7 Easy Home Exercises To Relieve Your Lower Back Pain

Lower back pain can range from a slight niggle to debilitating pain. Depending on the cause of your back pain, different management strategies can be used. Check out our 7 easy tips of things you can do at home to relieve your lower back pain. 

Disclaimer – these tips are for general information only and may not be relevant to your specific back pain. If you are unsure whether these exercises are suitable, your pain is not subsiding or your back is exacerbated by these exercises, get assessed by a health professional or make an appointment with your GP.  

1) Lumbar Rolls 

• Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet on the floor  
• Gently lower your knees from side to side, causing a twisting movement in the lower back.
• Perform this for 30-60 seconds to loosen up the joints of the lower back 
• This is a great exercise to do first thing in the morning as your joints can stiffen up over night while sleeping. 

2) Gluteal Stretch 

• Sit on a chair with your feet on the floor
• Cross one leg across the other with the knee resting on the opposite thigh
• Hold this knee with your hands 
• Keeping your back straight, pull the knee up towards your opposite shoulder 
• You should feel this stretch through the buttock muscle 
• Hold this stretch for 30 seconds and perform this 3-5 times per day

3) Modified Gluteal Stretch 

• If the above Gluteal Stretch is not comfortable or not “hitting the spot”, here is an alternative.
• Sit on a chair with your feet on the floor 
• This time, place the ankle of the leg you are stretching on the opposite thigh 
• Keeping your back straight, use your hand to push the knee down towards the floor 
• To get a stronger stretch, tilt forwards from the hip (but don’t allow your back to slump!) 
• Hold stretch for 30 seconds and repeat 3-5 times per day 

4) QL Stretch 

• Your Quadratus Lumborum muscle runs from the spine just under the rib cage to the pelvic bone at the back of your hip (just above the buttock)
• To stretch this muscle, stand with your feet together 
• Raise one arm above your head (side being stretched)

• Reach up and over your head towards the other side of the body  

• You should feel the stretch through the lower back area but may also feel it through the under arm.
• To get a stronger stretch, you can cross the leg on the side you are stretching behind the other leg 
• Hold this stretch for 30 seconds and repeat it 3-5 times per day 

5) Hamstring Stretch

• Stand in front of a step or low chair 
• Put one foot up onto the step, with a slight bend in the knee 
• Keeping the back straight, tilt from the hips and reach your hand towards your foot
• You should feel this in the back of your leg between your knee and your buttock 
• Hold this for 30 seconds and repeat 3-5 times per day 

6) Hip Flexor Stretch

• Kneel down with the knee of the side you want to stretch on the floor 
• Move your weight on to your front leg and shift forwards until you feel a stretch through the front of your hip 
• To get a stronger stretch, raise the arm on the side that you are stretching above your head & pull slightly backwards 
• Hold this stretch for 30 seconds and perform 3-5 times per day 

7) Heat Therapy 

• Apply a heat pack to your lower back area to help to ease the muscle tension  
• Even when the cause of your back pain is joint-related, your muscles will still tighten up as a protective mechanism 

Looking for a Health Professional to assess and manage your lower back pain? 

The Team at Healing Hands Osteopathy are here to help!  Our Osteopaths and Remedial Massage Therapist take a thorough case history, perform a detailed physical examination, and provide tailored treatment and management strategies to aid your specific condition.