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Caring for your back
Some exercises and techniques can help you care for your back, whether or not you've had spinal fractures.
You may be worried about moving, lifting and doing exercise if you have osteoporosis. It’s natural to feel vulnerable, especially if you’ve had painful spinal fractures. But a diagnosis doesn’t mean you need to limit what you do. Keeping active is what’s best for bones. Most people are unlikely to get a spinal fracture when they exercise.
Caring for your back can help to:
- improve pain and posture after spinal fractures
- reduce your risk of spinal fractures by moving and lifting safely.
I have pain and a curved spine after spinal fractures
There are some exercises you can do to strengthen your back muscles. These exercises can help with pain and improve posture.
Exercises and techniques to care for your back
Exercises to help with pain
These exercises can help relieve pain after spinal fractures. They help to improve muscle tone, ease tension and reduce muscle spasms. The exercises are:
- shoulder squeeze
- cat.
Do these exercises every day. If you have painful spinal fractures or find it hard to move around, ask your doctor to refer you to a physiotherapist.
Exercises to help with posture
These exercises can help your spine and reduce the strain on your joints, tendons and muscles. The exercises are:
- standing and sitting
- chin tuck
- head tilt
- neck rotation
- shoulders back.
There are some activities that include exercises that help you care for your back too. These are Pilates and yoga.
You should do these exercises on 2 to 3 days of the week. Make sure to leave a day’s rest in between.
These back exercises focus on holding exercise positions for longer or repeating them. They aren’t focused on building up resistance. Aim to do 3 to 5 repetitions or hold up to 10 positions for 3 to 5 seconds.
Can exercise help with spinal fractures caused by osteoporosis?
Spinal fractures can be painless. But they can also cause severe pain when they first happen in some people. The pain usually gets better as the fracture heals over 6 to 12 weeks.
Doing some general exercises can help improve muscle tone, ease tension and reduce muscle spasms in your back. This can also help with pain.
When your fractures have healed, you can start to build up the muscle strength in your back.
I want to move and lift safely to reduce my risk of spinal fractures
Using safe moving and lifting techniques can help to keep your back straight and reduce your risk of spinal fractures. Everyone can benefit from moving and lifting safely whether or not you’ve had spinal fractures.
The techniques are:
- get down to the floor
- get up from the floor
- bend safely
- lift safely.
How can I lift and move safely with osteoporosis?
Bending forward and moving around is generally safe and won’t cause a spinal fracture. But there are some safe techniques for day-to-day moving and lifting that help reduce your risk of injury. This includes using the hip hinge to bend safely.
The general rule is to ‘think straight’. Keep a straight upper back for all movements that involve bending and lifting. This means keeping your neck in line with your spine.
Try to tighten your tummy muscles when moving. Always move in a smooth, controlled way within a comfortable range. Any twisting or rotation movements should be safe if they are smooth and comfortable.
Watch our discussion about exercise after spinal fractures:
Rheumatology Physiotherapist, Sarah Legg, answers your questions about exercise after spinal fractures. This film is part of our #BoneMatters series of events
