Back Pain II- Your Legs

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Like the foundations of a building supporting what is above it, so your legs (and feet) support the weight of your body, any weakness or pain in your legs  given long enough,  eventually effects your spine and all that is attached to it. When people limp for instance it creates a lop-sidedness in the body. Lop-sided bodies are not as energy efficient, well balanced, comfortable or attractive as straight bodies .

Broken bones, sprains, strains, torn or stiff muscles, arthritis or just plain laziness and lack of fitness in your legs, can and often do cause back and neck pain, some times long after your leg and foot actually stop hurting.

This explains why people are often mystified by a sudden onset of  back pain that seems to be unrelated to anything that has happened to their back such as through  heavy lifting  or falling awkwardly.

The best prevention for leg related back pain is to have a good exercise regime that includes stretches and strengthens  your leg muscles, constant postural awareness and wearing good shoes.

Getting back pain from a sore knee or ankle is a type of compensatory effect, a sore knee may cause your knee, ankle or hip on the other side of your body, to become sore too for no apparent reason.

A sore knee can cause back pain through compensatory affects, it is like driving your car around with a wheel missing, the rest of the car will eventually be damaged by it.

People awaiting hip or knee replacement surgery often require further joint replacement surgery later on because of the compensatory affect. Their other previously healthy joints work harder and at stressed angles to keep you upright. Weight gain usually results through reduced mobility.

If you possibly can, get all niggling leg and foot problems sorted out before they worsen and spread. Such problems are not rare , they happen all the time, and not just to the elderly, many young people every year sustain sports injuries to their legs. Even if you may have had successful surgery at the time it does not mean it will be a permanent and complete remedy, anyone who follows football knows that once a player has sustained a leg injury another often quickly follows, proof  again of the compensatory effect.

The truth of the matter is that your body is busy doing all sorts of stuff that you are not normally conscious of, like breathing and  placing one foot infront of the other when you walk. The way a body manages to keep itself moving when parts of it are sick or injured is also something that requires little conscious thought.

There are many forms of therapy that can help you deal with leg and back problems such as acupuncture, osteopathy, chiropractic and massage therapy. Exercise in the form of  yoga, pilates and Tai Qi can be effective too. Some find that switching to a less acidic and low sugar diet can reduce symptoms. A regular dietary review can be helpful, poor eating habits can creep up on you like poor postural habits can.

Do something today about that dodgy knee before it gets dodgier.

Posture II- Bad Habits

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*Sleeping on lounges is a very easy trap to fall into but the trouble is that they are designed to be sat on, not slept on. The backward slanting and narrow (compared to a bed) surface that you sit upon makes it impossible to keep a straight back when you sleep on the average lounge, chronic lounge sleepers eventually develop bad postures, whether you sleep upright or lie down. If you get lower back and/or neck pain you will undermine your best attempts to rid yourself of these problems for as long as you continue to do this.

*Car seats, if you cannot place your heels against the fire-wall (the floor between the peddles) without moving your backside forward in the seat as you are doing so, your seat is too far from the dashboard, move it forward. Your bottom should always be as far back in the seat as possible, the best lower back support in your vehicle is useless if you don’t sit in it properly. Men are usually the worst offenders at this, Formula 1 drivers sit in specially designed couches in very low profile vehicles, they are supposed to lean right back, the rest of us are not, give it a go- and don’t forget to tip your mirrors up too or you will immediately sink back down in your seat the first time you need to use them.

*Sleeping face down is another common postural bad habit, your back cannot stay straight in this position, even though sleeping is totally passive, you will spend between a quarter to a third of your life doing it so your spine is effected by your sleeping posture/position. If you can’t get comfortable enough to sleep in any way other than the prone position it might be time for a new mattress and /or pillow, if that doesn’t work you probably need therapy and exercise, acupuncture, massage, osteopathy, yoga and pilates are all good places to start. Prone sleeping is much more common amongst women than it is men.

*Being totally left or right hand dominant has postural consequences too, the more you use one hand (or foot) to do anything repeatedly makes one side of your body stronger and stiffer than the other side, your spine may become scoliosed (bent to the side) as a result. Make a conscious effort to approach life in a more ambidextrous way and your spine will benefit from it, just simple things like shaving, brushing your hair and carrying your brief case or handbag on the opposite side to what you normally do is a good place to start.

This is only a short list of common bad posture habits but the good news is that it doesn’t cost anything to do something about it. Breaking bad habits is never easy, when you have replaced your poor postural habits with good ones you have achieved something important.

Frozen Shoulder

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In medical literature Frozen Shoulder’s proper name is Adhesive Capsulitis, as the name suggests the shoulder joint develops adhesions inside it that interferes with the smooth sliding motion that we  normally take for granted. Frozen Shoulder (FS) is also sometimes referred to as Fifties Shoulder because it’s onset is most commonly experienced by people in the 45-55 age group.

The common wisdom in medicine is that  FS resolves itself after 2 years, which is ok if you are prepared to wait that long. Leaving FS untreated tends to be further complicated by the fact that it usually occurs on the side of the body that you tend to use most. Once FS sufferers start to reach things off high shelves by bending sideways rather than use their other hand, mid back pain and stiffness starts to develop on your “good side” (this is a type of compensatory effect). This gives you an extra problem.

People who regularly stretch their shoulder muscles each day will rarely be taken by surprise with FS, once they feel it start to tighten and lose mobility they know it is time to see their favourite body worker. When treated early FS is usually quickly rectified. If you let it take hold because you choose to ignore the early signs or you just don’t notice it come on because you never stretch your shoulder muscles  FS is a lot harder to get rid of.

Basically if you find it difficult to reach upwards and backwards with either hand you are possibly on the way to getting FS. it is time to get some therapeutic massage, acupuncture or some other form of soft tissue work. Even though FS is a middle aged problem younger people can get it too.

FS is more likely to happen if you have had shoulder injuries in the past, like getting rotator cuff damage from a shoulder dislocation or repetative strain injuries through poor exercise practises (ie- too many push-ups) or chronic cramped work posture.

For many FS sufferers the first time they notice their condition is when they suddenly reach for things they were formerly able to grasp like an umbrella on their car’s back seat, a hand rail descending stairs or putting coats and pullovers on.

Basically if you notice your shoulders start to tighten do something about it sooner rather than later, it may save you much expense and annoyance later on.

Sometimes your FS occurs as an isolated problem, other times it can happen as a part of something bigger, like PMR (polymyalgia rheumatica) which can effect all your joints.  Stretch regularly and act early. 

Fertility and Pregnancy

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Acupuncture and massage can help new mothers and mothers-to-be in many ways, even IVF clinics now are recommending acupuncture as an adjunct therapy for the women attempting to conceive. Traditional acupuncturists have known for a long time that acupuncture helps with infertility but the acknowledgement that it is now so from the Medical establishment is very satisfying. Women wanting to conceive who also suffer from chronic lower back pain may infact find that they can benefit in both ways using acupuncture.

After conception has taken place many women can suffer alot of morning sickness, acupuncture is one of the very few forms of therapy that is considered safe for the treatment of  morning sickness, I have successfully treated many expectant mums over the years for morning nausea.

As womens’ bellies swell later into the pregnancy their body weight increases and their centre of balance shifts, frequently resulting in lower back pain and even sciatica, acupuncture and massage helps with this too. If you are worried that you are too big to lie face down to get treated don’t be, because you can receive these therapies sitting up or lying on your side with no problems, purpose made pregnancy tables are also used.

Sometimes mums-to-be can get carpal tunnel syndrome in their wrists from the extra fluid their pregnant body contains, acupuncture and massage helps with this problem too. The extra fluid in their wrists physically pressurises the blood vessels and nerves in the carpal tunnel inside the wrists.

Towards the final stages of pregnancy indigestion and reflux are frequent discomforts that expectant mums can do without, fortunately acupuncture can help with this too as it can with insomnia this often causes. Acupuncture can help sooth people’s emotions whether they are pregnant or not, pregnancy can be a very emotionally trying time for women, if you go to get some acupuncture for your morning sickness ask your acupuncturist to make you feel more relaxed too if this is a problem for you.

If a woman goes past her due date or finds it difficult to properly establish labour,  drugs are used, acupuncture can assist with stimulating contractions too ( and even help reposition a baby in breach position).

After you get your new bundle of joy spending hours hunched over your baby breast feeding can produce neck, upper back and shoulder pain, acupuncture and massage can be of great assistance helping you with this. Carrying your baby around on one arm while you use the other hand to open doors, turn taps on and off and get the change table ready can also be a real pain in the shoulder, if this is you acupuncture, massage and Self Massage will help you.

If you haven’t had any kids yet you will soon discover that after you do, plenty of people in white coats are terribly interested in the baby but not in you! Acupuncture and massage can help prevent adhesions forming on C-section scars. If you feel down and tired acupuncture and massage can help that too, getting fit again is given a helping hand with these therapies also.

Always remember to take the time to look after yourself, your baby will notice if you are not happy even if you don’t.

Warming up

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Muscle tears  seem to happen more often in cold weather, all sorts of things go brittle when they are cold particularly things that contain water like our bodies do.

The current wisdom about stretching is that if you are warming up to do something strenuous each stretch should only be maintained for a few seconds before moving onto the next one. The rationale for this is that if the muscle is more thoroughly stretched the nerve may be temporarily weakened enough (immediately preceding) a vigorous activity  to be damaged through sudden over-extension. A large recent study concluded that pre-workout stretching offers no benefits at all.

Warm-down (after you play) and stretching for the sake of extending your natural flexability is a different matter, taking a minimum time of 20 seconds for each stretch will eventually improve your flexability if you pick the right exercises and do them often enough (3 times a week).

Whether warming up or warming down stretching should never be jerky, smooth and gradual helps prevent injury and gives you faster results.

Walking or skipping warms the body quite well as can calisthenics, any physical activity half way between what you are doing and what you intend on doing can prepare you for physical exertion.

Percussive Self Massage can warm your body up for exercise, you see Tai Qi students hit their arms, legs and bodies with their hands before they commence their routine, you will see athletes of the Chinese track and field team do this too before competing. If you have never tried warming up this way give it a try, you might be pleasantly surprised.

“Warming up” is not often recommended as a thing worth doing for sedentary workers but having a brisk walk around the office for a few minutes several times through the day has a similar benefit to using the same activity before exercising. Warming up is all about giving your blood circulation a boost whether you are about to exercise or not.

An extended warm up can be an exercise routine in itself if you are recovering from an illness or returning to activity after a long break. When the weather is cold warming up has added practical value.

Warming up uses calories too if you are not very fit a long warm up can actually be a light work out for you particularly if you are of advanced years.

Even though stretching is not currently in favour as an exercise preparation, there is probably no harm in doing it if you are preparing for a stretching class.