Back pain is a fairly common ailment today and is found in most people around the world. Often they are caused by osteochondrosis or its complications such as a hernial process.
With such a diagnosis, the condition is greatly facilitated by the regular performance of therapeutic and gymnastic exercises, developed taking into account the pathological features of vertebral pathology. Sometimes such gymnastic therapy helps to avoid surgical treatment of a spinal hernia.
Exercise objectives for hernia of the spine
Therapeutic exercises are able to put on their feet, restore the patient’s former motor abilities, but only if the destructive processes in the tissues of the vertebra have not yet had time to damage its structural basis.
In general, such training can be considered as a kind of panacea that gets rid of hernial lesions.
” Anti-hernia ” exercises pursue several specific goals and objectives:
- Work on vertebral motor abilities in order to fully restore them;
- Increasing the strength of the vertebral- muscular corset and increasing its tone, restoring the functionality of muscle tissues;
- Elimination of spasms and muscle contractions that make it difficult for beneficial nutrients to penetrate the affected areas;
- Normalization of material metabolism and blood supply to the affected tissues.
Each element performed helps to increase the endurance of a particular muscle group, which as a result ensures the correct positioning of all discs, stretching the spinal column and reducing protrusion of hernial formation.
What types of exercises can and cannot be done
With a hernial process, far from any movements are allowed. Experts prohibit doing elements associated with jumps, blows or pushes in the back area, etc.
There are many contradictions about crunches, but one thing is certain – you cannot start performing them in the first workouts. It is necessary to gradually prepare the muscles and, after several workouts, proceed with caution when performing twisting.
Physiotherapy specialists do not recommend doing elements that are accompanied by sudden movements and suggest a high spinal load.
It is first necessary to perform any element in slow motion with great care, and only then increase the motor amplitude and apply more effort.
Important rules
- Clear control over sensations, any discomfort should be considered as a signal to end the workout, if when lying on your back there is a feeling of acute pain, then you need to put a roller under this area;
- The absence of pain during the execution of therapeutic elements indicates the suitability of such an exercise, since movements that bring painful sensations are prohibited;
- Strict dosage of loads, spinal-muscular overstrain is unacceptable;
- For safety reasons, the first trainings must be carried out under the supervision of a qualified medical instructor in physiotherapy exercises, he will control the technique of execution, correct the list of performed elements, choosing the necessary exercises for each specific patient;
- Exercises that are required to be performed during the remission period are not suitable for exacerbations, therefore, at the acute stage, traditional training should be stopped until the end of the relapse of the disease;
- When choosing a physical therapy complex, it is necessary so that the exercises provide an isometric effect and do not overload muscle tissues, the slightest overload instead of therapy will have the opposite effect, complicating the course of the pathology;
- The best option would be a phased implementation of the complex: part of the exercises in the morning, part in the evening;
- Gymnastic therapy involves a gradual increase in the load, taking into account the fitness and physical condition of the patient.
Back complexes
Hernial processes can occur in any vertebral region. Most often, the lumbar vertebrae are affected, but in practice, hernias of the thoracic and cervical spines are often found.
Rehabilitation therapists often resort to exercise therapy for a hernia of the spine, which saves patients from prolonged pain syndrome and functional disorders characteristic of hernia.
Cervical
Hernial processes between the cervical vertebrae are difficult to treat, therefore, they require an integrated approach to therapy, including regular training, massage procedures, physiotherapy techniques, etc. It is recommended to conduct classes at a slow pace, starting and ending with their massage warming up the muscles.
Begin training with light massaging movements, gradually increasing the intensity and area of impact. As a result, the muscles are warmed up, more nutrients and oxygen penetrate into the hernial tissue. All this minimizes the likelihood of an aggravation of the clinical picture of pathology and stops its further development.
After warming up, proceed to the main gymnastic elements:
- Sitting on a chair, tilt your head back, while trying to pull in your chin;
- Stand with your arms at your sides. Perform pressing the chin to the chest;
- Dangle your arms along your body while sitting on a chair. Perform rotational movements of the head to the maximum emphasis on the right and left sides.
After 7-10 times repetition of each element, the final massage is started.
If you practice regularly twice a day, performing each element smoothly and carefully, taking into account all the medical recommendations of rehabilitators, then in a month and a half you will see noticeable results, the general condition will improve, and the intensity of symptomatic hernial manifestations will decrease.
Pectoral
Thoracic intervertebral discs can also be involved in hernial processes, therefore, specialists have developed therapeutic and gymnastic elements that eliminate the manifestations of this pathology precisely in the area of the thoracic vertebrae:
- Lying tuck your legs to your chest, perform head lifts, trying to reach your knees with your forehead;
- Lie with the limbs bent at the knees. Resting your feet and bent arms on the floor, perform body lifts like a bridge, only the hands are at shoulder level, and not behind the head;
- Lying on your back with a roller placed under the thoracic region to perform backbends;
- Lie in an embryonic position for several minutes;
- Squatting, put your foot completely on the floor and clasp your bent legs with your arms. Bend the spine back and forth;
- Sitting on a chair, folding your arms behind your head in the lock, perform back bends, touching the upper edge of the back of the chair, then, without unbending 5 times, bend forward.
With daily exercise, evenly increasing the load on the thoracic vertebrae, a gradual recovery of the affected areas will begin.
Exercise therapy for the lumbosacral region
The lumbosacral zone of the spine is more often than others exposed to hernial processes, therefore, rehabilitation and recovery exercises for this department are very popular:
- Spinal deflections from the “on all fours” position;
- Gymnastic element “plank”, suggesting, as it were, hanging for several minutes, resting against the surface of the floor with the toes of the legs and elbows;
- Perform head raises from a prone position on your stomach;
- Lying on your side leg raises;
- Tension of the abdominal muscles, etc.
Other therapeutic and physical training complexes for treatment
Gymnastic therapy is not limited to elements performed while lying down or sitting on the floor. There are many other equally effective movements that help stop hernial processes.
Spine sprain
The simplest way of vertebral stretching with a hernia is hanging on a horizontal bar or wall bars. At home, you can use the interior door by grasping its upper edge and hanging, legs tucked in. It should hang for about a minute. In general, you need to perform 2-3 hangs throughout the day.
There are also specially designed simulators for spinal stretching. There are a lot of options for their modifications: from primitive inclined boards to specialized equipment.
Water treatments in the pool
Water procedures significantly reduce the intensity of the vertebral load, which helps to eliminate pain manifestations. Therefore, exercises in the pool are particularly effective in eliminating hernial processes.
You can simply swim on your back or crawl, or conduct specially designed classes. By the way, there is even an underwater traction of the spine.
Hydrokinesis therapy , as the water therapeutic and gymnastic program is also called, involves the implementation of the simplest movements:
- Tilts of the body alternately in each direction;
- Circular torso rotation;
- Torso turns;
- Swimming;
- Pulling elements, etc.