The discs in your spine are soft, rubbery pads found between each spinal bone in your cervical, thoracic and lumbar regions. A herniated or "slipped" disc occurs when excessive pressure is put on your spine from heavy lifting or prolonged sitting. You can perform light lifting exercises and stretches to relax the muscles in your neck and back and help prevent a herniated disc. Consult your doctor if you experience sharp pain during exercise.
Lower Body
Lower body exercises help stretch the muscles in your lower back and upper legs to increase blood flow, prevent the compression of large nerves such as your sciatic nerves that run from your lower back to your lower leg, and ease lower back pain. The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons recommends exercises such as ankle pumps, heel slides and the knee-to-chest exercise. Your doctor may recommend exercising for 10 to 30 minutes, one to three times daily.
Core Exercises
Core exercises focus on contracting your core muscles to stabilize your spinal column. Focus on core exercises such as abdominal contraction, knee lifts and leg raises which do not put excessive pressure on your spinal column. When performing several repetitions of core exercises, focus on slow, controlled movements that do not require excessive amounts of bending and rotation, to prevent further injury.
Upper Body
Upper body exercises focus on relaxing the muscles around your cervical spine and lower neck. When pressure is put on a nerve in your neck, it causes pain in the upper part of your trapezius muscle found between your neck and your shoulders. Body weight exercises such as shoulder shrugs and dumbbell weighted exercises such as the alternate dumbbell shrug are recommended as you gain more strength in your shoulders.
Considerations
Pain or numbness alone does not mean you may be suffering from a herniated disc. Consult your doctor if you suffer a fall or a blow to your lower back and avoid lifting heavy objects. You may undergo a physical examination and imaging tests such as an X-ray or MRIs to determine if you are suffering from a herniated disc. Avoid smoking and other strenuous activities, and rest and ice your back muscles whenever possible.
