How to Relieve Lower Back Pain

how to relieve lower back pain

Verywell / Amelia Manley

If you have experienced low back pain, you are not alone. This musculoskeletal issue is the most common among adults, with up to 80% having experienced it during their lifetime. The consequences of low back pain are far-reaching, with reports stating it is the top reason for struggling with daily activities and missing work. 

What’s more, being in pain is taxing emotionally, mentally, and physically. It’s clear that finding safe and practical solutions for alleviating and preventing low back pain can significantly improve your life and well-being. Here, experts provide several tips for finding relief so you can live pain-free.

Common Causes of Lower Back Pain

Several reasons, including physical dysfunction and lifestyle habits, can cause low back pain. According to Timothy O'Sullivan, MD, a physiatrist with Primary Care Sports Medicine, Atlantic Medical Group Orthopedics in Wayne, New Jersey, some of the most common physical dysfunctions leading to low back pain are:

  • Muscle strain due to an injury to the lower back muscles
  • Disc degeneration and/or herniation from wear and tear of the discs
  • Radiculopathy or a pinching of a nerve in the back that can cause pain down the leg
  • Spinal stenosis or a narrowing of the spinal column where your spinal cord runs
  • Facet joint arthropathy, which is a type of arthritis of the small joints in your back
  • Sacroiliac joint dysfunction, which causes too much or too little movement of a joint at the junction of your back and pelvis

Lifestyle habits can also contribute to low back pain, according to Tony Matoska, DPT, PT, CMPT, the spine specialty program manager for Athletico Physical Therapy. “Smoking, sedentary lifestyles, obesity, and poor mental health put people at increased risk of developing back pain."

Dr. Matoska points out that low back pain can have several contributing factors simultaneously, including lifestyle and physical sources. This is why treating low back pain should include a varied approach using exercise and healthy habit formation.

Even though many physical dysfunctions and lifestyle factors can be beyond your control, chronic lower back pain can be helped, explains Carrie A. Lamb, DPT, OCS, a Balanced Body Educator. Pain is a sensory and emotional experience created by the brain, not the body, and the factors contributing to it are different for everyone. "Understanding how pain works in the body is a big part of helping to reduce the sensation of pain."

Exercises and Stretches to Relieve Lower Back Pain

Exercises and stretches are highly effective tools for preventing and relieving lower back pain. But before attempting any new exercises, check with a healthcare provider to ensure they are right for you. And if any exercise creates new pain or exacerbates existing discomfort, let your provider know.

Here are some exercises and stretches you can try at home. These movements were suggested by Dr. O'Sullivan and Dr. Matoska.

Glute Bridges

Dr. O'Sullivan recommends glute bridges for strengthening your gluteal muscles, transversus abdominis, and hamstrings. These muscles help support your spine and pelvis, improving stability.

  1. Lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor.
  2. Tilt your pelvis gently, as if imprinting your lower back into the floor, and lift your hips in the air.
  3. Hold this position for 10 seconds before you lower, keeping your navel drawn in and slowly lowering your spine back down onto the floor.
  4. Keep your buttocks tight until your pelvis rests back down on the floor.

Avoid arching your back as you raise your hips, and contract your abdominal muscles before and during the lift. Dr. O'Sullivan recommends wrapping a belt around your knees or using a looped resistance band and applying outward pressure to help you utilize your glutes more than your hamstrings.

Side Plank

Side planks strengthen your muscles in the lower back as well as external and internal obliques, which are located on the sides of your torso. These help provide stability for your spine as well as support twisting and rotational movements from a solid base.

  1. Lie on your side with your forearm under your shoulder and perpendicular to your body.
  2. Keep your knees and feet together with one leg resting on top of the other.
  3. Tighten your abdominal muscles and raise your hips in the air so they are in line with your feet and shoulders.
  4. Hold this position for 10 seconds.
  5. Lower yourself down to your original position and repeat.

Dr. O'Sullivan says an easier version can be performed if you start with your knees bent to 90 degrees so that your body weight is held through your arm and knees instead of your arm and feet. Keep your neck in alignment with your spine.

Quadruped Rocking

Dr. Matoska recommends quadruped rocking to alleviate low back pain. It works by increasing hip mobility and training the nervous system to increase coordination, balance, and motor control in the pelvis and lower back.

  1. Start on your hands and knees.
  2. Rock your hips backward toward your heels, allowing your back to stretch.
  3. Take a deep breath when you rock back, pause for a moment, and exhale when you rock back to the starting position.
  4. Repeat for 20 repetitions. 

Open Books

Open books are an excellent movement for limbering up your upper back and shoulders while stretching your chest and front shoulders. The mobility and stretch this movement creates in your hips and abdominals will feel great. Dr. Matoska describes how to do it below.

  1. Lay on your left side with your head supported by your left arm or a pillow.
  2. Place your right hand near your top ear.
  3. Keep your knees together and relaxed, then rotate the upper half of your body to the right while taking a deep breath in.
  4. Rotate as far as you can comfortably and then return to the starting position.
  5. Exhale as you return to the start position.
  6. Repeat 20 times and then perform laying on the other side.

Cat-Cow Stretch

The cat-cow stretch is a classic yoga movement that helps mobilize and stretch the muscles in the back and entire core, especially those around your spine. Dr. Matoska recommends this exercise for relieving low back pain and stiffness.

  1. Start on your hands and knees.
  2. Round your lower back and look down to the ground as far as possible to feel a gentle stretch.
  3. Hold for a moment, then arch your back and look up as high as possible.
  4. Hold for a moment and repeat, going as far as you can comfortably in each direction.
  5. Maintain a relaxed breathing rate as you perform 20 repetitions. 

Curl-Up

Core strength is vital for a healthy lower back, and your abdominals make up a large portion of your core. Dr. O'Sullivan recommends curl-ups to work your rectus abdominis, external oblique, internal oblique, and transversus abdominis.

  1. Lie on your back with your knees bent, and feet flat on the floor.
  2. Press your lower back into the floor. You can place your hands behind your head or leave your arms on the floor at your sides.
  3. Pull your navel in and up toward your spine.
  4. Raise your head and shoulders slowly off the floor and up into the air.
  5. Hold for a few seconds, then slowly lower back down.

"Relax your neck, and do not pull on your head with your hands," says Dr. O'Sullivan. "Do not sit all the way up as this utilizes too much of your hip flexors and puts more pressure through the spine."

Bird Dog

Dr. O'Sullivan recommends bird dogs for working your back extensors, erector spinae, and gluteal muscles. Bird dogs are a classic spine health exercise that helps build stability and support for your spine during extending, flexing, and rotating movements. When performing this exercise, Dr. O'Sullivan warns not to overextend or arch your back when extending your arm and leg.

  1. Start on your hands and knees. Your hands should be positioned under your shoulders, and your knees positioned under your hips.
  2. Tighten your abdominal muscles and reach one arm straight out in front of you at shoulder level. It should be aligned with your torso.
  3. Extend the opposite leg straight out behind you at the same time so that it is also in line with your torso.
  4. Hold this position for two to three seconds before slowly returning to the starting position.
  5. Repeat using the other arm and leg.
  6. Alternate sides for 10 repetitions.

Sitting Rotation Stretch

This seated stretch relieves tight piriformis, external oblique, and internal oblique muscles, which can lead to dysfunction and pain.

  1. Sit on the floor with both legs straight out in front of you.
  2. Cross your right leg over the left one, keeping your right leg bent at the knee so that your knee sticks up in the air and your right foot is positioned next to your left thigh/knee.
  3. Twist toward your right side, putting your hand behind you to help support you.
  4. Use your left arm to push against the outside of your bent leg to help you twist further to the right. You should look over your shoulder and hold this position for 20 seconds.
  5. Return to the starting position and swap the positioning of your legs.
  6. Repeat the same action but now turn in the opposite direction.

Knee to Chest Stretch

The knee-to-chest stretch is a simple movement that helps relieve tightness in the lower back muscles and quadratus lumborum.

  1. Start on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor.
  2. Lift one leg up toward your chest, grabbing it behind your thigh or (if you can reach) by your shin, and pull it in toward you.
  3. Tighten your abdominals and press your spine to the floor.
  4. Hold for 20 seconds.
  5. Repeat on the other side.

Hamstring Stretch

Stretching your hamstrings can relieve a tight, sore lower back due to sitting for extended periods. Dr. Matoska recommends this stretch to loosen tight hamstrings and glutes.

  1. Sit on the floor with one leg straight out in front of you.
  2. Loop a bath towel around the bottom of your foot at the heel.
  3. Bend gently forward at your hips and bring your belly down to your thighs.
  4. Keep your back straight as you grab the towel to help you pull yourself forward and down to your legs.
  5. Look for mild tension in your lower back and the back of your leg.
  6. Hold for 20 seconds.

Lifestyle Changes to Help with Lower Back Pain

Using targeted exercises to strengthen your core and lower back muscles will help improve your posture and reduce muscle fatigue. It also is one of the best ways to improve and prevent lower back pain, according to Dr. O'Sullivan. "These benefits occur because these muscles help with the stability of your spine and pelvis and help keep them in a neutral position (good posture) which takes the stress off your bones, joints, and discs."

In addition, stronger well-conditioned core postural muscles also prevent and reduce the pain from muscle fatigue that can occur with being in one position for too long, such as prolonged sitting or standing.

Strengthening is not the only type of exercise that can help reduce low back pain, though. Dr. Lamb and Dr. O'Sullivan also recommend aerobic exercise as part of a low back pain treatment plan since it has been shown to help reduce pain intensity and improve your mood.

Low back pain can also be improved with mindfulness and balance-based exercises such as pilates, yoga, and tai chi, adds Dr. O'Sullivan. "Finding ways to help reduce stress in your life, taking care of your mental health, and using mindfulness techniques such as deep breathing exercises are other avenues for low back pain relief."

Weight loss, either from the exercises above or in combination with a balanced diet, can help reduce stress on the back, too. Finally, if you are a smoker, smoking cessation can help reduce chronic back pain.

Lifestyle Tips for Reducing Pain

  • Avoid smoking at all costs.
  • Eat a well-balanced diet, suggests Dr. Matoska. "A poor diet can cause increased inflammatory markers in your bloodstream and contribute to back pain and weight issues."
  • Perform at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week. This exercise goal has been shown to decrease and prevent pain.
  • Try your best to get the recommended seven to eight hours of sleep per night so your body can recover and reset, says Dr. Matoska.
  • Focus on proper hydration throughout the day to keep joints lubricated.


When to Seek Professional Treatment

Have a healthcare provider evaluate any back pain worsening or not responding to treatment, suggests Dr. Lamb. "Most back pain resolves in one to two weeks on its own; pain that lasts longer than three months is considered chronic as most tissue injuries heal in that time frame."

If your pain is severe, occurs after a trauma, affects your daily activities, or lasts longer than six weeks, you should seek professional treatment. According to Dr. O'Sullivan, you should always seek professional evaluation and treatment for numbness or weakness in the groin or legs and an inability to hold your bowel or bladder. These could be signs of a problem affecting your back's nerves or spinal cack.

"I also recommend seeking a professional if you've just resigned yourself to living in pain," Dr. Lamb adds. Working with a provider with pain science training can help get you on the right track.  

Addressing any lifestyle factors that may be contributing to lower back pain is key to leading a pain-free life. Consider adding general exercises such as cardio and strength training. Also, focus on low back pain-relieving exercises and stretches to reduce current pain and keep it from making a comeback. Remember that pain is experienced differently for each person, and it is essential to work with a healthcare provider on your unique factors to reduce pain and improve daily living.

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Verywell Fit uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
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By Rachel MacPherson, BA, CPT
Rachel MacPherson is a health writer, certified personal trainer, and exercise nutrition coach based in Halifax.