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

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.

The treatment approach for this type of pain is rather simple: decompress the spine as much as possible.

And while there are various ways to decompress the spine with exercises, stretches and hands-on techniques, I want to share 3 simple stretches that are easy to perform and should really help.

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.

If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at Luke@GordonPhysicalTherapy.com

Enjoy 🙂

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)