Tax Preparation Health

Taxes are due April 15th. Piles of papers, forms, schedules, receipts. Readers have asked how to be healthier while working at the desk, and how to keep their cool during tax preparation.

Several readers asked how to stop neck pain when looking down over deskwork. Reader John M, specifically asked "How do you suggest someone look down (to look at a chart etc at work) without pushing the (herniated neck) disc out more (or aggravating symptoms)?

Three photos above show tilting the neck forward and/or jutting the chin forward. Holding the head forward of the neck and body is a major source of upper back and neck pain. The "forward head" is hard on the soft tissues, the joints of the vertebrae called facets, and the discs of the neck, and is a major overlooked cause of "upper crossed syndrome." The forward head is just a bad posture, and easy to stop. It is not necessary to jut the neck or chin forward to look downward.

Check how you are sitting right now. Are you letting your neck hang forward, are you jutting your chin forward, or are you pushing or rounding your neck and upper body forward? Instead, keep chin in, loosely and gently. If needed, bring your chair closer in closer to the desk and lean the upper body back instead of rounding your lower back against the chair back and leaning the upper body forwad.

To look down comfortably - tip chin down in relaxed straight position instead of jutting the head and neck forward. That is healthy positioning for everyone - injured or not. No need to lean or hang the head or neck forward, or round your upper back to look downward.

More posts with quick techniques to feel better during desk work:

• Stretch upper body in your chair - Tax Stretch
• Stretch and relax upper body - Quick, Feel-Good Upper Back and Chest Stretch
• Stretch and relax lower body - Quick Relaxing Hip Stretch
• Stretch and relax your breathing - Do Breathing Exercises Work?
• Stretch and relax your spirit - Fast Fitness Friday - Strong Spirit.

Labels: disc, facet joints, fix pain, holiday, neck, posture, sitting, stress, upper back

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Sinus and Head Colds

Several readers asked what else they can do for painful head and sinus congestion, because after two+ weeks of medicines and doctor visits, they were no better, or were worse. Common treatments do not work as claimed, including decongestants and sprays, and can cause sinus pain to continue and recur.

What Are Sinuses?
The sinuses in your head are eight spaces in your skull behind your eyes and nose. They produce mucus, and that is good. Mucus produces antiseptics, and traps and filters germs and particles that you don't want to pass into your respiratory system and the rest of your body. Sinusitis occurs when one or more of your sinus cavities become inflamed.

Inflamed by Inhaling Things
Sinuses can become inflamed without any germs causing it, for example from inhaling particles, allergens, or liquids up the nose. If you have ever "gotten water up your nose" in a pool, you have felt the results. The practice of irrigating the nose and sinuses with salt-water sprays is often prescribed for sinus congestion, and even for preventive "maintenance," but it removes important protective mucus layers and natural disease-fighting compounds, and is irritating in itself. Some people regularly spray the sinuses using a variety of squeeze bottles, or a device called a neti pot. It is an unnecessary practice, and does not prevent the underlying cause of sinus pain. It sets up an addictive cycle of rebound congestion and irritation, and increased risk of infections and discomfort to follow.

Another contributor to rebound congestion is regular use of camphor inhalers. Sniffing camphor is a widespread practice throughout Asia, where decorative camphor containers shaped to fit the nose are sold in most grocery, pharmacy, and convenience stores. Camphor irritates mucus membranes causing a cycle of irritation, more camphor inhalation, and more congestion. Some people develop a habit of inhaling camphor, thinking it is for their congestion, not realizing they have a substance inhalation addiction called "huffing."

Decongestants
Decongestants are a big money item in drug store sales. They are not the best treatment for sinus pain and congestion. You are already too clogged up. You do not want more "drying out." The clogged areas would do better becoming more dilute by drinking hot liquids, not by becoming more gummy and concentrated with the "drying out" of a decongestant. After the decongestant wears off, a rebound can occur of more congestion. Taking more decongestant perpetuates a negative cycle, and can raise blood pressure. Cough syrups and pills that contain dexomethorphan (DXM) to block coughing are not as effective for coughs as hoped, but are popularly abused by kids looking for a cheap, easily available "high" ("rhobotripping") with unhealthy physical and psychoactive effects.

Infections and Antibiotics
Sometimes sinuses fill with bacterial or viral fluid. Antibiotic do not help against sinusitis, even the kinds colonized by bacteria. Antibiotics can kill your body's good "bugs" or weaken them, leaving you susceptible to stronger bad bugs, who learn how to live and multiply in your body. Antibiotics taken orally reduce the needed numbers of beneficial flora that normally live in your GI tract. The nutritional and immunogenic products that they normally make in your body are not made, and the organisms responsible for several illnesses can rapidly reproduce and get out of control. An example is antibiotic-associated Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) colitis, an infection of the colon that occurs primarily among patients exposed to antibiotics. More than three million C. difficile infections occur in hospitals in the U.S. each year. He number is growing. An estimated 20,000 C. difficile infections occur each year in the U.S. outside the hospital - directly caused by taking antibiotics.

Healthier Ways to Decongest and Sooth:

• Hot steamy showers and baths.
• Hot facial compresses.
• No need for fancy vaporizers with chemicals (more camphor or other irritants to inhale). Put on a kettle or any pot of water and heat until steaming. Stand at a distance where you feel the warm steam, without standing close enough for any chance of burns. No need to bend over as in the photo at right. Stand in healthy comfortable position for your back and neck.
• Eat spicy foods that you like, such as wasabi or chili peppers.
• Drink hot peppermint tea, or other warm, aromatic teas with lemon.
• Reduce irritating particles (rugs, cats, junk piles, cigarettes, or whatever concentrates trigger irritants).
• A walk outdoors in fresh air and sunshine helps clear breathing and pain.
• Do any fun exercise to heat your body. Increasing body temperature loosens clogging secretions and generates heat shock proteins that have been found to be pretty good for you. The post Exercise and Cancer touches on the basics of heat shock proteins.
• The post Fast Fitness - Quick Warm Up gives a quick method to increase body temperature to warm up.
• The post Regular Exercise Reduces Cold and Flu Incidence lists good practices to lower risk and increase resistance to infectious diseases.

More information on preventing and resolving sinus problems, things to know about antibiotic use, and other infectious topics are in the book Healthy Martial Arts.

Labels: breathing, children, colds/flu/infectious, drugs, heat, neck, nutrition, smoking, warmup

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Readers Ask About Watching Body Positioning

How many of you caught that the photo in the Fast Fitness post - Fix Positioning by Watching Others is of terrible body positioning that is a common source of upper body pain and injury?

I received letters asking about the photo. Several readers did not catch that the reason for the photo was that both people were standing in terrible rounded forward posture. Some readers thought the photo was not of bad posture, but showed people with interest in the game or that they way they were standing was a needed position to see the ball.


The rounded and tilted forward position of the upper back, neck and head is a bad positioning that is a major cause of:

• Upper back pain sometimes called Upper crossed syndrome
• Herniated neck disc
• Numb fingers
• Shoulder pain and rotator cuff injury

Here are short posts to show you how to spot the cause of upper back and neck pain and what to do:
Breasts Causing Upper Back Pain is a Myth
Fixing Upper Back and Neck Pain The Cause of Disc and Back Pain
Disc Pain - Not a Mystery, Easy to Fix

One way to tell is to check your arm rotation, shown in
Thumbs Can Show Tightness That Leads to Upper Back Pain

Crunches, many common Pilates exercises and many other exercises done every day done for "health" are in rounded forward or bent forward positions. They are counterproductive to health, to posture, and to strengthening:
Are You Making Your Exercise Unhealthy?
Common Exercises Teach Upper Back and Neck Pain
and The Stretch You Need The Least


Look in your fitness magazines and videos and look around during fitness classes and the gym to see if you can see the forward head and a rounded upper body. It's a handy reminder that it is not healthy, and to exercise in better, healthier ways.

Labels: arm, disc, fix pain, impingement, injury, neck, upper back

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Fixing Leg Numbness, Back Pain, Flank Pain, Knee Pain, Nerve Pain, Three Unhealthy Surgeries, Part II

In Part I of this post on Monday, photographer Bernie tells of fixing years of pain that doctors told him only surgery would fix, even after three surgeries. Here is a look "behind the scenes."

10 March 2005, Bernie e-mailed me:

"I've had this persistent paresthesias for 4+ years. I just learned about you yesterday. Where are your back & spine classes held. Tomorrow, I'm having lumbar myelogram & CT at (top name deleted here) Hospital. Before I consider anything else, I want to learn about your methods."

I wrote back with class information. I had two classes coming up. One was the next month. The second would be in early May and only a few blocks from where he lived. I told how we work to see change in pain right in class. I asked him to let me know the test results and that I hoped to see him in class.

20 March 2005 he wrote back:

"Thanks for asking, I never expected you to keep in touch. The myelogram and CT showed moderate central spinal stenosis at L4-L5. Severe facet joint arthropy & hypertrophy of ligamentum flaxa causing compression of the lateral recesses stenosis of L5 on both sides, kinking of L5 nerve root sleeves on both sides. I have a copy of the xray, showing the "hourglass" at L4-L5

"(name deleted) is the attending, 3-B Orthopaedics. He said the next step is surgery, by ( ), at ( ) Hosp. I asked if strengthening of my upper body would help support my spine. He said "try it" so I'll be at physical therapy next week to start.

"I have a commitment for the weekend of April 2-3 so can't attend that class, much as I'd like to. Since I live at (close to) your class at Temple CC is my best chance of attending. Cordially, Bernie Cleff"

I checked back in to make sure he was signed up for the May class and to ask what he was doing in Physical therapy. He wrote:

29March 2005
"The phys therapy that I'm getting concentrates on my core muscles. Thanks for getting in touch...very kind of you."

I wrote back saying that conventional core exercises were not the best thing. Usually they are forward bending actions that will further compress the discs, the nerves, and also do not retrain the abdominal muscles in the way they work when you go about daily life. Strengthening does not automatically support the spine. I wanted to make sure that he had my Ab Revolution book, which was then out in a training manual version. He said he had it with him for PT. (I found out two years later that they had the book, but they were not using it, and were doing traditional forward bending abdominal exercises.)

10 May 2005, the day after the Fix Your Own Back Pain workshop was held, Bernie wrote me,

"Hello, I did sign-up for your class at TUCC on Monday 5/9, but I was too tired to attend. On top of that, I am scheduled for spine surgery at ( ) on Wed 5/11/05, with ( ). After having 2 epidurals and physical therapy I decided to go for the surgery. My nerve that is pinched is in the shape of an hourglass (at L4- L5) and (the doctors told him) that no body position or exercise changes are going to help at this time. Both legs are numb and I am walking like a drunk. It is kind of you to keep in touch. I hope to meet you at your fall class."

Days later, Bernie had the surgery. He tells about it, and his next two years, in Part I of this story. The doctors all considered his surgery a "complete success." They said the surgery went completely according to plan, with no complications. His recovery was in line with expected results. The fact that his pain returned, was worse, and complicated by limited movement from his plates and screws and other surgical hardware not a factor to them. They felt the limited movement was beneficial and a goal of the surgery. The commonly held idea is to stop motion in the area to stop the pain.

In late October of 2007 arrived to teach the Fix Your Own Back and Neck Pain Workshop. I had 16 people waiting for me. One was Mr. Bernie Cleff, a funny white-haired muscular man of 80, who was in much pain.

We had a fun, energetic class. One of the students was a young man from India. He sat unsmiling as I mentioned various yoga poses that can injure discs in the neck. I tried to ease the class explaining that I am not against all yoga, and studied years to become a teacher myself. He sat unsmiling. We did three specific techniques to stop the neck pain process and a beautiful smile radiated from the young man from India. He had three herniated discs in his neck, most likely from his yoga practice of the specific moves I had mentioned, together with sitting badly at a computer for his work. He already knew those yoga moves hurt his neck. He had just been worried the pain would never stop. When it did, right there in class, he smiled.

Another of the students was a golf pro. Who I consulted with afterward to test out my work on lower back pain and golf. More on this to come.

Mr. Cleff did great in the first class. This class was done over two weeks. I gave the class things to try over the week before the second and last class.

Oct 25 2007 he wrote me:

"Today (Thursday) is my class day at The Clay Studio, working over the wheel for 5 hours. I felt good with very little noticeable pain. Usually after walking the 5 blocks from my home to the studio both my legs would tingle badly and I would stop to rest halfway. Not today. When I told my classmates about you phoning me to ask how I was doing with your exercises & stretching, they could not get over your caring. None of us had ever had a Dr. call to check-up. You are one hellova person and I'm thankful that I've met you.

"I've had my spine problems with the pinched nerves for a long time - roughly 4-5 years- and I'm slowly getting better since you came into my life. There is no other way to say it. Thanks Jolie."

He was improved in one class, and he felt that he was "slowly" getting better. I like an empowered student who does not want to dawdle to get better. The day after the second of the two sessions, Bernie wrote:

28 Oct 2007

"Last night, I walked about 7 blocks to restaurant AQUA (great value, low cost & delicious) and back home another 7 blocks.

"Upper back extension causes no pain, lower back does. I can do plank on elbows, holding for 60 seconds now, no pain.

"If you want to make photos of a geriatric doing your things, it's OK with me. as you've seen, I'm not bashful or delicate. I will work at getting better, my daughter is getting married January 5 and I want to be able to dance with her and my wife."

Bernie went back to his doctors about the small amount of pain remaining. They told him he should have more surgery, and gave him prescriptions. He wrote to ask me:

"On Nov. 2 I have a follow up with the spine surgeon (same guy) and on Nov 14 a consult with a Neurologist ( ). Do you have any suggestions about a pain med FENTANYL ,which was suggested by a doc at the V.A."

I wrote back that Fentanyl is a surgical grade narcotic. It is used "off-label" for back pain and there have been deaths. I asked him to tell me more about what hurt, and when, so we could stop it without any harmful medicine, and also what the neurologist said.

14 Nov 2007 he wrote:

"I had an office visit with the neurologist at ( ), he said my twisted nerve at L5 will never get better and I will always have pain."

They told him to have another spine surgery and take the Fentanyl. (Then why did they put him though all that surgery?)

He wrote:

"Hello, I still have some tingling in both knees...but much better than 2 weeks ago! There has always been pain in my left flank between spine & hip, never told you because the knees were my greatest problem… The lower back pain persists, but only left side. When I do the trap stretch leaning to left--puts much pressure on that pain. Leaning to the right feels like a good stretch. Any additional suggestions?"

I found that that he was still doing "their" exercises. Conventional exercises of bending forward to stretch the hamstrings are often prescribed for back pain. The assumption is that tight hamstrings have (something) to do with back pain. However, bending forward is one major contributor of this kind of back pain. I changed how he stretched his hamstrings to one of the ways we did in class.

He was also continuing to overarch his lower back when walking, which was a large source of the tingling pain. When he used the Trapezius stretch, he was also overarching, which makes pain when bending to that side. This kind of pain is often confused for spinal stenosis. One classic sign of stenosis is pain when bending toward one side. But the narrowing is not true stenosis, but just overarching which narrows and pinches the area. For someone who has stenosis, not pinching the area further with overarching is frequently enough to stop pain.

What was complicating everything was his surgeries. They were considered "completely successful." The two knee replacements were "completely rehabbed" meaning he could bend his knees enough to sit in a chair. He could no longer stretch the front of his hip enough to prevent the kind of tightness that encourages standing and moving in overarched position. The back surgery put a plate in his back to prevent much movement. That meant that even small overarching movements were enough to pressure the newly immovable area. The back hurt, and the tight back and hip were compressing nerves going down both legs.

He wrote two mails:

"Jolie You hit on the spot. I will keep at it gently."

and

"Jolie, a quick note to tell you today I walked 12 blocks, stopping to stretch hamstrings.. often on steps or fireplug....as you suggested...also lunge stretch. I will dance at my daughter's wedding. Much thanks.

"There will not ever be more surgery on my body."

For the flank pain, he had been for many tests, and was even scheduled for a kidney evaluation. The muscles in the area were so tight, that I biked over to his home to do a sports medicine technique to stretch it out for him, and checked his other stretches. I went over how to stretch the front of the hip without overarching his lower back. His sweet funny wife made me lunch. We got some fun photos of things as gifts for you, of fun stretches and activities.

He wrote

"I've had x-rays, MRI, bloodwork, surgery, injections, no Dr. had any solution.
YOU HAD THE ANSWER. No wonder so many people have thanked you."

He did the work and gave me the credit. That's a good man.

Labels: facet joints, fix pain, hamstring, impingement, injury, knee, lordosis, lower back, neck, readers inspiring story, side, stenosis, stretch, surgery, yoga

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Is Your Drinking Hurting Your Neck?

A reader sent me this Hauku:


The photo above shows an injurious positioning called "a forward head." A forward head position presses cervical (neck) discs outward, causes upper back and neck pain often called "upper crossed" syndrome, and can press the nerve going down the arm, leading to arm pain and hand/finger numbness. Jutting the chin upward with the neck forward can, over time, create a spondylolisthesis (vertebral shifting). Raising the arm with the shoulder rounded and the neck forward adds to shoulder and rotator cuff injury.

Check yourself for a forward head position when eating and drinking (and on the phone):

• Corner of the jaw is far forward of the shoulder
• Neck tilts forward
• Jaw juts forward
• Neck pinches backward, with high compressive force
• Shoulder rounded

Don't round your back or jut your chin forward. Instead, keep chin in when you eat and drink and talk on the phone. To look upward, get the upward motion more from straightening your upper back, and not from one joint in your neck. The neck is not a hinge joint. For more on looking upward, click Gaze Perseid Meteors Without Neck Pain. For neck and upper back health looking downward over desk, click Tax Preparation Health.

Don't rely on, "Keep ear over shoulder" thinking that is straight posture. You can see in the photo that the ear is over the shoulder, but the neck is craned badly.

Use healthful positioning for built-in upper body muscle exercise and easy pain prevention. Check yourself sideways in a mirror. Watch other people eating and drinking for an easy reminder. Happy Holidays.

Labels: fix pain, impingement, injury, neck, rotator cuff, shoulder, upper back, yoga

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Fix Neck, Play Hockey, Use Brain, Fun Life

Rich Tarpinian, IT systems engineer, musician, hockey coach, and vegan, fixed grinding neck pain, back spasms, disc pain, and tension-type headaches. He had not been comfortable sleeping in any position. Rich said the neck grinding and discomfort, "felt like it was never going to go away."

Rich writes:

"Thanks again for your help! Here's my update. I stopped cranking my neck around and the grinding stopped within the 2 weeks or so that you had indicated.

"I am controlling my body positioning, more aware, and have eliminated lots of neck tension even though I work at a computer all day. The anxiety I was having about disc problems, etc., has mostly been replaced with good knowledge, a feeling of control, and an ability to heal.

"Every morning (instead of sitting on the bed) I get out of bed the way you have recommended - why? because it makes sense. I don't sit on the bed and then try to straighten my body as I start to walk. I get up from the face down position in the already standing position.

"I've always had an interest in the mechanical aspect of how the body moves and what the sources of problems can be which is why, when I was pouring over information on the internet, your information regarding cause/effect relationships instantly caught and held my attention.

"I eat a pretty good diet - vegan with a good amount of raw foods, but had not paid much attention to posture and movement. I will now.

"As a side note, I coached hockey for about 8 years and played up until about 4 years ago. I had an opportunity to get back into some coaching recently but was really worried about the neck issues that I had been having for weeks. I also used to get a lot of back spasms when I played/coached. After experiencing the progress from your recommendations, which came just in time, I stepped confidently back on the ice a couple of weeks ago and have felt good given some expected muscle soreness that is now gone. The hardest thing was lacing up the skates but, once I was on the ice, I felt great.

"What you have done effectively is to empower people with the knowledge of how to find and return to the correct answers in order to maintain their own bodies. You've done that by providing reasons where needed, presenting conflicting information to show contrast, and using repetition to help solidify the important concepts."

"The key is that I now understand the causes of the problem and can, for the most part, manage the process when things start going wrong. As I cruised the internet looking at information, my anxiety meter kept rising - until I found your article on fixing the neck grinding problem which prompted me to read your other articles on sitting, lifting, etc. The article was immediately positive with a no strings attached approach to fixing and preventing the problem. My overcoming the neck issues is directly attributable to you."

Rich first fixed his pain using my web site summary sheets.
These Fitness Fixer posts also describe techniques used:

• To understand and spot the injury and pain from unhealthful head and neck position - Upper Back Exercise and Neck Pain Prevention Too
• Spot and prevent upper body pain when carrying a backpack - Prevent Neck Pain and Get Upper Back Exercise Carrying Backpacks
• Two important stretches to do first thing in the morning and throughout the day to restore ability to sit, move, and stand without unhealthful neck position - Fixing Upper Back and Neck Pain and Nice Neck Stretch
• Looking upward with good neck mechanics - Gaze Perseid Meteors Without Neck Pain
• Two nice upper back stretches to relax - Tax Stretch and Quick, Feel-Good Upper Back and Chest Stretch
• Stopping neck pain from sitting - Are You Making Your Exercise Unhealthy?
• Stopping neck pain from exercise - Common Exercises Teach Upper Back and Neck Pain
• Photo of healthful neck position when cooking - Fast Fitness - Homemade Sports Food
• Do this Wall Test to check for unhealthful neck positioning - Breasts Causing Upper Back Pain is a Myth.
• Having muscles soreness is not bad, it means you're out having fun. Make sure there is no pain or soreness in the joint. That is the difference. See Teen Dies After Using Muscle Soreness Rub
• November is Vegan month. More on vegetarian and vegan eating - World Vegetarian Day.

I wrote Rich to congratulate him on his initiative and great work, and thank him for his story. He replied:

"Just when I've corrected the forward head problem, I'm going to need those neck exercises to treat "swelled head syndrome."

Smile and laugh. It's healthy too.

Labels: disc, hockey, lower back, neck, nutrition, readers inspiring story, sitting, sleep, upper back

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Inspirational Update from Bill

In May, blog reader Bill (Lieutenant William Slabonik) sent an inspiring story - Freed From Pain, He Rides Again. Bill had been told by several sources that surgery and disability retirement were his only options. He used Fitness Fixer information to change a future as damaged as x-rays of his spine, to the active life he loves, without pain. He used information from the upper back and shoulder posts, among others, to learn how neck discs, upper back muscles, and other structures are damaged with mal-positioning, and how to employ healthy muscle use so the discs can heal and arm numbness stops, even riding long bike trips, lifting heavy gear, and in his demanding work as a pilot. He fixed low back chronic pain with the simple neutral spine repositioning away from a hyperlordotic (over-arched lower spine) when standing, shown in Prevent Back Surgery and all the posts on neutral spine.

In the May update, Bill told how he fixed the injuries and rode the Pennsylvania State Police Memorial century ride. Last week Bill reported in:

"My goal of riding the 200 km night ride down the Jersey shore was a success. I rode from 10pm 'til 9am with no problems covering the distance of 125 miles. I actually felt like I could go on a lot further. I have also completed a 2-day 200-mile ride to visit my brother-in-law in Maryland. I now can get on my bike on any day and reasonably crank out a hundred mile ride. No serious pain or discomfort noted. Only the usual slight soreness in the rear end and hands and elbows that seems to come with any long ride. The neck, shoulders and back did incredibly well, - I constantly checked my position while on the bike and did some "Healthy Stretching" whenever I was off the bike. Mission accomplished."

Note to readers - I will cover hand and arm soreness with biking in posts to come. I already worked with Bill to prevent local hand numbness from compressive leaning on the wrists, which Bill put to immediate use. I asked Bill to take photos for you of his simple changes in biking positioning to change damaging neck, shoulder, arm, and hand use to healthy ones.

Bill says,

"My son has promised to help me with the photos. I must ride herd on this project and get back to you soon.

"My confidence and health have skyrocketed. My daughters are leaving for college and I am looking forward to an empty house soon. They have thanked me for being there when they needed me and asked me why I just don't go and do something I would love to do. I am applying for retirement this morning and have completed an interview for a job flying in mainland China. I have two other airlines trying to get me to interview. Wish me luck on my next amazing adventure. And thanks for your help and encouragement."

Bill - Free Man

Bill, all hats off to you. Keep flying high. More good things are still to come. Keep us posted.

More inspiring stories coming next from readers Jill and Ivy.

Labels: biking, hand, neck, neutral spine, readers inspiring story, shoulder, spirit, upper back, wrist

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Gaze Perseid Meteors Without Neck Pain

This weekend in the Northern Hemisphere, the moon will be new, and the night dark, and the skies filled with the shooting stars of the Perseid Meteor shower.

Every 130 years or so, the Swift-Tuttle comet circles the Sun, streaming icy, dusty debris the size of sand and peas. Every mid-August, the Earth passes the orbit of Swift-Tuttle, raining fiery remains very fast through the sky. Igniting against the air's intense friction, they "shoot" across the sky. Books by people who study these things say they fly about 37 miles per second (60 kps), most burning away far above the ground.

The Perseid showers are seen in the sky around the constellation of Perseus the Hero, giving the name. Early Greeks explained that the god Zeus, father of Perseus, visited Perseus' mortal mother Danae in a shower of brightness. Later the event was renamed (or reborn) as "The Tears of St. Lawrence" for their appearance during the August festival of Saint Laurentius. Chinese, Japanese, and Korean writings of Perseid showers date from the 8th century. I grew up on Russian childhood social-utopian folk bedtime stories of comets, mixed with my Grandmother's whispers of fiery conflagration, later determined from an unknown comet or part bursting over Tunguska Krasnoyarsk Siberia around 1908, devastating the forest (later politically reinvented as a nuclear event, and editorially as UFOs for Russian science fiction writing and American television).

What about your neck?
When watching meteor showers standing or sitting, don't martyr your neck. If you crane your neck and push the chin forward when looking upward, you put destructive force on the neck, shown in three examples that follow:

• Three images above show craning the neck and jutting the chin. Injurious compression builds in vertebrae, discs, and surrounding soft tissue.
• The left and middle images show leaning the upper body backward. Thoracic lean overly arches the lower back (hyperlordosis), adding weighted compression to the joints called facets and soft tissue of the lower spine.
• The right photo shows unhealthy craning with the chin forward, common in some yoga and exercise classes. It adds sizeable compressive loading on the back of neck vertebrae plus shearing force on the discs.

I understand that jutting the chin far forward is often taught as proper form. I have taken classes in India with major names and those unknown to the outside world. One teacher told me it protects the discs. It unfortunately doesn't. Shearing force on the discs is severe when you jut the chin forward then raise it. Shear is a structural strain when one layer shifts sideways (or front to back) in relation to the other. Damage may take years to accrue until visible on x-ray. Don't jut your chin forward, especially not when looking upward.

Photo 3 above shows tilting the neck forward when looking through binoculars (left figure with yellow arrow). The chin is not forward, but the forward head still creates painful forces on the upper back contributing to upper crossed syndrome, disc trouble, and muscle strain in the classic diamond and hangar shape across the upper back. The pain is easily stopped. Keep neck vertical and chin in (right green arrow).

You can look directly upward for all you need in healthful position. Here are ways:

• Keep your chin in, loosely and relaxed.
• Shoulders back.
  
• The back of your head lifts loosely upward without strain.
  
• Straighten the rounded-forward curve of the upper spine - get more upward gaze range from your upper back.
  
• Don't yank or force the head and chin back, or the corners of your neck will ache.
• Don't lean back by arching your lower back.

Healthy upward gazing is a nice good-feeling stretch and exercise for the upper back and neck without injury. Use it for all overhead needs, photo 4 of Amsterdam policeman at right.

The time where we pass through the Perseid shower is long, from about July 15 through August 25. The highest activity is predicted over the Northern Hemisphere this coming weekend. Look up on Saturday, 11 August before dawn, Sunday morning the 12th, late Sunday night through Monday early dawn.

Because of the tilt to Swift-Tuttle's orbit, its fiery dust falls almost entirely on Earth's northern hemisphere. Southern hemisphere friends see few Perseids. The next good Southern hemisphere meteor shower is hoped to be the Geminid showers in December.

The constellation where meteors appear to come from is called the radiant. The Perseid meteor shower radiant is the constellation Perseus. The Leonid shower is hoped to peak this 18 November. Look toward the constellation Leo. The Geminid shower radiant is the Gemini constellation. Watch in mid-December with the evening crescent of the moon.


In photo 5 at left of looking up through the telescope, the neck is a bit more forward than needs to be. Experiment on your own. Use a mirror and send in your photos of remaking healthful fun overhead gazing activities.

Labels: facet joints, fix pain, holiday, lordosis, lower back, neck, upper back, yoga

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Prevent Neck Pain and Get Upper Back Exercise Carrying Backpacks

Tilting or leaning your neck forward (left photo) instead of keeping ear over shoulder (right photo) is called a "forward head."

A forward head hangs the weight of your head on the muscles of the neck and upper back, making them hurt. Keeping the head forward tightens the front chest and shoulder muscles. The forward head also interferes with healthy motion of the shoulder and can contribute to shoulder injury.

The resulting upper body tightness and pain is often given a fancy name of "upper crossed syndrome." It is not a disease, but an injury from simple mal-positioning, and often a simple matter to fix.

The backpacker in the left-hand photo is standing with a forward head. The photo on the right shows bringing the chin in - without strain, without arching the lower back, or making any new problems, just relaxed, straight body positioning.

When you carry packs or handbags, or any loads, see if you tilt or lean your neck forward or jut your chin out. It is a common source of "hanger-shaped" pain across the shoulders. This pain is also common when sitting at the desk, and is usually caused by the same forward head positioning.

More about how the forward head positioning causes so much upper back strain is in: Breasts Causing Upper Back Pain is a Myth.

Check for common activities when you use unhealthy neck positioning for exercise: Common Exercises Teach Upper Back and Neck Pain and Safer Overhead Military Press.

Don't add to the same round-shouldered positioning that promotes pain: The Stretch You Need The Least.

Fixing Upper Back and Neck Pain shows how to stretch the tight chest muscles that prevent bringing the chin inward comfortably - many people are too tight to stand straight. They get more pain trying to hold straight position in strained unhealthy ways.

You can easily stop the bad positioning and the pain. Don't yank or force. Forcing straight position when you are too tight causes as much pain as bad positioning. Keeping comfortable straight head position gives free upper back and posterior shoulder muscle workout. Easy fitness as a lifestyle.

Labels: fix pain, neck, upper back

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Independence Day for Fitness

Today is Independence Day in the United States. The Declaration of Independence was drafted in June of 1776. Signing began by July. The paper itself didn't grant independence - work continued until independence came a few years later. After getting the idea to do something, the next thing is to take action. Here are ideas for a life free from things that are unhealthy - pain, unhealthful food, and exercises that reinforce bad habits:

Freedom from junk food:

Instead of soda, put a red sweet pepper in a food grinder. Cut about an inch of fresh ginger root and add through the grinder. In about 30 seconds preparation time you will have a sweet, cool, red, slushy drink with an exotic tang of ginger. Healthy and good tasting.

Instead of refined sugar sports drinks, put a peeled whole cucumber into the food grinder or low speed blender with a whole kiwi fruit. It will make a sweet, cool, slushy, green drink.

Instead of processed peanut butter and refined sugar jelly, put fresh raw nuts and apple slices into a grinder, mill, or chopper. In less than a minute of preparation time, you have a sweet nut butter that you can spread on fruit slices, carrots, and other good foods. Try walnuts, almonds, other fresh raw nuts, and experiment with different fruit combination to make different sweet creamy fresh nut butters.

For more recipes, Healthy Martial Arts has an entire chapter on nutrition.

Freedom from overeating

Just as you can't go through red lights every time you just feel like it, or hit someone any time you just feel like it, you don't just eat anything you feel like it at any time. That is unhealthy. Some people say any denial is unhealthy. That is like saying you can just wet your pants when you feel like it. Self-control is cleaner in body and spirit:
Exercise Common Sense Discipline - Turn Down Halloween Junk Food
A Little Good Exercise, a Lot of Bad Food - Overweight Still No Mystery

Freedom from unhealthy drugs and medicines:

Masses of products crowding store shelves claim to fix this and cure that. Millions of dollars are spent. The products seem dazzling, but much is hype and many produce unhealthy effects. Then more dollars are spent on more pills and products for the new problems caused by the medicines. Many prescribed medicines cause new problems that can be avoided. Stop the cycle and save yourself time, money, and unhappiness. If it is not healthy, it is not health care:
Teen Dies After Using Muscle Soreness Rub
Human Growth Hormone
Is Your Health Food Unhealthful?
Stomach Acid Drugs Increase Osteoporosis and Hip Fractures

Freedom from physical pain and injuries:

At the Special Operations Medical Association conference two years ago, it was released that 62% of our American injuries in Iraq are "Disease Non-Battle Injuries"(DNBI) - not from combat or supporting operations, but occurring in the gym. At the ACSM conference last month, a research study reported that their American military units had 17% DNBI injuries. I asked them how they kept their numbers so low. They replied that the number was for evacuations - injuries so serious they required removal from the base. Some of the most common exercise and stretching practices are not healthy. It is not that they are not good for some people or that they are overuse or done "wrong" - they are inherently bad movements. The same high injury rate is happening to fitness and yoga and Pilates instructors and students. I wrote about this in Welcome to the Fitness Fixer. Here are some specifics on why and what to do instead:
Why So Many Aerobics Injuries?
The Stretch You Need The Least
Sitting Badly Isn't Magically Healthy by Calling It a Hamstring Stretch
Safer Overhead Military Press
Are You Making Your Exercise Unhealthy?

Freedom from neck pain:

Fixing Upper Back and Neck Pain
Nice Neck Stretch
Breasts Causing Upper Back Pain is a Myth

Freedom from mental pain:

Healthier Heart
Exercise Your Sense of Humor
Which Ancient Exercise Gives Focus and Concentration?

Freedom from crunches:

Abdominal crunches are a popular exercise, but they are not healthy. This is new and different information, I know. Crunches "work" your abdominal muscles, but not in a healthful or beneficial way, whether done sitting or standing or using a machine. Crunches also train rounded bad posture that you know is unneeded and unhealthy when sitting or standing that way in real life.

The idea that strengthening the abdominal muscles stops back pain is a myth. Many muscular people have pain. They do their crunches, then stand and move in the overly-arched spinal posture that is the hallmark sign that the abs are not even being used, and which creates one major kind of chronic pain: Fixing the Commonest Source of Mystery Lower Back Pain

Crunches do not automatically make you use your abdominal muscles to position your spine to support your back. You do that on your own: What Abdominal Muscles Don't Do - The Missing Link.

Neutral spine has a small inward curve to the lower spine, just not a large one:
What is Neutral Spine and Why Does Sticking Out In Back Harm?
Aren't You Supposed To Stick Your Behind Out to Sit Down or Do Squats?

The simple act of standing and doing all your activities and exercise without letting your lower spine overly arch, and instead keeping neutral spine, uses more abdominal muscle involvement than doing crunches: Using Abdominal Muscles is Not Tightening or Pressing Navel to Spine.

Functional abdominal exercises use no forward bending: Abdominal Muscle Exercise - Better, Different, Not What You Think

The book No More Crunches No More Back Pain The Ab Revolution explains a healthier better way to use and exercise your abs (114 illustrations 124 pages). I have a number of copies of the new 3rd edition expanded to give to military personnel as gifts. Contact me to send one (free) to someone you know, to keep our guys healthy.

Independence is Healthy:
This post included links to a few past posts about being free of unhealthy things. Click the labels below each post for more related posts. Keep the things you do, eat, and think healthy. If a medicine is not healthy, it is not health care. If an exercise trains injurious body mechanics, use the time for healthier exercises that are more fun. There are better, healthier ways. Be free.

Labels: abdominal muscles, drugs, fix pain, holiday, injury, neck, nutrition, performance enhancing modality, spirit, stress, upper back, weight loss

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Tax Stretch

The tax filing date is coming in a few days in the United States. Bending forward over a desk is a common source of sore neck and upper back.

A nice stretch for the upper back is to stretch back.

Stretching back reduces pressure on (unloads) the discs. A little about why bending forward loads the discs is in Disc Pain - Not a Mystery, Easy to Fix and Are You Making Your Exercise Unhealthy? Stretching back also is nice for the muscles.

Keep it simple. Breathe. Don't stress.

Labels: fix pain, holiday, neck, stress, stretch, upper back

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Nice Neck Stretch

Here is a quick stretch, helpful after long sitting or working. It stretches the neck, upper body, and side of the body, helping restore muscle length to tight muscles.

• Put one hand behind you, as if in an opposite back pocket (photo at right).
• Slide the other hand down your leg toward your knee. Breathe.
• Tilt your head toward your shoulder, gently stretching the entire side of your neck and body.
• For best stretch to the side of the neck, look forward, rather than up or down.
• Don't lean your head or body forward or you will lose the stretch. Stand straight.
• Hold for a few seconds.
• Change sides and repeat on the other side. Smile. Keep breathing.

To tell if you are standing straight, do the stretch with your back against a wall. Keep the back of your head against the wall for the entire stretch. If it is not comfortable to stand against a wall with your shoulders, backside, and the back of your head all touching at once, do the pectoral stretch in Fixing Upper Back and Neck Pain. You can check for the upper body tightness that makes it uncomfortable to stand straight - Thumbs Can Show Tightness That Leads to Upper Back Pain.

Use this stretch, called the trapezius stretch, along with the pectoral stretch to restore healthy positioning to the upper body. Rounded upper body position while lifting contributes to shoulder trouble, explained in Upper Back Exercise and Neck Pain Prevention Too.

With good positioning you can lift more and avoid injury.

More good, quick stretches in the book Stretching Smarter Stretching Healthier.

Labels: fix pain, neck, posture, side, stretch, upper back

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Changing Thai Massage to Be Healthier Part I - Avoid Pressuring Lower Back Discs

In the previous post, What is Thai Massage? I explained that many moves in Thai massage are beneficial, with a few to avoid. One of these less than healthy moves involves the practitioner pushing your back and neck forward into a stretch.

The post Disc Pain - Not a Mystery, Easy to Fix explains why sitting and bending over eventually breaks down the discs of your lower back. In one of the pushing stretches, the practitioner sits behind you to push your back forward, leaning their weight to assist your forward movement, as in the drawing at left.

In another move they add putting their arm under your arm and around the back of your neck. In wrestling, this move is called a half-Nelson. This move is used to bend your neck forward. From there, they push your back and neck forward, leaning their weight to assist your forward movement

Don't let people push your back or neck to round forward, whether to stretch or to make a cracking noise. Avoid treatments that include manipulation to the neck, which has been found to sometimes tear the blood vessels leading to the brain. There have been deaths and even Western chiropractors have been cautioned not to crack the neck with these moves.

A second assisted stretch to avoid is similar to the move above. The practitioner may sit behind you or to the side, and put one or both of their arms under your arms then around the back of your neck, in a move that in the West are called a "half Nelson" and "full-Nelson." From there they may swing you slightly to the side, then again with a wider swing, then a third time with force. This sometimes makes a cracking noise in your back. Anatomically, the greatest force you can put on your discs and low back is bending forward with a twist. Politely decline anyone who would do this to you.

Labels: disc, lower back, massage, neck, sitting, upper back

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Upper Back Exercise and Neck Pain Prevention Too

Western boxers and students of many martial arts are often taught to hunch their shoulders and lower their head to protect their neck. Box-aerobics students (and teachers) also often jut their head forward thinking it looks tough, or more authentic. It doesn't protect the neck as hoped, and conversely produces neck and shoulder problems, some immediately, others over time. It also reduces effectiveness of the punching exercise, and to people who know martial arts, it doesn't look tough, it looks weak.

Look at the photo at left. The student on the right is holding his head severely forward (orange arrow). The teacher at right in the foreground is holding his neck and head properly, relaxed and upright (white arrow). The teacher and student in the background also are holding their neck in position that is healthy for the neck and shoulder, and makes punching more effective.

What are some of the problems of forward head angle and hunched shoulder?

• Keeping your head forward brings it closer to your opponent, easier to hit.
• In case of a head strike, a tilted angle of the neck to the brain and skull is more likely to result in brain injury.
• Hunching the shoulder can injure the neck and shoulder muscles
• Hunching results in tight, aching neck and shoulders.
• When you keep your head and shoulders forward, it rotates the shoulder bone forward. When you raise your arm with your neck forward, the soft tissue of the rotator cuff gets pinched between the arm bone and the shoulder bone. Eventually the bones can saw away at the rotator cuff muscles trapped between them, enough to get a tear.
• The same pinching between shoulder and arm bone can compress the nerve(s) that go down your arm, resulting in tingling, pain, numbness, weakness.
  

All the above problems can easily stop and reverse when you stop the cause - the forward head angle and hunched shoulder. Start with the post Fixing Upper Back and Neck Pain.

The muscles you use to hold your head and neck upright instead of forward are your upper back and posterior shoulder muscles. It is a free upper back and posterior deltoid and shoulder workout just standing relaxed but straight, and exercising that way too.

When you watch movies of Mohammed Ali fighting, watch for his healthy, straight, graceful neck positioning. For doing martial arts and boxing aerobics, you can protect your chin and neck without hunching and injuring your neck and shoulder. For exercise classes and just moving around the house you get more upper back exercise and stop injuring your neck and shoulder all at the same time by using your muscles to hold yourself upright instead of sagging. Exercise is supposed to be healthy.

Photo by Jolie Bookspan

Labels: fix pain, injury, martial arts, neck, partner exercise, posture, shoulder, spirit, upper back

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Improve Stretch and Strength With Better Kicking

Thai boxing (Muay Thai) kicks are among the most devastating and effective kicks in the world. Thai fighters spend hours a day kicking heavy bags and posts, and years toughening their legs and shins by bashing them with pipes and against coconut trees. A kick from a Muay Thai fighter's leg is like a blow from a club.

Whether you practice kicks for martial arts training, for self-defence, for dancing, or for exercise in an aerobics class, watch for several bad habits that increase strain on muscles and joints, and reduce effectiveness of the kick. It is not the point to kick someone else and wind up injuring yourself.

1. Look at the photo, above left. The teacher is holding his hip and neck straight. The student is not. The orange arrow at the student's leg shows how, when the student lifts the left leg to kick, the right leg pulls forward instead of remaining straight at the hip. This is a sign of tightness at the hip and poor technique. He needs to stretch the front of his hip and retrain kicking technique to prevent this common bad habit. Read more on this in the posts, Is Bad Martial Arts Good Exercise? and Common Exercises Teach Hip Tightness When Kicking, Stretching, and on