Back Pain Breakthrough

 

In a YouTube by Jeremy Ethier and featuring Dr. Stuart Magill we learn that what feels right might be wrong.

The deceptive stretch reflex

Allowing our spine to curl inwards, forwards, while giving temporary relief from pain, is probably increasing the pressure that caused our back pain in the first place. Forward flexion puts pressure on the spine and can lead to bulging and herniated discs.  No thank you. These unhelpful stretches all include forward flexion of the spine, for example, a poorly-performed toe-touch, or bringing both knees in toward the chest... whoopsie, we do that one in class- not any more. 

Sitting too much
Instead, there are movements we can perform which mobilize the spine to decrease stiffness and still others that stretch the psoas muscle. This muscle goes from the top of the leg to the  low back. It can become chronically tight from sitting, or, say, driving and when it is tight, it can pull on the lower back. So it is beneficial to do a good psoas stretch to open up the hip joint. 

Head Forward Posture

Believe it or not, head forward posture can have an impact on the lower back. As we age our head travels further and further forward.  Those of us with a smart phone.  Yikes.  Let's start holding our phone in front of our face.  Bonus - if we did hold our phone up higher, we might actually put it down more often.

Dr Stuart Magill famously has measured the actual stresses on the spine during and after various movements. He measure the impact from various movements and "beneficial stretches. The message is - don't necessarily trust your instincts. This temporary relief can be quite deceptive.

I am really excited to share these quite revolutionary ideas in my classes.