By: Jean Johnson for Back1Mind-Body Connections
The world of holistic and Chinese medicine has long linked the mind and the body. But increasingly over the past three decades, so has mainstream medicine. Instead of being dismissed as mere woo-woo stuff – the pipe dreams of romantics and those without a down-to-earth, practical common-sense bone in their bodies – the idea that everything is connected has been slowly but surely gaining credence.
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Managing Stress – Love Letters from the Heart to the Back
Take mini-meditation breaks by following a single breath all the way in and all the way out. Even better, find five minutes or even a half hour to sit quietly.
Yoga postures. They are everywhere. Freeze gently into one of these for a moment and then relax to experience the relief that comes from letting go.
Turn the TV down and the music on.
Laugh.
Do something for someone else without expecting anything in return.
Count your blessings – the sun, the fresh air, love in your heart.
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Sports Medicine Folks AgreeMost recently, at the Health and Fitness Summit of the American College of Sports Medicine, Michael R. Bracko, Ed.D., FACSM, tossed his support for the concept that emotional health affects back pain into the ring as he addressed those in attendance at the10th annual conference.
“Managing stress, knowing other risk factors and working it all out through exercise is a great way to keep back injuries at bay,” Bracko told Medical News Today.
Even more to the point, Bracko noted that, “Stress manifests itself to cause our muscles to go ‘Boring!’ and into a spasm to cause us to cry, not get out of bed, worry about coughing, worry about our jobs, and worry about not being able to work again, among other things.”
Our Backs, Our Friends
If that doesn’t get our attention, nothing will. Clearly Bracko’s point is that back problems can stop the whole show in short order. Not only our physical well-being, but our ability to keep the cash flowing can come tumbling down in a matter of a single mishap.
More, don’t think this applies only to aging baby boomers. According to U.S. government data from the National Institutes of Health, while back pain does become more common with age, the “first attack of low back pain typically occurs between the ages of 30 and 40.”
And it is precisely the lower back that takes a beating. Think about your position right about now. Seated? Slouched? The weight of your torso pushing down on a curved lower spine? Been in the chair for too long? Working on a deadline with your muscles, mind and heart tensed? Time to shove your hips back and sit up just a wee bit straighter? Or perhaps – perish the thought – stand up and stretch? If so, stop by the club for a membership badge.
Stress – A Subtle Foe
Stress is subtle and can creep up unnoticed. Running low on sleep predisposes a body to stress for starters, and then there are all the usual associations between stress and emotional instability or family problems. In other words, none of us are free from stress.
The key, however, is to not try and mask stress with alcohol or substance abuse, but rather to blow it off with regular exercise. Not only does this free the physical body from the weight of emotional strain it might otherwise accumulate, activity also keeps the chain of vertebra that forms the spinal column flexible and functioning.
In other words, Bracko’s position is that emotional stress and physical stress are almost the same thing – a sort of clogged pipe affair where normal healthy movement slows down permitting tension and ossification to ensue. This vicious cycle is no one’s friend since once it takes hold, its grip gains such strength that coming out from under it can seem to require a super human effort.
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The answer? Don’t skip that cardio. Blow off steam at the minimum of three times a week and preferably five. Then there are the crunches for abdominal strength that do so much to relieve the burden on the spine. And finally, the good old shower routine. Turn the hot water dial up a notch and aim the jets down on your lower back for some arching and flexing before toweling off for a fresh day. Then throughout the day, take those extra steps whenever there’s a chance. Toss out the remote control. Use the stairs. Park in the far corner of the lot with others in the know.
According to the NIH, “Back pain is more common among people who are not physically fit. Weak back and abdominal muscles may not properly support the spine. ‘Weekend warriors’ – people who go out and exercise a lot after being inactive all week – are more likely to suffer painful back injuries than those who make moderate physical activity a daily habit.
Assess Your Workplace and Your Motions
Bracko also thinks taking special note of workplace factors can do much toward minimizing stress that leads to back pain. Ninety to 100 degree angles, he notes, are what we need when sitting in chairs – both at the bend of our knees and the junction between our hips and our backs. More careful use of the body for the jobs that require lifting is critical, Bracko added in his remarks to Medical News Today.
“People tend to bend at the waist because it is less fatiguing. But pay close attention to posture while lifting or stretching. It is important to maintain the natural curves in the spine to avoid a back injury.”
Acute vs. Chronic Back Pain
The NIH offers the following suggestions on maintaining sound back health. For acute or temporary injury, “perhaps the best advice is to go about your usual activities as much as you can with the assurance that the problem will clear up. Getting up and moving around can help ease stiffness, relieve pain and have you back doing your regular activities sooner. Exercises are not usually advisable for acute back pain, nor is surgery.”
On the chronic side of the back pain coin, the NIH says that there are two basic categories, “the kind that requires surgery and the kind that does not.” Most back injuries, government literature is careful to add, are not surgical situations and can be managed with other interventions like hot or cold treatments, proper exercises, therapy and medications.
Four Exercises that Target the Back
Feeling proactive right about now? If so, consider these four parameters the NIH says are central to either easing chronic back pain, reducing the risk of pain returning, or simply keeping pain from coming at all.
Flexion or bending forward. This is the good old touching-the-toes type exercise that the military has championed forever and that yoga teachers everywhere promote albeit with a gentler, mindful approach. Any way a person approaches flexion, however, the NIH states that it has three purposes: “Widen the spaces between the vertebra, thereby reducing pressure on the nerves; stretch the muscles of the back and hips; and strengthen the abdominal and buttock muscles.” This reliable government source also says that many physicians support the idea of strengthening the abdomen to relieve pressure on the back. It also offers a word of caution on flexion exercises: “If your back pain is caused by a herniated disc, check with your doctor before performing flexion exercises because they may increase pressure within the discs, making the problem worse.”
Extension or bending backward. Backward bending can minimize radiating pain that people can feel in various parts of the body. A moderate extension can be done lying stomach down on the floor and lifting the trunk. In yoga it is called the cobra and is credited for opening up the spinal canal and developing muscles that support the vertebra.
Stretching. Think isometric exercises here. Or yoga, once again. The idea behind gentle stretching, states the NIH, is to “improve the extension of muscles and other soft tissues of the back. This can reduce back stiffness and improve range of motion.”
Aerobic. The idea behind aerobic cardio workouts is that the heart-lung function gets amped-up and the entire circulation system functions better as a result. While the NIH recommends a minimum of three aerobic workouts weekly, it offers the following caveats for those suffering from current episodes of back pain.
“You should avoid exercise that requires twisting or vigorous forward flexion, such as aerobic dancing and rowing, because these actions may raise pressure in the discs and actually do more harm than good. In addition, avoid high-impact activities if you have disc disease. If back pain or your fitness level makes it impossible to exercise 30 minutes at a time, try three 10-minute sessions to start and work up to your goal. But first, speak with your doctor or physical therapist about the safest exercise for you.”
Good advice. The spine, when you think about it, is a delicate, fragile thing. More, the last time I checked, each of us gets only one for the entire life journey.
So time for a break: Cardio, some abs, some flexing and extending. Thirty minutes daily, or at least three times a week, doesn’t seem like too much to ask. The payoff in terms of quality of life and freedom from pain seems as though it could pencil out rather attractively.
