Elevate Your Health Colorado Bounce back faster with exercise

One of the most common questions I get from patients with lower back pain is "when can I go back to exercising?". Though this seems to be a legitimate concern, more often than not, the patients seem surprised by my answer. The truth is that is many cases, one of the best things you can do to speed up your recovery from lower back pain (as well as mid-back and neck pain) is exercise!

Many times after an injury, the muscles surrounding the irritated area will go into a protective mode and tighten down to protect the region from further disruption. Though this mechanism is helpful initially to prevent more serious problems, it is commonly the cause of a lot of delayed healing down the line. As the muscle fibers tighten, normal blood flow and nerve pathways can get disrupted, potentially increasing the pain generated from the site. 

Though many people think that rest is the key to a speedy recovery, for a lot of cases it can be quite the opposite. Moderate exercises interspersed within your daily routine will help to restore the normal functions of these muscles and improve the circulation to the area. The more you can get these surrounding and supporting systems moving, the faster your body can start to return to normal.

Studies have even shown that the most beneficial types of exercise include both cardiovascular activities and resistance training. Now we're not talking marathons and body building here, but walking, jogging and cycling along with light to moderate weight lifting really can be beneficial in the healing process. To take it one step further, patients who exercise regularly before the onset of an injury have been shown to have markedly shorter recovery times when those inevitable irritations do arise.

Just one more reason to keep moving forward with those healthy goals!