Back Pain Portal Blog

Archive for the ‘Posture’ Category

Today I was looking at my ankles and realized that I have stronger ankles and better leg tone than I had 20 years ago. Since I made a commitment to self-help back care, my ankles and legs get a lot more attention than they used to. Strong ankles and legs give us mobility and balance.

Mobility is a precious gift and our little feet are where the rubber meets the road. But the ankles and legs are what make us move. The ankles and legs  need flexibility and strength to carry our weight and do fun things.

This is one reason that walking is so good for us. If you do nothing but take an extended walk regularly, your health will benefit greatly and you are protecting your mobility. I remember on a trip to Europe how hard it was at first to do all the walking. Since I wasn’t used to it at the time, my legs tired easily. As I walked more I felt better and got stronger.

Restless leg syndrome almost always benefits from exercising the legs. Extended sitting without taking a break and walking around is not good for the legs.

Here’s some easy things to do:

• Ankle circles are really great. Just move the ankles clockwise, then counter clockwise as you sit on the couch or at your desk.
• Point and flex your toes. This also builds calf muscle.
• Point your toes and then stretch the toes further with your hands.
• Bicycling on a real bike, an exercise bike, or even in the air.
• Balance on one leg at a time. You can do this while you stand in line… just ignore the stares.
• Squat and keep the heels as close to the ground as possible. This may be hard to do at first, but don’t give up.

There are many leg and ankle exercises that feel good and strengthen legs and ankles, like lunges or quad stretches.  Movement and repetition will strengthen  legs and improve balance over time.

Bottom line is to just keep the legs moving to keep grooving.

If there is one thing that I would have to say has sustained and helped me the most, it would be yoga. My real progress on bringing back pain and structural problems under my control came when I started doing yoga on a regular basis. A friend of mine who also sat at a desk all day, woke up one morning and couldn’t move. She went into total panic, jumped into surgery, and now is permanently mobility impaired. It was a wake up call for me. It was time for serious intervention.

I took stock of my habits and my chronic pain and the acute pain flareups that would put me under for days or weeks, even months at a time. I committed to counteracting my chronic bad posture habits with yoga 2-4 times a week to stretch and strengthen the muscles and connective tissue. In short order I felt an amazing difference. The weeks I did yoga, the pain subsided. If I got too busy and dropped out this gentle regular restorative exercise, I would usually lapse into chronic, then acute back pain.

Yoga stretching gives the most immediate relief. For me it is like getting a 1 hour massage.

Yoga strengthening takes longer, but it is critically important. Muscle strength is what helps to hold the structure in place. Muscles are strengthened by holding a posture, like standing on one leg, then tilting forward into the dancer pose. You just hold as long as you can, and the time keeps increasing as you get stronger. Leg strengthening really helps balance and mobility.

And last, yoga relaxation at the end of each class is a time when the mind and body settles into a moment of peace. It is incredibly refreshing.

At first some yoga postures will feel odd and may reveal a tightness that is painful. A basic yoga principle to to take it slow and always work at your own pace. You push into the discomfort, but back off the pain. So done properly, it should not be painful. I remember at first that my feet and ankles would restrict certain movement. Those things totally worked out over time. But I am still always pushing into my own places of discomfort to release the tightness.

I recommend going to a class where you can just follow and learn. At my health club, I can go to all the yoga I want. The classes make it fun and keeps it simple. You will find different yoga styles and different teachers, so just find one you like and make sure it is a time you can look forward to .

I found a good overview of yoga at the link below. I hope you’ll check it out and consider treating yourself to yoga classes.

http://nccam.nih.gov/health/yoga/introduction.htm

I’ve spent a lot of hours working at the computer lately. At first, no problem, but over a few days, the aches and pains start. Sitting for long periods at a keyboard usually mean bad posture… hunching over, neck forward, and often one shoulder down lower.

Here are the things you can do for relief from neck and back pain from desk work:

• Take short breaks every hour. Much muscle strain is from holding one position too long. A little movement releases the tension.
• Stretch at your desk. Stretch, yawn, reach for the skies, bend over, anything that feels good to stretch. You can really go for it and stand up to stretch!
• Refresh your posture. Shoulders up and back. Neck back, chin down. Keep checking in on your posture.

All good reminders for me. That’s why I write about this stuff. OK, back to work!

It is hard to express the significance of a realization I have had over the last year because it sounds so trite and so simple. The realization:

You can work with your body to intervene with back pain.

Really, this is major. Really. In fact, if you don’t do your part, any doctor’s services are compromised. In fact, you might be able to do much more for yourself long term than a doctor can do. Let that sink in a minute. The best “quick fix” is an on-going way to balance the muscles when pain begins. Really.

So I was happy to find the Lose the Back Pain program. It is well researched and shows people how to reduce muscle tension to balance and align the spine for each specific back pain condition. It confirms the conclusions I have come to and exceeds my expectations about what to do for each back pain condition.

I reviewed the program in the video below. Then below that is a newscast interviewing one of the developers of the program. It is worth checking out the system. Let me know what you think.

Review of Lose The Back Pain System

WBAL-TV :Lose The Back Pain News Clip

Posture is one of those things we all have as a tool for reducing back pain. How you stand or sit affects the health of your back. Bad posture grinds away at healthy disc and joint structure.

The good news is that minor adjustments in posture make a big difference. Simple awareness allows you to adjust how you hold your shoulders, your neck and chin. These can pull the rest of the spine up and into place.

There is a method called The Alexander Technique that is simply about posture. Actors,  singers, and musicians use it a lot because of the added benefit they get from it to perform better.

Today I found an interactive screen on Alexander Technique with self-help exercises for posture. These little adjustments affect the whole spine. I am first posting a video on the basic technique, then the Alexander Technique interactive exercises below that to help improve back posture and neck posture.

Basic Alexander Technique Video

Alexander Technique Exercises for Back and Neck Alignment