Back Pain Portal Blog

Archive for the ‘Posture’ Category

I thought I was on the right track, because frankly, without doing yoga each week, my mobility and quality of life would be drastically reduced. On the days I do yoga, I notice a big difference in how I feel physically and mentally. So it doesn’t surprise me to see research confirming that yoga reduces chronic pain.

A new study done in Canada says that patients reported significant reductions in their pain levels, as well as a mental boost from practicing yoga. The title of the study tells the story:

An eight-week yoga intervention is associated with improvements in pain, psychological functioning and mindfulness, and changes in cortisol levels in women with fibromyalgia

My favorite two poses for back pain are demonstrated below.

Triangle Pose for Shoulder Blades and Lower Back Pain

Cat-Cow for Neck, Shoulders and Lower Back Tightness

This has been a tough year, demanding more of me than I am sometimes able to give. Even with all the tricks in my bag, I can find myself discouraged and get exhausted. A few weeks ago I had the chance to go sit with a yogi coming through town, to meditate and revive the spirit. What a difference it made for my body!

Meditation has a magical way of bringing things back into balance. It becomes clear how we get caught up in mental patterns that cause us pain and suffering, both physical and mental. Plus we don’t sleep well for worrying, and we don’t take care of ourselves when we are out of balance. Meditation seems to put things back into balance.

What does meditation do? Simply, it slows down the raging mind that never has a moments rest. When the mind slows down, the body slows, and we can again breathe and rest. Slowing the body slows the mind, and slowing the mind slows the body. Basically, we need to slow down, Bessy.

How To Meditate
I have been a meditator for many years. Meditation is simple. The hard part is making time to sit still, and staying there long enough to allow the mind to slow down. Just sit or lie down with a straight spine, close the eyes, and breathe in and out. Notice the breath go in and out. Just follow the breath and allow your thoughts to come and go.

Your mind may go berserk with all the things you should be doing, so just say thank you, and let it go. The mind is trying to take care of you but is in an overworked state so it doesn’t function well. So be grateful your mind wants to help you, but let it wait. Stay put for at least 10 minutes if possible, but 20 minutes is better, and work up to an hour. Any amount of time meditating helps, really. In studies they have shown that 5 minutes in alpha state can equate to 8 hours of sleep. But it may take a little while to get to the alpha (slower brain wave) state.

Here are more detailed instructions, and a link discussing meditation difficulties.
Breathing Instructions
Difficulty Meditating

Like exercise, mediation works wonders. As the wise men and women say, just do it!

I talked to someone today who was fresh in a foot boot after falling and injuring her ankle. She said she was going to see a chiropractor tomorrow since she was having hip pain too. It reminded me of when I fell off a ladder three feet to the ground and landed on my wrist. I told the osteopath who took my cast off that my elbow and shoulder was hurting. He informed me that the wrist fracture was healed and there was nothing more to say about it. I was still in excruciating pain, and he had no more to say.

So today I looked up the fun little song that reminds us that all our parts are connected together with our skeletal structure. Understanding this my friends, is critical to your health.

Dem Bones

Your toe bone connected to your foot bone,
Your foot bone connected to your ankle bone,
Your ankle bone connected to your leg bone,
Your leg bone connected to your knee bone,
Your knee bone connected to your thigh bone,
Your thigh bone connected to your hip bone,
Your hip bone connected to your back bone,
Your back bone connected to your shoulder bone,
Your shoulder bone connected to your neck bone,
Your neck bone connected to your head bone,
Now shake dem skeleton bones!

Dem bones, dem bones gonna walk aroun’
Dem bones, dem bones, gonna walk aroun’
Dem bones, dem bones, gonna walk aroun’
Now shake dem skeleton bones!

Disconnect dem bones, dem dry bones
Disconnect dem bones, dem dry bones
Disconnect dem bones, dem dry bones
Now shake dem skeleton bones!

Your head bone connected from your neck bone,
Your neck bone connected from your shoulder bone,
Your shoulder bone connected from your back bone,
Your back bone connected from your hip bone,
Your hip bone connected from your thigh bone,
Your thigh bone connected from your knee bone,
Your knee bone connected from your leg bone,
Your leg bone connected from your ankle bone,
Your ankle bone connected from your foot bone,
Your foot bone connected from your toe bone,
Now shake dem skeleton bones!
Now shake dem skeleton bones!

Dem bones, dem bones gonna walk around
Dem bones, dem bones, gonna walk around
Dem bones, dem bones, gonna walk around
Now shake dem skeleton bones!

This month I am really focused on my neck and shoulders. This is where I / we carry so much tension! Besides the on-going desk posture syndrome, I started this venture into neck and shoulder pain because my eyes were unusually tired and hurting. Guess what! Neck and shoulder tension really affects the eyes! Not to mention posture and the entire back.

There are many good reasons we have tight neck and shoulder muscles. And there are many things to do that will help.

One big reason that our neck carries so much tension is just the weight of our head! Our little necks are literally balancing a 10-15 pound ball all day long! So to speak. If posture is good, it rests comfortably without much effort. But if the spine pulls the head to the side or pushes it forward, then the fairly small muscles of the neck are strained and spasm until they are unable to relax.

The second reason for neck tension is a shoulder muscle or pinched nerve that pulls the head off center.  But this is the chicken and the egg, because the shoulder muscle typically tightens up attempting to hold the head in place. Yes, it is all connected.

We tend to raise our chin and lower our shoulders in a forward slump. Anything you can do to reverse this forward slump is good. One of my favorites is to lay down over a rolled up towel placed crosswise under the shoulder blades. You will feel this pull your shoulders backward and your chin down.

Sitting for long periods of time in a bad posture almost guarantees neck and shoulder problems. The main solution to reverse the strain is movement, all throughout the day, to keep the muscles from tightening and locking up. If looking down, look up. If sitting, get up. If standing, sit down. Roll the neck around, look side to side, look up, look down. Stretch the arms overhead.

Check out some easy but effective things to do to relieve neck and shoulder pain below.

	Neck Exercises
	Shoulder Lifts
	Eye Training

The video below shows an exercise that only takes a few minutes and this movement will help neck, shoulders, and eyes!

Well, I had another birthday this week. That how it goes, they just keep coming along. But there is good news, despite my age and my back conditions, I have a very active life!

The truth is that I have less trouble with back pain these days than I did 30 years ago when I was so young! For years after the first car wreck, I had constant back pain, and it seemed like back pain would be a permanent condition. But alas, that is not the case.

Even 5 years ago, I would go down with extreme back pain for weeks at a time, sometimes for months. My back would go out of socket, making it difficult to sleep, and requiring constant chiropractic care.

But the last few years, I’ll get a twinge of back pain, jump into action, using the steps on the main pain-in-my-back.com website, and I’m good to go in a day or two. Sometimes the pain subsides in hours. So the difference as I’ve gotten older is that I made a commitment to take care of my back. I schedule my yoga classes like a meeting, and even give up dinner dates sometimes. It is my physical therapy. Plus, there are things I gotta do on a regular basis. Little things that make a BIG difference.  Here’s what I gotta do:

• Keep the inflammation down with diet and herbs.
• Watch my posture standing and sitting.
• Stretch the muscles to keep things in balance.
• Strengthen the muscles to stay balanced.
• Reduce stress in lots of little ways., and do things that make me happy.
• Get good quality sleep, and enough sleep to be refreshed.
• Get help when needed from a chiropractor or massage therapist.
• Keep my self-care commitment.

See, simple. Over time the injuries can get worse, or can get better. Slow steady progress has reaped great reward for my previously aching back. Happy Birthday, you sweet young thing!