Knee to Chest Stretch for Low Back Pain

A knee to chest stretch loosens a tight low back after an injury: lying face up, hug one knee in toward your chest, hold 20 seconds, 3 times per leg.

Not every exercise is for every patient. The ones meant for you carry a check mark on the home sheet your physician fills out; stick to those, morning and evening, every day, unless the sheet gives you a different schedule.

What are the steps for the knee to chest?

1. Get set: Lie face up, both knees bent.
2. Move: Clasp behind one knee and ease it toward your chest, stopping at a mild stretch. Lower it and switch legs.
3. How many: Hold 20 seconds. Do 3 on each leg.

How does the knee to chest help you recover?

After a back injury, the low back and buttock muscles tend to clamp down. This stretch gives them a slow, gentle lengthening.

This forward-bending stretch often feels good with spinal stenosis, as our guide to low-impact exercise for spinal stenosis explains. With a herniated disc that sends pain down the leg, bending forward can be the wrong direction early on; see herniated disc exercises to avoid. Your physician sorts out which group you are in before this one goes on your sheet.

Which mistakes should you watch for?

• Yanking the knee in fast or hard.
• Curling your head and shoulders up.
• Staying in the stretch when pain shoots or turns sharp.

When should you stop and call us?

Feeling a stretch, a bit of ache, or next-day stiffness is expected and fine. Stop the exercise and call us if you notice any of these:

• Sharp or stabbing pain
• Pain that jumps 2 or more points above your usual and lasts over an hour
• New numbness, tingling or weakness
• Dizziness or a change in your vision

Call 911 right away for chest pain, fainting or trouble breathing.

Why does your exercise log matter?

Each time you finish your exercises, tick the box on your log, and jot your pain number down once a day. The log rides along to every visit. Your technician adds up your days, has you demonstrate one exercise so form can be checked, and enters that tally in the visit note, right beside the treatments.

Other low back exercises in the program

• Pelvic tilt
• Cat and cow
• Bridge

This page belongs to the Gateway Midwest physician-directed physiotherapy program. On Natural Bridge Road, the physician who examined you signs each order, and no treatment runs without a physician on site.