Fixing Pain and Golf Easier With Real Life Movement Than Isolated Exercises
Monday, May 12, 2008
Jolie Bookspan, M.Ed, PhD, FAWM
Jeff is a Silicon Valley executive, and coach of Next Stage. He found that a lifestyle of unhealthy exercise habits can accumulate, until one day of golf becomes "the Camel's Last Straw."
Jeff writes:
"There is life after back pain – even the kind where you can’t walk, sit, lie down, or sleep.
"The weekend before Thanksgiving (2007), I was out golfing, and I made a pretty bad swing at a ball that was buried in deep rough. My club got stopped by the deep grass, my back and arms kept going. I immediately felt a sharp pain in my lower back – so much in fact that I could no longer make a normal swing or even get down into a putting stance.
"I had to give it up after 6 holes and head home. I could still walk, but I couldn’t crouch and I had a hard time getting up out of a chair.
"Three days later feeling a little better, I headed out to the fitness center to do some treadmill running - NOT a good decision. After about 10 minutes, as I was cranking up the speed to a fast jog, I felt a searing pain in my lower back and down through my left thigh. From then on, I was toast.
"By the next morning I could barely walk. I had so much pain in my lower back and left leg I needed to support myself with a cane. I could barely walk or stand with the cane. There was no comfortable position for me, and I couldn’t sleep more than an hour at a time – even on pain killers and over the counter sleeping pills. Two trips to the chiropractor changed nothing.
"I did a web search, found Dr. Bookspan's web site, bought "Fix Your Own Pain Without Drugs or Surgery" and then even sent her an email telling what had happened. To my amazement, I got a personal answer (then another then another as I wrote with more questions and my progress). Dr. Bookspan referred me to the lower back pain part of her site, and I started doing the retraining exercises daily – and more importantly I started “living” the exercises, i.e., using them to get good body positioning and healthy movement into my day.
"In the beginning I could barely do the exercises, my pain was so extreme I couldn’t lie flat on my stomach or back without pain, not to mention doing upper or lower back extensions. (I wrote to Dr. Bookspan who found that I was overarching the lower back, when I was thinking I was straight. Wow! Consciously tucking the hip more reduced the pain significantly.)
"After a few days, things improved so I could perform the exercises better. I started to walk again – albeit with discomfort. (I wrote again and once again got the encouragement I needed, and realized the specific things I was not yet getting right. I was still overarching the lower back and that was preventing healthful motion.)
"Today, it is 5 weeks since worst of the pain. Thanks so much for your support. I am orders of magnitude better! I am walking without a limp – pretty much normal gait. I played 9 holes of golf this morning, walking a very hilly course, carrying my clubs. Yesterday I was on the treadmill doing some light jogging. All signs of discomfort are gone and I am gradually working myself back into shape. I am not taking any medications of any kind, and I am doing just great.
"I am working hard to incorporate the things I learned from Dr. Bookspan about movement, posture, and exercise into my daily life. It makes total sense to me that the positions you are in for most of the day have far more impact than 10 minutes of exercise. I feel like I have been to hell and back, and I definitely don’t want to make another visit."
Links used:
- Fix Your Own Pain without Drugs or Surgery
- Also recommended - Health & Fitness THIRD edition, How to be Healthy Happy and Fit for the Rest of your Life
- Understanding the hip tuck to neutral spine - Using Abdominal Muscles is Not Tightening or Pressing Navel to Spine
- Fast Fitness - First Morning Stretch
- Lower Back Pain and Golf
- Web site Back Pain Article.
Photo by aurelian
Labels: fix pain, golf, injury, lordosis, lower back, readers inspiring story, sciatica
6 Comments:
At Monday, May 12, 2008 4:25:00 PM,
Kathryn said…
Thanks for the post. I find that I too and over-arching when I think I am straight. My question is - Do you have any advice on twisting, for example yoga twists. I enjoy doing twists and I have never had a problem but are they problematical or helpful or what? thanks.
At Wednesday, May 14, 2008 6:12:00 AM,
DinosauRN said…
Thanks for yet another great post. I am an ER nurse and see the horror of chronic back pain on a daily basis -- the disability, depression, and addiction that eliminates any quality of life for the sufferer and their family. Even after surgeries and pain clinic visits, I've yet to meet a patient who has managed to rehab well. Last year at age 52, after years of moving patients , some over 700 pounds, I injured my back while installing a patio and I couldn't breathe, let alone move without pain. If I hadn't been a devoted follower of yours, my career would have been over. I got your book, Fix Your Own Pain, did the exercises and went back to work four days later. I took a muscle relaxer to help me sleep the first three nights but have never taken any pain medication. The exercises actually relieved pain for me. I can't thank you enough.
Just a quick question, can you suggest proper form for climbing stairs, to prevent back and knee problems? I'm in a 3-story condo and don't want daily routine to do any harm to the old joints.
Thanks so much Jolie!
At Wednesday, May 14, 2008 6:13:00 AM,
DinosauRN said…
Thanks for yet another great post. I am an ER nurse and see the horror of chronic back pain on a daily basis -- the disability, depression, and addiction that eliminates any quality of life for the sufferer and their family. Even after surgeries and pain clinic visits, I've yet to meet a patient who has managed to rehab well. Last year at age 52, after years of moving patients , some over 700 pounds, I injured my back while installing a patio and I couldn't breathe, let alone move without pain. If I hadn't been a devoted follower of yours, my career would have been over. I got your book, Fix Your Own Pain, did the exercises and went back to work four days later. I took a muscle relaxer to help me sleep the first three nights but have never taken any pain medication. The exercises actually relieved pain for me. I can't thank you enough.
Just a quick question, can you suggest proper form for climbing stairs, to prevent back and knee problems? I'm in a 3-story condo and don't want daily routine to do any harm to the old joints.
Thanks so much Jolie!
At Monday, May 19, 2008 1:39:00 PM,
Jolie Bookspan, M.Ed, PhD, FAWM said…
Barb, you have the intelligence, quick thinking, interest in learning, and empowerment that makes a quality ER nurse. Try Better Exercise on the Stairs.
At Monday, August 04, 2008 2:32:00 PM,
Jolie Bookspan, M.Ed, PhD, FAWM said…
Post on ascending stairs - Better Exercise on the Stairs.
Post on descending stairs - Down the Stairs.
At Friday, September 19, 2008 3:31:00 PM,
Jolie Bookspan, M.Ed, PhD, FAWM said…
Kathryn, good work noticing the overarch. Look in side view in a mirror to practice what it looks like compared to what it feels like until you can tell what neutral spine feels like. Use the general measure of level hip compared to spine shown in Neutral Spine or Not?.
- For yoga twists, a nice range of motion is nice. Some yogas emphasize "wringing" the spine, which can overcompress without benefit. See if you evenly distribute a twist over the entire length of the spine, or only constrict one easily moved area. Also people trying to wring, can easily get into the a second problem of shear force. Shear can injure disc, facet, bone, soft tissue, even pinch off blood flow depending where you place the shear force.
- Twisting by itself, within limits isn't a big problem. Trouble can come from not stabilizing the area (muscles to hold good positioning). You can twist in a way that moves one bone forward or back on another - shear force. Shearing can come with weighted twist (below) and even lying and pushing a twist range.
- Notice a connection between an accepted injurious move such as bending wrong with straight legs and twisted spine (torque from a twisted position). If you know that bending twisted to pick up a suitcase or child will damage, either sooner or later, compare it to the same in specific yoga twists. It doesn't become magically different or healthful if you call it an exercise. It is the same overdone mechanical pressure on the spine.
Post a Comment
<< Home