If you’re dealing with a disc extrusion, your physician may have recommended that you work exercise into your daily pain management plan. Exercise will likely be a key part of disc extrusion treatment, as it can strengthen the muscles in your spine, help you stay limber and even generate endorphins that can reduce your perception of pain. However, there are certain exercises that aren’t ideal for individuals with spine problems. You may have already discussed this with your physician, but if you’re still trying to develop your exercise plan, be sure to keep the following tips in mind.

Choose low-impact exercise over high-impact exercise

During high-impact exercise, the spine absorbs quite a bit of shock — not ideal if you’re currently dealing with a disc extrusion. Three high-impact exercises you should avoid include:

• Running
• Box jumps
• Contact sports

Instead, try lower-impact cardio exercises such as walking, rowing, cycling or using an elliptical.

Weightlifting with back pain

Strength training can be an important part of disc extrusion treatment as well, but you’ll want to focus on exercises that don’t involve sudden, jerky movements. Exercises that require you to repeatedly bend over or lift heavy weights over your head aren’t necessarily the best choice. Instead, you can build your strength training plan around exercises such as planks, scissor kicks, wall sits, biceps curls, squats and lunges, among others.

While you don’t have to work out for hours at a time, you should make a commitment to regular exercise as your disc extrusion heals. However, if you find that conservative therapies and lifestyle changes don’t do enough to manage your symptoms, you might consider surgery as another option.

At USA Spine Care, we perform minimally invasive spine surgery as a safer and effective alternative to open back operations.^ We’ll be happy to help you find out if you’re a candidate for our outpatient procedures with a free MRI review.* To learn more, contact us today.

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