Lumbar Exercises

How To Lie Down

Step 2. After placing your legs on the bed, gently lower your body sideways using your upper limbs.

Step 3. Final position. While getting up, follow the same steps in the reverse sequence.

How To Pick Up An Object From The Floor Step 1. Sit down How To Sleep

You should lie down on your side, right or left, with a pillow underneath your head and a pillow tucked in between your legs. You can sleep on any regular cotton mattress.

Correct Way: Bending at the hips and knees to reach the floor

Taking Care of Your Back         

Avoid riding in 2-wheelers/ autorickshaws. Better to travel in 4-wheelers; while traveling in the bus, better to sit in the center seats or travel standing rather than sitting in the far-front or the far-back seats Avoid smoking since it interferes with the blood supply to the discs, the “shock-absorbers” of the back Sit upright [not in a military posture!] Use a backrest while sitting. Backrest should be high reaching upto the head; it should not be straight, it should be curved to match the natural contours of the spine Rest your hands on the armrests of the chair. This partly offloads the spine as the body weight gets transmitted through the upper limbs Do not sit continuously; sit for 20-30 minutes, then get up, walk around for about 5 minutes and then sit down. While driving, keep the car seat close to the pedals so that you do not slouch down While standing for long times, rest one foot on top of a small foot-stool When in acute pain, better to avoid bending forwards, lifting weights, sitting on the floor, using Indian style of toilet-commode

Compiled by Dr. Yogesh K. Pithwa, Fellowship in Advanced Spine Surgery, Japan; Fellowship in Spinal Deformity Correction, USA; FNB [Spine Surgery], MS [Ortho] Gold Medal - Mumbai University, DNB [Ortho], MNAMS [Ortho], D. Ortho, MBBS; Consultant Spine Surgeon, HISP; the first person in India to be given official accreditation and recognition as a superspecialist spine surgeon. In recognition of his clinical services as a spine surgeon, having been involved in over 2000 successful spine surgeries, he has been included in the Marquis’s “Who’s Who in the World”, 2006 edition, published from the US 

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Flexion exercises _____times; morning, afternoon, evening

While lying down on bed facing upwards, lift up one leg at a time without bending the knee. Do this gently, not with a jerk, rising up the leg to an angle of 300. Do this exercise alternately on both sides.

___times; morning, afternoon, evening

While lying down on bed facing upwards, lift up your upper body, keeping your hands folded. Do not use a pillow underneath your head and do not bend your neck while lifting up your upper body. Do this gently, not with a jerk.

Extension Exercises _____times; morning, afternoon, evening

Lie down facing upwards. Fold both your lower limbs at the hips and knees. Gently lift up your buttocks off the bed. Do not do this with a jerk and lift up only one inch off the bed.

_____times; morning, afternoon, evening

Lie down with face down. Cross your hands behind your head [upper part]. Gently lift up your upper body off the bed. Do not bend your neck and do not do this with a jerk.

Stretching Exercises [These exercises are best done after a hot-water bath]

Standing upright, try to touch your toes with your fingers. Keep your knees straight. Once you reach the limit of bending forwards, try to maintain that position upto a count of 10.



Standing upright, try to bend sideways. Keep your knees straight. Once you reach the limit of bending, try to maintain that position upto a count of 10.

Knee Joint Exercises

Standing upright with the back in contact with a wall, slide yourself down as shown above. Go down by about 5-6 inches and come up. Do this 25 times, morning, afternoon & evening

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