Top 3 Exercises for Degenerative Back Pain & Sciatica (Stenosis, DJD and DDD)

Updated September 12, 2025

Degenerative changes in your lower back (aka lumbar spine) are one of the 2 most common causes of back pain and sciatica, especially in older adults.

This includes things like degenerative disc disease (DDD), degenerative joint disease (DJD) and other terms like “stenosis” that you might read on an x-ray or MRI report.

If you think your lower back back pain (with or without sciatic nerve pain) is caused by degenerative changes, here are some common symptoms to look for:

• Increased lower back pain after standing in one place for more than 5-10 minutes
• Pain will typically improve initially with walking but will increase with longer walks
• If feels good to sit down and bend forward
• You might find yourself leaning on the counter top for pain relief or leaning on the shopping cart at the store

If this sounds like you, I have good news for you…

The treatment approach for this type of pain is rather simple: decompress the spine as much as possible to relieve pressure on the discs, the joints and the nerve roots.

And while there are various ways to decompress the spine with exercises, stretches and hands-on techniques, in today’s post I want to share 3 simple stretches that are easy to perform at home and should help relieve lower back pain and sciatica.

The 3 stretches include:

1. Double Knee-to-Chest Stretch
2. Seated Lumbar Flexion Stretches
3. Knee Rocks

I’ll demonstrate all 3 stretches in the video below, and I’ll share some advice regarding how long to hold the stretches.

If you have any questions about how to eliminate lower back pain and sciatica for good, please feel free to email me at Luke@GordonPhysicalTherapy.com

Enjoy the video!

– Luke Gordon, DPT (Doctor of Physical Therapy/Owner of Gordon PT)

Updated content about how to decrease back  pain and sciatica due to degenerative changes, added on 11/17/21:

As the above text and video describe, the most successful way to reduce back and sciatic pain associated with degenerative changes is to decompress the spine. 

The 3 stretches above are a great starting point, and hands-on physical therapy treatment can also be extremely valuable. 

One additional tool that you can use to decompress the spine is by using an inversion table. 

If you’ve ever considered using an inversion table to reduce your back pain and/or sciatica, the videos below should give you an idea if using an inversion table is right for you. 

And as always, if you have questions about figuring out how to reduce your pain, feel free to email my at Luke@GordonPhysicalTherapy.com

I hope these videos help!

– Luke Gordon, DPT (Doctor of Physical Therapy/Owner of Gordon Physical Therapy)