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Low Back Pain

Low back pain usually refers to pain or discomfort in the lumbar spine area. The lumbar spine is comprised of five vertebrae designated L1 to L5 (top to bottom) and supports the weight and positioning of the upper body.

Keep in mind that while a number of the potential solutions to your pain suggested in this article may offer you some relief or resolve your issue for a considerable time, you may only be treating the symptoms rather than the root cause of your back pain. With that in mind, I'd suggest you keep a good record of what works and what doesn't and seek the advice of a suitable professional if your back pain persists for a long time (months or more) or 'flairs up' regularly or is painful enough to prevent you from performing day to day tasks or participating in sports or exercise. The more information you can provide any professional you see, the better.

Before I go into the host of non-medical treatments that may provide some relief, please be very clear: don't stop or avoid bending or using your back. While it's quite natural to want to protect and 'rest' your back by moving and using it less, this can lead to a cascade of issues that make the issue worse with supporting muscles becoming tight and stiff, tissues between vertebrae becoming firmer and less flexible and nerves becoming overly sensitive. As with most joints "motion is lotion"!

Scans & Tests

Although X-ray, CT and MRI scans may reveal structural issues with and damage to your spine's vertebrae and the joints between them, this is not conclusive evidence of the source or cause of your pain. In two people with, for example, a slipped L4 disc, one may be in pain and the other not - it's not known why. This leads to the conclusion that back pain is not necessarily caused by these issues and quite often, corrective surgery is unnecessary and will not resolve the pain. This is discussed in some detail in the book mentioned in the later Psychological Factors section.

Possible Non-Medical Solutions

Here's a number of non-medical solutions to low back pain. These are in a rough ascending order of likely effort and cost.

Psychological Factors

John Sarno's 1991 book Healing Back Pain: The Mind-Body Connection, despite it's age, offers insight into psychological factors such as repressed anger and anxiety, that may be the source of back pain for some. He's named this condition Tension Myositis Syndrome (TMS). I read the book and fairly haphazardly followed the recommendations (a number of psychology-based self-examination tasks) and did gain some relief for a few months, as with most of the recommendations in this article.

Healing Back Pain: The Mind-Body Connection by John E. Sarno, MD - Amazon UK

Sit Still Less & Move More

Holding a static body position over many hours on a regular basis trains your body to maintain those positions, which can lead to musculoskeletal issues such as low back pain and a reduced range of motion (ROM) in joints. Sitting at a desk or on a sofa or couch are the most common static body positions people will hold for hours at a time and both of these put weight and pressure on the glutes which...

The human body is built to move and the obvious answer to a host of ailments including low back pain is simply to move more and move more often. Walking (covered next) is a great way to do this but it's also useful to shift and fidget in your chair/on your sofa and change your position as often as you can.

Walking

A great way to get moving which is also a good form of Low Impact Steady State (LISS) exercise and raises your heart rate.

I do farmers walks every morning, lunch time and evening with a heavy weight in each hand to increase the intensity and get more 'bang for my buck'.

Walking With a Longer Stride

This improves your hip mobility and range of motion (ROM), a lack of which may contribute to low back pain (more on this in the next section).

Push off the back foot later and harder than you usually would rather than pushing your front foot further forward on each stride.

Improving Hip Mobility

This hit me hard when I started running. Works well;

  • Hip extension exercises
  • Sitting on the floor with crossed legs (aka criss cross apple sauce) - remember to switch the leg at the front
  • Walking with a longer stride
  • Squatting - not the exercise, simply 'sitting' in a squat for a few minutes

Built to Move book.

You could also stretch in ways that also improve your hip mobility - see the following stretching section and later yoga section.

Stretching

As with many musculoskeletal issues, tight muscles up or downstream from where pain is felt may be the cause or a contributing factor. In the case of low back pain, that could be one or more of your calves, hamstrings, glutes or the muscles of the hip.

Stretches that may help include the following, many of which will stretch multiple muscles at the same time;

  • calves;
    • down dog (aka downward facing dog)
  • hamstrings;
    • down dog
  • glutes;
    • knee hugs
    • down dog
    • pigeon pose (or seated pigeon pose)
    • knee to opposite shoulder
  • hips;
    • pigeon pose (or seated pigeon pose)

If you find a particular stretch difficult or uncomfortable, that's probably an indication you're on the right track and should persist with it.

A quick internet search for any of these will lead you to instructions, pictures and videos of how to perform them.

Standing More

Built to Move book again

Anything that isn't sitting is good.

Wearing Better Footwear

Flats, not heels.

Definitely not flip-flops and 'sliders'.

Walking Barefoot More

Decompressing Your Spine

Gravity is always pushing down from the top of your spine to the bottom. Decompression involves reversing this to some degree, or totally.

Deadhangs

Deadhangs lengthen/decompress your spine and improve your shoulder ROM.

Lift your knees somewhat so you don't overextend? your lumbar spine.

Hanging Upside Down

Assuming you have a suitable bar you can hang from (as you'd find in a gym), purchasing some boots, usually called gravity, anti-gravity or inversion boots, can help you hang upside down from a bar and decompress your spine.

Use an Inversion Table

Not actually too pricey.

Posture

I've never found any attempt to consciously improve or correct my posture make a difference. Core and general strength, movement and mobility have.

A strong posterior chain will suffice to both improve and maintain a good posture.

Yoga & Yoga Poses

Regular yoga practise involves lots of stretching and movements that increase mobility and joint ROM and can be very useful. Pay particular attention to which exercises you find difficult or uncomfortable as these can serve as a guide to the cause of (or at least a contributing factor to) your low back pain (and others). As an example, I used to find 'down dog' very hard on my shoulders despite training them at least weekly in the gym - the issue was not my strength but my poor range of motion (I'm an office worker).

If you don't fancy or don't want the expense of the full yoga experience, or don't have the time, here's some specific poses you can look up that may provide you some relief;

  • child's pose
  • happy baby
  • pigeon pose (for hips)
  • cat/cow poses (flexion/extension)
  • cobra pose (extension)

Other movements that are not strictly yoga but that can improve the mobility and flexibility of your back include;

  • knee rolls
  • single or double knee hugs (stretches the glutes and lower back)
  • side bends (aka lateral flexion)
  • prone press up (essentially the same as cobra pose (extension))
  • seated twist

You can also combine these with the exercises described in the next section.

A quick internet search for any of these will lead you to instructions, pictures and videos of how to perform them.

Movements to Strengthen Your Back Muscles & Core

Whilst yoga can help build strength in the various muscles that support the back, unless you practise regularly you'll gain more mobility than strength. Specific strengthening exercises you can perform daily in just 5 or 10 minutes are far more likely to lead to strength gains. Most doctors and physiotherapists will recommend a set of strengthening exercises as a 'first line' treatment unless your pain is severe or movement significantly impacted.

Some well know exercises and routines that you can try include;

  • the McGill 'big 3'
  • bridges
  • planks

As with any exercise, consistency is important.

A quick internet search for any of these will lead you to instructions, pictures and videos of how to perform them.

Massage

In my experience this works for a few months if done correctly by a good physio or massage therapist (I'd prefer the former to the latter). If you find this treatment helps but doesn't last long, look at the other solutions.

Acupuncture

In my experience this works for a few months if done correctly by a good physio or therapist. If you find this treatment helps but doesn't last long, look at the other solutions.

Physiotherapy

A physiotherapist can do a number of things to treat and help you. Once you've discussed your symptoms and they have assessed you they can give you advise and information on issues they've found, suggest exercises (using aids if necessary), stretches, further treatments (such as massage or acupuncture) and possibly also lifestyle changes (such as resistance training).

Chiropody

A chiropodist's services will be similar to a physiotherapist's but are likely to go into greater detail on your unique skeletal structure and the alignment and range of motion of its joints (or lack thereof). They too may suggest exercises (using aids if necessary) and stretches and may also directly manipulate your bones and joints if necessary.

Sleeping Position

Your sleeping position may be contributing to your pain. Typical advice for the most common positions is;

  • side sleeper (aka fetal position): this is the ideal position which also helps to reduce snoring, draw your legs up slightly towards your chest and put a pillow between your legs - flexing your knees and having a pillow between your legs can help align your spine, pelvis and hips. This position takes pressure off your spine.
  • back (supine) sleeper: place a pillow under your knees - this may help relax your back muscles and maintain the curve of your lower back. If you need additional support, try a small, rolled towel under your waist. To avoid neck issues, do not lay your head to the side.
  • front (prone) sleeper: this can strain your back and is not recommended - you can reduce (not eliminate) back strain by placing a pillow under your hips and lower stomach

Regarding pillows;

  • side sleeper: use a thick pillow that keeps your head in line with the rest of the body
  • back sleeper: use a medium pillow that fills the space between your neck and the mattress
  • front sleeper: ideally do not use a pillow at all, or a very thin one if absolutely necessary

In all positions your shoulders should be relaxed, your hands no higher than your head and your arms and hands fairly close to the body in order to avoid neck and shoulder issues.

Core & General Strength

A lack of core and general strength can cause or contribute to low back pain.

Consider a Better Mattress

Possible Medical Solutions

None of these are guaranteed to resolve your pain of course.

  • steroid injection: reduces swelling and consequently pain and if effective can provide relief for a considerable time (possibly over a year)

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Last Updated: 2026-02-09