It can happen to you today, over a year or somewhere in the next 10 years but to most of us it will happen at least ones in our lives. We are talking about lower back pain in this article and when you are one of many who already have experienced it one time ore even more times, you know you will do anything to prevent it from happening again. You can divide lower back pain in two types, there is the acute form that will usually last for a few days to a few weeks and there is the chronic lower back pain and this can last months and in some cases even years. The intensity can vary from day to day, with some days the pain can be bearable and some days where the pain is excruciating.

Lower back pain exercises can help you in three ways:

- prevent acute lower back pain from returning

- prevent acute lower back pain from become chronic

- reduce chronic lower back pain

When you want to do some exercises for prevention there are some things you should know first, acute lower back pain is usually caused by muscle strain and overuse, for example doing yard work for a couple of hours can cause this kind of back pain most of the time the day after is the wurst day. The only way to treat this is to take a little rest but not longer than a day or two, avoid positions that exacerbate the pain, use heat or ice, and take a pain killer if you absolutely need to. After that first day of rest you need to start doing some exercises.

With acute lower back pain you can do the exercises on your own but when you have chronic back pain it is wise to learn the exercises under supervision of a physical therapist. Most of the time you can do them on your own after you have the hang of it and even when there is a waiting list for the physical therapist there is a lot you can do without supervision.

When the extreme pain is over and you are able to stand up on your own, it is time to start with some strengthening exercises and gentle stretches, these will not only address your back but also your stomach and legs. All exercise you do should be about strengthening the muscles in the back stomach and legs because when you have strong muscles they are much less sensitive to be strained. And when you have strong leg and stomach muscles these can help your back muscles from overuse and straining. Strong muscles help to keep less strong muscles in place, our body just works better when it has strong muscles. This way the exercises will prevent the back pain from returning and become chronic, it also helps you recover much faster.

You should not let any residual pain keep you from doing exercises, lying in bed will make your muscles only stiffer and you will lose strength and flexibility. In the long run it will make you feel better, if you are a little bit hard for yourself remember the pain will be much greater if you rest to long.

Keep on doing these lower back pain exercises for a couple of weeks or even months after the pain has gone away to prevent it from returning.