Back Challenges

This is very important information for anyone with back problems!

If you hurt your back it is usually a disc problem Unless you strained some
ligaments, which can happen, that’s why you should consult with a Doctor who
specializes in the back If you take care of it right away you will be able to heal it
faster I have used this approach with hundreds of patients, as well as with my other
colleagues It seems to be the best and conservative approach:

1st See a doctor that specializes in backs Stay in bed, don’t sit or stand or even
walk much Most importantly, don’t do any exercises that flex the spine (bend
forward) The most important exercise to do is to arch the spine, as in the cobra
(lying on the ground like you are going to do a push-up, keeping the pelvis flat on
the ground and keeping the butt muscles relaxed (see exercise in my web site)

2nd The doctor who is experienced in treating backs will prescribe some anti-
inflammatory drugs Depending on the severity of your condition he may even
recommend some muscle relaxers or pain pills These medications during the early
stages are great and can greatly increase the healing Even using a back brace
during this early time is especially beneficial particularly if you are listing (leaning to
one side)

3rd Use ice every day, all day if the pain is severe Doing the cobra while icing it will
help pull the disc in If the full cobra is too much, do the second exercise or what we
call the sphinx by just rising up on your elbows These exercises are the best An
alternative is the cat-dog but make sure you don’t go into flexion

4th Consult with a professional that can guide you to healing the condition Many
times medical doctors don’t have the training, and you need to get therapy
Sometimes traction helps with medical massage, and at the right time chiropractic
can help, although I have seen it cause more pain during the acute stages Most
important is the alignment of the hips and spine which chiropractic is good for; for
the long-term recovery this is imperative The corrective exercises I give are mostly
common to physical therapy I have also developed some of my own that will help
take the pressure off the disc Think about it: If your pelvis is twisted or higher on
one side than the other, there will still be pressure on the disc I believe that for a
disc to be injured it has suffered this pressure for a long time, as discs are part of a
very strong system Muscle tension is the way the body compensates for this
misalignment and with that it compresses the spine thus breaking down the disc
over a period of time So sometimes with the right conditions such as tension,
stress, too much work, just by bending over one day or twisting while carrying
something, it can force that weak disc out of place With either a bulge or an
actually torn disc (herniated) you need to work intensely to get it back to health

Let’s review what some of the tools are that professionals may use for disc
problems, besides the drugs, which I think are very beneficial if you get them right
away Later on they are less effective, in fact, everything is less effective if you wait a
week or more to get help Go see your doctor right away if you hurt your back, don’t
wait! Rest in bed is the best and most important therapy you can do along with the
medication Obviously your body is talking to you very loudly, so pay attention, take
some time to reflect on you life and listen to your body Don’t walk around and
don’t sit Lie down and do the extension exercises with ice This is not only critical
in the early stages, but it will also help all the way through

Deep massage with an alignment technique is great The key is to take to pressure
off the disc The problem with deep massage without attention to alignment or with
too much twisting is that it can actually make it worse When you relax the muscles
that are holding, it may put more pressure on the disc at least temporarily Rolfing
has a good technique for lengthening the torso fascia Trigger point therapy can
ease the pain and relieve the muscle tension Chiropractic during the acute phases
has mixed reviews, depending on the chiropractor Gentle work seems to be more
effective, but at other times it’s just too painful for some patients It is definitely
helpful after the acute phase for alignment Sorry, chiropractors, but I have found
this to be true Many of my best friends are chiropractors and I use them myself, but
as I’ve said many times, it depends on the patient as well as the doctor During the
later stages after the swelling has gone down may be the time for chiropractic as
well as physical therapy or traction That seems to be the time when it is most
effective Acupuncture will not correct structural problems, but it can help with the
pain or even swelling However, I work directly with many of the best
acupuncturists, and they refer their patients to me when there is a disc problem for
body alignment

5th Once you have injured a disc you have a weakened area for some time
Remember, this tissue heals very slowly It takes many years sometimes to totally
heal a ligament if it came from improper posture, which I think is the most common
reason, from slouching all your life or from too much sitting and no exercise You
need to start to change your posture and habits Yoga, Pilate’s, Alexander,
Feldenkrais or Aston Patterning are many techniques that can help with that You
need to strengthen the abdominal muscles because most often this is a big problem
area especially if you are a male and have a large stomach By the way, most back
problems are associated with males

Since posture is one of the biggest problems with the back, doing the right
exercises is critical for improvement Some of the exercises that are recommended
are counterproductive, such as bending over to touch your toes! Never do that,
unless you have been shown the right way to do it Anyway, you can get the same
stretch if you sit on the ground and touch your toes without the pressure on your
spine Most flexion exercises are not great for us These are when you bow your
back backwards It’s best to keep the spine flat at the low back for certain stretches
There are even some Pilate’s moves that I would be very careful with, especially if
you have had a back problem Get some expert advice and always remember to
consult with your doctor before starting an exercise program

6th Here are some of the most common tests for disc problems:

a Does it hurt your back to lower your head?

b Does it hurt if you cough?

c Can you bend over without pain?

d Can you arch your back without pain? Usually if these four cause problems, it’s
a disc

e There may be a need for more leaning into the pain if it’s on one side or the
other This will often reproduce the pain, or cause a shooting sensation down the
foot

f Lastly, we may twist and find out if this pain is made worse by doing that Note
that a doctor should do these tests and care should be taken in doing them

g There are other obvious signs such as listing (leaning to one side), which is a
common disc reaction The body is trying to take pressure off the disc

h Shooting pain or numbness down the leg or into the buttocks is another sign

i Of course, if you can’t even walk or sit, you know what you have

See your doctor You can do the first two tests yourself with no problem and if you
have the last two symptoms, well, we are pretty sure you have injured a disc Take
care of it immediately and get into bed as soon as possible I have seen people get
better right away, but if not taken care of properly, it can last for years Believe me,
as I have personally had the experience as well If you have a back problem, get my
next book, The Better Back Book

The cobra, or extension of the spine If this is difficult don’t push it do the
alternate pose the sphinx (right) Both of these are some of the best and easiest
exercises to do when your back is hurting They are the best for assisting the disc to
return back to it’s normal place and help reduce the tension Also quite effective for
the back muscles as well

A Nice Way To Lengthen The Low Back:

Slowly lift patient laying prone (Face down) from their anterior iliac spine, not
grabbing hard, and gently pull up the hip while pushing on your side of the spine
with your palm Start at the low lumbar and work your way up each vertebra at a
time, drop the hip every vertebra and lift again as you go If you find tight and
resistive muscles, gently massage and friction them as well Use deep breathing and
pull up as they exhale

With all the troubles that modern people or we earthlings have had with the back, I
find it imperative to just take the time and take care of your own No one can do it
ALL for you It just takes knowing something about the body and just rolling up your
pants and diving in The best strategy I know about everything I have tried is to start
out gently, even if you are a big, strong bodybuilder Most bodies I have
encountered in my career are out of alignment; the least were two of the top
Olympic athletes of the late seventies

The Abdominal Lift; just sitting and contracting your abs as you lift the torso This
takes pressure off the discs This is also good for when you are doing any exercise
as it allows you support and initiates all other movement from the core

Another important exercise to start building your core muscles Laying on your
back bend both legs and beginers should start with one foot Lifting one leg at a
time, keeping one on the ground is for beginner’s Lifting two legs is more
advanced The object is to keep your abdominal muscles contracted and move the
legs back and forth (top one at a time) bottom two at a time bicycling back and
forth NOTE!!!! These should not be done when you are hurting; they are for after
your back episode so that you can prevent the next one

Next you have your basic crunchies laying on your back your legs bent at a niety
degree Hips to thighs niety then knees on down shins parallel to the floor Come up
with your elbows touching your knees, don’t pull on your head hands at side of face
Do straight ahead, rectus, and then opossit elbow to other knee and so forth

The advance crunchies and the transverse crunch two both sides for the transverse
abdominals

Other tricks for your back if you have tension between the shoulders lay on a towel
running vertical towel placement Lay on towel also helps neck if you
notice its too far forward on your body

Lengthen Your Own Low Back, go slow, can be done during pain episode, careful
(Check with doctor)

Home made traction to assist the body in reversing the stress of gravity thougout
the day, the is a great way to get your body relaxed as once the curves are in the
right place the muscles can relax instead of holding us in our tension pose

Starting with two towels one for your neck and one for your low back
Just lay down! That will lengthen your back Use a towel under your low back and
under your neck for added traction This is homemade traction at its best, easy to
do and takes very little skill It will do wonders, just try it Once again gravity is the
force we all are subject to, and it exerts its force on our bodies If we fight it we
loose and it becomes stress and tension Note: start with only a few min at a time
Increase slowly up to five or ten minutes

My philosophy is simple, do as many exercises we can that reverse the pull gravity
has on our bodies Hanging up side down has been around since the seventies; we
did that after tree planting all day You can only stay upside down for so long,
without training even dangerous so just be careful with all exercises in general
These are beautiful because they are the easiest to do, don’t get me wrong just
cause they are easy, they are very powerful if done regularly, regularly, that is the
key

I start all the moves to loosen the spine on the ground I just think it may be less
stressful on any back Most twisting is not usually recommended if you have a
strained back or some old ligament injury You could even push out your own disc
The key is to go easy with anybody when you start any exercise program

The cat and dog, on your knees, with hands on ground in front I just normally let
the back sag, it feels great we need more of the arch than the bending over that is
only good for muscles we need to strengthen the ligaments and assist the disc in
moving back into place and then you bow back up, I recommend to only going to
neutral or straight back

Please consult with your doctor before doing any exercises, these are standard
medical and Physical therapy exercises and here are used as educational material
Never bend over to touch your toes to stretch your back that is an advanced move
and must be done correctly and during a pain episode, no flexion ever (Bowing out
the back) For more information on the spine and the rest of your body, as well as
other health related articles see my web site:

wwwmolinamassagecom

Since 1969 Othon has perused many types of healing work from Native American
Curandero deep tissue, to Polarity Therapy; Dr Bernard Jensen iridology and
nutrition; he ran Touch for Health for a few years and became an expert in
Kinesiology; For some thirty intense years Othon practiced and studied with
Psychics, Chiropractors, Osteopaths, MD’s, Physiatrists, Physical Therapists, Yoga,
Pilates Instructors, Rolfers, Aston, Feldenkrais and many others He has blended
these many forms of body/mind work into a simple and effective treatment
Some of the past patients are: Bob Hope, Jane Seymore, Carol Burnette, Essam
Kashoggi, Jim Nabors, Tony Robbins, Mark Victor Hansen, the San Francisco Ballet,
Alvin Alley Dance troupe, Team doc for the Germany Iron Man professionals,
Outrigger Canoe Club world Champs, many of Honolulu top runners, like Rachal
Portner, Connie Carvo, John Cross etc

Tags | approach, doctors, ground, inflammatory, ligaments, medical, muscle, pelvis, relaxers