L5-S1 Exercises to Avoid

The L5-S1 spinal level includes the last bone of the lumbar spine and the first bone of the sacral spine. Also known as the lumbosacral joint, this is a transitional area of the lower back. With its location and flexibility, L5-S1 is vulnerable to significant impact throughout your life. 

If you’re struggling with L5-S1 pain, avoiding certain exercises can prevent worsening discomfort and damage. Read on to learn more about which activities to avoid with an L5-S1 condition.

L5-S1 Exercises to Avoid

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What Can You Not Do With L5 S1?

With L5 S1 problems, you can’t do certain activities, including golfing, gardening, gymnastics, and weightlifting. You also can’t sit for prolonged periods. 

You should avoid golfing, gardening, and gymnastics with L5 S1 conditions because these activities involve excessive spinal twisting and bending. These motions place undue strain on the lower spine and may worsen conditions like nerve impingement and disc herniation. 

Weightlifting and heavy lifting, in general, can also be harmful to individuals with L5 S1 problems. Heavy lifting stresses the lower spine and can exacerbate various issues, including spinal stenosis, herniated disc, spondylolisthesis, and osteoarthritis. 

What Makes L5 S1 Worse?

High-impact exercise, excessive twisting or bending, prolonged sitting, and prolonged bed rest make L5 S1 worse. 

  • High-impact exercises, like running and weightlifting, place impact on the lumbar and sacral spine. It’s best to stick to low-impact exercise while you have an L5-S1 condition because it prevents further spinal damage. 
  • Excessive twisting and bending can extend your spine beyond its natural range of motion, increasing the risk of damage. While it’s important to remain mobile with an L5-S1 condition, avoid activities that require repeated or extreme twisting and bending. 
  • Prolonged sitting can worsen L5 S1 problems, as it can cause back muscle tension and stress the spinal discs. While sitting can provide temporary relief from certain spinal conditions, including spinal stenosis, extended periods of sitting can be harmful.
    • If you have a desk job, try to stand and walk around at least once per hour. Or, consider investing in a standing desk.  
  • Bedrest can be tempting when you’re struggling with L5 S1 pain. However, prolonged or excessive bedrest limits circulation to the spine, contributes to muscle weakness, and ultimately slows the healing process. 

Other lifestyle habits that can make L5 S1 problems worse include:

  • Smoking compromises spinal health by restricting circulation. Nicotine causes blood vessel constriction, reducing the flow of oxygen and nutrients to the spine. Smoking also worsens inflammation, which can exacerbate various L5-S1 conditions. 
  • Being overweight increases the impact on the L5-S1 segment. Whether you’re sitting, standing, walking, or exercising, excess pounds stress the lower spine. Reaching a healthy weight alleviates this extra strain to protect the spine. 
  • Poor posture causes an imbalanced distribution of impact on the spine, including the L5-S1 segment. This imbalance accelerates spinal degeneration and can cause lower back pain. 
  • Not sleeping enough can jeopardize your spinal health. Sleep allows your body to repair damaged tissue and manage inflammation. Without this restorative process, you may experience worsened back pain and a slower recovery process. 

How Do You Get Rid of L5 S1 Pain Fast?

L5-S1 Exercises to Avoid

You can try to get rid of L5 S1 fast with rest, heat/ice therapy, physical therapy, and pain medication. If these methods don’t offer relief and your pain is debilitating, surgery is another option to consider. 

The best way to ensure a fast recovery from L5 S1 pain is to seek medical care as soon as possible. Early intervention protects the spine against further damage, allowing for a quicker recovery. Additionally, by seeing a doctor ASAP for L5 S1 pain, you can address your symptoms before they become severe. 

L5-S1 Conditions and Treatments

L5-S1 conditions include spondylolisthesis, disc herniation, and osteoarthritis. Treatments include at-home remedies, physical therapy, pain medications, spinal injections, and surgery. 

L5-S1 Spondylolisthesis

L5-S1 spondylolisthesis occurs when the L5 vertebra slips down, resting on the S1 vertebra. This form of spondylolisthesis is most often caused by overuse or spondylolysis, a defect in the L5 pars interarticularis. In fact, isthmic spondylolisthesis, the term used for spondylolisthesis caused by a pars defect, most commonly occurs at the L5-S1 level. 

Symptoms of L5-S1 spondylolisthesis include:

  • Lower back pain that worsens with activity, especially lifting and bending
  • Spasms in the hamstring muscles
  • Lower back stiffness
  • Neurological symptoms in the legs and/or feet, including tingling, numbness, and weakness

Along with rest, physical therapy, and pain medications, bracing is often used to treat L5-S1 spondylolisthesis. Bracing stabilizes the spine while the area heals. 

L5-S1 Herniated Disc

An estimated 95% of herniated discs in patients aged 25 to 55 occur at the L5-S1 or L4-L5 level. When a disc is herniated or ruptured, it means that the disc interior is protruding through a tear in the disc exterior. The disc may impinge on nearby spinal nerves, causing pain and neurological symptoms. 

Disc herniation at the L5-S1 level can also cause sciatica, a condition involving sciatic nerve compression. Sciatica symptoms include pain, burning, tingling, and numbness that radiate from the lower back to the buttocks and down one or both legs.  Many cases of L5-S1 disc herniation resolve after a few weeks of rest, heat/ice therapy, and over-the-counter pain medications. If at-home remedies aren’t sufficient, you may need physical therapy, chiropractic care, and doctor-recommended lifestyle adjustments. Physicians typically only recommend surgery for severe herniated discs that don’t improve with conservative methods.

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L5-S1 Osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis is a form of arthritis that results from wear and tear on cartilage within the joints. Spinal osteoarthritis is also known as facet joint arthritis because it damages the cartilage in the spine’s facet joints. L5-S1 osteoarthritis can trigger various symptoms, including:

  • Lower back pain that may radiate to the legs
  • Reduced mobility in the spine
  • Back or leg muscle spasms
  • Leg weakness or tightness
  • Numbness and/or tingling in the back and legs

Some of the symptoms listed above can result from bone spurs, a prevalent complication of osteoarthritis. Bone spurs are small lumps of excess bone that develop in response to friction within a joint. They can press on spinal nerves, leading to pain and neurological symptoms. 

While osteoarthritis isn’t a curable condition, many treatments can reduce pain levels and restore joint function. L5-S1 osteoarthritis is often treated with physical therapy, pain medications, steroid injections, and lifestyle adjustments. If these methods fail, surgery can be implemented to remove bone spurs and resolve nerve impingement. 

If you’re experiencing pain or other symptoms at the L5-S1 level, reach out to a spine specialist for an evaluation.