The Absolute Best Exercise for Lower Back Pain and Herniated Disc

I’ve been dealing with lower back pain and injuries for a number of years now. Though I have both issues mostly healed or managed, I will periodically tweak my back. Whenever I do so, I will take some time off from more intense athletic activities. However, it’s exceedingly difficult for me to stay completely sedentary even during an injury. In situations where I’ve re-injured my lower back, I will often return to one of the best exercises for lower back injuries and pain: swimming. As with any athletic activity following an injury, consult a doctor or a sports therapy professional before beginning a new routine.

Swimming is a fantastic exercise for lower back pain and injuries for a number of reasons.

Low Impact

Swimming is an exceedingly low impact athletic activity. The physical strain it puts on your body is fairly minimal compared to other sports and activities. For instance, every step you take while running results in most of the weight of your body coming down on a single leg, impacting your muscles, soft tissue and bones. With weight lifting, both your muscles and connective tissue are heavily strained. However with swimming, your body moves through the water with fairly minimal resistance. Of course, if you are not used to some of the movements involved, you can certainly injure yourself. If you are concerned, it’s worth hiring a trainer to help you learn and perfect your swim strokes. Generally though, it is difficult to injure yourself swimming, and that’s why it’s the activity of choice for older individuals, as well as those rehabbing from other athletic injuries.

Mobility

Getting in the pool and getting yourself moving is great for your body. Movement in general has a number of mental and physical benefits. Specifically within the context of injuries though, movement is great for getting blood flowing. Getting proper blood flow throughout the body helps with the healing process. Although you want to get your circulation up and running, you don’t want to do anything that would aggravate or exacerbate your existing injury. For lower back pain and injuries, specifically bulging discs and herniations, the time it takes to heal the damaged disc is fairly high compared to other injuries. This is because blood flow to soft tissues is not nearly as good compared to blood flow throughout your muscles. Your muscles are full of arteries, veins and capillaries. Sadly, soft and connective tissues do not have the same properties. This is why you can recover from a pulled or strained muscle much faster than you can from a sprained ligament. However, by gently mobilizing the injured area, you certainly can increase the modest existing blood flow to soft and connective tissues. Swimming is a whole body exercise involving movement in all parts of the body, including the lower back. This gentle movement can expedite healing, reduce pain and get you back up and partaking in your favorite activities even faster.

Spinal Decompression

For many with lower back pain, the culprit is a bulging or herniated spinal disc. The protruding disc can cause pain and discomfort when it impinges on the surrounding nerves. Swimming can help with this. When you’re in the water, your body is not impacted by gravity the same way as when you walk around on dry land. Your body is somewhat buoyant in the water, and most swim strokes involve your body in a horizontal position. This means that your spine is actually able to stretch out. The effect is similar to that of astronauts, who usually grow an inch or two during their time in space. This elongation of the spine creates negative pressure on the herniated or bulging disc, helping to ‘pull’ it back between the vertebrae. This is not a drastic effect; swimming will not immediately cure or fix the disc, at least not overnight. However, the spinal decompression effect can help alleviate pain or other issues that are caused by the impingement of the disc on the surrounding neural tissue.

Lower Back Pain Relief

There are a number of reasons that getting in the pool can help you with your lower back pain or bulging disc, and this effect has been proven with scientific research. In a 1999 Japanese study, researchers found that 90% of participants who partook in swimming and other aquatic activities noticed significant improvement after 6 months. The most dramatic improvements were noticed by those who exercised in the water 2 or mores times a week. I personally noticed pretty immediate benefits from swimming after my own L5S1 disc herniation. Normally during the day, I would notice a fair amount of pain or discomfort when partaking in every-day activities. As soon as I got in the pool and got in a lap or two, the pain and tension would melt from my body. This was both physically and mentally beneficial, as the pain from my injury was both distracting and demoralizing. I felt amazing while in the water, and the benefit would last for some time even once I got out of the pool. Incorporating swimming into my active routine was one of the best decisions I made.

How to Start?

So you’re sold on swimming, but how do you start? The good news is, you don’t even have to perform actual swim strokes to reap the benefits. A number of athletic centers offer alternatives to swimming, such as water aerobics. In the previously mentioned Japanese study, participants took part in a number of water related activities, and all those who did saw benefits from doing so. However if you wish to incorporate actual swimming into your routine, it’s a good idea to ease into it. Below are some tips as you transition into this rewarding addition to your healthy lifestyle.

Learn how (if applicable)

Swimming is not just a healthy athletic endeavor, it’s also a useful and in certain cases life saving skill. If you did not learn how to swim as a child, it’s never too late to learn. Almost any athletic center with a pool should have trainers and resources that you can use to aid in acquiring this skill. I benefited greatly as a teenager from a dedicated swimming coach, and continue to reap the benefits from learning proper techniques from a dedicated individual.

Ease into it

There’s no rush when you start swimming. Take some time to get comfortable in the pool and with swimming laps. When I first started, I could barely do a lap without having to take a breather. But each session, I pushed myself just a little more, and a few months in I was able to swim a mile over the course of a workout. Starting off slow and gradually increasing your activity level will help you stay healthy and prevent you from exacerbating your injury.

Start With the Backstroke

The backstroke is one of the best options for swimming with an injured lower back. Unlike other techniques, such as the breaststroke or freecrawl, the backstroke involves much less torso rotation. This helps minimize the strain on your back, helping you avoid injury or re-injury. As you improve your fitness, swimming ability and health as you recover, you can start to add in the other swimming strokes to keep things interesting in the pool.

Conclusion

Swimming is healthy, fun and a great way to treat your lower back pain or herniated disc. While it may take some time in getting into it, the dividends from swimming will pay you for a lifetime.