Best Exercises to Relieve a Disc Injury | Chiropractor for Disc Injury in Lubbock, TX
So today we’re gonna discuss a couple of treatments you can do at home to get some relief from a bulging or herniated disc.
The McKinzie Exercise
One of the main exercises we like to do with our patients when they’re in the post acute stage is having them do a McKinzie exercise. The way we do McKinzie exercise is you have the patient laying flat on the floor. We’re doing a demonstration, so that’s the purpose of this bench here, but the patient is going to get into push-up position. So getting in that push up position for me, then keep your tummy down, pelvis down, and push your arms up. Perfect. And we’re going to hold it to that point where there might be a little bit of pain, we could go back down just to here and hold that position.
How to Stretch at Home
The key is we want to hold this position for one minute, and about every hour of the day that we’re at home. So we’re going to do that daily. So you’re home from about 4 to 10pm before you go to bed. So let’s do that six times one minute, every hour of the day you’re at home. As this gets easier, we can slowly make sure we increase that position to really help push that disc back in and get the results we need. Another example of exercise that we like to use at home for our patients for a disc injury is called a Bridge.
The Bridge Exercise
So the way we do the Bridge is we typically have a patient on the floor, but we’re for demonstration purposes, so he’s gonna be on this bench here. So we’re gonna have the patient put her feet and her heels on the floor. And what we’re going to try to do is make your knees, your hips and your shoulders all line up. This will get that pelvis in and you’re gonna hold that position for about three to five breaths, inhaling with a nice exhale slowly. What this is doing is stabilizing the disc and the lower back to strengthen up that area. So we’re gonna do this three to five times, and this should help eliminate disc issues while stabilizing that spine to get the relief we need. The exercise is gonna be more of a stretch to elongate those muscles that lower back, they may get tight after having a disc injury. So it’s gonna be a simple little stretch that’s gonna be very beneficial.
These are good stretches for that lower back to help loosen up the muscles that have might have gotten tight after suffering from a disc injury. If you need help, call us or visit one spine.com. Thank you!
