3 Exercises You Should Avoid If You Have Car Accident-related Low Back Pain

Exercise And Low Back Pain

While incorporating exercising as a part of your lifestyle is one of the healthiest activities you can adopt, certain types of exercises can do more harm than good. This is especially true if you are healing from an injury or are recovering from chronic pain after a car accident.

Some of the benefits of exercise include, strengthening the muscles, boosting blood flow, reducing stiffness, and speeding up healing. But even though exercising has a bunch of benefits, it can still be a bit problematic if not done the right way or at the right time.

The same holds true if you are suffering from low back pain. To be sure you are benefitting from the exercises you are doing it is best to consult an accident injury doctor near you before you dive in to work on those back muscles.

Exercises for your lower back help to strengthen your back muscles and also make your spine flexible. But, unfortunately there are some specific exercises that can actually aggravate your back pain. While it’s true that there is no fixed exercise that works or doesn’t work, there are some that are best avoided.

Before we tell you which of those you should avoid, let’s first look at a few symptoms of low back pain. These will help you understand why it is important to avoid certain exercises.

Symptoms To Watch Out For

Episodes of low back pain increase with age. But there are some individuals who are at a higher risk of suffering from low back pain.

Some of such individuals include those who are overweight, those who lead sedentary lifestyles, individuals who do occupations related to heavy lifting, and then those who have been involved in an auto accident and sustained back injuries. Car accident victims may suffer from low back pain even after their recovery if they do not lead a proper lifestyle.

Some of the symptoms of low back pain include:

• Dull aching pain or shooting, stabbing pains
• Difficulty standing and walking
• Radiating pain to the lower extremities
• Difficulty with bowel and bladder control

Your low back pain can benefit if you move around and stretch yourself, instead of just resting. But there are some exercises that can worsen your back pain.

Stay clear of them and instead continue with the less stressful ones. This way you will surely be successful in not only alleviating your low back pain but also be rewarded with a healthy back.

Here are 3 exercises that you should avoid when suffering from low back pain, especially after being involved in a car accident.

1. Avoid Leg Lifts

Leg lifts are known to strengthen your abdominal muscles and in helping restore strength to your lower back. But, when you do them along with low back pain they can be harmful for your back. Leg lifts are done by lying on your back and lifting both your legs together.

While exercising when you lift both your legs together it proves to be very taxing for your back as well as for your abdominal muscles. For a less stressful stretch you can try lifting one leg at a time with the other leg bent at the knee for support.

Another alternative is to do the knee to chest instead of the leg lifts. This does not worsen your back pain and helps to provide the slight stretch your injured back needs.

2. Avoid Toe Touches

Exercises such as bending and touching your toes can put a lot of stress on the intervertebral discs and the ligaments of your spine, especially your lumbar spine. The added pull to the spine while you bend to touch your toes can even overstretch your lower back muscles and hamstrings which can increase your back pain.

3. Avoid Sit-ups

Sit-ups are recommended because they are also known to strengthen your abdominal muscles. But when you do sit-ups you tend to use your hip muscles, which puts a lot of pressure on the discs present in your spine. An easy alternative to sit-ups is bridging. But even while doing this exercise you must ensure you do not overarch as it could stress your lumbar spine.

Always Seek The Advice Of Your Chiropractor

Initially when you begin doing exercises for your low back pain, you may feel some mild discomfort. As you continue with your exercises and your muscles become stronger, this slight pain disappears.

But sometimes this pain can last for more than 15 minutes during your exercise and may not be so mild. In such a case immediately stop exercising and get in touch with an accident injury doctor near you.

Before you begin doing any exercise for back pain, always seek the advice of your chiropractor. Depending on the intensity of your pain and the extent of your back injury your car accident injury chiropractor will recommend which exercise can be harmful for you and which you can include in your exercise regimen.

To schedule an appointment or a consultation with our team of injury chiropractors you can call 305-928-2828 today. You can also email us at: accidentclinicmiami.com/contact-us/ for more information.