Just about everyone experiences back pain from time to time.  For those who deal with chronic back pain, and don’t have a herniated disc, degenerative disc disease, or any other counter indicated condition, certain exercises can help.  These exercises are designed to increase strength and flexibility in your body’s core, taking some of the load off your back muscles.

Done regularly, a course of back strengthening exercises can reduce your pain significantly.  Start slowly and gradually add more exercises over time.  If you do a little each day, it won’t seem overwhelming.  Plus, you are more likely to stick with your resolve to exercise your back.

Hamstring Stretch
Lay upon the floor with your back on the floor and both legs bent at the knee.  Select one leg and raise it as far as you can.  Grasp behind the thigh or calf, not the knee, and gently pull your leg towards your head until you feel a stretch.  Hold for about 20 seconds.  Release and perform the same stretch with the other leg.

Straight Leg Raises
Lay upon the floor facing the ceiling.  Bend one leg and leave the other straight.  Tighten your stomach muscles to stabilize your core and lift the straightened leg off the floor about 8-12 inches.  Hold it for a few seconds and slowly lower the leg to the floor again.  Repeat 10 times for each leg, switching the bent and straight leg when you complete the first 10.

Wall Squats
With your back against a wall, move your feet out until there are about 12 inches between your heels and the edge of the wall.  Keeping your stomach muscles tight slowly bend your knees until you achieve a 45° angle.  Hold your position for about 5 seconds and slowly return to an upright position.  Repeat10 times to complete a set.

Exercise Ball Stabilization
Get an exercise ball that is either 55cm or 65cm, depending upon your height.  You want to be able to sit upon the ball and have your knees at a right angle.  This exercise has three levels of difficulty.
1.    While sitting upon the ball raise one arm to maximum extension, by your ear then the next.  Alternating the raised arm for about one minute
2.    While raising your arms, lift the opposite heel from the ground as you raise each arm.  Take your time and keep your balance.
3.    Now, rather than just raising your heel, lift the whole foot an inch or two off the ground, marching in place while sitting upon the ball.

Pelvic Tilts
Lay on the floor with your knees bent.  Tighten your stomach muscles and pull your belly button towards the floor.  You should feel your hips roll backwards.  Hold the pose for about 10 seconds and release to neutral.  Repeat 10 times.

There are many more exercises that are prefect for strengthening and toning your back.  By keeping your back and core strong, you will reduce the likelihood of injuring yourself again.  Exercises may take some time, but a few minutes a day is all it takes to improve your life and reduce your pain.

Do you suffer from a bad back? Remedial massage might help. Remedial massage is a deep tissue style massage, therapeutic in nature, designed to heal specific health issues, muscle problems and injuries. Massage therapists know and believe that everything in the body is connected and related – if one part is injured it will in turn affect the whole body.

A person with an injured knee may then favour the ‘healthy’ leg which will throw out the muscles in the hip and back leading to back ache. The tightening of these muscles may then cause imbalances affecting the neck muscles which may then cause a head ache. So the client may come in complaining of persistent headaches where the primary cause of this problem is a knee injury.

A remedial massage therapist is trained to not only diagnose what is causing the problem but also in treating it with massage. Typically, clients that visit a remedial massage therapist will have a consultation with them before any treatment takes place to find out what is causing the issue or injury. This consultation can take a variety of forms, usually questions and also a series of tests to see how much range of movement the client may have in certain muscles groups. For example if the client is complaining of headaches, the remedial massage therapist may get the client to turn their head, to see how far their muscles will let the head turn to see if there is muscle tightness in the neck region which might be causing the problem.

The therapist will also closely observe the client’s posture. In the example above, the therapist might notice the client favouring one leg whilst walking and then discover that there has been a knee injury that needs to be fixed. Remedial therapists also use palpitation of the muscles which is generally just feeling the different muscle groups to feel if they are tight or shortened. Muscle tissue works by contraction. If muscles tissues are so shortened it cannot work properly then sometimes it cannot contract further and is not able to do the work of the muscle.

This can occur from issues such as the repetitive use of the muscle or it can occur from inaction, for example is an arm is in a sling for a long period of time. A remedial massage therapist will then use a variety of techniques to soften, stretch and manipulate the muscle so that it will start to work as it should again. These techniques include trigger point therapy. Trigger points are small, highly contracted areas of the muscle and your remedial therapist will manipulate these regions to release them. Trigger points are often a large source of pain, and releasing them can cause relief from tension and hurt. Sometimes trigger points cause referred pain.

So a trigger point maybe located in the shoulder but the pain maybe referred by the muscle to another region in the back. Remedial massage therapists are trained to diagnose referred pain and also treat the underlying cause. Remedial massage also uses a wide range of other techniques like deep tissue friction that warms and releases the muscles, relaxation massage strokes that soothe the muscles after the deep tissue work, and also stretching.

The therapist may ask the client to do follow up exercises and stretches at home to continue the work. Remedial therapists are qualified to deal with issues such as arthritis, tennis elbow, frozen shoulder, muscular injuries from sport, neck and back pain, headaches and whiplash.

To know more about massage Australia, simply visit Ripple Massage’s website at www.ripplemassage.com.au .

Ripple Massage has a team of qualified and experienced remedial massage therapists on staff that will come to you in your home or accommodation.