Winter Blues Because Of Back Pain? Fight It!
As we all know, it’s Winter. And with this season, for a lot of us, comes cold weather and…snow. My definition of snow has most definitely changed throughout the years. Let’s take a look and see how:
8 year old definition: Snow – the glorious white, fluffy stuff that used to get us days off of school and bring us hours of pleasure sledding in it, building snowmen, having snowball fights, the list goes on!
23 year old definition: Snow – that cold stuff that makes me want to curl up in a ball under the covers until Spring, causes me accidents because it doesn’t get me out of work, creates extra work when I have to go shovel the driveway and my car, on and on…
Don’t get me wrong. I do still hold my love of sledding and actually did build a snowman yesterday (it’s much harder now than I ever remember it being). However, after spending a good hour or so shoveling the thick, wet, heavy snow yesterday, my back has been in a WORLD of pain!
If you have ever been in this predicament (which I am sure many of you have) and don’t have the money to run to the chiropractor every time you have a back ache (to put it in light terms), here are a few stretches I have come to find help fight the pain.
Back Flexion Exercise
While lying on your back, pull both knees to the chest while simultaneously flexing your head forward until a comfortable stretch is felt in a balled-up position.
Knee to Chest Stretch
While lying on your back with knees bent and both heels on the floor, place both hands behind one knee and bring it to your chest.
Simple Cat Stretch
Position yourself on your hands and knees on the floor. Very slowly raise your head. As you do this, allow your belly to open downward toward the floor and your back to fall into an arch. Hold for a few moments and then stretch your spine in the opposite direction by dropping your head, your chin moving toward your chest, while your back raises toward the ceiling. Move only as far as comfortable.
Hip Stretch (helps with lower back pain)
While standing with feet shoulder-width apart, take a half-step back with your right foot, bend your left knee and shift weight back to your right hip. While keeping your right leg straight, bend forward more and reach down your right leg until a stretch in the outer hip is felt.
Piriformis muscle stretch (helps with lower back and leg pain)
To stretch the piriformis muscle, lie on your back and cross one leg over the other and gently pull the other knee toward the chest until a stretch is felt in the buttocks area.
There are a TON of stretches beyond these that you can do to relieve back pain or, better yet, prevent it from happening! Here is a website you can check out to prevent back pain from shoveling. It provides a short list of stretches you can actually do BEFORE you begin to shovel.
Please let us know what you do to prevent or alleviate back pain so we can all live happy and pain free!
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