Why Do People Have More Incidents of Lower Back Pain-Injury After Periods of Sitting Vs Standing?

When you sit for a long period of time, even sitting just 30 minutes or longer you are typically putting your lower back into a flexed position. This is typically the slouched way or collapsed way of sitting in in a chair vs sitting in a way that supports your body and helps align your structure. The after math of sitting in a position with your lower back in flexion is that the thorocalumbar fascia (the thoracolumbar fascia provides about 80% of the stability for the lower back compared to 20% of the muscles according to leading experts in Low Back Pain.) this layer of tissue ends up stretching or elongating over time in this position, much like if you were to slowly stretch a rubber band.

What happens next?

Eventually you will get up and begin moving in gravity. A common scenario is that you get up head out into another room, see something on the bathroom floor and bend over to pick it up and........ your back hurts, your back gets injured.

What caused the injury in this case?

Your back gets injured (read carefully as this is the important part) because the normal stability for the lumbar fascia comes back a bit later. By stability, I mean 'stiffness', strength the ability to resist stretch. I used the above example of slowly stretching a rubber band, so stiffness would be perhaps trying to stretch a bungy cord vs a elastic band (ie much harder). Research tells us that after around 30 minutes of being out of this position (lumbar flexion) that the tissue begins to 'swell' (re-hydrate) and become more stable and more able to support your back in forward bending and after 1 hour it is even more stable than 30 minutes earlier and the curve goes up. (there is a point where it does begin to trend down, meaning that the lumbar fascia is not going to just continue to get stiffer). So we need this period of time for our fascia to recover it strength and stabiity before putting it into movements or positions that will place it at risk.

So what to take home from this? So now we know that studies shown that people who bend forward after sitting for a long period of time (ie. 30 minutes and greater) have more back injuries than if they had been standing for the same time. So with this knowledge and the information from above. Here are some quick tips.

1. Get up and move from your desk frequently! Help your lumbar fascia out!! Set a timer to go off every 30 minutes or sooner, when it goes off get up and move. Better yet break periods of sitting at your desk and work from a standing position. Let me be clear do not sit for hour upon hour at your desk and think you will have a happy, healthy back this is called denial!!!

2. Change how you are sitting, meaning sit up on your sit bones and tilt your pelvis slightly forward to take your lower back out of flexion. I often educated clients on using a 5 point neuro-somatic standing awareness exercise (to read more about it click here). You can take the same principles and use it while sitting this will help you stay more mindful and less apt to fall into old patterns while sitting at your desk, in your car or on your coach.

3. Also, If you have been sitting all day, then jumping into your car and driving (yes sitting again) to the golf course or any other activity for that matter and heading right out to play is putting you at greater risk for injury. So instead, make sure you move around for a period of time before swinging the club, the softball bat, or twisting your body in a yoga class. Work with your body not against it!

4. Lastly if your slumped on the couch all day or weekend long catching up on your movies, just remember that if you see something on the floor that you want to bend over to pick up, do yourself a favor and bend downk from the knees to get it, because if you bend forward to pick it up well lets just say you may be in for a not so enjoyable surprise.

6 Best Choices for Relief of Sciatica Pain

The sciatic nerve proceeds through the buttocks, extends along the leg all the way to the toes. Those suffering from sciatic pain say that the pain seems to radiate through the hip along the thigh and at times is felt all the way down the front of the lower leg area. It's a tough pain to ignore, and can make sitting and sleeping very uncomfortable.

The pain is actually a symptom of an inflamed sciatic nerve which can be caused by a number of problems, including but not limited to pinched nerves, a slipped disc, or bad posture. The sciatic nerve may heal itself over a few weeks time but can take as long as several months.

Following are six of the best choices for relief of sciatica pain:*

1. Hydrotherapy

Relaxing in a hot whirlpool tub or jacuzzi can promote circulation and relax the muscle tissue; this in turn reduces inflammation. The heat can also reduce muscle spasms and the motion of the water will gently massage your back.

2. Posture and Support

Sitting for significant amounts of time on an uneven or hard surface can easily aggravate your sciatic nerve. Make sure to use proper posture as well as support when sitting in one position for lengthy periods of time.

If you spend a lot of time sitting behind a desk, use a chair that tilts and adjusts your weight. You may want to invest in an ergonomic chair that can reduce stress and ease pressure in the lower back area. In addition, sleeping on a firm, cushioned mattress can help relieve sciatic pain also.

3. Acupuncture

Acupuncture can help reduce muscles spasms and inflammation by increasing blood flow to the lower back area. It also helps relax the muscles and increases flexibility.

4. Exercise and Physical Therapy

Exercise and/or physical therapy have been proven to eliminate the pain and symptoms of sciatica in many cases. Low impact exercises like walking and water aerobics are great options for self-treatment. Physical therapy will take it a step further.

It can include a variety of techniques like massage and electro-therapies. These treatments are meant to reduce muscle spasms, pain and inflammation. Physical therapy also includes education and training to teach you proper movements and postures that can help you avoid future problems with your sciatic nerve.

5. Stretching

Stretching promotes good support for the upper and lower back. Stretching exercises for sciatica are able to relieve tightness and relax the muscles in these areas. Proper stretching techniques are also an effective preventative measure.

6. Ice and Heat

At the first signs of a sciatic nerve problem, applying an ice pack can reduce the inflammation that is causing the pain. Applying heat will help increase the blood flow to the sore area, promote flexibility and reduce inflammation. Alternating between the two will provide positive results by reducing both pain and inflammation.

*This article is not intended to treat or diagnose any illness or condition. Always consult with a physician before beginning any self-care treatment or exercise program.

Back Surgery Rehabilitation Exercise - Pain Free Exercise to Recover a Healthy Back After Surgery

Many of the back pain patients have a misconception about back surgery. Many have thought that the surgery would heal their back completely without performing further treatment. That is definitely untrue. Rehabilitation and back therapies are always essential after the surgery.

As a matter of fact, patients who start early for rehabilitation exercises usually recover faster and able to get back a healthy back sooner than those who don't. These exercises are simple and easy to be done, among these exercises, walking is the most effective to cure your back after surgery.

Back surgery patients should start with a short distance walking, then slowly improve on the speed. The rehab should be done with the help of another person but not alone. Once the patient feel uncomfortable or tired, he can then be rested and continue the exercise when the stamina is restored.

Muscle Balance Rehabilitation is another key component which is newly found to work best on recovering from back surgery. Often, back surgery is done due to the back being injured with an end result of damaged discs, vertebrae or nerve roots, causing pain or uncomfortable at the lower back.

Unlike conventional therapeutic system, Muscle balance therapy is a kind of exercise. It provides very specific exercises solutions towards the back injury you have. These corrective exercises in the Muscle Balance Rehabilitation system is specially designed to help remove the compression off your muscles, joints, and ligaments so you can achieve a more balanced body and eliminate the cause of your pain.

One of the best parts of Muscle Balance Rehabilitation is that you can practice these pain free exercises at home and the results you get is amazingly effective. Statistically, 8 out of 10 of the patients who have severe back problem get their back completely healed within 3-4 weeks with the Muscle Balance Therapy program.

Book Summary: Foundation - Redefine Your Core, Conquer Back Pain - By Dr Eric Goodman and Peter Park

Exercise is important if you want to have energy and compete in this world. I enjoy boxing and grappling along with body weight workouts. Nothing brings you from a world class elite workout to sucking your thumb like a 5 year old more than throwing your back out. I do this once a year and my chiropractor recommended I read Foundation.

Why is this important to me?

Everybody I know has thrown their back out regardless if they are world class athletes or 100 pounds overweight. Weak backs plague most people. When I was younger, I always had back and neck pain. My neck would cause headaches and the doctor said it was a degenerative disk. What's interesting is that I eliminated the neck pain with a back bridge exercise that was introduced to me in wrestling and reinforced in Matt Fury's Combat Conditioning routine.

Improper motion and movement happening from the lower back instead of the hips and legs is the root cause of lower back problems. Foundation addresses these issues and discusses ways to eliminate them.

Foundation is an excellent book that gets to the root cause of back pain. The testimonials are from professional athletes as well as patients that have had back surgery. Let's discuss the what, why and how to eliminate back pain.

1. What is the cause? Since back pain happens to anybody including 19 year old professional athletes or 70 year old grandmas, it makes sense to study it. Back pain revolves around improper motion. Eric and Peter have developed Foundation training to shift the focus from the abs and the front of the body to the back and posterior chain. The reason there is so much back, hip and knee pain is because we load our bodies incorrectly.

2. Why is this important? The answer to this is obvious but it seems that everybody has a different answer on how to fix it. If you go to a medical doctor then they will tell you to ice it and take medicine. A chiropractor will adjust you which is effective most of the time if they are good and a message therapist will work the muscles to loosen you up. All of these methods eliminate the symptoms but do not cure the root cause of the problem. If you do not change your movement patterns, the injuries will progress and low-grade inflammation will persist.

3. How does it work? Foundation training is a set of exercises that builds the back and posterior chain. I am very excited by this because my hips, legs and lower back are extremely tight. When warm, I can almost do the splits but my hips are locked like they are fused together. For every exercise that you do for the front of your body, you should do four for the back. This is real because evaluating this program for me has shown that I am over built in the front and under-built in the back. Foundation trains you to use your most powerful muscles properly, creating flexibility throughout the most important areas of your body.

Foundation is a great book that I highly recommend you pick up. I have been doing the exercises for a week now and I already feel the difference. My back is getting better and stronger. One thing that is highlighted in the book is using a Styrofoam roller to loosen up your legs and hips. I must admit that I was not hot on spending $40 bucks for a piece of Styrofoam but this has helped beyond my belief. Here is the analogy - if you have a rubber band then it will stretch to its limit, if you tie knots in the rubber band and try to stretch then the elasticity is perhaps only 20% effective. I can tell you that when you first start with the roller, it hurts like hell but the progression is very quick. To get an idea of how good these exercises are, YouTube "Foundation" and do one of the 12 minute videos that Eric and Pete give away for free. You will see results.

I hope you have found this short summary useful. The key to any new idea is to work it into your daily routine until it becomes habit. Habits form in as little as 21 days. One thing you can take away from this book is eliminate your back pain. Foundation will become my pre-workout of choice moving forward because I know it works. I threw my back out and it is now better and stronger because of these routines.

How to Fix Back Pain, Kidney Area

The only way to tell the difference between back muscle pain and kidney infections or stones is to see your doctor. You should get immediate medical attention, because a kidney infection can be fatal.

That being said, lets look at some symptoms of both.

Symptoms of kidney problems may include: lower back pain that radiates into the groin; a general ill-feeling, with perhaps vomiting; a fever; urine abnormalities like cloudy and/or smelly.

However, back muscle strain pain tends to show different symptoms. The pain may have occurred suddenly, like as from an exercising injury. The pain may get greater or lesser by certain movements or positions. It normally does not cause vomiting or illness.

Again, you should always see a doctor, but these are only general guidelines.

Once you are sure you've got a muscle strain, the fix is a quick one for most of us: ibuprofen to reduce pain and swelling; ice and heat packs to reduce welling and relax the muscles; and the proper stretches and isometric exercises to not only aid the back's recovery, but also to strengthen it. You CAN make your back ache-proof. Let me show you how.

One of my favorite exercises for the lower back is called "the Superman." Lie on your stomach with your arms outstretched in front of you and legs behind (like Superman when he's flying). Now slowly lift your legs and arms off the floor using your back muscles. Keep your legs and arms straight. Keep your legs and arms straight, yet off the floor. Hold your arms and legs up off the floor for 30 seconds if you can. And you will "Ache-proof" your lower back in no time. Do this again each day.

Lower Left Back Pain - The Facts

Lower Left Back Pain
Lower left back pain can be cause by a large majority of different ailments, a large number of which are resolved with traditional back exercises and stretching, or therapy.

Causes
The most common cause of lower back pain, which may be due to lower left back pain, or lower right back pain is caused by muscular knots. These knots themselves can be caused by a large number of issues, but generally due to the center of gravity of the body being shifted from neutral. This in turn causes the smaller supporting muscles to work a lot harder to allow the body to balance, and fatigue sets in. These injuries may not get the opportunity to heal as the underlying cause may still be upsetting the center of the body.

Kidney Problems
A common cause of lower left back pain can be kidney problems, specifically ailments such as kidney stones, or a kidney infection. The reason the pain occurs, aside from the problems in the kidney is that the kidney may be inflamed, and can displace the internal organs and tissue in that area. This will in turn cause the body's center to be away from its neutral position, putting the muscles under pressure.

Intestinal Problems
Other causes of pain can be intestinal problems such as irritable bowel syndrome. This sort of problem will also lead to inflammation in the intestine, which could lead to cramping, and those cramps could also cause further imbalance and pain. The swelling itself can have a direct impact on the body's center and may well result in pain in the back.

Muscular Strain
Something as simple as a pulled muscle in the back from lifting incorrectly, or from a sporting injury can lead to lower left back pain. The muscles of the back may then compensate for this weakness in the muscles with other weaker muscles, which will become tired more quickly, and lead to knots and possible spasm in the muscles. It is possible that lower left back pain may be felt for a problem that exists is the lower right of the back, and is due to the muscles of the left side of the back compensating for this.

Pregnancy
During pregnancy pain may also be felt in the lower left, this is due to the internal organs and tissues being moved around, causing a shift of balance for the body. Add to this the fact that a baby of considerable weight is growing, and pulling the body forwards, causing the back to work harder. In this situation it is important to stretch, and exercise lightly, as well as maintaining good posture, and resting more often if necessary.

Medication
For any pain in the back, taking medication should only be considered as a short-term measure, as the underlying problem needs to be resolved, especially as the cause may be something that will make the pain get worse. As with all pain in the back, unless it is a short-lived pain caused by and easily recognizable problem, such as a strained muscle, you should seek medical advice, to ensure that the pain is not indicating a more serious problem that you are not aware of.

Lower Back Pain Right Side - 2 Exercises

To prevent lower back pain right side, it is important to remember more than just good posture. Proper exercise is necessary to build strength and flexibility. What are some of the exercises that we can perform to prevent lower back pain right side?

First of all, it is important to distinguish between lower back pain right side and left side. When our pain is localized to one side--in this case, the right--it is commonly due to twisting and/or lifting motions or activities that favor our right side. The right side is especially vulnerable because most of us are right handed and our strongest side is the right, so that is the side we use. This makes lower back pain right side more common for the majority of us.

Does this mean we have to perform exercises that concentrate on the right? That is probably not a good idea as we do not want to enforce a side that is already a bit stronger. Our exercises should focus on both sides, but as we perform them, we should pay close attention to the pain and where it is localized.

There are a couple of good exercises to consider, but check with your doctor first to make sure you are healthy enough to proceed. If your lower back pain right side starts to return, stop the exercise and rest. After an injury, you must proceed with your exercises slowly as not to re-injure yourself.

You want to start building your core to take some of the stress off your back, but rather than sit ups or crunches, try leg extensions. They are good strengthening techniques to help with lower back pain right side and left side. Begin on your hands and knees, shoulder width apart, and head looking at the floor. Keep your abdomen tight and curled in a bit (not too much), but remember to breath throughout the drill. Making sure your hip does not drop down, slowly raise your right leg until it is fully extended. Hold for 5 seconds and visualize the stretching the painful area as you hold. Repeat with the left leg. Do 8-10 repetitions. Over time, gradually increase the time you extend your leg. When you are strong enough, try for 30 seconds. For additional resistance, you may extend your opposite arm straight out in front of you as you raise each leg.

Chest raisers are common leg stretches to relieve pain in the low back area. Begin by lying on your back, knees bent at a 90 degree angle and your feet comfortably flat on the floor. Keeping your left leg in position, place your hands under your right knee and pull it as close to your chest as you can. Hold for 20 seconds before you slowly lower your foot back to the floor. Again, pay special attention to the location of your pain as you hold, but do not work the right side any differently from the left. Repeat 5 times with each leg. For additional resistance, extend one leg straight on the floor while you raise the other knee to your chest.

If done gradually and deliberately, you will experience relief of your lower back pain right side by focusing on the location of the pain as you stretch and exercise. Remember, stretches and back exercises are not meant to be painful. If you experience increased pain, especially on the lower right side, stop the exercise and consult with a doctor.