I recently had a conversation with a client who said that the only time they felt relief was when they were sitting on a chair and pulled their leg up on it. I like to consider this position like a chill, cool, lounging position.
While most people will say, “no, this is not a good position to be in”, my thoughts are, who are they to say what is good and what isn’t? When you are in an active state of pain or are experiencing a flare up, the key is to finding the position that provides you the most relief. So if sitting with your foot propped up on the chair feels the best for you, then you have permission to go for it.
This information also tells us that we need to provide as many opportunities to add in this motion throughout the day. So if you feel best when you prop one leg up on the chair, then a single knee to chest stretch may be helpful. Which leg should you put up? The side that provides you the most relief. Some folks find that the side opposite of pain is helpful, while others it’s the exact opposite.
Here’s a video on how to do it. I usually start off with 10 reps every 1-2 hours, as long as it continues to be helpful.
This means that the body prefers movement at the hips, as well as little bit of forward rounding of the low back. You might notice that there is a significant arch in the low back, and when you do this stretch, the back flattens out a little bit. That is ok, as long as your pain goes down and you are able to go about your day.
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