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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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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Long Sitting - Simple and More Comfortable

As you read this, we will have been on several days of flights and trains.

Sitting for long periods does not have to be uncomfortable, whether at the desk, on a flight, when driving. Most lists of instructions for sitting without hurting your back tell you to sit in exact ways at exact angles. This is not needed. Instead, it's better to understand the concepts of how and why strain and injury occur when sitting. Then you can sit in healthy ways that are comfortable, easy, and healthy.

Many desk chairs, even expensive ergonomic chairs are made so that you sit with your spine rounded forward. Sitting rounded eventually creates herniating forces on your discs, explained in The Cause of Disc and Back Pain and Are You Making Your Exercise Unhealthy?

Commercial airline, bus, and train seats often have a concave seat back, encouraging prolonged, enforced rounding. So do many car seat backs, even those saying they have lumbar support.

• If your seat back is too concave, pad the space with a small cushion.
• Use a pad about the size of your own forearm.
• Place the pad in the small inward curve of your lower back.
• Don't remain sitting rounding forward against the lumbar pad out of habit. A lumbar roll will not make you sit right.
• Lean your upper back against the chair. Don't press your lower back against the pad.
• If your lumbar roll hurts, it is not right. It should not be a hard material that hurts you. See if you have it positioned in the right place.
• At a desk, move your seat in closer so that you do not round or lean forward to reach or see the computer.

Future posts will cover more about lumbar roll use and misuse.

If the seat is very concave, you may need two pillows, one for the small inward curve of your low back, and the second above that one for your upper back, in the space still left by the rounded seat. The upper back has a small outward curve, however sitting with a large outward curve creates upper back pain.

Get up frequently to move. Here is the link to last year's travel sitting post on Exercise and Stretch for Long Travel Sitting.

Labels: disc, fix pain, lower back, lumbar roll, posture, sitting, upper back

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Household Fitness in the New Year

Start off the new year with fitness as a lifestyle. Use healthy movement and body positioning as you go about all your daily activities.

David from Belgium trains balance first thing



Ivy from New Zealand uses a half squat to functionally strengthen her legs and prevent back pain while making the bed.






See - Bending Right is Fitness as a Lifestyle.

















Our friend MomPon is relative to the abbot of the Muay Thai Monks on Horseback near the border of Myanmar (Burma). We stayed with her during the time we spent at the monastery. She sits straight and comfortably in full squat to get things for dinner from her garden, then to wash dishes in her kitchen. We do the same when we help. She stands straight with chin in to reach overhead to get tamarind fruit from her tree, see - Change Daily Reaching to Get Ab Exercise and Stop Back and Shoulder Pain.

Labels: balance, biking, children, gardening, lunge, posture, sitting, squat

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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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Fast Fitness - Strength, Abs, Balance, and Ankle and Leg Stabilization

Here is Friday Fast Fitness - quickly increase functional stabilization of the knee, leg, and ankle while increasing overall strength and balance.

Anyone can lift weights, but can you do it balancing on a basketball? Get started by standing on one foot:

1. Do your regular lifts, curls, presses while standing on one foot (and then the other). Breathe.


2. Notice the leg you stand on. Don't let the arch of your foot flatten toward the floor, or knee roll inward toward the other leg. Hold knee, ankle, arch inline, using your muscles. See Arch Support Is Not From Shoes.
   


3. Don't lean your upper body backward (increasing lower back arch) when lifting arms up - a hidden source of back pain. See Change Daily Reaching to Get Ab Exercise and Stop Back and Shoulder Pain.

It reduces exercise to sit, even on a fitness ball. It is more exercise, more functional, and better balance training to stand on one foot than to sit. You sit all day already.

Be safe, be excited about having fun doing functional movement, be happy.

Labels: abdominal muscles, ankle, arches, arm, balance, exercise ball, fast fitness, hip strength, knee, leg strength, neutral spine, pronation, sitting, strength

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Pearl is 97

After reading about success with exercise and stretching over various posts including Monday's Getting More From a Hip Stretch, reader Dr. Alan, sent this photo at right of his mother Pearl, age 97, stretching her hip. The straighter upright you sit, and the farther toward the ankle the leg is placed over opposite knee, the greater the stretch. If you are at your desk, try putting ankle over opposite knee, keeping the lifted knee under the desk. More stretch when low desk height keeps your knee down. Pearl also does the "ankle over knee" hip stretch while standing.

Pearl gets regular leg exercise through good bending as she goes about her busy days - she bends well with one foot in front of the other - the lunge, and with feet side by side - the half-squat. This post tells why this kind of bending gives better exercise, maintains mobility, and prevents various knee problems.

Thank you Pearl!

Labels: aging, hip, leg stretch, readers inspiring story, sitting, stretch

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Back to School - Healthy Sitting

The mind can only absorb what the tushy can endure. Better sitting can make better work along with better health. If your back or neck hurt from sitting, here is how to change it.

You don't need special or ergonomic chairs, keyboards, or desks.
You can sit well on a bucket. You can sit poorly and have pain
from an expensive posture chair. Many people do.

Myths of how to sit "right" involve strange rules - to keep thighs parallel to the floor, for example,
or feet at certain angles, or hips at 90 degree angles to the body.
None of these are necessary.

The photo of sitting, at right, shows sitting poorly. No mystery. The spine is rounding forward. Body weight presses on the lower back discs. The upper back is overstretched. The head is held at an angle that pulls on the muscles at the top of the shoulder. The post Don't Fall for "Don't Sit Up Straight" explained about a research study that found there is less pressure while leaning back against a seat, than when sitting vertically. That does not mean not to "sit straight" as the headlines said. With or without a seat back, sitting straight is still healthier than rounding.




The HealthLine team sent the photo (left) of one example of healthy straight sitting,

and a parody of exaggerated, strained, rigidly straight sitting, (right).

Anyone trying it would soon find that sitting straight like that is not worth the strain, with good reason.












To try better sitting now:

1. Move your backside right against the chair back.
2. Move your chair in closer to the desk.
3. Lean your upper back against the seat back, not your lower back. Do not press or round against the lower back.
4. Chin in loosely, not jutting or tilting forward over the desk.

What is a good way to remember to sit without rounding forward? Watch other people sitting, driving, at the desk, and when exercising and stretching. Their bad positioning will remind you not to do that to your own spine.

Many chairs, even expensive ergonomic "back posture" chairs advertised to have built in lumbar support, are built in a way that makes you round forward when you sit against the seat back. The next post on sitting will cover fixing a bad chair.

The body needs movement for health. Get up from the chair often to straighten and move. The post Exercise and Stretch for Long Travel Sitting will get you started. When sitting, use your brain and your muscles to get free, natural, upper back use by not slumping. Make the idea of good sitting about understanding healthy body use and positioning instead of memorization without comprehension. Make healthy body use enjoyable and interesting. This is the kind of learning that is in the best spirit of "Back to School."

Good sitting should not cause pain.

Posts with more healthy Back-to-School:

• Carrying Schoolbooks Is Not the Cause of Back Pain
• Prevent Neck Pain and Get Upper Back Exercise Carrying Backpacks
  
• Healthier Backpack Carrying to Get Better Exercise and Stop Back Pain

Labels: children, fix pain, lower back, posture, sitting, upper back

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Inspirational Ivy

Ivy from New Zealand e-mailed me last week with a funny update of persevering to improve 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 caring 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 quietly sparkled over rocks on its way by, inspiring and lovely. Some are private, some I have her permission to tell.

Last October, Ivy posted 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.

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. Earlier this year I wrote her asking if she could send me photos demonstrating what she is doing. She invited a neighbor who came and took photos, and 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, hamstring, lunge, nutrition, posture, readers inspiring story, sciatica, sitting, squat, upper back

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Forensic Anthropology and Bone Density

A few weeks ago, I attended a lecture on forensic anthropology. In general, this is the study of things you can tell from human bones in a crime setting. How old was the person? Were they male or female? How big were they? What was their probable race or ancestry?

Why was I there when my work is with the living? Two main reasons. I am the science officer for the Vidocq Society, an international forensic society. I might evaluate data, for example in an aviation disaster, whether someone might have been conscious at each point when undergoing G-forces or different temperatures and amounts of oxygen after a depressurization at various altitudes. In a scuba death, I might advise on physical changes that occur with different situations. The second reason was to learn more about bones. Bones are remarkable. Your bones know a lot about you. What was your health like? Were you active? What kind of activity did you do? When I was small, I read about an archaeological dig in ancient Rome. The bones of a girl were recovered. The account stated they could tell she carried loads too heavy for her, and was therefore (in conjunction with other evidence) probably a servant or slave. I was riveted. How could they know that? I spent years after that learning more about telling how someone moved from looking at their bones.

Throughout your entire life, when you exercise you stimulate growth of new bone cells. The physical pull of muscles thickens your bones where the muscles attach. Using your arm muscles thickens arm bones. Using your legs strengthens leg bones, and so on. This is a main mechanism of how exercise prevents osteoporosis. Without exercise, you don't stimulate enough new cells to counter the normal loss as old ones break down. Your bones thin no matter how much calcium you eat. The post Exercise is More Important Than Calcium Supplements for Bones tells more about this. Bone demineralization is rapid and serious in astronauts in microgravity (Collapsing Astronaut Gives Healthy Reminder).

How you use your muscles causes them to pull differently, giving evidence about the kind of habitual motion. More interesting is that when you are active, your bones grow and shape themselves to facilitate your motion. An example of interest to readers following the posts on squatting is that people who habitually sit for normal daily life in full squat grow "squatting facets" on their lower leg bones. These are small areas on the bone that quickly grow to make squatting more comfortable. At one point, it was a debate in anthropology that squatting facets were a marker of someone of Asian ancestry, until it was found that others who squat also grow them, and that squatting facets disappear when the person adopts a Western sitting habit of chairs and no longer squats. Babies of all races can have them.

Someone who habitually slouches can change the shape of their bones, eventually deforming them. This can occur in the spine, knees, hips, ankles, shoulders, feet, toes - everywhere you pressure your bones. Changing positioning habits to healthier ones can, in many cases, reshape the bones back to healthier shape. Think of braces on your teeth. It's human bonsai. In cases of extreme dystrophies of the muscles, someone who sits without function of their trunk muscles to hold the spine upright, can eventually deform their spine until their ribs sit on their hip bones. How are you sitting right now? The recent post What Does Stretching Do? explained a bit of why stretching isn't reducing injuries. People are stretching, then exercising and going about daily life in bent over positions that rub and grind the joints and soft tissue.

You literally shape your own health. Use the posts throughout this Fitness Fixer blog to do healthy exercise in healthful positioning so that your bones will only tell good tales about you.

Labels: achilles stretch, aerospace, ankle, arm, feet, forensic, injury, leg stretch, osteoporosis, posture, scuba, sitting, squat, toes

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Functional Achilles Stretch

Sitting in full squat with heels down can be healthful and useful. Squatting for daily life is a built-in Achilles stretch, more effective and functional than the standard "lunge and lean stretch" against the wall, or lowering one heel from a step or ledge. Better Achilles Tendon Stretch shows one Achilles tendon stretch that is effective and quick. Sitting in a full squat is another. Rising from the squat adds functional leg muscle strengthening and balance.

I took the photo, above left, in an airport in Asia. The man was easily sitting to work on his laptop during the hour before boarding. Others were similarly sitting with laptops and mobile devices to get work done. Elders squatted that way to rest.

Achilles Stretch in the Bathroom introduced the full squat as a functional normal daily action used in many countries for resting, washing, gardening, working, washing, toileting, chatting on the phone, and other activities, and gave an idea of how to try it. Save Knees When Squatting explains how keeping the heels down rather than lifting heels to rest on the ball of the foot is safer for the knees. Reader Mim supplied a wonderful link in the comments for a great little film of the Asia squat. More Fun Squatting tells a funny squatting story.

People new to squatting may find their Achilles tendons are too tight to bend in this normal manner. Reader Ivy of New Zealand offered to demonstrate one easy way to practice this stretch in a safe way, and sent the photo at right.

Keep both heels down while holding something sturdy in front. Straighten your arms and lean back to shift weight away from the knee joints.

Squatting can be a nice stretch for your lower back too. I have been working, off and on, for some years on the interesting finding that slight forward spine rounding when just sitting on your heels in the squat (no weights) does not load the spine to the extent of sitting on your behind in a chair. Be smart about trying it or not if you already have damaged knees. When rising, make sure to keep knees back over your feet, not sliding forward, which loads the knee joint, or inward at an angle (narrower than your feet), which can twist the joint. Either action can grind against the meniscus and cartilage.

Done properly, it should feel good on the Achilles and calf, lower back, be good exercise, not hurt the knees, and become an option for a functional stretch and even normal sitting ability.

Labels: achilles stretch, balance, leg strength, leg stretch, lower back, sitting, squat, strength, stretch

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Does an Exercise Ball Make You Sit Straight?

Healthline staff helpfully sent in photos of sitting at work on an exercise ball. Both photos show obvious slouching and forward rounding.

A ball does not make you sit upright or prevent unhealthful, uncomfortable sitting position. You can sit upright or not. It is not the ball, but you, that determines what you do with your own body.




A ball that is too high will even prevent you from sitting close enough to the desk, so that you have to lean over forward to reach the surface.


Use common sense and your own muscles for simple, comfortable, healthful habits.




Photos courtesy of Healthine.com. Please do not try these bad postures at home. Healthline staff are trained professionals.

Labels: exercise ball, fix pain, myths, posture, sitting, upper back

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Get Better Exercise From Your Chair

How many times do you get in and out of a chair everyday? It could be enough for a fair amount of exercise, if you use muscles instead of leaning forward (photo shows terrible sitting) and flopping down.

At a medical conference last year, a speaker droned endlessly about back surgery (even though Studies Say Back Surgery Not Needed, and you can Fix Disc Pain Without Surgery) and the usual tedious exercises that people must do three times a week (then they do unhealthy movement all day that causes the pain in the first place, or do their exercises in back damaging ways - Common Exercises Teach Bad Bending). An obese physician arriving late plodded to a chair next to me. She laboriously bent over, bending wrong to put her bag on the floor. She slowly bent over forward, bending wrong again to retrieve two cushions from the bag. She bent over wrong again to place one cushion on the chair seat, then again for the second cushion for the chair back. She turned her back to the chair, bent far forward, bent her knees a small amount, so slowly, then slammed her backside down to the chair with a WHUMP. She sat rounded for the rest of the lecture about surgery for disc herniation. Sitting and bending rounded forward is the major cause of disc "disease." To easily avoid disc pain and surgery see Disc Pain - Not a Mystery, Easy to Fix.

What to do instead? Any time you start to sit, check if you lean forward and stick your backside out. You shouldn't need to lean far forward to sit, or rise from sitting. If you have to lean, it is usually a sign of weak legs. If your heels come up as you bend your knees, your Achilles tendons are tight (or you have functional bad Achilles habits). You shouldn't (ordinarily) need to use your hands to sit or rise. Your balance and legs should do the work. Do you sit down heavily, not using leg and hip muscles to decelerate? Why jolt your spine and give up free calorie burning at the same time? Try this now to see:

Stand up, ready to sit -

1. Start to sit, keeping both heels down on the floor.
2. Don't lean forward. If you lean, correct it by tilting your hip under and raising your upper body to be straighter.
3. Keep both knees back over your heels. Don't let knees slide forward.
4. Keep knees parallel over your heels. Don't let knees sway inward.
5. Notice how you have to use far more leg and hip muscle, and the pressure of holding your body weight comes off the lower back and knee joints.
6. Notice if you reach for the arm rests, or other support, out of habit. Use your leg muscles instead.
7. Sit down lightly.

Start to rise from sitting -

1. Notice if you lean far forward or raise your heels or jut your chin forward.
   
2. Notice if you need to push off your hands.
3. Notice if your knees comes together. Don't let them.
   
4. Change how you rise to put both heels down on the floor, push off your whole foot including heels, and use your leg muscles to rise while holding your upper body more upright without jutting your neck and chin forward.

This is not a bunch of strange rules for sitting, or a weird, contrived exercise, it is just basic concepts for normal healthful daily movement.

The previous post explains why it is not healthy for your back or the best exercise to lean and stick out in back - Aren't You Supposed To Stick Your Behind Out to Sit Down or Do Squats? It covered good knee placement too, so check that if you avoid healthy movement because of knee pain.

Exercise is still thought of as something you go and "do" instead of moving in real life. It's silly to do 10 squats in a gym or using your chair and then go back to unhealthy movement each time you sit or bend during the day. Have comfortable healthful movement all day. Sit and rise easily. That is exercise as a lifestyle.

Labels: achilles stretch, disc, leg press, leg strength, lower back, sitting, strength</