There is no doubt that once you have pain in your back, it can be all consuming and very difficult to alleviate. In my mother’s case it was due to an unsuccessful operation which caused a piece of metal to trap her nerve. In my case, according to my consultant there is nothing I can do (except carry on with the Pilates style exercises) because I have a degenerative condition of the spine.
So how come when I do move my spine about in a 3 dimensional way it feels better? How come when I really think about the way the rest of my body is working I can release the pain? I teach stretching and strengthening classes every day and yet I still have a sore back. Surely, that means that I am moving incorrectly? Continuously putting pressure on a certain area of my spine. It’s not like we’re born with back pain. In many cases, it becomes a learned movement that we struggle to change.
Well. I’ve been doing an experiment on myself and it’s working. It’s very simple. It works on the premise that if you can release tension in your neck and shoulders, you will use your spine differently because of the way the entire shoulder girdle is designed. Of late, I have realised that I hold a huge amount of tension in my shoulders. Even more when my back hurts. I can tell, because if I’m driving or walking or actually pretty much doing anything and I remind myself to slide my shoulder blades down towards my waist, the pain in my lower back disappears almost immediately. In addition, if I remember to keep my shoulders down, all my movement starts much higher up my spine, in my middle back, rather than starting from my lower back which releases a huge amount of pressure.
In order to keep our spines mobile and flexible we should attempt to move it in full movement range everyday: flexion/extension, side-bending and rotation and believe me if your shoulders are right up by your ears, your spine won’t move correctly. The purpose of good posture is essentially to have good, free, effortless movement using the body in the way yours was designed to move with no stress on key areas.
There is a huge amount you can do to improve how your body works, but exercise isn’t always healthy. Especially if you are using your body incorrectly. We need to understand our own bodies more and what is happening functionally.
So. Try this. (I’m guessing that at this stage you’re sitting at your computer):-
Sit up and lengthen your spine
Tilt your pelvis to the back of your chair slightly
Then relax your shoulders.
Curve your body forward, first tucking your chin in to your chest and roll down just a bit.
Feel how your spine moves between the shoulder blades
Then do the same movement but with your shoulders hunched up to your ears.
Pay attention to where you initiate the movement of the spine from
Then repeat, but this time making sure your shoulder blades feel as if they have melted down your back towards the chair and again take note of how much more free your spine feels in between your shoulder blades.
Then try and remember to breathe and release your shoulder blades at every given time during the next day and let me know if it helps…
I don’t know how to display these photos properly, but you can see that in the first picture, when the shoulders are down, the spine is curved and moving from the top, whereas in the second one, with shoulders up by the ears, the spine starts moving from the lower back and as soon as I do that I can feel pain in my lower back and pelvis.
Rick Olderman
February 18, 2010There is a lot of confusing information available about back pain. I like to keep things simple by using a quick little test. Try this out. It’ll literally take 1 minute.
Lie down on your back for 30 seconds with legs extended out, resting on the floor. Now bend your knees so the feet are sitting flat on the floor near your behind for 30 seconds. Which one feels better? If your back pain diminishes with knees bent then your spine has excessive extension stress acting on it. There are simple exercises to correct this. If your spine felt better with legs extended then you have excessive flexion stress acting on your spine. Again this is easily correctable.
Chronic pain results from a cycle of issues. Anatomical problems feed biomechanical issues which then affect movement habits that reinforce the original anatomical and biomechanical problems. Fixing back pain requires attention to all three levels. It’s quite simple to correct though and outlined this in my book. I’m very successful treating chronic pain and it is likely this information will be the key you’ve been missing to fix your pain. I’ve also posted this test on YouTube, if you’re interested.
Family Affairs
February 18, 2010Thanks Rick, that sounds v interesting and yes, I agree, it’s generally to do with biomechanics Lx
Heather
February 18, 2010This looks very much like a pilates stretch i use. It works wonders for me.
chiropractors arkansas
March 18, 2010Arkansas Spinal Care Conway, AR Our commitment to our patients has led us to using the DRX spinal decompression equipment for low back pain.
Virgie Mcafee
April 13, 2010Exceptional piece of writing, this is very similar to a site that I have. Please check it out sometime and feel free to leave me a comenet on it and tell me what you think. I’m always looking for feedback.
Clyde Shulda
April 19, 2010I’m glad I discovered this website, I couldnt discover any information on this subject before. I also run a site and if you are ever interested in doing some guest writing for me please feel free to let me know, i’m always look for people to check out my website. Please stop by and leave a comment sometime!
Erin Pandit
April 20, 2010This is a good post, I was wondering if I could use this posting on my website, I will link it back to your website though. If this is a problem please let me know and I will take it down right away.
Kimberley Fontenot
April 20, 2010I don’t agree with everything in this post, but you do make some very good points. Im very interested in this topic and I myself do alot of research as well. Either way it was a well thoughtout and nice read so I figured I would leave you a comment. Feel free to check out my website sometime and let me know what you think.
Berry Groesser
April 21, 2010Superb piece of writing, this is very similar to a site that I have. Please check it out sometime and feel free to leave me a comenet on it and tell me what you think. Im always looking for feedback.
Veronica Picton
April 22, 2010This is a very important post, I was looking for this information. Just so you know I located your web page when I was researching for blogs like mine, so please check out my site sometime and leave me a comment to let me know what you think.
Lakendra Mccra
April 23, 2010I have read a few of the articles on your website now, and I really like your style of blogging. I added it to my favorites webpage list and will be checking back soon. Please check out my site as well and let me know what you think.
Keshia Kulig
April 24, 2010This is a exceptional write-up, I discovered your website doing research bing for a related subject matter and came to this. I couldnt discover to much different information on this write-up, so it was great to locate this one. I will probably end up being back to look at some other posts that you have another time.
William Moore
June 29, 2010i have backpains after work. what i do is get some relaxing massage and yoga.”;-
Shine Lyrics
July 11, 2010Get it done Your self is so a lot simpler whenever you can come across excellent reports similar to this one.
Zoe Ali
July 11, 2010back pains can be awfully painful sometimes, ibuprofen is my best friend when it comes to pain’~*
Lydia Owen
August 29, 2010i have some slight back pain and stretching helps a bit to reduce its severity,,”
Riley Carter
October 10, 2010i used to always some nasty back pains and it requires a great massage to remove it”:*