Banishing Backache

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Banishing Backache

 

“I’ve got a weak back.”

“How long have you had it?”

“Oh, about a week back.”

(The Three Stooges)

 

There is nothing like comfortably walking straight as

a ramrod, proud to be bipedal. There are two ways

that I can experience this. One is via a visit to a

good chiropractor. The other is to use the techniques

below.

 

(Important caution: Common sense dictates the need of

genuine care in dealing with any back problem. Consult

a medical, osteopathic or chiropractic doctor before

proceeding with these, or any other self-care

approaches.)

 

First, you can try some bed stretches. Here’s how I do

them:

 

Method One

Sit in the middle of the bed, legs straight out in

front of you. Then, from the hips up, pivot to the

right as far as you reasonably can. Now lie back. You

should be shaped like a boomerang, mate. And you will

feel a profound “pulling” sensation in your lower

back, hip and upper leg. Relax and stay in that

position for five minutes by the clock. Repeat the

process to the left.

 

Method Two

Lie across the bed face down. Put your feet over the

edge and grab the mattress with your toes. You can do

this even if you are not an orangutan. While keeping

your feet together, pivot your upper body to the right

as far as comfortable. You now will look like the

other side of a boomerang. Using your arms, give it

an extra stretch further to the right and hold it for

a minute or two. Relax, and repeat for the left side.

 

Both of these techniques work best if you done first

thing in the morning and last thing before going to

sleep at night.

 

And when you sleep, do so on a good, firm (but not

hard) mattress. If you cannot afford a good mattress,

consider asking Santa for a futon (a thick floor mat).

You can also try putting a board under your lousy

mattress for the time being.

 

Try regular (or even irregular) practice of hatha yoga

postures. Especially helpful are the “Plow” and the

hurdle-stretch.

 

The “plow” begins with a shoulder-stand on a

well-carpeted floor. That’s just a head stand with

your arms supporting you. I cannot do a real

headstand, but I can do this. From the shoulder

stand, let the weight of your legs pull your feet to

the ground. You will look and feel like the number

“6” tipping over that way -> ->.

 

Hurdle stretches are easy to do. Sit cross legged

wearing loose fitting clothing. Extend one leg out at

a natural 45 degree angle from your hips. Reach down

that leg as far as you are able, drop your head, and

reach a bit further. If you manage to reach your

ankles, grab them and relax. If you can’t, grab what

part of your leg that you can, and relax. Hold with a

slight stretch for the count of 25. Repeat with the

other leg.

 

Lose excess weight. If you are 22 pounds (10 kg)

overweight, that is like carrying a big economy-sized

bag of dog food around with you all day. 44 pounds is

two big bags of dog food. All that weight pulls on

your back and sits on your sacroiliac. Be realistic;

it has to go. If you cut down your daily calorie

intake by just 120 calories (a puny amount and you

know it), you will lose a pound a month. If you do

any exercise at all, you will triple the loss easily.

Do not scoff at a monthly 3 pound weight loss. That’s

36 pounds in a year.

 

Really want to feel great? Do these back-building,

sorness-squelchin’ weight-liftin’ exercises:

 

SHRUGS

This is as easy as it sounds: simply shrug your

shoulders… with a dumbell weight in each hand. You

can usually use quite a lot of weight for this.

Beginners may want to start with 5 or 8 pounds per

hand. I use 25 pounders, but then I’ve been doing

this for a while. Your basic up-and-down shrugs can

be complimented with shoulder rotations forward

together and then backward together. Also, try

alternate-shoulder up and down shrugs. These moves

really loosen up the neck, shoulders, and upper back.

 

FLYS

Use a MUCH lighter weight for these. A “fly” is like

a theatrical, expansive yawn with weights in your

hands. Another way to describe flys is you look like a

large bird stretching its wings, or Batman displaying

his entire cape. Stand where you have a lot of free

airspace around you and try some. By varying positions

(one arm reaching up, the other down; both up or both

down; reaching behind you backhanded; etc) you can

de-stress the entire upper half of your body to an

extent you might not have thought possible.

 

SIDE-CRUNCHES

Lie down on a carpeted floor in the good old

“knee-bent for sit-ups” position. But there’s a

twist: let both your knees fall to one side and do

your crunches side-saddle. To an equal number with

the knees to the other side, of course. By bringing

your knees nearly up to your chin, or extending your

bent legs to one side or the other, you will feel a

lower back benefit in addition to that most satisfying

spare-tire-reduction that crunches are known for.

 

(More on exercise at

http://www.doctoryourself.com/exercise_avoid.html and

 

http://www.doctoryourself.com/aerobics.html

 

Use a “MA” roller

A “MA” roller is a wooden self-massage tool shaped

something like a large, skinny thread spool. The twin

raised sections towards the center deeply massage the

back to either side of the spinous processes of each

vertebrae of your back. The sensation it produces

resembles a full-back accupressure treatment by a

barefooted lover. With patient, regular use, you can

actually feel back bones slip into place. I have no

financial connection with the manufacturer,

distributor or retailer of this product. You can

purchase one by way of an internet search, or visit to

your local health food store. Priced at about $40,

they cost about the same as a single visit to the

chiropractor. I have had mine for over 20 years and

use it every night before going to sleep.

 

Fast, Totally Free, Utterly Effortless, Back-Friendly

Advice:

 

Ladies, stop wearing high heels. Nothing wrecks your

posture and all the muscles and bones associated with

it like walking around on your toes all day.

 

Lift, shovel or rake with your “other” side. This

really works. I learned it watching my Dad, who one

day picked up a large TV set with his left hand. His

back went “out” and he was in considerable discomfort

until he reached down and picked up the same TV with

the other hand… and put his back “in” again. I used

to get a backache after snow shoveling, a common event

around these parts (I live just south of Canada).

Then, I started shoveling backwards. By this, I mean

that I reversed the position of my hands on the

shovel, and dug to the other side, and threw with the

other shoulder. This was weird at first, and I could

only move a quarter of my usual load. But practice

makes perfect, and now I have forgotten which side is

my “other” side, as I can move a ton of snow

(literally) without injury. If you have no snow to

move (you lucky person you), may I mention that this

technique applies to shoveling dirt, concrete, manure,

or anything else you have to toss about.

 

Wear that purse or backpack on the “other” shoulder.

Same idea as above.

 

Make a point to periodically notice your sitting

posture, whether working, reading or watching TV. Can

you improve it? Of course you can, once you become

aware of it.

 

FUTURE TO THE BACK

I know an unusually large number of chiropractors.

This may be because I used to teach at a chiropractic

college. One of my very best friends, Dr. Kenneth

Hack, is an excellent chiropractor. He has

“straightened out” my whole family for many years and

he is great at it. But Ken lives too far from me for

quick visits every time by back bugs me. So, I have

learned how to take care of it myself. I don’t care

much for exercise, but I exercise anyhow. Ken told me

I haveta, and I found out he was right. Good

chiropractors teach you how to not need them. So now I

do all the stuff I discussed above almost daily,

because when I’m done, I feel terrific.

 

You can take this considerably further if you want to.

25 years ago, I learned a gentle first-aid technique,

Spontaneous Release by Positioning, developed by

Lawrence Hugh Jones, D. O. (Step-by-step instructions

at

http://doctoryourself.com/spontaneous_rel.html ).

 

Backache surely is a common ailment, perhaps one of

the most common of all chronic health problems. It is

certainly one of the chief on-the-job time-loss

injuries. Most persons will suffer backache at least

some time in their lives. But the procedures described

above are powerful steps you can take to prevent, and

to relieve, backache.

 

I used to have back trouble. Now I don’t.

 

 

Copyright 2001 and prior years by Andrew Saul, Number

8 Van Buren Street, Holley, New York 14470 USA

Telephone (585) 638-5357