Stop Sciatica & Back Pain

I recently came across a back exercise which claims to make a big difference to back pain.

It uses the same basic ideas as the Better Back System in that it aims to condition and re-educate the muscles that support your back. (Most back pain arises from the muscles that support and protect your spine going into spasm as a protective measure in response to a perceived threat of injury).

REMEMBER: Always read our disclaimer before you attempt any exercise.

BACK PAIN RELIEF EXERCISE

1. Stand with your feet about 45cm (18 inches) apart.

2. Slowly rotate your head and shoulders as far as you can to the left. DO NOT TWIST OR TURN RAPIDLY. Stop when you feel tension or pain in the muscles of your neck and/or back.

3. At this point you will have turned somewhere between 90 and 180 degrees and be looking somewhere between to your left and to your rear depending on how supple you are.

4. Hold the position for a few seconds. THIS IS IMPORTANT. The hold time gives your brain a clear signal differentiation between your normal and maximum achievable muscle tension.

5. Next slowly return to the straight ahead position and then twist to the right hand side (i.e. in the opposite direction) and hold the position again a few seconds.

AND REPEAT

6. Do the exercise for at least 4 to 5 minutes a day and you should expect to see relief from most lower and upper back pain.

EXERCISE STANDING OR SITTING

When you do the exercise standing, twist your whole body. This
involves the muscles in your hips and legs also.

You can also do the exercise sitting in which case it works best if
you clasp your hands together on top of your head. Measure your
progress by monitoring how far around you can get your elbow. This
version focuses on the neck and shoulder areas.

The aim here is see as far behind your back as you can. This way you
get maximum rotation of both the neckbone and backbone. Repeat
this for 5 minutes, but start out doing less if it makes your back
pain worse.

REMEMBER: Always read our disclaimer before you attempt any exercise.

If you like this exercise you might also want to try the Better Back System.

A recent ACA (American Chiropractic Association) press release refers to a study published in October 2005 in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics (JMPT).

The study shows that “chiropractic and medical care have comparable costs for treating chronic low-back pain, but chiropractic care produces significantly better outcomes”.

It compared a group of patients with chronic low-back pain who underwent chiropractic treatment showed higher pain relief and satisfaction with the care and lower disability scores with a group that underwent conventional medical care.

The chiropractic care provided included:
- spinal manipulation,
- physical therapies,
- an exercise plan, and
- self-care patient education.

Medical care consisted of
- prescription drugs,
- an exercise plan, self-care advice, and
- a referral to a physical therapist (in approximately 25 percent of cases).

Both acute and chronic patients showed better outcomes in pain and disability reduction and higher satisfaction with their care after undergoing chiropractic treatment.

The advantage of chiropractic care was clinically significant in the chronic patient group at 3 months’ follow-up, although smaller in the acute group.

The press release can be found at http://www.amerchiro.org/media/releases/111505.shtml

We recommend the Better Back System as a great complement to chiropractic care, because its unique exercises strengthen the core stability muscles in your back reducing the chance of back injury.