Hello all,
I have been posting on another board (fractured calcaneus), but I am a long time experiencer of back (lower, mid, and neck) pain. At time it was crippling, and kept me in bed. I had to change my carrer (a blessing in disguise).
Since my early 20's, I have tried many non-surgical remedies. I did a lot of chiropractic, 8 years of 3x per week yoga, and many other avenues. Some help, but no complete relief or control. Not to mention the expense.
However, a couple of things in the last few years have really helped me:
1.) I read the works of Dr. Sarno regarding the affect that tension and belief have on the worsening of back pain. Ever notice how emotional stress brings out your back pain?
2.) In my workout, I discovered a simple streach I call "the move."
"The Move": Using a 65cm excercise ball, I do abdominal crunches (it's almost impossible to injure yourself this way, since the ball maintains the curve in your lower back). When doing these crunches, you keep your feet on the floor against a wall, this easily maintains correct position. Now here comes "the move."
In between sets of crunches (I do 3 sets), I take a weight (for me 20-30 lbs) and hold it to my chest. I then lean back as far as I can, letting my head drop towarRAB the floor. I try to breath slowly and think of releasing my spine for 20 or 30 seconRAB. This creates mild traction, while curving the back.
What happens? I get an amazing release, as if I were getting the best chiropractic adjustment ever! Pop, pop, thunk, it is such a huge releif! I usually do this about halfway through my 1 hour workout, when the body is warm and loose. It does not work well when the body is cold.
What is occuring? I think that most back pain comes from a lack of space in the frontal plane of the spine. All our lives we work and bend forward and there is little back bending. Gradually, there is a narrowing of space in the front of the vertebra, disks bulge, and nerves are pinched. The solution is to get more space in between the front part of the vertebra, so the disc can retract and relieve pressure on the nerve. Anyway that's my guess.
Since it is something I can do for myself, I do it 3 or 4 times a week. Bottom line: for the first time in my life, I feel I have complete control over my pain. Every now and then, I get away from my routine due to travelling, work requirements, etc. The pain returns, but as soon as I get back to "the move", bam! it is gone in a day or two.
Please try this before you go down the surgery road. I am convinced that most back pain issues do not need surgery, and that once you go down that road, it is very hard to get relief non surgically. Lots of people have surgery after surgery. Try EVERYTHING possible to avoid surgery.
Hope this helps
Greg
