There are two exercises back pain patients frequently do to help themselves that actually harm them. They are sit-up’s and standing hamstring stretches.

Sit-ups are commonly done on the floor with knees bent and the foot being held down, and the person forcefully raises up the torso to the knee. Not only this movement functionally not very useful in everyday life, the flexion of the spine under tremendous abdominal muscle contraction squeezes the front of the disc and causes the back of the disc to stretch. The jelly contained within the disc migrates backward and puts a lot of stress on the back part of the disc. Do the sit-up enough, and the likely result for a back patient is causing a disc herniation in the back. A much safer choice for abdominal strengthening is Stuart McGil’s Big 3 spinal stabilization exercises, which are modified curl-up, bird dog, and side plank. Demonstration of the Big 3 is easily found on YouTube by searching for it.

The second dangerous exercise for back pain patient is standing hamstring stretch. The person performing this stretch stand up with the legs straight, and bends forward fully trying to touch the toes with his/her fingers. Sometimes there is bouncing involved for the extra stretch. This motion is extremely stressful to the low back discs and ligament. The person may feel some relief through the stretching of the low back muscles and the hamstrings, but as the torso hangs the back ligaments and discs are stretched to the maximum and eventually, they tear. A safer solution is to lie flat on the floor, then using a towel behind the ankle, slowly raise the leg towards the head and hold for up to 30 seconds. This way, there is no stress to the back ligaments and discs. However, if this maneuver causes tingling or numbness or sharp pain down the raised leg, that is an indication of nerve irritation and reason to seek professional help.