Avvai, my partner, has been having lower back pain. We’ve been to a whole bunch of physio therapists and chiropractors, but nothing has fixed it, which is frustrating. However, we are getting closer with the discovery of pelvic tilts.
This looks exactly like you imagine it, a slight tilt of your pelvis back and forth, all while trying to keep your ribcage still. This is best done either laying down or while on hands and knees.
The Mayo Clinic describes it like this: “Do the pelvic tilt to strengthen your abdominal muscles. Lie on your back on the floor with your knees bent. Flatten your back against the floor by tightening your abdominal muscles and bending your pelvis up slightly. Hold for up to 10 seconds. Repeat.”https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/labor-and-delivery/multimedia/pelvic-tilt-exercise/img-20006410
This movement relieves pressure in between the final few joints of your spine, which is where (at least for Avvai) a lot of back pain originates. Apparently, pain is caused by us putting undue pressure on these joints due to the way we sit or stand or just do things. When we are doing the pelvic tilt it allows it to release.
Our physio compared it to opening and closing your hand. If you clench your hand closed for a long time, it’ll start to hurt, but you can relieve it by opening and closing your hand. Apparently, it’s impossible to clench when you’re opening/closing. The pelvic tilts work the same way.
I don’t have much back pain, though it does feel tight and uncomfortable after I use my standing desk for too long. Amazingly, a few pelvic tilts seem to magically relieve the discomfort, even after only doing a few of the movements.
However, you must do this while laying down or on all fours. Standing won’t help much because you’re already putting a whole bunch of pressure on it.
So there you go, a small move that has been very helpful to us!