Back pain is increasing among the world population despite the money, technology, research, medication, restriction, devices, surgeries and plain right ignorance to blame the back alone for the pain. However In a world of great innovations, why are our bodies claiming to be weak and feeble? Why are we still so far from the answers yet we seem to answer all of the other questions in the world?
Most physicians do the mistake of isolating the back alone not knowing that the back is connected to every part of the body. As much as it is important to know the anatomy of the body and “how it is supposed to work”, but that will not mean much in the movement and pain game.
So let us get down with some reality pointers….
The dirty little secret they do not know, will not tell you, or refuse to believe is that the back never behaves the same way with everyone.
How the back behaves, when it does and where it does depends on a few things
- The individual
- The task
- The environment
To put it in a simpler way: who you are, what you are doing and where you are doing it MATTERS!
We tackle how we can do things that the back does not do to help the back. Sounds confusing right? However think of all the things you have been doing about your back and they have not worked. It might be time to do some new things to see whether there will be change?
Your breathing pattern needs love
Stop respiring from your neck and chest because it is killing your back. Respiration and breathing is not the same thing. Respiration, everybody does otherwise we would be dead. Breathing takes conscious effort and attention. Breathing is the creamy filling of spinal stabilization. The central cylinder of the diaphragm, pelvic floor, transverse abdominis and multifidi, keep you braced and safe, just like a hug from mum.
They form the intrinsic core
If you do not own this support cylinder you do not own stability. If you have a back pain issue it is a guarantee that this system needs work. Start to breathe from your belly, your back and the ribs. Imagine inflating a balloon 360. Do not just inflate the front of the balloon (the belly)
Your feet are dumb
TAKE OFF YOUR SHOES!!!!!Your feet are supposed to feel the ground (environment) tone . If you wear shoes you do not feel the same. You will feel something alright but just not the same. And that means taking off the socks too!
Is it any wonder that the nerves in your lower back go all the way to the feet? Why don’t we start by showing some love to the furthest end of the nerves to make your back feel different? Massage your feet every day and walk around on many different types of surfaces.
The bottom of your feet has a fast track to your brain to give you a sense of where your body is in space and time. Skin on the ground helps muscles in your lower back to function better.
You never go to the ground on purpose
Most of the time if not rarely we do not like lying on flat ground whether on the grass or even mats. It is too bad because the ground has magic in it. Every fiber of your body is designed to get you off the floor. When you put more of your body on the ground is you feel safer and more stable.
The ground never lies. It always gives you a feedback of body position unlike sinking into a mattress marshmallow. The more skin you have in contact with the ground the more the sensory input your brain gets which feed forward to help the brain.
The skin and the brain come from the same neurodevelopmental tissue known as the ectoderm. Stimulating the skin is a neural hack way to help your brain mitigate pain.
Dr. Seuss says “sometimes the questions are complicated but the answers are simple”
Pass through the process of physiotherapy and then start doing these three actions. It is not a sure thing but you will have learnt something about your body and you need to take another approach. Be more proactive.
