain or discomfort in this position
Get some exercise
Too much rest is not a good thing. All that sitting without any real movement can make you achy and stiff. The perfect solution is a bit of exercise. Any simple exercise or movement helps increase blood flow and lubricate your joints. Improved blood flow nourishes and oxygenates your body’s tissues and helps in waste removal, leaving you feeling healthier and more refreshed.
Get up and walk around. Use any excuse to go for a walk: Get a glass of water; Go to the bathroom; take a tour of the cabin; see what movies everyone else is watching; or as they say in the Dead Poet’s Society, view life from a different perspective!
You will probably feel pretty stiff the first time you get up. This is a sign that you should be doing it more often!
Choose your seat carefully
Make sure you get an aisle seat. All that getting up and walking around is never going to happen if you are stuck in the middle of a long row between 6 very close strangers. Make it easy for yourself to get up at will without annoying your neighbours.
The aisle seat also means that you have to get up every time one of your neighbours wants out, but if you’re not big on sleeping on flights, being forced to get up is a bit of a bonus and the perfect chance to stretch out a bit.
Don’t take all the aisle seats! Leave at least one for me unless you want to see me get cranky 😉
Use your time between flights
If you are stuck waiting for a few hours between flights, take the chance to walk around. A good solid hour of walking can do wonders to reverse all the damage that sitting for 6 hours does to your body.
Shop. Not up for a brisk walk? How about a leisurely stroll through the mall?
Beware Deep Vein Thrombosis
Deep vein thrombosis is a blood clot that can form in your calf. It may feel like a bit of pain or swelling in your calf. This is only mildly annoying, but if left untreated can result in the clot breaking free and blocking the blood supply to your heart or brain. If you feel soreness and swelling in a calf muscle after a flight, consult your doctor. The typical treatment is a round of blood thinners to gently break down the clot.
The lower air pressure combined with inactivity and sitting increases your chances of getting deep vein thrombosis. Seniors or women using the birth control pill are especially at risk.
One solution for preventing the deep vein thrombosis from forming is exercise. It is much more difficult for a clot to form if you are moving about. Get up and walk around every now and then to keep the blood flowing in your legs.
Try calf raises. While you are seated you can practise going up on your tippy toes and back down again. The constant flexion and relaxation of your calf muscles act like a pump and move the blood faster through the calf.
An Aspirin a day. Aspirin is a blood thinner in addition to being good for a variety of other ailments. If you doctor agrees with it and believes you are healthy enough for it, take aspirin daily for 3 to 4 days before your flight. Remember to be sure to consult with your doctor before you try this.
Some other tips
The air is pretty dry in the cabin, so keep drinking water to keep yourself hydrated.
Try the in flight exercises. Most planes have neck and shoulder exercise routines available in their in flight magazines. Try them out. It might look a little silly, but they definitely help.
Here is another stretch for your chest pectoral muscles. It is a yoga stretch than can easily be done at the work place. Perfect for those moments when you are stressed out at work and don’t have time for a break.
Guidelines for performing the stretches:
Check with a health care professional before you attempt these exercises to ensure that it is safe for you.
Do the exercises slowly and gently. Failing to follow the instructions or consult with a health care professional could cause your symptoms to worsen.
Try to breathe slowly and keep your body relaxed. Do not tense up or hold your breath as this will invite muscle spasm.
You should feel a gentle stretching sensation, but you should not feel any pain during the exercises. Be especially careful of any sharp pain in the shoulder. If you do feel pain, decrease the range of movement by stopping before you get to the point of pain. Continue the exercise within the pain free range.
If you cannot find a comfortable, pain free way to do these exercises, discontinue immediately and seek the advice of a health care professional.
To increase the stretch, try to squeeze your shoulder blades together and slide them down your back while you are doing the exercise.
Do the exercises in a set of 3 for a minimum of 3 times a day for best results.
Hold the stretch for a minimum of 15 seconds each time.
Here is a humorous look at the h1n1 swine flu vaccine. The scary thing is that it is dead on. Those ingredients he is listing off: mercury, chicken embryos, formaldehyde, etc. are actual ingredients in the flu shot. And yes, it’s true. The vaccine has not gone through the same testing and approval procedure that vaccines are supposed to.
Tightness in the pectoral muscles is an important factor in neck pain or shoulder/upper back pain. Shortness in the pectoral muscles pull the shoulder blades forward and cause the upper back muscles to stay in a stretched, weakened position resulting in neck and shoulder pain. This often happens because of poor postural habits, but more importantly it is due to our always being hunched over our desks or computers. Doing a few pec stretches every day can help reverse poor posture, increase muscle length and decrease shoulder and neck pain.
Guidelines for performing the stretches:
Check with a health care professional before you attempt these exercises to ensure that it is safe for you.
Do the exercises slowly and gently. Failing to follow the instructions or consult with a health care professional could cause your symptoms to worsen.
Try to breathe slowly and keep your body relaxed. Do not tense up or hold your breath as this will invite muscle spasm.
You should feel a gentle stretching sensation, but you should not feel any pain during the exercises. Be especially careful of any sharp pain in the shoulder. If you do feel pain, decrease the range of movement by stopping before you get to the point of pain. Continue the exercise within the pain free range.
If you cannot find a comfortable, pain free way to do these exercises, discontinue immediately and seek the advice of a health care professional.
To increase the stretch, try to squeeze your shoulder blades together and slide them down your back while you are doing the exercise.
Do the exercises in a set of 3 for a minimum of 3 times a day for best results.
Hold the stretch for a minimum of 15 seconds each time.
Here is part 3 of the pilates video: The Glutes Routine.
Strengthening the leg muscles can add strength and stability to your lower back area. You might never guess that your legs could be causing you lower back pain, but as I always say, everything is connected. Most leg muscles originate from the pelvis and any muscle imbalance in the legs can have an effect in shifting, tilting or rotating the pelvis and upsetting the natural balance of the body, thus causing lower back pain.
Pilates is a system of exercises which targets and strengthens core muscles. This video teaches some exercises for toning the legs. It especially works the inner thigh muslces (adductors) and the outer hip muscles (abductors). These 2 muscle groups work together to stabilize your hips in both athletic or non-athletic activity. Like the glutes, dysfunction in the leg muscles is rarely felt in the legs themselves, but rather in the lower back.
Practising these exercises on a regular basis will help to strengthen your leg stability muscles and can give you greater ease standing or walking as well as improved performance in athletics.
You should only try these exercises if you have a very strong core and are relatively athletic already. If you have a weak lower back or abs, you may find these exercises especially difficult or even painful. If you are healthy enough to do these exercises, they can be an important step in improving your health.
Guidelines for performing the exercises:
Check with a health care professional before you attempt these exercises to ensure that it is safe for you. It is especially important to rule out any disc problems before you do this exercise.
Do not do these exercises if you have any kind of acute low back pain or pain due to a herniated disc .
Do the exercises carefully. Failing to follow the instructions or consult with a health care professional could cause your symptoms to worsen.
Pilates is a very technical exercise. It works very well because of the finely-tuned movements. To get the most of the exercises it is best and safest to go to a pilates class or work with a pilates instructor.
Be very careful with the position of the lower back. It should be in a neutral position for the exercises. It should not be arched or rounded. In some of the exercises, you may feel like you do not have the strength to keep your lower back in a neutral position. You may feel like you cannot stop it from arching or rounding. In this case, do not do that particular exercise as it may do more harm than good. Challenging and potentially dangerous exercises are the seal, the hundred and the hundred prep.
You should feel a bit of a workout when doing these exercises, but you should not feel any pain. If you do feel pain, especially sharp or intense pain, stop immediately.
Do not feel like you have to do all the exercises. Only do the ones that you are most comfortable with when you are starting. Listen to your body.
As you gain strength and confidence over the weeks, you may want to add back the exercises that you had skipped. Only do so when you are sure that you can do the exercise safely.
If you cannot find a comfortable, pain free way to do these exercises, discontinue immediately and seek the advice of a health care professional.
Try to do the exercises at least twice a week to start off. You can increase the frequency as you build up strength.