The effect of prolonged sitting is muscle atrophy and weakness of the same muscles we need strong to stabilize our backs and pelvis. Our gluteal muscles and other postural stabilizer muscles waste away from lack of use when we sit on our “butts” all day. Walking is just what the back doctor ordered for this as it engages and gently activates these gluteal and postural muscles in a functional way creating better muscle balance for the pelvis and low back.

As we walk, this “firing” and engaging of the gluteal, pelvic, and hip muscles in a functional way actually helps to bring our pelvis and back into better alignment. A twisted, weak, or dysfunctional pelvis causing back pain can be alleviated with gentle walking and gluteal contractions.
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Studies of adolescents in Norway revealed that over 50% experienced back pain over the last year. This is in spite of the fact that most parents think their kids are immune to back problems by virtue of their young age. It would appear that back pain begins in adolescence and continues into adulthood.

It was also noted from research that back pain in inversely proportional to physical activity. The more time children spent in physical activity the less back pain they experienced while the more time they spent in front of a television the more likely they were to have back pain; walking was found to reduce back pain considerably.

In another study of adults who were regularly active through moderate exercise such as walking, major differences were seen between them and people who were inactive. The exercise group had better emotional status, used less pain reliever medication and had less need for physical therapy for back pain. They also had much less workplace disability.

The advantages of walking are seen even in old age. Older citizens who walk regularly have less incidence of lower body disability. Walking can help to lose the back pain because it’s what the human body is designed to do.

Not everyone in the world lives a sedentary lifestyle; there are others – blue collar workers – who engage in strenuous repetitive tasks. This category of people is at risk of muscle imbalances, trigger points, injury and spasms. Thus, both a sedentary lifestyle and strenuous work can lead to back pain. The fact of the matter is that 90% of people will experience back pain at some point in their lives.

In the past, conventional medical wisdom said that a week’s bed rest was good enough to fix back pain. However, research continues to contradict this position. It would appear that the best way to end back pain and keep it away is first through Neuromuscular Therapy, trigger point therapy, posture alignment exercises and regular physical activity. Nothing beats walking as a form of exercise for back pain.

If you’re a Los Angeles Back Pain sufferer or looking for a pain management or pain relief specialist, call now.

Prolonged sitting weakens the exact back muscles needed for a strong, stable back. This is mainly through inactivity since muscles are made to move and engage throughout the day. Standing up and taking a 2 minute walk every hour is extremely helpful to keep the back and pelvic muscles active and functional.

Recreational walks for a mere 24 minutes daily does wonders for low back pains and the muscles to keep them “firing.” The human body is designed to move, not sit, so basically “use it or lose it.”

Prolonged sitting also increases the pressure on the discs in the lower spin giving you another excuse to stand often and take a brief walk.

While you can’t always control your occupation, you can control the postural alignment you sit in. When sitting, one of the keys to a pain-free back is to sit with your ears, shoulders and hips directly lined up when looking at you from the side. Swaying back in that thousand dollar chair only causes more muscle imbalances and ultimately more pain. Sit up on your “sit bones” instead of slouching on your buttocks. This means having a slight curve in your lower back. Keep your ankles directly below your knees, and your feet pointed straight ahead. The direction your feet point reflects rotation in your hips and pelvis, so give your back a break and point them in neutral position straight ahead.

Many lower, middle and upper back pain sufferers are also found in strenuous occupations such as construction. This category of persons usually suffers more from back ache than white collar folk. However, white collar workers also suffer with back pain and are at greater risk for carpal tunnel symptoms due to long hours at a computer monitor, with poor posture and rounded shoulders.

Lifting heavy loads in awkward positions weakens the muscles of the lower back over time. However, good ergonomics can prevent this. An example of good ergonomics is symmetrical lifting i.e. ensuring the back is straight while lifting and trying to focus most of the weight on the legs. Lifting anything, even a light object, in a twisting motion should be avoided completely. A bit of common sense can also help avoid unnecessary injury. For example, do not try to be superman when a weight is clearly beyond you – ask for help. Try to keep your shoulders directly over your hips as much as possible to decrease the force that goes into your ligaments.

Each occupation has its own unique demands and should be approached differently. At the end of the day, proper posture is the key to avoiding back pain , whether severe or mild.

If you’re a Los Angeles Back Pain sufferer or looking for a pain management or pain relief specialist, call now.

However, many people seem to get relief after a few stretching exercises. Stretching regularly seems to help prevent injury and back problems brought on by daily activity. In fact, stretching prior to physical activity helps to release and balance the tight muscles and prevent injury.

However, when currently experiencing lower back pains, stretching may not be a good idea. While it is completely effective in preventing problems, stretching is a useless cure and can actually aggravate back ache depending on the nature and severity of the injury.

The purpose of stretching exercises is to lengthen tendons and muscles. Stretching does nothing to release the “landmine” knots called trigger points often at the source of back pain. And when experiencing back pain there are normally muscles that are already weak and overstretched. So instead of healing, stretching these muscles often creates muscle imbalances and instability of your pelvis.

The last thing you want to do when suffering with mild or severe back pain is overstretch an already overstretched muscle. This causes more muscle imbalances, pelvic instability, trigger points to activate, and more back pain. You need to know your exact muscle imbalances, which muscles are short, tight and weak, before deciding which muscles to stretch.

If you find yourself in the predicament where stretching does not relieve your upper or lower back pain and actually makes it worse, then you’re targeting the wrong muscles. You should take this as a sure sign of muscle imbalances and trigger points and consult with a qualified neuromuscular and posture realignment therapist. A neuromuscular therapist who is able to guide you in releasing your tight muscles, not the overstretched weak ones. And advise you on the appropriate exercises that only stretch the tight muscles without causing more stretch on the overstretched muscles.

If you’re a Los Angeles Back Pain sufferer or looking for a pain management or pain relief specialist, call now.

Despite the fact that most surgeons do not consider surgery as effective against back pain, the large majority of patients seem to think that it is. The fact of the matter is that surgery should only be undertaken where a nerve root is compressed and there is neurological evidence of this such as, numbness or wasting away of muscle. If none of these are present, and you’re dealing mostly with back pain, then surgery should generally be avoided.

One thing to note is that many patients suffering from leg pain also experience lower back pain which can be quite intense. Patients with persistent pain and/or numbness are medically referred to as surgical failures. The condition is known as ‘failed back surgery syndrome’. There have been numerous conferences devoted to this medical issue because once your body is altered by surgery, you can never go back. Few options exist after failed medical surgery and re-operation is complicated. The normal treatment is to prescribe an opiate patch, implant a spinal cord simulator or prescribe prescription drugs. In some cases, more than one of these are used.

Many times these approaches do not work since the majority of low back pain causes are from muscular-skeletal problems like muscle imbalances and trigger points. If you had a muscle, tendon, ligament, trigger point, muscle imbalance, joint or disk injury before the surgery, it’s likely it is still there. These problems cannot be corrected by surgery and will remain after surgery.

People who have undergone back surgery and still have low back pain should seek the opinion of a qualified Neuromuscular Therapist specializing in muscle imbalances, trigger points, and posture realignment therapy in order to ascertain whether there is an underlying problem.

There are natural options to implants and opiate medications to help relieve your low back pain. These include; trigger point therapy, postural alignment exercises, ice packs, strength exercises, stretching exercises, and natural anti-inflammatories. Through counseling and behavior therapy, patients also learn to reduce their need for medication and agree to a drugless management program. Neuromuscular Therapy and Posture Realignment Therapy has resolved low back pain for many people and helped thousands with failed back surgery syndrome.

If you’re a Los Angeles Back Pain sufferer or looking for a pain management or pain relief specialist, call now.

Think about this for a moment – doesn’t it seem like we pop a pill for every little ache or pain that we experience. When was the last time you asked yourself, “What could be causing this headache, migraine or neck pain?” Often, we are in a rush to feel better and do so at the expense of treating the real causes of headaches.

It is a well documented fact that there are numerous reasons that lead to tension or neck headaches. Amongst these are; chemical imbalances such as intoxication or dehydration. This is the main reason for a hangover headache. However, most of the headache medication found at drugstores and gas stations isn’t simply for the person with a hangover, it is actually marketed and targeted at people who suffer from a painful headache as a result of other causes for which they should seek proper treatment. Long term use of painkillers leads to serious side effects such as stomach bleeding, kidney failure and liver problems. Strong pain killers are actually addictive and can lead to chemical dependency.

But, what are these other reasons for headaches in the back of the head or behind the eyes that lead people down the perilous road of pain medication? Well, most headaches are actually triggered by muscle imbalances in the neck and shoulders due to poor posture or trauma. These muscle imbalances cause these little “landmine knots” called trigger points to literally “shoot” or radiate pain anywhere into the back of the head, eyes, ears, sinuses, jaw, face or head. The only way to get complete relief and deactivate or release these trigger points is from Neuromuscular Therapy and Posture Alignment Exercises. This gets rid of the trigger points directly causing the bad headache pain, and fixes any muscle imbalances that keep exacerbating them. No amount of pain medication can cure trigger point headaches, muscle imbalances or poor posture.

People often ask what a tension or trigger point headache is. To tell if your headache or migraine pain is a trigger point headache caused by muscular imbalances, whiplash or other related problems, seek out a qualified Neuromuscular Therapist and Posture Alignment Specialist. They pinpoint and release the exact trigger points in your neck and shoulders directly causing your headache pain in the eyes, ears, temples, top or back of head.

Neck and shoulder stiffness is also a sure sign it’s causing your headache or migraine pain. You can try and see if it is difficult to look over your shoulder. You should also take note of any tightness or dull ache in the neck, or pain, numbness or tingling down your arms. If your headaches come together with stiffness in the neck and shoulders, this is a clear sign of a muscle balance and trigger point problem. The stiffness does not have to be much to be an indicator – even mild stiffness/tension should be investigated by a qualified Neuromuscular Therapist and Posture Alignment Specialist.

If you’re a Los Angeles headache, migraine, or neck pain sufferer or looking for a pain management or pain relief specialist, call now.

When the head bends forward to read or type, the neck straightens and the head’s weight must be counteracted by the tightening and contracting of muscles located in the back of the neck and upper shoulders. People who spend long hours at the computer do this continuously and the muscles rarely ever get to rest. The result after prolonged periods is trigger points, muscle knots, tightness and spasms which cause neck pain, a bad headache and migraines. Eventually, a classic painful headache known as a trigger point headache may come on. Trigger point headaches are also referred to as a tension headache. These can be headaches behind the eyes, neck headaches or back of neck pain.

It’s pretty incredible amazing how these trigger point headaches behind your eyes, ears, temples, back or top of head work. These trigger point “landmine knots” in the neck and upper shoulder muscles actually refer or radiate pain to the head causing headaches. There’s nothing like sitting with forward head posture or having a whiplash trauma to greatly activate these trigger points.

Often, the shoulder muscles are involved in this imbalance. With time and without treatment, the forward head posture may become permanent and a ‘round back’ may develop. This poor posture is not only unattractive but it also causes the spinal cord and nerves to stretch causing pain.

Observing the individual from the side profile usually reveals if there is forward head posture. If detected, it is a clear indication of strain to the neck muscles and ligaments.

Unfortunately, when most people get neck pain, migraine headaches or tension/trigger point headaches, they turn to prescription pain killers. Medical consultation also normally leads to a prescription for Non Steroidal Anti-inflammatories and in some cases some topical ointment. However, these never cure the problem and merely block the pain. In fact, resorting to pain medication each time you have a heavy feeling in the head can have some serious side effects.

That heavy feeling in the head, trigger points, and tension headaches can only be properly addressed by a qualified neuromuscular therapist and posture alignment therapist who works to correct muscle imbalances, bad posture and trigger points. Whether it’s headaches in the back of the head or a sinus pain headache, a neuromuscular therapist will help get to the bottom of the causes of the headaches.

If you’re a Los Angeles headache, migraine, or neck pain sufferer or looking for a pain management or pain relief specialist, call now.

What is not in the public arena is that many people who have undergone wrist and hand surgery continue to experience hand, wrist, and arm pain or tingling. Others only get temporary relief before the problem recurs with more intensity. Still, other patients develop symptoms similar to carpal tunnel syndrome following whiplash or neck sprain/strain. They may not have any wrist injury but still have severe pain in the hand. Why does this happen?

One explanation is a wrong diagnosis. Since the body is a complex network of joints, tissue, nerves, ligaments, muscle and other components, it is possible that a symptom evident at one part of the body may be caused by a trigger located in a different part of the body. This approach to healing is more holistic as opposed to the often disjointed medical view. Doctors tend to specialize in various body parts. Specialists are usually good at specific diseases and ailments but sometimes make the wrong diagnosis when multiple bodily systems are involved. Mark Twain had a saying for it: “When You’re A Hammer, All You See is Nails.”

More and more emerging research demonstrates this to be the case in carpal tunnel patients. Recent studies show that most carpal tunnel syndrome symptoms are caused by muscle imbalances in your neck and shoulders, causing poor posture, trigger points, nerve compression and pain shooting down your arm.

We’ve turned into a more postural distorted society where we sit most of the day. People often go from their cars, to their desk and computer, back to their cars, and right plop into their couch. Raising the remote control is often the highest their arms get above throughout the day.

This lack of movement creates muscles imbalances, and most relevant to carpal tunnel syndrome symptoms is the rounding shoulders and forward head posture. When the shoulders round, and head moves forward, the muscles in the neck and shoulders compress nerves that run down the arm. This compression in the neck and shoulders typically produces hand, wrist and arm tingling, pain or numbness.

The same “computer” rounding shoulders and forward head posture cause the trigger points in the neck and shoulder muscles to activate and radiate pain down the arm. The “landmine” knots actually refer pain into the hand, wrist and arm causing carpal tunnel syndrome symptoms.

This is why most hand, wrist, and arm tingling and pain, or “carpal tunnel syndrome” actually comes from the neck and shoulders.

Seeing a Neuromuscular Therapist for proper wrist and neck examination is the key to correct diagnosis. Poor examination leads to wrong diagnosis and unsuccessful treatment – in this case, surgery. Before you allow someone to cut into your flesh with a scalpel you should give neuromuscular therapy and posture realignment exercises a chance. If the symptoms in your wrist are caused by muscle imbalances, trigger points or postural distortions in your neck and shoulders, surgery to the wrist will prove to be unsuccessful treatment.

If you’re a Los Angeles hand, wrist or arm pain, tingling, or numbness sufferer or looking for a pain management or pain relief specialist, call now.

Treating for example lower back pain causes holistically means using the right techniques in the proper order or you risk re-injury, pain and continuing the pain spasm cycle.  An example is strength training too soon and doing certain back pain exercises often exacerbates back pain giving poor results.  When you have tight back, hip, and pelvic muscles in spasm causing you pain, strength training is often the last thing that should be on your mind.  Because moderate or severe back pain often stems from the physical as well emotional levels, good results come from treating the mind as well as the body. It is well known that depression is an important risk factor for back pain.

Whether dealing with mild or extreme low back pain or any musculoskeletal problem, the health practitioner must assess the condition of the muscles, in particular muscle imbalances for strength and weakness, proper posture, movement, and alignment. A thorough trigger point assessment as well is crucial to get to the root cause of the pain.

A simple prescription for pain killers from your physician, while effective at relieving pain, is a poor long term solution to manage back pain. For example, the scar tissue in muscles that is formed after injury when NSAIDs (ibuprofen) are used is much weaker. The patient needs to also consider the side effects and consequences of stomach or gastrointestinal bleeding that can come with long-term use of pain killers. Leaving muscular skeletal problems to remain for years while masking the pain, will just make future rehabilitation more difficult and less effective. Injections for back pain are done to alleviate symptoms yet often with its own inherent risks too.

It is important to understand that when rehabilitating injured soft tissues and back pain, you should follow certain steps in a proper order to insure the fastest possible recovery without re-injury.

Step one is to eliminate the spasms and hyper-contractions in your muscles.  It’s well known that “landmine” knots in your muscles called trigger points are at source of over eight percent of muscle pain. The trigger points tend to tighten and weaken your muscles, radiate pain, and often are the back pain cause.  It’s very interesting to note that you can’t stretch out these trigger points.  Hence you can’t stretch out pain. That’s why stretches for lower back pain may bring only temporary relief.

Step two is to restore muscle balance and proper posture alignment with Posture Alignment Exercises. Correct postural alignment dictates organ, blood vessel, and nerve position. It dramatically affects physical, psychological, emotional, and energetic levels.

And you have less strain on your muscles, ligaments, and tendons fighting to hold you upright.

Step three is stretching to restore flexibility to your muscles. Stretching your short, tight muscles fixes muscles imbalances often at the source of pelvic instability and back pain.  Notice we’ve yet to get to strengthening exercises.  It’s important to stretch or “lengthen” a muscle before you strengthen it to avoid re-injury.  So stretches for lower back pain can work, mostly after getting the trigger points deactivated and muscle balance restored.

Step four is to increase muscle strength of the injured tissues.  First get “straight” by realigning your posture and lengthening your muscles.  Then get “strong” with proper functional strength training.  Pain is signal from your body, so the message is to stop when any exercise hurts.

Step five is to increase muscle endurance with functional endurance exercises.  By this time you are mostly pain-free

A good Neuromuscular Therapist and Posture Alignment Specialist will advise you on integrating a holistic approach with muscular skeletal care, relieving trigger points, posture realignment and pelvic stabilization exercises, flexibility, strength training and more.

If you’re a Los Angeles Back Pain sufferer or looking for a pain management or pain relief specialist, call now.