Fixing Pain and Golf Easier With Real Life Movement Than Isolated Exercises

Jeff is a Silicon Valley executive, and coach of Next Stage. He found that a lifestyle of unhealthy exercise habits can accumulate, until one day of golf becomes "the Camel's Last Straw."

Jeff writes:

"There is life after back pain – even the kind where you can’t walk, sit, lie down, or sleep.

"The weekend before Thanksgiving (2007), I was out golfing, and I made a pretty bad swing at a ball that was buried in deep rough. My club got stopped by the deep grass, my back and arms kept going. I immediately felt a sharp pain in my lower back – so much in fact that I could no longer make a normal swing or even get down into a putting stance.

"I had to give it up after 6 holes and head home. I could still walk, but I couldn’t crouch and I had a hard time getting up out of a chair.

"Three days later feeling a little better, I headed out to the fitness center to do some treadmill running - NOT a good decision. After about 10 minutes, as I was cranking up the speed to a fast jog, I felt a searing pain in my lower back and down through my left thigh. From then on, I was toast.

"By the next morning I could barely walk. I had so much pain in my lower back and left leg I needed to support myself with a cane. I could barely walk or stand with the cane. There was no comfortable position for me, and I couldn’t sleep more than an hour at a time – even on pain killers and over the counter sleeping pills. Two trips to the chiropractor changed nothing.

"I did a web search, found Dr. Bookspan's web site, bought "Fix Your Own Pain Without Drugs or Surgery" and then even sent her an email telling what had happened. To my amazement, I got a personal answer (then another then another as I wrote with more questions and my progress). Dr. Bookspan referred me to the lower back pain part of her site, and I started doing the retraining exercises daily – and more importantly I started “living” the exercises, i.e., using them to get good body positioning and healthy movement into my day.

"In the beginning I could barely do the exercises, my pain was so extreme I couldn’t lie flat on my stomach or back without pain, not to mention doing upper or lower back extensions. (I wrote to Dr. Bookspan who found that I was overarching the lower back, when I was thinking I was straight. Wow! Consciously tucking the hip more reduced the pain significantly.)

"After a few days, things improved so I could perform the exercises better. I started to walk again – albeit with discomfort. (I wrote again and once again got the encouragement I needed, and realized the specific things I was not yet getting right. I was still overarching the lower back and that was preventing healthful motion.)

"Today, it is 5 weeks since worst of the pain. Thanks so much for your support. I am orders of magnitude better! I am walking without a limp – pretty much normal gait. I played 9 holes of golf this morning, walking a very hilly course, carrying my clubs. Yesterday I was on the treadmill doing some light jogging. All signs of discomfort are gone and I am gradually working myself back into shape. I am not taking any medications of any kind, and I am doing just great.

"I am working hard to incorporate the things I learned from Dr. Bookspan about movement, posture, and exercise into my daily life. It makes total sense to me that the positions you are in for most of the day have far more impact than 10 minutes of exercise. I feel like I have been to hell and back, and I definitely don’t want to make another visit."

Links used:

• Fix Your Own Pain without Drugs or Surgery
• Also recommended - Health & Fitness THIRD edition, How to be Healthy Happy and Fit for the Rest of your Life
• Understanding the hip tuck to neutral spine - Using Abdominal Muscles is Not Tightening or Pressing Navel to Spine
• Fast Fitness - First Morning Stretch
• Lower Back Pain and Golf
• Web site Back Pain Article.

Labels: fix pain, golf, injury, lordosis, lower back, readers inspiring story, sciatica

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Feeling Better Than She Ever Has Part II - Fixing Herniated Disk and Reclaiming Active Life

Barbara lives in a little town of 300 people in Yukon Canada - map at right. Part I of Barbara's story last Wednesday described why it didn't take six weeks to fix Barbara's herniated discs and severe sciatic pain and numbness, but it was six weeks until the "light went on" and she did the things to stop the cause of the injury, so it could stop hurting and start to heal.

Here is an insider's peek behind the scenes week-by-week:

"Dear Dr. Bookspan,
"This is a bit of a long one, and probably reaffirms everything you've ever received in hundred and hundreds of emails and stories, but I wanted to share this with you anyway. I can’t thank you enough for working hard and sharing all your knowledge. I am almost completely pain free!

"After 6 weeks of severe sciatic pain and numbness and weakness of my left leg and foot, something just clicked on Thursday night and I became more determined than ever that I could get rid of the pain. Through your website, the Fitness Fixer, and reading lots of personal stories (on your web site and book), I realized that I had to fix (the) causes. I know this might sound dramatic, but you’ve changed my way of life.

"Pre-sciatica lifestyle:
"A cycle of: 1) a few months, everyday, of "power" exercising with all the unhealthful postures and movement habits you talk about, then sitting at the computer in all the unhealthy ways you talk about and drinking coffee and smoking, feeling like I’d accomplished something in my day; 2) followed by a few months of complete laziness (not even power exercising). Power exercising consisted of running (without stretching at all) with bad form, and Hatha Yoga (forcing myself into the stretches and tons of forward bending).

"Sciatica struck.

"First two weeks:
"I did absolutely nothing about it. I read stuff on the internet and was convinced from the stories that I had some debilitating disease that would affect the rest of my life. I thought the cause was that I didn’t keep up with my "power" exercising. But, I continued to sit bent forward in a chair, hunched over, bending wrong, doing yoga forward bends, smoking and drinking coffee. I know, how sad."

Here are posts and information Barbara used:

• Why bad forward bending is a major mechanism in disc degeneration and eventual bulging and herniation: Disc Pain - Not a Mystery, Easy to Fix
• Avoidable sources of bad bending that go unnoticed in common exercises: Common Exercises Teach Bad Bending
• How to avoid herniating forces on the lower back discs during yoga and fitness stretches for the hamstring:Healthier Hamstring Stretching

"Third week:
"Had to go back to work in the morning, teaching 4 and 5 year olds in a kindergarten class; in the afternoon, teaching reading strategies to Grade 1 and 2's - sitting in a chair all afternoon. No longer could I hobble around the house holding my backside and leg - full on activity - and pain, tingling, numbness in my left foot, and total weakness in my left leg. Felt like I was walking around all day with a Charlie horse going down my entire left side. Amidst all my continued Internet searches, stumbled upon your website when a friend said that slight forward bending doing dishes and getting ready in the morning leaning over the sink might be a cause. Your website made so much sense to me - if a slight forward bend is a bad thing, how much more unhealthy would my Hatha yoga program be, with all its constant forward bends. I might add here that the two people at work who talk about slight forward bending being a bad thing continually hunch forward while sitting and exercise using forward bends. Just something I’ve begun to notice."

Major news stories quote physicians saying that back pain is often a mystery and that no one knows why stretching isn't working. My readers regularly report that once they understand the simple principles, they see the unhealthful positioning that causes pain frequently - at the gym, in fitness magazines, and in exercise videos and classes:

• Fast Fitness - Fix Positioning by Watching Others
• What Does Stretching Do?
• Are You Making Your Exercise Unhealthy?

Barbara continues:

"I started with lying on the floor propped up, upper and lower back extensions, pec and trapezius stretches, isometric abs, being continually aware of my posture and not doing ANY bad forward bending. Tried to do the lunges and squats for daily good bending, but my muscles were so weak and I practiced them half-heartedly. I tried to apply them in daily life but life seemed so fast-paced at work and I was in so much pain constantly, that I would get _ way into it and then just try to lean to the side to pick things up - result, I was contorting my body in very odd ways! I ordered a support brace and special support backrest (now I know why I never needed them) and seat cushion for my chair from other web sites, but also ordered your book Fix Your Own Pain, along with a few of your other books."

These are some techniques used above:

• Lie on floor propped on elbows - Fast Fitness - First Morning Stretch
• Pectoral stretch - Fixing Upper Back and Neck Pain
• Trapezius stretch - Nice Neck Stretch
• Lunge for daily good bending - Strengthen Legs Without Knee Pain - Standing Lunge
• Half squat for daily good bending - Free Exercise and Free Back and Knee Pain Prevention - Healthy Bending.

"Fourth Week:
"Limping and terrible pain, my boss told me to visit the nurses station -living in a town of 300 in the far north, we have one general store and a health centre, doctor visits once every two weeks - and take every afternoon off during this week to rest up. He still needed me at work in the mornings. Taking my new prescription of Naproxen and trying the lunges and squats and some stretches but not really trying to apply them to the rest of how I was moving and bending and sitting. I would be in quite a bit of pain coming home from my mornings at work. In the afternoons I would basically throw in some stretches, but generally read (sitting badly) and nap for an hour. A lot of the pain would dissipate after my stretches and a good nap - only to be set into full force the next morning at work.

"Your book came in on the Friday and I was very excited. I read through it and practiced the retraining stretches that show how to restore straighter positioning throughout the day. I felt much better by Sunday night with the stretching. Still only half-hearted attempts at lunges and squats."

"Fifth Week:
"Decided to start my morning off by doing my full range of stretches instead of sitting in the computer chair smoking and drinking coffee. I felt pretty good when I left for work. People at work were starting to call me "feisty" saying that I seemed to be walking better (that was probably because of my better posture from applying your method instead of just doing stretches!) Sitting in a chair almost killed me - after 25 minutes in a chair the pain was almost unrecoverable - to be endured for the next hour and a half at work."

Barbara was getting the idea about healthy movement, but was sitting in the same way that causes discs to be pressured. She thought it was "taken care of" because she used a commercial lumbar support she purchased the first week. However she was still sitting in unhealthy ways, right over the support:

• The Cause of Disc and Back Pain
• Does an Exercise Ball Make You Sit Straight?

Barbara continues:

"I could manage the pain better with frequent relaxing on my stomach propped up on arms and stretching, but I never felt complete relief until I got home at night. I still didn't realize it was bad sitting position, so decided to get rid of my chair and stand to teach. This was better, but the pain still kicked in(especially in my left buttock!). Once my left buttock got hit with pain it went downhill - down my whole leg, followed by the numbness and severe tingling. Midway through the week I went to see our visiting doctor - quick visit and the prognosis that I had a herniated disc L5-S1. He said it would heal. I was feeling pretty positive about this, as it seemed to coincide with what you say about herniated discs. Meanwhile, the sciatica was taking it out of me. I felt I was always either in pain, or awaiting a painful episode. I made it through, relieved that the weekend was underway. I decided to trying walking - every couple of hours I'd walk on my treadmill for 20 minutes and then do my stretches. I did this two times in the day, and then went for a walk outside in the evening (-35 degree weather so I bundled up really well). My dog and I headed out for what was to be the most agonizing walk for me. Half hour into the walk I started to get that butt pain but I was only half way home. By the time I got home after an hour walk, I wanted to hit the roof and I although I could alleviate some of the pain through lying on my stomach propped up, and stretches, I could still barely sleep. I was also completely consumed by whether or not I had slacked in my posture somewhere along the line while I was walking, or whether I was too tight or loose (still missing the big picture)."

"Sixth Week:
"Still determined. Began the week at an all-day staff meeting where I lay on a gym mat on my stomach, propped up on my elbows- all day. Stretching at lunch and a couple of other times I walked out of the meeting to stretch. It almost floored me to do a 20 minute standing stint that we had to do during our meeting. Followed by a 2 hour course via video-conferencing where I did the same thing. When I got home the pain was less and I didn’t want to "over-do" it again, so I gently did my stretches throughout the evening- I didn’t try to walk. Next day at work, the pain was pretty bad from the beginning, but it was -60 degrees F outside and not many kids came to school - more time out to stretch when I needed to. Wednesday - more of the same. I tried to walk at night but got discouraged when I couldn’t walk for more than about 10 minutes without pain. Thursday - same thing, but I almost ran out of the school at the end of the morning to go to the nurses station. (We both wrongly assumed that I had overdone walking, not just walked in injurious ways.) She prescribed more Naproxen and told me to make sure that I walked but more frequent intervals. She also told me to keep stretching, but that lunges and squats were simply out - don’t do them. I kept wondering about this advice as I reread Ivy’s story and looked at the pictures of her doing those amazing squats and lunges. I spent most of my evening on the internet reading and rereading stories."

• Walking wasn't Barbara's problem. She was overarching the lower spine while walking, making a hidden problem - Spotting Back Pain During Running and Walking - What Do Abs Have To Do With It?
• Barbara was lying face down propped up on elbows for long periods in a way that hurt instead of help. Instead of letting the entire spine gently extend backward so that the upper back "unrounded," she was "folding" a crease at the lower back, increasing pinching in the lower back.
  
• Posts about how reader Ivy stopped the same sciatica problem: Inspirational Ivy and Inspirational Ivy II - Beating Foot Drop and Sciatica, and Getting Healthier

"Friday of the Sixth Week: True Awakening!
"I took Friday off work and first thing in the morning while I was doing my usual morning stretch routine, it just hit me! I became so obsessed with my posture, thinking that stretches should magically make my pain disappear, but I wasn’t viewing my body as how I used it during regular activity; I was also very guilty of giving up on certain things when they got "too hard" (lunges, squats). My balance was bad (despite trying to practice it while putting on my socks and shoes), my walking gait was horrible, I wasn’t really trying to do anything that required some effort, and I was continuing my bad habits of resting for hours before I tried to get back up and stretch again. Having reread some of the personal stories, I worked on my walking: feet straight ahead, feet hip-distance apart, heel to ball of foot, using my whole foot to walk - I was so focused on posture that I was holding myself stiff while walking instead of walking naturally with a bit of rotation at the waist). When I thought I was using my muscles, I was really just tensing them right up instead of truly using them. Reading posts and walking also made me realize how tight my Achilles tendon, hamstrings, and hips are. I decided to work on this through my stretches too. Next hour I was back up and walking, and stretching those areas after (using a counter to hold onto while doing a full squat, doorway hamstring stretch, and stretching my hip sitting on a chair rather than lying on the floor). Every hour I walked and stretched, and every walking session was longer, every stretching session I could actually stretch farther! Halfway through the day - now it was time to really engage myself in those lunges and half-squats - just do them and do them properly - no excuses - I need them for everyday life and unless I go beyond what I think I can do, I’ll never get to that point. They’re definitely not just part of an exercise routine, but unless I could do them with strength and stability in my living room, I knew I couldn’t do them in a fast-paced setting when I needed them.

"Time to stop making excuses. I was up and about constantly all day, walking, lunges and squats, stretching. By the end of the day, I can’t even describe my feeling of elation when I went to bed completely pain free, with my left leg hardly stiff at all, and some of the numbness in my left foot gone! Actually having been rather lazy, and in fear of lunges and squats doing more damage, they turned out to be the best stretches and strengtheners...now why wouldn’t I want to use these in all situations to get a beautiful natural stretch during my day! The confidence and calmness that all using your principles, and truly using my muscles to engage in activities is giving me give is fabulous. Not to mention all the energy! This is a new way of life for me. And quitting smoking is not a different story...it’s the same story...and my next step is to look into my eating habits and to quit smoking. It’s my life and my body is a temple...I’m sick of mistreating this temple with lethargy and apathy. No more unhealthy exercises in "power" work-outs and yoga for me...strength, balance and flexibility will is every moment, every day. Now I'm ready for your Healthy Martial Arts book...

"Thank you! Thank you! You (and Ivy) are my inspiration!
Wishing for you all joy and true happiness in life (which I know you already have :) ).
"Fondly, Barbara

"I'm truly thankful for your hard work and great insight into pain and how to live healthy in every day life!!

"PS I was frightened when I was told I had a herniated disk at L5-S1, and this was great news to me as I know I'm healing and I won't need any physiotherapists, etc. to help me through this! Your book Fix Your Own Pain is amazing - I think I've almost memorized it; two people at work have borrowed it already (including my boss) - I think they're seeing how much it has helped me. I'm thinking about giving your book to people for Christmas."

Summary "take-home" message - Barbara found that she doesn't have to "do" any exercises. That is the difference with this method and others. Moving for daily activities using the retrained healthful positioning stops the source of the injury. At the same time, it just happens to give much built in functional healthful movement. That is how exercise is supposed to be - a natural part of your human life.

There is more good news to Barbara's story, but that's enough for now.

Labels: disc, fix pain, gait, hamstring, injury, lunge, readers inspiring story, sciatica, sitting, squat, walking

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Feeling Better Than She Ever Has Part I - Fixing Herniated Disk and Reclaiming Active Life

Barbara's story came in over several weeks. Barbara thought she was healthy and active, and had done years of yoga. She had years of lower back pain, then a sudden onset of severe pain, leg weakness, and numbness. She couldn't push off effectively with her left foot, or stand on tiptoe. The heel of her left foot was completely numb, as well as the left side of that foot.

Barbara lives six hours from the nearest big town (there are 300 people in her little town in the Yukon and one general store).

Her doctor found that she had a herniated disc in her lower back, put her on anti-inflammatories. She was in continuing pain, and fearful of her future of pain and reduced activity, which would mean getting more out of shape and feeling worse. She was frightened that she had some "debilitating disease."

Barbara found my web site and this Fitness Fixer column with free information of how discs become pushed outward (herniated) through bad sitting and bending habits, and began trying some of the information. She wrote me excitedly the first week,

"I decided, after reading one of the many great patient stories you included in your book showing what to do, to lie on the floor on my stomach propped on my elbows to read your book. This felt amazing and when I got up again I could walk straight!"

Another e-mail followed that she was feeling worse again after that. I asked if she had gone back to all the injurious habits that cause the pain. She was surprised to realize that she had. Bad forward bending puts outward and eventually herniating forces on the discs. Barbara was bending badly all day at work when she need to pick things up, bending badly at home over the sink, counters, and while doing housework, then going to yoga class and spending much time bending over forward. Even in a yoga class, herniating forces occur from chronic forward bending, both sitting and standing bent over. It isn't magically good for the discs by calling it a stretch. Barbara also had been told by her health care providers not to do any lunges or squats. She later realized they were just the healthy bending she needed to do normal daily reaching and bending at work and around the house. Without them, she would only be doing the same bad bending that was contributing to the original problem.

Barbara wrote,

"I realized that part of my problem all week was that I had been half-heartedly doing "exercises" then going back to wrong bending while getting completely frustrated because it would seem things would start to feel better in the morning, but I'd feel like garbage by night. I wouldn't do all the things you recommended first thing in the morning, and I would get halfway through a lunge or squat to bend or pick something up and then bend forward out of frustration. So, I pampered myself yesterday - really, truly practicing and applying how to move in real life, especially concentrating on those lunges and squats when I needed to get something. It also finally clicked with me that while I was trying to concentrate on tucking the hip to neutral spine to walk, I was totally ignoring the forward bend of my upper back while standing and walking all week. I was walking all stooped over and feeling like an invalid."

I wish I could write that Barbara followed everything I said and was better the first day. What actually occurred was that it was six weeks until the "light bulb went on" and Barbara realized that "doing" a stretch or exercise doesn't magically erase the injury. Stopping the injurious bad movement habits that harms the disc is needed to let it heal. Using healthy movement in daily life for daily bending and reaching would improve strength and balance. Barbara said that reading the Fitness Fixer stories from Ivy sparked her "turning point" to understand. She then started feeling relief.

Barbara wrote.

"In short, I’ve come from having pain, and muscles completely unaccustomed to healthy movement lifestyle, to feeling stronger, more flexible and agile, pain free, along with a new attitude to everyday life and health, with fresh energy and a renewal of love of life. I know this might sound dramatic, but you’ve changed my way of life.

"Your website has been a godsend actually; especially when I surf the net and see "surgery" splattered everywhere.

"PS My principal just ordered your book - he borrowed Fix Your Own Pain for a week (I didn't think I'd get it back) and would like his own copy. That's saying a lot - he's doesn't take well to other people's advice."

It was six weeks of half-way recovery and recurring pain until Barbara got the idea that "doing exercises" doesn't heal an injury if you go back to bad movement habits the rest of the day. She also noticed how some of the most common exercises contribute to the original problem. Here are links to the information Barbara used:

• Sitting Badly Isn't Magically Healthy by Calling It a Hamstring Stretch
• Common Exercises Teach Bad Bending
• Bending Right is Fitness as a Lifestyle
• How Good Would You Look From 400 Squats a Day - Just Stop Unhealthy Bending
• Disc Pain - Not a Mystery, Easy to Fix
• How to bend using the lunge - Strengthen Legs Without Knee Pain - Standing Lunge
• How to bend using the half-squat - Free Exercise and Free Back and Knee Pain Prevention -Healthy Bending
• Neutral Spine or Not?
• Lying comfortably propped on elbows to unload discs - Fast Fitness - First Morning Stretch
  
• Inspirational Ivy
• Inspirational Ivy II - Beating Foot Drop and Sciatica, and Getting Healthier
• and the books.

Barbara generously wrote up her story to help readers see that they can fix pain sooner, rather than waiting six weeks. Coming next, Feeling Better Than She Ever Has Part II - a look behind the scenes.

Labels: disc, fix pain, impingement, injury, lunge, readers inspiring story, sciatica, squat, stretch, yoga

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Cauda Equina - Result Not Cause

Bernie, age 80, promised in December he would dance at his daughter's upcoming wedding in
Fixing Leg Numbness, Back Pain, Flank Pain, Knee Pain, Nerve Pain, Three Unhealthy Surgeries, Part I.

Part II of Bernie's story looked behind the scenes of how we fixed the source of the pain, step-by-step.

The promised dance is at right.

The point of the two posts was that the key is to fix the source of pain and injury, not just have surgery, take medications, and do some exercises. The posts also showed things to do to fix the causes so that readers could do it too.

A reader wrote an opinion in the comments of Part II, that Bernie's signs and symptoms were of Cauda Equina Syndrome (CES), and felt cauda equina was important for readers to know about.

The problem is that cauda equina is not the cause of the collection of back and leg pain and numbness problems, but the result. The cauda equina is a group of nerve roots of your lower spine that go down toward your feet. The bundle of stringy nerves looks like the tail (cauda) of a horse (equina). If something hurts or presses on the area, pain and numbness can result. It is just saying something wrong has resulted in that location. The key is finding and stopping the cause of what is hurting or pressing on the area, not taking medicines or having treatments.

It is like saying someone has stomach pain, and prescribing pain medicines and support groups. The pain could be worms, a pregnancy, a lack of enough stomach acid to digest food. You need to know the cause to do the right treatment.

For example, if a herniated disc is compressing the cauda equina, you need to stop pushing your disc out of place, described in Disc Pain - Not a Mystery, Easy to Fix and use daily simple good body mechanics instead of the bad bending that gradually push discs outward - The Cause of Disc and Back Pain. Then the disc and nerves can heal and the pain will stop without drugs or back surgery.

The reader asked me to review a web site. The web site they recommended lists treatments of drugs such as narcotics and antidepressants, and epidural injections. It mentions exercise to maintaining muscle strength in leg areas that have weakness from nerves that are compressed. This is like trying to catch blood loss in a bucket instead of stopping the blood loss at the source. The web site says sufferers with foot drop can use a brace. Instead of using a brace, which can cause more atrophy, it is better to stop the cause of the foot drop, where possible.

Fitness Fixer reader Ivy from New Zealand had foot drop from nerve compression. She stopped the cause, detailed in Inspirational Ivy II - Beating Foot Drop and Sciatica, and Getting Healthier. By stopping the cause of the nerve compression, Ivy did not need the brace or cane. It is not healthy to allow nerve compression to continue. Muscles and nerves become more damaged over time. A brace or cane does not restore function. They can further cause bad gait and body mechanics.

Bernie had many injuries from the surgeries he had undergone for the purpose of relieving back pain. In addition, the back surgery deliberately resulted in some reduced movement of the spine. Many back surgeries do this on the premise that reducing movement will reduce pain. The reduced movement meant reduced function and mobility, resulting in more pain.

The cauda equina web site says, "We live with CES every day." The approach of The Fitness Fixer is not to live with an injury or take unhealthful drugs, but to find the cause and stop the cause so that you do not have to live with pain and drugs.

Labels: fix pain, footdrop/dropfoot, injury, lower back, readers inspiring story, sciatica, surgery

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A Whole Big Fix

This is the first part of a great reader story. Mike has been fixing many things. Pain started with a local radiating pain, then became much other pain. Mike looked for something to fix the first area, then ably used other techniques.

Mike writes,

"I'm sorry it's taken so long to write back. Along with teaching and family time I've been taking a graduate class and I've just finish my final project for the class. Now I have time. Here goes.

"Back in 1983 I developed a deep pain and spasms in my right buttock along with radiating pain down my leg. I had been running 40-90 miles per week as a high school and college cross-country/track/road runner. For the past 20+ years this pain has come and gone every week while lying down, walking, and mostly sitting, making it very difficult to work at a desk, sit at a class, and drive. I've assumed it was a type of sciatica and read and tried everything I could for relief.

"The only temporary relief I found was in cycling, which stopped the pain for up to 48 hrs after rides, so I ended up cycling for 20 years, including racing for a team for 2 years. All that cycling caused other problems including a slumped, impinged shoulder from a separated collarbone in a crash, tight hip flexors, allergies from all the car exhaust and desert riding, and too many close calls from SUVs with drivers calling, texting etc. in heavy traffic. I was eating far too many simple carbs for energy on these intense rides. I stopped cycling to improve my health, decrease my risks of collisions, and to save money on all that equipment.

"The pain and spasms in my rear and down my leg increased in frequency and duration. My shoulder was not improving despite a month of visits to a physical therapist. Through searching in the internet I came across Dr. Bookspan's Fitness Fixer and books in early 2007. The logical stretches and strengthening moves worked much better than anything I had tried before. One time during a long class my rear and leg were killing me, so I applied a stretch (I learned from one of the books) while sitting in the chair without anyone knowing. The pain went away for the rest of the class. (Since applying Dr. Bookspan's shoulder retraining) my shoulder rarely bothers me and I've gone months without any pain in my rear and down my leg.

"I've also been enjoying Jolie's books for the sections on nutrition, spirituality, mental focus and general health and exercise advice. Working on all the parts at once seems to help the individual parts even more. I'm now working on walking comfortably without orthotics (it's getting better) and figuring out why my left knee and right hip pop so much. I'm very fortunate that I'm without pain now though, thanks to Dr. Bookspan's advice.

"I've attached some photos of the (hip) moves and stretches that work for me. Thank you! Mike "

Just as I was uploading this post today, Mike wrote me:

"Just wanted to let you know that my wife had a lot of pain and tightness in her hip yesterday from squats without warming up enough and possibly poor technique. She was very uncomfortable in any position, even lying down. I showed her how to do the hip stretch that worked for me, from your book, and it IMMEDIATELY, stopped the pain and tightness and she still feels great the next day! Mike"

I asked Mike about his statement, "I stopped cycling to improve my health." His story will continue, I hope next week.

Labels: biking, computer, hip, orthotics, readers inspiring story, running, sciatica, shoulder, squat

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Getting More From a Hip Stretch

This post tells the Hip Stretch story started with Inspirational Ivy in August. In that post, Ivy tells how she used healthful body mechanics to fix a serious and extended attack of sciatica and foot drop the year before. Several posts since, have given fun updates. Here is the fun that the Hip Stretch started:

Feb 2006, Ivy from New Zealand wrote to me,

"My hips are tight, particularly the right side that being the side I had the severe attack of sciatica. I have worked so hard on my hamstrings and my "dropped" foot, the bonus being that I am winning. Now it is time to put the same amount of work into my hips."

I figured Ivy would start with the Better Posterior Hip and Piriform Stretch and a few of the other hip stretches in my books, then apply them for daily life by crossing one ankle over the other knee for putting on shoes, shown at right, described in Ancient Shoe Exercise for Hip Stretch and Balance, and that would be that.

In August 2007, she wrote,

"I am jumping for joy. No, I haven't won a million dollars.

"After having been doing the posterior hip stretch lying down for the past 21 months twice a day, I can now do the same stretch sitting. My hips have always been so tight and there was no way that I could get my ankle across the knee - this has been my goal and I have done it. I have to be honest, I have not got it to perfection, that being my next goal. I wonder if that will take another 21 months. It just shows that a little persistence pays off in the end. I trust that all is well with you."

Twenty-one months - what a dedicated learner. It was a joy to work with enthusiastic Ivy. I wrote back saying it should not take so long, and asked if she did the stretch standing up to put on shoes and socks to make it real life, not an artificial stretch. Ivy wrote back,

"I have tried standing to put my sox on and cannot quite make it YET (note the yet), that will come. I do, however, ensure that I always stand to remove my sox, and the like. Also to put them on except for the sox. I also stand when I moisturize my legs and feet - I do this so as to improve my balance."

I wrote back encouraging putting socks and shoes on and off while standing. The point of stretching is healthy function, not to "do a stretch" just to have a greater range. The benefit is from applying the stretch to ability to stand steadily on one foot and have muscle stretch and length to put on shoes standing .

Four hours later Ivy wrote back:

"Wow, I did it. I have just returned from a 30 minute walk, did some lunges as a further warm up and thought I would give it a try. I cheated, instead of shoes, I used slippers - I thought it would be easier. Tomorrow I will try shoes.

"Dr Jolie, you are my inspiration, you asked if I could do it and that set me a challenge. I must NEVER SAY CAN'T. As you are probably aware, I am a very motivated woman, however, there is no one to spur me along - you have done that and again, I can only say a huge thank you."

The next day this arrived,

"I am very pleased with myself. I just needed that push. As I said yesterday, I must never say can't again.

"Again, all I can say is a huge thank you. A huge hug from me."

Readers, stand with safe balance to dress. Send me your fun photos, mpegs (short computer video) and stories of using healthful range of motion for daily life.

Original story and updates:

• Inspirational Ivy
• Inspirational Ivy II - Beating Foot Drop and Sciatica, and Getting Healthier
• Good Life Works Better Than Bad Ab Exercise
• Farm Work, Lifestyle Exercise, and Preventing Overuse Pain

Ivy is a great-grandmother! (and a pretty great person too). She says,

"I guess I am very much like my late father who was a quiet achiever who used to tell me to 'stand tall and be proud of who you are' - I pass this advice on to my kids all the time."

Labels: balance, hip strength, hip stretch, leg stretch, readers inspiring story, sciatica, shoes, spirit, stress, stretch

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Farm Work, Lifestyle Exercise, and Preventing Overuse Pain

Reader Ivy from New Zealand wrote me that she was house-sitting for friends on their farm. When you read her note, remember that Ivy is a great-grandmother,

"You were very much on my mind yesterday. My friends had arranged for someone to come onto the property to feed the stock. By 5pm no one had turned up so I decided that I would have to do it myself.

"Picture me pushing wheelbarrow loads of hay - carrying buckets of water to fill the troughs and so the list goes on. The paddocks were muddy so had to wear gumboots. I was terrified of falling over. Chickens to be fed, eggs to fetch, pony to be fed plus the sheep and cows. Two of the water troughs had to be filled by hand hence the buckets. I tried to crawl (yes crawl) through the bush to get the hose through to no avail. I can laugh now, however, it wasn't funny at the time.

"This is where you come in - I kept repeating these words to myself the whole time "Now do what Dr Jolie has taught you, use your abs, tuck your hip" (to neutral spine so that the lower spine does not overarch) - "Squat, Ivy, squat - don't bend over."

"The whole thing took me 2 hours - I really thought I would have back ache and that the sciatica would rear its ugly head, but no, I am fine (Jolie's note: Ivy stopped previous sciatica using these healthy techniques). My evening meal consisted of a slice of bread and some fruit - I was too tired to even think of cooking. After a hot shower, I fell into bed exhausted and slept through until 6.30am. I don't have any aches or pain.

"That was my day."

I mailed Ivy a few days later to check how she was feeling. Ivy was still great and wrote,

"The neighbours arrived to check the sheep which are ready to drop their lambs. Needless to say Dr Jolie, I am hoping that they hold off until Harriet and family arrive back home on Monday."

We will see if there will be a post about Ivy using good bending and sitting mechanics to tend birthing sheep and baby lambs.

Posts to learn the skills Ivy used:

• Pushing heavy loads without strain
• Bend well with one foot in front of the other - the lunge
• Bend with feet side by side - the half-squat
• Why good bending gives better exercise and prevents pain or injury
• Better balance
• Carrying loads - preventing upper back pain and lower back pain
• Abdominal muscle use when reaching, standing, walking, or running, and for strengthening.

Readers have asked for posts on wrist strength and stopping wrist pain with use and exercise. It is in the works. I am also still working on the post I started with, where Ivy wrote of success doing a hip stretch, coming soon.

Readers, feel inspired, get out of the gym and have some fun doing lifestyle exercise, have fun taking photos, and send helpful stories.

Labels: abdominal muscles, aging, balance, fix pain, lunge, neutral spine, readers inspiring story, sciatica, squat

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Good Life Works Better Than Bad Ab Exercise

It is not true that back pain and weakness is normal with aging. It is not true that to stop the cause of back pain you must do special exercises to strengthen one specific muscle or group such as the multifidus or abdominal muscles. It is not true that you need to rest or cut back activity to stop back pain, or use special devices.

Doing specific exercises does not stop the cause of back pain. Consider the number of people who do their back exercises, then bend wrong to put down their exercise equipment and pick up their things, then spend their day sitting, walking, and bending in the injurious body mechanics that created the pain in the first place. Examples and what to do instead are in the posts:
Leg Exercise That Helps Your Back and Prevent Back Surgery.

Last year, Ivy, a Fitness Fixer reader from New Zealand stopped a long disabling bout of sciatica by stopping the cause in her daily life and the exercises she was doing - Inspirational Ivy. Ivy was not sedentary. She faithfully exercised, so was surprised to wind up with sciatica so serious that she lost partial use of her leg. One of the positive changes she made was to stop doing crunches. Ivy wrote:

"I was one of these people who for years did 100 crunches a day thinking that they would strengthen my back and take away the pain. Not so. I have been following your Better Abdominal Muscles advice for a year now, it just being part of my every day life....the bonus being no more back pain."

Problems with crunches:

• Most people already know that sitting rounded over the desk is unhealthy. Spinal discs are strong and withstand compression, but asymmetrical loading from chronic forward bending degenerates disc in front and bulges them outward, among other problems. The same problems occur with forward bending exercises like crunches, also called curl-ups, partial sit up, and abdominal flexes, among other names.
  
• Crunches and other forward bending exercises do not work your abdominal muscles in the way they need to work in real life.
• If you have tendency to a rounded upper back posture, have tight neck muscles, or already sit, bend, and walk around with your spine bent forward, adding to that with crunches is counterproductive.
• Ivy did not have thinning bones, but for someone with osteoporosis, forward bending exercises add the possibility of promoting further kyphosis (upper back rounding) and crush fractures.

Ivy wrote me last week:

"Over that eleven-month period that it took to find your web site, I must have opened every web site there was that mentioned the word sciatica, some of which I took aboard and wondered why there was no improvement. I can smile now when I recall how a few days after following your advice, the pain had disappeared and I attended my great granddaughter's first birthday where I sat too terrified to move in case the pain resurrected its ugly head."

If you want to make one positive change for your health, stop doing abdominal crunches. If you don't like to do exercise at all, then be happy. If you like to exercise, there are more effective, functional ways to use abdominal muscles. Start with
If Better Abdominal Muscles Are Your New Year's Resolution, Try This.

Ivy is a great-grandmother, and she is fitter now than when she started. She changed the way she exercised to make it functional instead of a list of arbitrary motions that did not relate to healthy movement in real life.

Click Ivy's next adventure for applying healthy body mechanics in an unexpected day of heavy farm work.

Labels: abdominal muscles, aging, fix pain, readers inspiring story, sciatica, strength

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Inspirational Ivy II - Beating Foot Drop and Sciatica, and Getting Healthier

Ivy had serious sciatica with foot drop. She had knee and other injuries. She was in awful pain. In this kind of foot drop, the nerve cannot serve the muscles enough to lift the foot to walk normally. The toes drag. The foot hangs limply and slaps the ground with each step.

Commonly, someone with foot drop is put in a leg brace for life. One surgery done for foot-drop fuses the ankle so the foot is rigid and doesn't hang. Other problems come over years from changes in walking mechanics. For the terrible pain, patients are often directed to drugs and surgery.

We changed that:

1. Monday's post Inspirational Ivy told the essentials of stopping the cause of the sciatic pain and nerve impingement, rather than treat the results with unhealthy means. Links to specific methods are there.
2. Sciatica, disc damage, facet pain, and impingement are results, not the cause of pain. They are not a diagnosis. When you have them, find what is causing them. Then you can reverse the cause: The Cause of Disc and Back Pain
3. The post How Often Should You Be Healthy? explains when and how to apply it.

Ivy followed my directions exactly and used her brain to understand how to get the intended results, not just "do a bunch of exercises." When she first began, she wrote,

"Over the past few days, I have been very conscious of my movements and, hey presto, I have not experienced any tingling or pain. I have to take total responsibility for every movement I make. I am constantly telling myself 'Think before you go to the fridge or need to pick up something off the floor - think lunges.'"

I gave her simple gait retraining. Ivy quickly discarded the cane she had used for nearly 7 months.

Ivy went on to teach several neighbors in her community how to fix their own pain. One story is posted in Each One Teach One.

In April 2006, Ivy wrote,

"It is nearly 5 months since I started your wonderful programme so I thought it was time that I gave you an update. I am fit and well, the sciatica has disappeared, if I get a little niggle in that area, I ask myself as to what have I done wrong, my left knee (IT Band) is no longer a problem, my balance has improved immensely and the "dropped" foot is great, in fact, when I go for my daily walk, I no longer hear the plop, plop of which I hated. I can also now wear "normal" shoes.

"Without your help and support and putting me on the right road so to speak, I would still be in constant pain plus making the chiropractor richer. Please note, I no longer go to him for treatment - I DON'T NEED HIM."

At age 70, Ivy is steadily improving strength and range of motion using healthy movement for daily life. She is eating healthful vegetarian food. January 2007 brought this note:

"The reason for this e-mail being that I feel somewhat excited re a remark made by the son of one of my fellow villagers. His very words being, "How did you become the woman that you are now. I have watched you over the past couple of years - when I first met you, you were obviously in a lot of pain, what is your secret?"

"I also sent the photos to my son and daughter-in-law who live in the US, they too, could see the improvement - they thought I looked great. Mind you, over that 2 year period, I gradually lost 20 lbs."

What about Ivy's e-mail that I mentioned in the last post about the new hip stretch? I'm out of room again. Watch for the next post.

Labels: disc, facet joints, feet, fix pain, footdrop/dropfoot, gait, iliotibial band, injury, knee, lunge, nutrition, readers inspiring story, sciatica, shoes, spirit, squat

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Inspirational Ivy

Last October, Ivy from New Zealand left a comment on Fitness Fixer how she first found me while looking for relief from severe sciatica with foot drop. For 11 months, she had tried treatment and an exercise regimen from a chiropractor. Last week, she e-mailed me a funny update of improving mobility and health from a new stretch. I started writing this post just to tell of Ivy's stretch and how readers can have the same success.

I looked over my file of Ivy's comments on Fitness Fixer and her e-mails to me over the last two years - each story weaving to the next - of improving health, mobility, and joy of life for herself and people in her community. Reading them again was like sitting by a stream that sparkled over rocks on its way by, inspiring and lovely. Some are private, some I have her permission to tell.

Last October, Ivy wrote:

Ivy wrote, "I knew I should be feeling better than I was. During those months I was continually surfing the net looking for answers, then in November 2005, I discovered Dr Jolie Bookspan's "How to fix your own pain without drugs or surgery." Everything she described was ME, 69 years of bad habits had finally caught up with me.

"So began my journey to good health and freedom from pain. I began with the pec stretch, trapezius stretch, wall stand, sitting correctly at the computer without sticking out my chin, hamstring stretch, isometric abs (no more crunches), squats and lunges instead of bad bending.

You can imagine my joy when after 2 days I was free of pain. I was so excited that I contacted Dr Jolie, who in turn, took time out from her busy schedule to e-mail me giving me further advice and exercises which I might add, I follow religiously along with a daily 30 minute walk (weather permitting).

"Some months ago, I decided to follow a vegetarian diet. I feel so well and happy, in fact, I have loads of energy. I turn 70 at the end of this month (Oct 2006) and am looking forward to the next stage of my life feeling healthy and free of pain."

This year Ivy followed up when we were corresponding on making sure of healthy nutrition:

"This is the second winter that I have not had either a cold or 'flu. For someone who was always getting the 'flu, that is really something. I put it down to my healthy vegetarian diet."

Ivy used my free web site summary sheets on fixing pain, my books, and Fitness Fixer posts. Here are links to posts Ivy used:

• Pec (pectoral) stretch - Fixing Upper Back and Neck Pain.
• Trapezius stretch - Nice Neck Stretch.
• Wall stand - this is a quick check of functional muscle tightness to see if you can use healthful positioning for normal activity. It is described in the first paragraph of the post Fixing Upper Back and Neck Pain, above.
• Sitting correctly at the computer - When Did Health Become Thinking Out Of The Box?
  and Get Better Exercise From Your Chair
  and Are You Making Your Exercise Unhealthy?
• Hamstring stretch - Healthier Hamstring Stretching
  and Sitting Badly Isn't Magically Healthy by Calling It a Hamstring Stretch
  and Doorway Hamstring Stretch.
• Isometric abs (no more crunches) - this one isn't up on Fitness Fixer yet. It is in my book The Ab Revolution and Fix Your Own Pain, and on my web site summary on functional use of abs to stop overarching the lower spine. Ivy sent a photo of doing this exercise. I will post it when I post about this fun, different, functional abdominal exercise.
• Squats - Bending Right is Fitness as a Lifestyle
  Free Exercise and Free Back and Knee Pain Prevention - Healthy Bending
  and How Good Would You Look From 400 Squats a Day - Just Stop Unhealthy Bending.
• Lunges - Strengthen and Retrain Function With The Lunge.

The posts on lunges, Doorway Hamstring Stretch, and Functional Achilles Stretch, feature photos that Ivy sent me. I had written Ivy earlier this year asking if she could send me photos demonstrating what she is doing. She invited a neighbor to visit and take the photos, had them developed, then mailed a pack of them to me from New Zealand. Ivy writes:

"My dear 86 year old friend took them and we certainly had a lot of fun doing what I will call a "photo shoot." Bear in mind her age when I tell you that while I was trying to hold the pose, she would press the incorrect button and would have to start all over again. I would lose what I would call the correct form and so it would go on... I can now sympathize with models who have to hold poses for what seems an eternity."

In February 2007 Ivy sent an update, signing it:

"I shudder to think where I would be if I had not found your web site over 15 months ago. I mean it when I say "Thank you for helping me get my life back." I am fit, I am healthy, what more can one want in this life. I have passion about what I do something that I haven't had in a very long time."

What about her e-mail and the new stretch? We're out of room. Click for the next post- Inspirational Ivy II - Beating Foot Drop and Sciatica, and Getting Healthier.

Labels: aging, chest, fix pain, footdrop/dropfoot, hamstring, lunge, nutrition, posture, readers inspiring story, sciatica, sitting, squat, upper back

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Lunges and Beans

To get a better lunge stretch and stop pressure on the medial knee (the side facing the other leg), don't turn your back leg outward (left photo). Turn your back foot parallel, and face forward (right photo)

The previous post Hip Stretch While You Strengthen Legs shows a key move to position the hip to get a great stretch on the front of the hip and feel a better strengthener for the legs as you lower and rise in standing lunges.

One of my students, Lily, demonstrates good hip and leg position for the lunge (second photo at right). Instead of tilting the hip forward in front and out in back, you tuck the bottom of the hip to maintain it vertical from the top of the leg (hip joint) to the middle of the waist. Note the stripe of the side of the pants compared to the vertical line in the wall behind her.

On occasion, Lily makes me a wonderful bean dish and brings it to class in a glass container. The glass is a thoughtful healthy touch to avoid whatever may leach out of plastics into food. My students and I try to do this with food and drinks carried to work and class. Here is her recipe. Just throw it all in a bowl:

Lily's Wonderful Beans

Cup or two of cooked black beans
Cup or two of corn
1 jalapeño pepper, diced
1 red onion, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
2 tablespoons cumin powder
1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
sprinkle of olive oil, just enough to blend ingredients
squeeze 1 fresh lime over the top

Some people with celiac omit the corn. Celiac causes various discomforts after eating wheat and related products.

Good bending gives free exercise and stops a major cause of several chronic pain syndromes (muscle strain, disc degeneration, disc herniation, and sciatica) at the same time. Click the labels under this post for related posts. If you use the lunge and squat around the house for all the things you need to bend for instead of bad bending, you will stop a major source of back pain back, and get hundreds of free leg exercises a day. Enjoy healthy eating and healthy lunging.

Labels: celiac, disc, hip, hip strength, leg strength, leg stretch, lunge, nutrition, sciatica, stretch

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Each One Teach One

I have grandchildren - my patients are using what I taught them, to fix pain for others.

Monday's post on Partner Leg Press began the Valentine's week Fitness Fixer posts on sharing health with a friend. Today on Valentine's Day I have a post that best shows this. This story is from one of our own Healthline Fitness Fixer readers, Ivy Griffiths of New Zealand. Ivy writes,

"On Thursday night my neighbour was taken to hospital as she was experiencing pain in her hip which in turn went down her leg. I told her that I thought it was sciatica. X-rays showed that there was degeneration of the spine and that she had a pinched nerve. They gave her the usual drugs and she returned home yesterday afternoon. Her son told them at the hospital that they knew someone who would help that person being ME. Dr. Jolie I just about freaked out so I told them that I could help with the cause but not fix the pain. I went on to show her how to lift herself up on her elbows (face down) before getting out of bed, how to sit straight and squatting instead of bending over and all the advice that I have received from you over the past year. I took her for little walks around the village so that she wasn't sitting all the time. Around 5pm this evening (Saturday) I went to see how she was. To my amazement, she told me that she had been reading your book "Fix Your Own Pain Without Drugs or Surgery" which I had lent her. She had thrown away the drugs and the pain had gone. Believe me when I say that I was blown away."

Ivy, thank you. The world is better because of you.

Ivy recently had a special birthday. See which one in The Best of the Medical Blogosphere.

Follow Ivy's fun post comments over the past months showing how she improved her health and stopped her pain:

Free Exercise and Free Back and Knee Pain Prevention - Healthy Bending
Quick and Easy Strength and Balance Exercise
Don't Confuse Exercise With Real Fitness
If Better Abdominal Muscles Are Your New Year's Resolution, Try This
Quick, Feel-Good Upper Back and Chest Stretch
Studies Say Back Surgery Not Needed
Healthier Carrying - Get Free Ab Exercise and Stop Pain
Achilles Stretch in the Bathroom

Readers, keep the intelligent comments coming in reply to posts. e-mail me your stories and send fun photos of your progress. Prizes for the best ones. Happy Valentine's Day, a day of being good and healthy to yourself and others. That's health and love.

Labels: fix pain, holiday, partner exercise, readers inspiring story, sciatica, spirit, stress

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Fix Disc Pain Without Surgery

I received a phone call from a physician who said he had three successful disc surgeries and had slipped another disc. He wanted a consult with me before his fourth surgery. I told him it was like having three successful tonsillectomies. That is not a successful surgery. He had never stopped the reason he was pushing his discs out of place, one after the next.

Surgery for back pain and sciatica is considered by some as a solution, but an alarming number of people have pain that continues after surgery, or their pain stops initially while on pain medications and rehab following surgery, but then returns. The reason is that, except for unusual situations like bullet wounds or tumors, surgery does not stop the root cause of back pain. Because the cause continues, you continue doing harm to your back until it hurts again.

Degenerating or slipping discs are not from aging, or fate, or heredity, or a disease. The term "degenerative disc disease" is a misnomer. It is not a disease process, or a germ, or inherent factor or weakness that makes discs unhealthy. There are external factors, like smoking cigarettes, which contributes to disc degeneration. However, the majority of damage to discs and the soft tissue of the back and neck is usually chronic forward bending that physically pushes the disc outward until it presses on nearby soft tissue and nerves.

Disc damage occurs daily from avoidable bad bending in daily life, unhealthy sitting position, and many common exercises and stretches. Just as not all food is healthy, not all exercises and stretches are healthy, even some of the most common ones in gyms and yoga and fitness studios. The daily harm to your back is usually painless and something you are not aware of doing, until it accumulates, like smoking for years, until one day you get symptoms. The pain may come on suddenly, but was developing over years.

The physician who had the three surgeries, and three discs already removed, had gone back to all his bad bending, lifting, and sitting, and pushed out another disc. If he had stopped the injurious mechanics, he could have let the disc heal. Pain can often stop within days using this method. He probably never needed the first three surgeries. Having a fourth disc surgery will not stop him from going back to the injurious habits that caused the discs to break down and push out of place.

Removing discs, even part of them, means that the cushion and shock absorption between your vertebrae is reduced. This predisposes to early arthritis. A worse situation follows fusion surgery. It is a belief that stopping motion in a joint via fusion surgery will stop pain. But it also stops function. If you want an active life, it is setting you up for more problems. Even if you do not value being active, because fused back bones cannot move when you bend and sit and move, the vertebrae above and below the fused site must move more than usual, squeezing the discs and bones more than they are designed for. Fusion surgery is often a predisposing factor to forcing people into future back surgeries.

I sent the physician my free articles showing, step-by-step, how to stop disc pain. I sent him several of my books for his own use and for his waiting room. I called to follow-up on several occasions, urging him to simply stop the cause of disc injury so that he would not need the surgery. He told me he was not interested and had decided to go for his fourth back surgery. I hope his luck in avoiding surgical complications holds out as well as his good insurance.

The post Common Exercises Teach Bad Bending will get you started understanding common exercises that harm. There are far better exercises to do instead that give you fun, healthy movement without harm to discs. I am not in favor of doing less to avoid pain. I want my patients to have their life back and more. You can do this in fun ways and without surgery.


Photo by subscription to clipart.com

Labels: disc, fix pain, injury, lower back, neck, sciatica, sitting, surgery, upper back, yoga

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Studies Say Back Surgery Not Needed

Many back pain patients who come to me say the same thing; that they have gone for several opinions and were told each time that surgery was the only answer. However back pain, even chronic pain, sciatica and disc pain, are simple to stop with quick and non-surgical methods.

News articles are now reporting that back surgery is not more effective than non-surgical methods.

Patients are often told that if they don't have the surgery, they might become paralyzed. A recent New York Times article stated, "Many surgeons had long feared that waiting would cause severe harm, but those fears were proved unfounded." The Times article quoted Dr. Steven R. Garfin, chairman of the department of orthopedic surgery at the University of California, San Diego, "I think this will have an impact. It says you don't have to rush in for surgery."

More important to your health is what is not being reported. The Times article said, "No one who waited had serious consequences, and no one who had surgery had a disastrous result." It is important to know what is meant by, "no one who had surgery had a disastrous result." It is not considered "a disastrous result" if you go through the pain and fear of surgery and still have back pain, or are worse after surgery. It is not considered "a disastrous result" if you lose your job because of the time lost to surgery and recovery, and your family won't talk to you because they think you're a complainer. It is not considered a "disastrous result" if the medicines given during and after surgery cause problems you didn't have before, or worsen existing problems, and then you are given more medicines to counteract the first ones, each with their small (or large) health drawbacks. It is not considered a "disastrous result" if you get far more out of shape and gain large amounts of weight because you could do less after your surgery, and your overall health declines from it.

There is no national database where people who have the same or worse pain after surgery are counted. There is no clearinghouse where people who get new problems because of the surgery are counted or helped. Often, there is no way for surgeons to know that their patients still have pain years later.

Patients may be referred to physical therapy but as their pain, disability, and misery grow, they "are lost to follow-up." I hear these things every day because these patients show up in my office and e-mail me everyday saying they have no money left and will I please help them. They are at the end of what they can endure.

Exercise programs for back pain often fail because they do not stop the cause of pain. Personal trainers and Pilates instructors come to me all the time as patients with herniated discs because they do unhealthy bending and stretches for their exercise. There are far better exercises and stretches you can do instead. Some of my patients are doctors. Their own doctors said there is nothing else to do but live with pain. People often tell me, "You don't understand, I *HAD* to have the surgery, because of the pain." I do understand, and you can stop the pain without surgery, often better and faster.

1. My posts The Cause of Disc and Back Pain and Sitting Badly Isn't Magically Healthy by Calling It a Hamstring Stretch show you how easy it is to avoid and fix pain from bad discs and sciatica, and give better exercises to do instead.
2. Understand how to stop the root causes of pain in the posts Breasts Causing Upper Back Pain is a Myth and Disc Pain - Not a Mystery, Easy to Fix.
3. Learn why it is not a matter of just strengthening abdominal muscles and realize what abs really do to help your back in What Abdominal Muscles Don't Do - The Missing Link and Change Common Exercises to Get Better Ab Exercise and Stop Back Pain.
4. Read real stories of exactly how my patients fixed pain without surgery.
5. Fix your back pain by Christmas - read Fix Your Own Pain Without Drugs or Surgery

Use this free blog every day to change your idea of exercise from a bunch of artificial moves, to real health that is built-in to your daily life. You don't have to have back pain, and you can be stronger and healthier than before - without surgery.

Labels: disc, fix pain, hamstring, injury, lower back, neck, sciatica, sitting, surgery, upper back

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Bending Right is Fitness as a Lifestyle

Readers asked for more pictures of healthy bending around the house and workplace during daily life. They've been getting excited about the idea that daily life is the way to physical ability and health, instead of stopping life to do a bunch of exercises. People spend time and money for endless treatments and gadgets for back and knee pain and tight Achilles tendon. Healthy bending prevents the commonest sources of all of these.

• A major predisposing factor of knee and hip arthritis is weak thighs.
• A major risk factor of hip osteoporosis is lack of weight bearing exercise.
• A major risk factor of falls is weak legs and poor balance.
• The Achilles tendon gets a natural stretch with each time you bend right with heels down, and loses this constant normal source of stretch without good bending.
• The most important contributor to making a lumbar disc degenerate, or slip out of place (herniate), and press on nerves causing sciatica, is bad bending forward.
• The biggest contributor to upper back and neck pain is keeping the upper body rounded and bent over forward.

If you would like to reduce risk of falls, osteoporosis, bad discs, sciatica, achy upper back, and arthritis, get a built-in Achilles tendon stretch, and get strong shapely legs all at the same time, just use your legs with good body position for daily healthy bending.

Why go to the gym or to physical therapy to do knee bends to strengthen your legs, then spend your "real life" weakening your legs and degenerating your lower back discs with bad bending, and say, "I don't have time to exercise."

You will get free built-in exercise just moving in life. My friends and family in Asia are astonished when I tell them I teach Americans how to bend to look in the refrigerator, and that Americans tell me it is too much work to bend right to load dishes in a machine that washes for them. Then they pay money to go to a gym or buy equipment to exercise their legs.

Here is a fun way to change mindset to exercise as a lifestyle:

Count how many times a day you bend and how many times you can choose to harm yourself or help yourself.

If you would like to try "fitness as a lifestyle," this is the best place to start. Think of it:

1. when bending to make the bed,
2. to pick up laundry,
3. look in the refrigerator,
4. load and unload the dishwasher,
5. to pick up your shoes,
6. open a lower cabinet,
7. lift a child or pet,
8. feed a child or pet,
9. pick up things from the floor,
10. pick up hand weights to do exercise,
11. put down weights after exercising,
12. many daily activities.

More on bending and reaching, getting built-in lifestyle exercise, and fixing knee and back pain, in the books Fix Your Own Pain Without Drugs or Surgery and Health & Fitness in Plain English THIRD edition.

Labels: achilles stretch, arthritis, disc, fix pain, knee, leg press, leg strength, leg stretch, lower back, osteoporosis, sciatica, squat, strength, stretch, upper back

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The Cause of Disc and Back Pain

A UK Times article featured a physician musing that as medical students they were not taught in school to identify the cause of medical problems, but to treat symptoms (and give electric shocks to decerebrate frogs). The cause of the problem would still remain.

He mentioned how you may go to the doctor with painful tonsils, and be given a "diagnosis" of tonsillitis. He educates the reader that "Tonsillitis, for example, is not a disease but a symptom - of something else that caused the tonsils to be infected." He continued with how you may go to the doctor with pain down your leg, and be given back a "diagnosis" of sciatica, which just means "pain down the leg" but not what is causing the sciatica. A disc may be pressing on the nerve, but what is making the disc press? The sciatica and the bad disc are the symptoms. They are not the cause. Unfortunately, he stopped there, and for treatment said to go back to your activities with light rest. Nothing about what caused the disc to degenerate (break down) or protrude (herniate or slip) in the first place.

Understand The Causes:

1. Bad sitting and bending are main causes of disc degeneration and herniation.
2. Rounded sitting (photo on left) compresses the space between vertebrae in front and opens the space between them in back and squeezes the disc gradually backward into that space.
3. Bad bending (right) levers the weight of your upper body plus whatever you are lifting onto your lower back discs, whether you keep your back straight or rounded.

Strengthening your back will not stop you from sitting and bending wrong. Stretches or massage that feel good for the moment will not stop you from sitting and bending in the way that rounds the spine forward, pushing and squeezing the discs until, finally, give break down and squeeze out to the back (herniate).

A bad disc is not the diagnosis. It is not the cause of the problem. It is the result of what is causing the disc go bad.

You can treat the disc pain with pills, exercises, massage, and shots, but not remove the cause. When you continue the cause, the pain often comes back. You can undergo surgery to remove the disc, but of you do not remove the cause and continue injurious sitting, lifting, and bending, you continue harming your other discs.

What to Do:

• To stop the damage, stop the cause. Then it can heal.
• The post Disc Pain - Not a Mystery, Easy to Fix explains.
• The post Free Exercise and Free Back and Knee Pain Prevention - Healthy Bending shows simple healthy bending.
• The post Are You Making Your Exercise Unhealthy (and several others) shows how to easily fix unhealthy sitting.
• There is more information in the replies already here to the many reader comments below this post. Before asking more questions, see if your answers are already here. Also click labels under each post, links in posts, and archives at right.

It is easy to prevent and heal back pain when you simply stop the cause.

Labels: fix pain, injury, leg strength, leg stretch, lower back, posture, sciatica, sitting, squat, upper back

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Common Exercises Teach Bad Bending

I teach martial arts, yoga, and other classes at gyms on evenings and Saturdays. This morning I watched the class before mine. The music was loud. I remembered the saying "If it's too loud, you're too old."

When you read the following, remember that you already know it injures to bend "wrong," as in the photo at left, with your upper body bent over instead of upright. You know not to pick up a suitcase or child like that. Previous posts explain how that gradually hurts your lower back and discs.

The class ran a circuit:

• They bent wrong to pick up a barbell for ten deadlifts, staying bent over while lifting.
• They put the barbell down wrong (bending over) and ran to do ten toe touches - more bad bending over.
• They ran to do abdominal crunches, rounding their back forward over and over.
• They got up and kicked a target baffle, rounding their back and pushing their chin forward like a pigeon with each kick so that each impact transmitted to their spine.
• They ran across the room, each footfall landing heavily so that each impact transmitted to their knees, hip, and spine.
• Then leg lifts, bending forward at the hip over and over.
• Back to bent-over deadlifts, then alternate toe-touches - bending over and twisting side to side (more pressure on discs than just bending over), then sitting and bringing knees to chest, then deadlifts.
• They bent over wrong to get dumbbells for bent over triceps curls (healthier when done standing upright.)
• Then standing squats by bending the hip forward over and over. The instructor coached them to stick their behind far out in back. This pinches the lower back adding to a second kind of back pain. Posts coming soon will tell more.
• They reclined with feet up, putting body weight on their rounded shoulders to bicycle their legs in the air, and so on, rounding, bending, and pressuring discs and lower back structures for the 45-minute class.
• They bridged up on shoulder and feet, to "stretch the other way" even though it bent their neck forward.
• They ended by hanging forward to stretch and bringing each arm across the front of their body to stretch the back of the shoulder. This is counter-productive. Most people are already round-shouldered from sitting and bending forward all day. The personal trainer outside the room was doing similar exercises.

One of the students said she comes to the class to strengthen because of back pain. The trainer said he also had back pain and that is why he exercises. Hopefully you can now see part of why.

I'm not just an Ivory-tower egghead who wants you to reduce activity, never lift heavy things, or never move quickly or through a full range of motion. Just the opposite. I'm a former full contact kickboxer (undefeated) in the US, the Netherlands, and Thailand. I want to show you how to have a healthier, more fun and active life, where you stop pain and injuries and do more. The exercises I learned in over 30 years of martial arts were all the usual but injurious ones. Many students dropped out with injuries. It was not the martial arts but some of the exercises. But which? I went back to the lab to study until I found why the injuries were occurring and what will train you better than what we were using. If it works better, I want to know and do it.

Start your way back to healthy movement by noticing what your exercises are really doing. Watch other people exercising. These posts will show you better moves to do instead. If you would like a free pass to come to my Saturday morning class in downtown Philadelphia that teaches healthy exercise, let me know

Labels: arm, disc, fix pain, injury, lordosis, lower back, martial arts, sciatica, strength, yoga

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Disc Pain - Not a Mystery, Easy to Fix

Discs are tough cushions between your spine bones (left-hand drawing). They are living parts of your body. When you bend forward, the front of your vertebrae (back bones) squeeze closer together. The space between the back of each vertebrae opens. After many years of bad habits of sitting rounded forward, bad bending over forward, and stretching by bending over forward, the discs are forced backward, like squeezing the front of a water balloon (right drawing above). They begin to break down (degenerate) and move outward to the back, also called slip or herniate. Herniation can continue over years until it suddenly causes back pain with one more bad bend, until the disc moves backward enough to touch the nerves going down your leg causing sciatica and other nerve pain, or even press on your spinal cord. This is avoidable and easily reversed.

Discs can quickly heal without surgery, if you change your bending and sitting habits in simple, healthy ways:

1. Sitting. When you sit, don’t round your back. You don’t need an expensive ergonomic chair. No chair makes you sit right. You just use your own muscles to sit right. Make sure you don’t tighten and strain to sit straight. Pull your chair in closer to the desk, and lean your upper back against the seat back. Don’t round forward or push your lower back against the seat. Many seat backs are rounded so that you have to sit poorly if you rest your back against them. Don't let this happen. I will write more about healthy sitting in future posts.

2. Bending. The average person bends hundreds of times every day for daily activities like laundry, kitchen, pets, gardening, children, household chores, and everything else. Check to see if you are bending badly each time, hurting your discs. Check at the gym if you add more forward bending for toe-touches, weight lifting, and exercise class. The post Are You Making Your Exercise Unhealthy? shows some easily missed sources. The post Common Exercises Teach Bad Bending shows more. Bad bending puts herniating forces on your discs hundreds of times every day. No wonder your back hurts.

Here is one way to get healthy built-in leg exercise and stop back pain by bending well for every time you bend to reach things very day:

• Stand with feet side by side, comfortably apart.
• Bend both knees. Keep both heels down touching the floor.
• Keep your upper body upright, as if you don’t want something to fall out of your shirt pocket.
• As you bend lower and lower, peek down and make sure you can see your toes. If you can't, that means you are letting your knees come forward, which shifts your weight to your knees.
• Keep your knees back over your ankles to keep your weight on your leg muscles. Many people won't bend with their knees because it hurts their knees. This good bending stops knee pain too.

With healthy bending habits, you get free exercise hundreds of times a day, strengthen your legs, stop knee pain, and let your discs heal, all at the same time.

Many Fitness Fixer posts tell more about the large contribution of good daily bending, sitting, and moving habits to healthy lifestyle and stopping the source of disc injury. Click the links in this post for more examples and information. Click the labels under this post for all Fitness Fixer posts about that topic, for example, for good bending, click "squat" and "lunge," for healthy sitting, click the label "sitting." For all posts explaining discs or sciatica and how injury occurs and can heal, click those labels.

Labels: disc, fix pain, injury, knee, lower back, lunge, sciatica, sitting, squat, strength, upper back

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