In this video, I'm going to show you
how to decompress your full back for instant pain relief. Stay tuned! Hey everyone, Dr. Rowe from SpineCare in Saint Joseph,
Michigan. In this video, I'm going to share with you my personal favorite spinal decompression
exercises that are going to target pretty much everything from the base of the neck all the way
down to the tailbone. They're safe, effective and can be done at home and the other great part is
they're not going to require any special pieces of equipment. You may find that this gives you
quick, instant pain relief in the back -- in as little as 30 seconds! So let's get started with it and
decompress the lower back, middle back, and upper back right now! All of these decompression traction
stretches and exercises are going to focus on the full spine, or the full back, but I know that
people are going to have a little bit more going on in one certain area of the back. So let's put an
emphasis on those spots. Let's work from the upper back and then go into the middle back, to the lower
back. The first one is going to be for more of the neck and the upper back. I'm going to be using
an elevated flat surface for this. You can use the edge of a bed, a chair, or a desk. I'm also going to
be using a towel for this, just a hand drying towel. If you don't have one, I'll show you how to do it
without a towel. I'm going to start off on the knees so put a pillow or a towel underneath. The first
part, let me show you how to do this decompression stretch without a towel. If you feel the back of
your head right here, you're going to find at the base of the skull two large bumps. That is our
contact point for that. I'm going to take this part of the palm, just the nice meaty portion and
cup those spots and put my hands around my ears. So watch how I do this. I cup around the ear and
then put that palm right over those two spots. I'm going to bend the elbows like this, and then I'm
going to go into kind of like a yoga pose known as the child's pose. I'm putting the back of my arms
on that elevated flat surface and then I'm going to anchor my upper body weight just like this. The
movement is simple, I'm going to basically start to lower my butt down towards my heels while my palms
right here lift up towards the ceiling, and when you do this you're going to feel a great stretch, a
decompression stretch, into the neck that works its way into the upper back. The more that you lower
your butt down your heels, you're going to start to feel it throughout your back possibly, all the way
down to the tailbone. Go down as far as you feel comfortable. Once you feel a great stretch, hold
this for up to 15 seconds. You're just going to relax, from there take a breather, and then repeat --
and when you repeat, try to take your butt down towards the heels just a little bit further to
make sure that you get that extra stretch. Do this five complete times. How I like to do this one, with
the towel, because I think you get a better stretch, is to take the towel, put it around the base of
the neck and then pretty much do the same thing but you're just going to take the ends right here
and what you're going to do from there is pull, almost at an angle like a 45 degree angle, while
you then lower your butt down. I feel that this stretch is just a little bit stronger and it's
easier to control. Obviously, I think it's also a little bit more comfortable, but give them both a
try and go with the one that you feel works better for you. So this next way to decompress our full
back is going to put a little bit more emphasis into the middle back. Especially, in between the
shoulder blades. Let's do this one at the edge of a bed. So the first part, what I'm going to do is
roll up a large bath towel and place it over the shoulder blade region. This is going to help create
a pivot point to help traction open that spot just a little bit more, and then from there I'm just
going to simply lower my head and shoulders off the edge of the bed. When you do this, gravity
is going to help take it and traction open the upper back, into the middle back, the shoulder
blades region. Try to go down as far as you're able to go. When you get to a very comfortable
stretch, try to hold this one for 15 to 30 seconds. Come back up, take a breather and then from there
do five complete repetitions. Really focus on your breathing while you do this too because
it'll help reduce a little bit more tension. How we can take this to the next level is to
take our hands, place them behind our head like this, and then just simply wing our elbows down
towards the floor. When you do this, you're going to feel a great stretch in between the shoulder
blades and also in between the area where that towel is located. Really just try to intensify
that stretch as much as you're able to. Again, holding this for 15 to 30 seconds and
doing five complete repetitions. You can also do a different variation where your hands are more out,
right like this. Give them both a try and go with the one that you feel is a little bit better of a
stretch for you. If you want to take this to even the next level, let's take a small weight like a
water bottle and just simply straighten our elbows out like this and allow that weight to go down.
So we're taking our head down towards the floor and then our arms and water bottle are also going
down at the same time. This is going to put a great stretch into the middle back region, and again
you want to hold this one for up to 30 seconds and do five complete repetitions. From there, you
can change the location of the towel and go over different spots as needed. So one of my absolute
favorite ways to decompress the fullback at home is using the cobra pose. This one is going to be
especially good for anyone that has lower back pain or sciatica pain that's caused from a pinched
nerve, or a bulging disc, anything like that in the lumbar spine. I'm going to be using a rolled up bed
sheet for this. Let's place it over the lower back, especially over the spot that you can pretty much
pinpoint with that pain. We can do this one in bed or on the floor. So the cobra pose, what I'm going
to do is go on my stomach like this and I'm going to raise my upper body, kind of arching at the
lower back, while my hips and pelvis are kept as flat as possible. Try to make sure that they're
not being raised up. You can start off doing a half cobra, or if you're able to, go into the full
cobra. How to intensify this is we're going to then take our arms and move it forward and take
the slack out on the sheet on the lower back. What you're going to notice is wherever that sheet
is located, it really puts a nice pivot point into there and intensifies that lower back traction.
Only go to your comfort level. Once you hit that point, do nice slow controlled breathing and try
to hold this position for up to 30 seconds. From there, you can relax and then simply try to do five
complete repetitions, going a little bit further with it each time to help decompress those spinal
discs, and then simply from there you can move the bed sheet up and down the lower back to target
different spots. This next decompression exercise, we're going to go to the edge of a bed. Place
it where your hips are at the edge and put a pillow underneath for extra comfort. I'm then
going to just support my upper body weight with my hands, like this. You may find that you can
also do this on a couch since it probably will be a little bit lower than a bed. So the movement is
very simple. What I'm going to do is tuck my chin towards my chest and then I'm going to just simply
crawl out with my hands as far as I'm able to go. Really just use your fingers to pull yourself
forward. When you do this, you're going to feel a great traction being built from the upper back
all the way down into the lower back. Only go to your comfort level. You can hold this position for
an extended period of time -- 30 seconds, 45 seconds, possibly even a minute if you feel like you are
comfortable, but you just want to focus on nice controlled breathing, and when you're ready, just
simply bring your arms back up like this. Take a breather, and then repeat. On the next session, go a
little bit further with it just to get that extra traction, that decompression, into those spinal
discs to help relieve pressure, and hopefully give you more pain and tightness relief. If you want to
get even a more intense stretch with this, instead of going on your hands what you can do is go on
your elbows. This will put the back at a little bit of a different position, and again you're
going to feel a great stretch into the lower back, the middle back, and the upper back -- and from
there you can just take your arms even further to try to get that extra stretch. 30 second holds
for five times. So here's another decompression exercise that you can do at the edge of a bed or
couch. I'm going to support my upper body weight on the couch or the bed, and also put a pillow
underneath my stomach for extra support. My hips to my knees, my legs should be pointing straight
down towards the floor. I'm going to also support my lower body weight on my toes, just like this. So
already in this position, you should feel a gentle stretch in the lower back. This is how we're going
to focus on getting a full traction into the back. Let's take our arms and straighten them out at the
elbow, and tuck our chin slightly towards our chest, and then take our fingers, right here, dig into the
bed or the couch and just simply draw yourself forward as much as you can. When you do this,
it's going to intensify the traction in the upper back, into the middle back, and then into
the lower back. Only go to your comfort level. You want to do nice slow controlled breathing
while doing this, and hold up to 30 seconds if you feel comfortable. You can do it longer, 45 to
60 seconds, but from there you're just going to relax, take a breather, and then do it again -- and on
this next one, go a little bit further with it (with your fingers) to help increase those spinal joints
and relieve more pressure onto the spinal discs with that decompression traction. How to take this
to even the next level, what we're going to do is we're going to take our towel and do an exercise
very similar to that first one. Let's put it at the base of the skull, and then support our upper
body weight on our elbows like this, tuck our chin towards the chest and we're going to take the two
ends (with our hands) and just simply pull forward with it. When you do this, you're going to feel
a great traction, a great stretch into the upper back, going down into the lower back. Again, try
to hold this one for up to 30 seconds, longer if you feel comfortable, and then you're just going to
simply relax and then do five complete repetitions. Each time, go a little bit further with it just
to help open up those spinal joints and give more pain relief. If you liked the video and got
a lot of relief, please show us your support by giving this video a like and maybe subscribing
to our channel too. If you have any comments or questions, please leave them below. I'll get back
to you as soon as I can. Thank you for watching!
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Haha fuck that. I would be paralyzed
Lol, I'll never take advice from a chiropractor after they delayed my diagnoses by two years. However, I guess it was my own fault for not understanding the whole thing is bullshit and they aren't real doctors.
I know a lot of people enjoy getting their daily dose of placebo but these crooks do real harm.
Thank you!!
The internet has ruined me, kept expecting his head to pop off.
Thank you so much for this!
Was gonna post this just saw it yesterday!
Just got back from the chiropractor, will try!!