If you’ve seen me for lower back pain then you’ll probably remember this back stretch. A very common symptom that people suffering from lower back pain feel is morning stiffness on getting out of the bed. It’s because when your back is inflamed, it won’t like being in one position for long. This is exactly also why you may feel stiff on getting up after sitting for long or being in one position for long. Since you’ve been lying for 7 or 8 hours at night in one position(even though you may be twisting or turning at night), it takes a little while for the blood circulation to flow properly again around your lower back. Doing a simple back stretch can help to get things moving again and sort of “warm up” your back before you get up.

A simple back stretch to reduce back stiffness

So here’s a simple back stretch you can do , FIRST THING in the morning, even BEFORE you get out of the bed. Turn on your tummy and do a half push up arching your upper body backwards. Only go upto the limit of pain or discomfort, don’t try to overextend and push yourself.
Repeat this at least 5 times before you even think of getting out of the bed. This back stretch will warm up your back enough to get it moving and reduce the stiffness you feel.  As with anything, consistency is the key. So it’s important to do this back stretch every morning. Of course, some hands on physiotherapy like joint mobilizations will help to get rid of the back pain completely followed by a set of core strengthening exercises. Pain is an indication that something’s not right with the body. Our bodies are great at healing but if they don’t heal within 1-2 weeks, it’s probably not going to heal by itself.
picture of a woman doing a back stretch

Physiotherapy is very effective for treatment of lower back pain. It’s not possible to just get rid of pain by doing a back stretch from youtube. It’s important to get to the root cause of the problem so it doesn’t rear it’s ugly head again.