Backache? Your Back May Not Be The Problem!

Is Your Back Hurting? Mine did. Twenty four hours a day for several years. Now I’m pain free. This approach may work for you, too.

 

Fellow computer nerds, gamers, writers, marketers, software designers, programmers, and anyone else who spends countless hours in front of a computer screen. If you spent enough time at the computer, backache is likely a part of your life. It certainly was a part of mine.

I struggled. I’ve seen several doctors. I’ve been treated by physical therapists and chiropractors. I’ve taken pain relievers. I’ve undergone acupuncture. I adjusted my desk, my chair, the monitor and keyboard, you name it. I exercise seven days a week, religiously. I have a nice choice of exercise equipment. I have a special therapeutic “pillow” which sometimes helps stretch my poor spine. With all these, I still suffered from chronic back pain, sciatica and more. I had terrible headaches, digestive and respiratory problems.

And then a MIRACLE happened! I’ve been writing till 2 am one night and when I was finally ready to hit the sack, I needed a little TV to fall asleep. As luck would have it, there was no movie to be found at this hour of the night. Out of boredom and desperation, I stumbled on a PBS program I wouldn’t normally watch. (Usually at such a late hour, I watch TV for a few minutes and fall asleep. This time, I stayed glued to the screen till the end of the program.) What was it? A lifesaver!

Had I known that it is a program about yoga, I would have flipped the channel. I didn’t. Because I didn’t, I listened as my back problems were explained to me. To summarize what I learned that night: most skeletal problems are caused by weakened or atrophied muscles. When muscles don’t support bones the way they’re supposed to, we develop pain and eventually sustain damage. By restoring functionality of weakened muscles, it is possible to relieve pain and — with time — even restore bone health. I learned also that those who spend too much time sitting have overstretched muscles on the back side of their bodies and shrunk / atrophied muscles on the front side.

Sedentary lifestyle is considered more damaging than smoking.

According to U.S. National Library of Medicine health risks of sedentary lifestyle include also:

• “Obesity
• Heart disease, including coronary artery disease and heart attack
• High blood pressure
• High cholesterol
• Stroke
• Metabolic syndrome
• Type 2 diabetes
• Certain cancers, including colon, breast, and uterine cancers
• Osteoporosis and falls
• Increased feelings of depression and anxiety”

Sedentary lifestyle destroys the symmetry / balance of muscles and consequently leads to other problems such as back pain.

The program which I watched by accident demonstrated several extremely simple positions / stretches that allegedly help remedy complaints like mine. Needless to say, I fell asleep shortly after.

Still, I remembered some of the information the next morning. The suggested positions were awfully simple as compared with my sophisticated exercise regimen so — for the heck of it — I decided to try some of them. Up to this moment I considered myself reasonably fit. After trying these “super easy” stretches I discovered that I’m in excellent shape for… a paraplegic. (No offense to any actual paraplegic intended!)

I hate to say it — because I’m one of those people who really enjoy being “always” right — but the theory of Peggy Cappy was a revelation to me! I tried some of the moves she recommends once and then again once, because quite frankly I was unable to do more or better, and the experience was shocking!

1/ I was dismayed to discover that I couldn’t do even the simple and easy moves I used to be great at in years past because apparently my front muscles have quit on me.

2/ The one or two minor things I did do left me out of breath. They also produced an immediate reaction on many levels: my sciatica symptoms disappeared, right there and then. My back pain and headache were gone. I experienced a significant relief of my stomach problems. My breathing and vision have dramatically improved.

When the shock subsided, I took a fresh look at my working position and work space configuration which obviously caused me to develop all my back problems. I lowered my seat. I raised the monitor. I put a wedge on my chair tilting it backwards.

I thought about my exercise regimen. Since my main complaint was always back pain, the focus of my exercise — as advised by experts — was on stretching my back. In view of the new information, stretching the back perpetuates the problem: the back is already overstretched. Long story short, my exercise exacerbated my problems! In addition to my sedentary lifestyle I exercised in a way that made my back worse, not better.

I realized that I spend some 20 hours a day in a position resembling the letter C. Assuming and holding a position of INVERTED letter C for just 30 seconds does wonders!

(Hint: I used to perform back stretches while on my back or standing upright. I switched and derive the most benefits from all exercise performed while on my stomach: stretch the front, shrink the back!

Here is one example of a stretch I’m doing now, my own: lie on your belly; grab your ankles; extend your head and legs up. Hold for 20–30 seconds. Release. I continue stretching on my large exercise ball and in this case too, I’m lying on the belly, now…)

I thought of my Mom who at one point noticed that all her shirts are too long in the front and too short in the back……….. I realized — too late! — that the shirts emphasized poor posture caused by overstretched back muscles!

Bottom line: if you happen to experience any of the symptoms / complaints I described:

The solution isn’t back surgery, physical therapy and the like, but restoring the natural balance between the overstretched back muscles and atrophied front muscles. Click To Tweet

I don’t think of myself as incapable or unintelligent. In hindsight, the explanation of all my physical suffering is extremely simple. It wasn’t to me while I was in pain. I suffered from excruciating back pain for years. My Mom’s blouse problem should have been a clue too, but I failed to recognize it at the time.

For the sake of full disclosure, I don’t know Ms. Peggy Cappy and she doesn’t know me from Adam. I’m in no way affiliated with her. The fact remains that she turned my life around and liberated me from years of pain. I don’t have headaches, I don’t have back pain. I don’t have a stiff neck. I don’t suffer from indigestion. I can breathe! (Think about it: by sitting for many hours every day in a position resembling the letter C, I was compressing my digestive system and lungs!) Heck, even my mood improved! I feel ALIVE, again!

I’m not telling you that you must buy Ms. Cappy’s yoga videos (although having them might be very helpful), myself I didn’t purchase any. But her principle of balancing the muscles of the back and the front as well as a few positions / moves she suggested during the PBS program gave me my life back. (With time I added my own exercises that aim at elongating front muscles and shrinking back muscles.) More than anything, her diagnosis of my problems alerted me to the imbalance between the back and front muscles no professional has ever pointed out to me.

I spent years in pain. I spent thousands of dollars on therapies that didn’t help any. I put up with people close to me wondering whether I might be a hypochondriac while I was fighting chronic back pain and sciatica. (Just in case you are not familiar with the “joys” of sciatica: it’s an inflammation of the nerve that goes from the lower back all the way down one leg. Not interesting? Now imagine not being able to sit down or get up, not being able to walk from room to room, going to the bathroom, or even putting on your pants!)

I highly recommend that any of you experiencing similar issues as mine familiarize yourself with the teachings of Ms. Cappy and reexamine the same things I did: your work space configuration, your exercise routine, the fit of your shirts and SAVE YOURSELF!!!

(Recommending a yoga teacher over doctors and other specialists may sound ridiculous, but if the yoga teacher gave you your life back… I owe credit where credit is due. Thank you Ms. Cappy! Thank you PBS!)

 

Photo by Dainis Graveris on Unsplash