00:00There is no right posture for someone with a herniated disc. The biggest problem for someone
00:05with a herniated disc is when they have to stay seated. Either they can't sit for long because
00:10of the pain or it's pure terror when it's time to stand up. In this video I'll show you how
00:16to
00:16truly protect your spine with a simple step-by-step guide so you can work, drive and even rest pain
00:23free. And best of all you'll see that you don't need to be young, thin or very flexible to improve
00:29your back. A minute and a half 90 seconds is all you need to keep your back feeling better all
00:37day.
00:37And doing this in the morning is ideal because when we wake up is the worst time
00:41is when the discs are larger fuller and more hydrated. In other words it's much easier for
00:49us to experience a flare-up of pain or have our back lock up and I'm going to show you
00:54how I do it.
00:55When I wake up in the morning, the very first thing, the first step is slowly turning over
01:02onto my stomach. You're going to lie down on your stomach in a comfortable position for you.
01:08Arms up, arms down. In this position just take slower, more relaxed breaths.
01:28This slow breathing combined with lying on your stomach creates a kind of massage and decompression
01:36for the spine, creating space for the discs. You're going to do this for 30 seconds. The second step of
01:45this routine is propping yourself up on your elbows. Keep relaxing as much as you can, maintaining that
01:52gentle breathing. Here you'll notice that we're doing a kind of stretch for the front of the spine.
01:58Another 30 seconds, breathing slowly, relaxed in a nice comfortable way. The third and final step of
02:06this first strategy is to place your hands at shoulder level. It can be wider or closer together.
02:13Relax your spine. Try to use your arms to push yourself up. You're going to push up as far as
02:19you
02:19can, as long as it doesn't hurt, as far as it's comfortable. And come back down. Keep doing this
02:25movement slowly for another 30 seconds. This quick routine helps realign your spine as if it were moving
02:33the discs back toward the center. Right away, you can already feel your spine much looser and even your
02:41breathing lighter. I loved it. Whenever we're going to do physical activity or do something more
02:47strenuous, we prepare the body, warm up. And since sitting is a greater strain on our spine, it's good for
02:55us to learn how to do this preparation, this kind of warm up for the spine. It's a quick thing
03:02you can
03:02do before working, before watching a movie, before driving, even before physical activity itself.
03:09First, you're going to place your hands right at the lower back. Preferably, your finger should touch
03:15back here. And without bending your knees, lean back as if you were stretching. Don't force it. It
03:22shouldn't hurt. Go as far as it feels comfortable and come back. You're going to do this 10 times
03:29without rushing, observing, focusing on your body's well-being, on comfort the whole time.
03:37And if you also feel discomfort in your shoulders or neck when you sit for a long time,
03:42you can add this other movement. Relax your shoulders. Keep your elbows straight. Make a
03:50thumbs up sign with your hand and slowly bring your thumbs back. The idea is like squeezing your
03:57shoulder blades together back here, see, without letting your shoulders shrug up. Go again until you
04:03feel that stretch, that good feeling of stretching right here in the front of your chest and the front
04:08of your shoulder. Hold it here for 10 seconds. That's enough. And come back. And if you're thinking
04:17this is too easy, it's really supposed to be easy, the important thing is that it works. Try it out
04:22and
04:22let me know here in the comments. Of course! There is no right posture for those with a herniated disc,
04:29because
04:29staying in any position for too long will put strain on your body, cause tension to build up in a
04:35muscle,
04:36and make disc hydration harder. In other words, what harms our spine and worsens a herniated disc is
04:43staying in the same position for too long. And there are two solutions for this. The first is
04:48to move around a little every five or ten minutes. You can use a timer and you can even use
04:55a lumbar
04:56support to help with these position changes. You'll see that this will become automatic by the second or
05:01third day. Because that's what's natural for our bodies. The second solution is to get up roughly
05:08every 30 minutes. What I do and recommend to my patients is to use that Pomodoro technique.
05:1525 minutes of focused work and a five minute break that helps you mark a change in posture.
05:22And it also helps you build the habit of taking an active break. Besides walking a bit and moving
05:30around, you can repeat those warm-up movements. And if you feel like that's too frequent to be taking
05:35these breaks, you can double it to 50 minutes of focus work and 10 minutes of a movement break.
05:45And to round out this step-by-step guide, I show the four movements that I do before going to
05:51sleep
05:51to release all that tension built up in the spine throughout the day in this video right here. Just
05:56click right here on the screen. These strategies can transform the life of anyone who has a herniated
06:02disc, anyone who has a spine problem. So if this video helped you, send this video to someone else who
06:08needs it. That's all I ask of you. I'm signing off here, sending you a big hug and see you
06:14next time.
