Back Pain Treatment in Vancouver: More Than Manual Therapy
If you're dealing with persistent low back pain, you might feel like your only option is to rest and avoid movement. While temporary rest is sometimes necessary, the long-term solution lies in building strength and stability in the right muscles.
At Omni Health and Wellness in Vancouver, we know that movement is medicine. As part of our integrated chiropractic and massage therapy approach, we often provide patients with specific strengthening exercises to support the manual work we do. These exercises help stabilize your spine, prevent future flare-ups, and get you back to moving well.
The Power of Foundational Movement
Low back pain is frequently linked to weakness in your core and gluteal (hip) muscles. When these key support muscles aren't working efficiently, your spine takes on excessive stress, leading to discomfort and injury.
The exercises we recommend are designed to:
Strengthen Your Support System: Target the muscles that stabilize your pelvis and lower spine.
Improve Body Awareness: Teach you how to move and hold your body in a safer, more efficient way.
Enhance Recovery: Support the adjustments and soft-tissue work you receive in our clinic.
Sample Foundational Stabilization Exercises
The goal of these exercises is to engage your core and glutes gently, without putting stress on your low back. These are foundational exercises we may assign, depending on your individual assessment.
1. The Glute Bridge
The Glute Bridge is excellent for strengthening the gluteal muscles and low back extensors, which are essential stabilizers of the pelvis and take pressure off the lower back.
Starting Position: Lie on your back with your knees bent, feet flat on the floor, and arms resting at your sides.
Movement: Engage your core and squeeze your glutes. Slowly lift your hips off the floor until your body forms a straight line from your shoulders to your knees.
Hold: Hold the top position for 5-10 seconds, focusing on keeping your abdominal muscles engaged to prevent your back from arching.
Return: Slowly lower your hips back down to the starting position.
2. The Bird-Dog
The Bird-Dog exercise focuses on core stability and control, improving balance and coordination in the muscles that run along your spine.
Starting Position: Start on your hands and knees, ensuring your wrists are directly under your shoulders and your knees are under your hips. Keep your back flat—imagine balancing a cup of water on your lower back.
Movement: Slowly extend one arm straight forward and the opposite leg straight back.
Focus: Maintain a level pelvis and a steady core throughout the movement. Do not let your back arch or rotate.
Hold: Hold the extended position for a few seconds.
Return: Bring the arm and leg back to the starting position and repeat on the opposite side.
Your Personalized Treatment Plan
While these examples are great starting points for many, a one-size-fits-all approach doesn't work for back pain.
At Omni Health and Wellness, our practitioners integrate chiropractic care, massage therapy, and therapeutic exercise tailored specifically to your body and your diagnosis.
We are happy to assess your movement patterns, identify muscle imbalances, and provide you with a specific, custom set of exercises designed to help you regain function and maintain the relief you achieve in our clinic.
Would you like to schedule an appointment with one of our Vancouver practitioners to get started on your customized exercise program?
Give us a call today at 604-829-8885 or visit us at www.omnihealthvancouver.com to book an appointment!
