How To Stop Siatica & Back Pain - Lesson 5
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Hello and welcome to Lesson 5 of your Back Health & Exercise Course.
After the previous lessons I hope you have started exercising your back regularly. You don't have to do a whole lot, just a bit every day helps.
REMEMBER: In modern life, most back problems arise from too little movement of the right type. So when a strain is placed upon your back, it's unable to respond properly. The result is the muscles supporting your spine "freeze" as a protective measure. This freezing is the usual source of pain and stiffness. The problems can then start to compound because pain and stiffness often mean you move less. If you're not moving much, this means your back becomes weaker and a vicious cycle of pain, stiffness and weakness starts.
So the way to break this cycle is:
Number 1.
Just be aware of what your back is doing. The phrase "learn to listen to your body" is often used in health and fitness programs. The same goes for your back
- learn to listen to it. If it feels stiff, get up and/or have a stretch and change position.
- Get up and walk around briefly every 20-30 minutes if you're a desk worker (PCs are notoriously bad for necks and shoulders).
- If you drive long distances stop and walk around your vehicle every hour or so.
- Lift things correctly - legs bent, arms & load close to your body, stomach muscles clenched, don't twist until you have stopped lifting.
Number 2.
Regularly exercise your whole body because your back is intimately connected with the rest of your body.
For example if you have tight hamstrings you will probably get back problems.
Why? Because your hamstrings are very strong muscles and if they're stiff and pulling on your back, they're easily strong enough to pull it out of alignment.
We mentioned the simplest whole-of-body exercise is walking. Swimming is even better. Commit yourself to walking a bit more every day and have an occasional swim if you don't already.
TIP: I recently read a study which claimed a walk before breakfast will increase your weight loss. Apparently your body burns more fat when you exercise on an empty stomach.
Number 3.
Specific exercises to loosen and strengthen the supporting "core stability" muscles and ligaments in your back and surrounding areas. The specialised exercises for your back in the Better Back System really help you 'wake up' and strengthen your core stability muscles.
I recently came across another exercise for sciatica and back pain that is described in our sciatica blog - keep an eye on it for news and updates. It uses the same basic ideas as the Better Back System in that it aims to condition and re-educate the muscles that support your back.
REMEMBER: Always read our disclaimer before you attempt any exercise.
SCIATICA & BACK PAIN RELIEF EXERCISE
1. Stand with your feet about 45cm (18 inches) apart.
2. Slowly rotate your head and shoulders as far as you can to the left. DO NOT TWIST OR TURN RAPIDLY. Stop when you feel tension or pain in the muscles of your neck and/or back.
3. At this point you will have turned somewhere between 90 and 180 degrees and be looking somewhere between to your left and to your rear depending on how supple you are.
4. Hold the position for a few seconds, count slowly 1-2-3-4-5. THIS IS IMPORTANT.
The hold time gives your brain a clear signal so it can differentiate between your normal muscle tension and maximum achievable muscle tension.
5. Next slowly return to the straight ahead position and then twist to the right hand side (i.e. in the opposite direction) and hold the position again for a few seconds count slowly 1-2-3-4-5. AND REPEAT
6. Do the exercise for a minute or two, 4 to 5 times a day and you can expect to see relief from most lower and upper back pain.
EXERCISE STANDING OR SITTING
When you do the exercise standing, twist your whole body. This involves the muscles in your hips and legs also. You can also do the exercise sitting in which case it works best if you clasp your hands together on top of your head. Measure your progress by monitoring how far around you can get your elbow. This version focuses on the neck and shoulder areas. The aim here is to see as far behind your back as you can.
This way you get maximum rotation of both the neckbone and backbone. Repeat this for 5 minutes, but start out doing less if it makes your back pain worse. Good luck and we look forward to sharing more with you in the next lesson.
Go to www.sciaticacenter.com to learn exercises to stop sciatica
