Back pain is often caused by an injury to a back muscle or other back structures. However, even if you don’t have a mechanical back issue, you can still experience back pain.
Inflammatory, or nonmechanical, back pain isn’t caused by an injury to a back structure. It’s related to chronic inflammation in one or more parts of your back, and up to 6% of Americans will develop it in their lifetime. Ankylosing spondylitis is one common type of nonmechanical back pain. Initial symptoms of this condition tend to include stiffness and pain in lower back and hips.
A physical therapist can help you find effective ways to treat inflammatory back pain symptoms. For instance, they can show you how to perform helpful therapeutic exercises, such as the following:
- Seated figure four stretch
Purpose: This exercise is intended to reduce inflammatory back pain symptoms in your hips.
How to do the seated figure four stretch:
- Sit with good posture in a stable chair.
- Start with both feet flat on the floor.
- Lift your right leg and place your right ankle on your left thigh.
- Keeping your back straight, slowly bend forward from the hips until you feel a stretch in your right hip.
- Hold the stretch for 15 to 20 seconds.
- Sit up and return your right foot to the floor.
- Switch legs and stretch your left hip.
- Continue to repeat the stretch until you’ve done three to five repetitions with each leg.
- Cobra stretch
Purpose: The cobra stretch can help inflammatory back pain patients by stretching the stomach muscles and lengthening the lower spine.
How to do the cobra stretch:
- Lie facedown on the floor with your legs straight out behind you. You can place a yoga mat under you to increase your comfort.
- Place your hands at about shoulder height.
- Slowly push your upper body up until you feel a stretch in your stomach.
- Hold this position for 15 to 20 seconds.
- Slowly lower your upper body back to the floor.
- Rest for a few seconds.
- Repeat the stretch until you’ve done three to five total reps.
- Lying hip rotation stretch
Purpose: This stretch can help stretch out the stiff lower back muscles that often go along with inflammatory back pain.
How to do the lying hip rotation stretch:
- Lie down on your back with your face toward the ceiling.
- Place your feet flat on the floor so that your knees are bent.
- Slowly rotate your legs and hips to the right until they’re on the floor. Try to keep your upper body flat on the floor.
- Hold this position for 10 to 20 seconds.
- Slowly lift your knees back to the starting position.
- Rotate your legs and hips to the left to stretch the other side of your back.
- Repeat the stretch until you’ve stretched both sides three to five times.
Find treatment for inflammatory back pain at Border Therapy Services
Dealing with inflammatory back pain symptoms? Our physical therapy team at Border Therapy Services is primed to help you treat them. We offer free screenings that can confirm that you have nonmechanical back pain. In addition, our physical therapists can create a personalized therapy plan for you that’s designed to offer benefits like:
- Reduced pain.
- Improved flexibility.
- Increased ability to do normal daily activities.
We can even help you treat your symptoms from home if you sign up for an at-home care or virtual therapy session with us.
Contact our team today for more information about how we can treat different types of back pain or to schedule an initial appointment.