June/July 2007

Complementary Currencies for Social Change: An Interview with Bernard Lietaer
Ravi Dykema

To Remake the World: Something Earth0changing is Afoot Amonth Civil Society
Paul Hawken

Leave No Child Inside
Richard Louv

Research Shows Television Watching Affects Children's Development
Jody Woodruff

Global Warming Can't Buy Happiness
Bill McKibben

Worldwide Shift to Compact Fluorescents Could Close 270 Coal-Fired Power Plants
Lester R. Brown

The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success
Deepak Chopra

Principles for Spinal Safety
John Stern

The Economic Potential of a New Energy Revolution
Jerome Ringo

The Campaign for a Department of Peace: A Holistic Approach for Reducing Violence
Pip Cornall

Translated Ancient Buddhist Texts: Teachings of Life Free From Agression, Full of Compassion
Lama Chönam, Sangye Khandro & Jules B. Levinson

Book Review

Cosmic Calendar
Salina Rain

BACK TO TOP

Principles for Spinal Safety

By John Stern

There is no group called “Back Pain Anonymous,” but maybe there should be. I can picture at such a meeting one person confessing he is a yoga teacher who got hurt while doing downward dog, another saying his misery started when he bent over to tie his shoe, and a third saying he spent $1900 on a custom designed ergonomic chair and still is no better. It’s tragic the number of ruined vacations, lost workdays, and expense as a result of back pain in our world. Still more tragic is the misinformation and poor education floating around in regards to this issue. So let’s begin right now to correct that problem by revisiting some old principles and perhaps learning a few new ones.

Movement. A wise man once said “The difference between the living and the dead is that the living move and the dead don’t.” Yes, exercising every day is good. But even more helpful, for our purpose here, is to exercise (i.e. move) often. Those thirty minutes five times per week will do you little good if you’re on your derriere seven hours straight!

I recently read a story about an “expert” who analyzed the work station of someone who worked in some sort of control room. That person had to get up often to check various gauges and such. The so-called expert, after analyzing the station, decided it would be more efficient and easier on the employee if everything were in reach. The changes were made and the employee, now sitting much more than previously, began experiencing back pain. They re-analyzed the situation, changed things back to the original plan, and the employee got better. That is an expensive lesson!

It’s easy to get creative with your movement. Design your workspace to encourage more walking around. Build it into your day as much as possible. Take every opportunity you can to get out of the chair—whether you are on the phone, brainstorming, or even walking while you read (this usually works, assuming there are no cats or other innocents lying around!). So Rule #1 is: Move! Move often!

Move wisely. This means more than watching out for little furry things under your feet. There are lots of unhealthy habits we’re all recovering from in this world and much information about how to do it right. These times call for real discrimination in what you hear and read (yes, including this!). Let’s revisit a couple of time-honored notions around movement and exercise.

Crunches: I wouldn’t go as far as saying that its better to have a six-pack than six-pack abs, but I think these much-glorified exercises are way over-rated at best. Here is something to consider: Many exercises are designed in such a way that a downward compression is placed on the spine. A little is okay, but a lot is damaging. The National Institute of Occupational Health and Safety (NIOSH) set the action limit for low back compression at 3300 Newtons (a measurer of force). That means that any exercise or activity that puts more than 3300 N on your vertebrae is detrimental to your health.

Dr. Stuart McGill, author of Low Back Disorders, actually took the time (and a lot of it) to measure the force on the back of some common exercises that tend to be recommended for strengthening your “core” muscles. He found that both straight-leg and bent-leg sit-ups score a value over 3300. That means that unless you really love your chiropractor, making a habit of these things is a bad idea. (There are better exercises for the stomach muscles but it is beyond the scope of this article to describe them.)

Morning Yoga: Ever notice how stiff you are in the morning? Why does tying your shoes seem like such a chore? A little background is helpful: The vertebrae are like a column of alternating hockey pucks (the bones of the vertebrae) and water balloons (the nucleus, or core of the disk). Throughout the day, the balloons (nuclei) are partially filled with water. However, while you sleep, they become much more filled and are quite filled upon awakening and remain that way for the first hour or so afterwards. They gradually lose water as the day progresses.

During most hours of the day the hockey pucks are happy to maneuver around and on top of the half-filled, soft balloons as you bend this way or that. But in the morning the water balloon is already pretty tight, so it is exerting more pressure on the bones (hockey pucks) above and below—and also upon the ligament fibers which surround the nucleus.

Basically, and to make a long story short, the body doesn’t want to bend much in the morning and has good reason not to. Therefore, don’t! i.e. save your yoga practice for a little later in the day and take a big pass on the idea that touching your toes a few times in the morning is a great way to work the kinks out.

What are your fitness goals? To run a marathon or to be healthy enough to live the life you want? For purposes of back rehabilitation, the question is whether to emphasize building a strong back or one that has endurance and can sustain activity for a longer period of time. Studies show that if you are doing exercises to rehabilitate your back or for general prevention, than you want to emphasize endurance. In other words, the exercise program you pursue should emphasize exercise sets with more repetitions and less weight over those with few repetitions and high weight.

Rule #2: Avoid crunches, do your yoga later in the day, and choose endurance over strength.

Sitting. Is there an ideal way to sit? First, let’s remember that sitting in general is the worst possible position for the spine. You can try avoiding it, but you might as well try getting out of death or taxes before accomplishing that. The “best” way is to sit in a position where your feet are flat on the floor, your thighs are at slightly past ninety degrees in relation to your trunk (i.e. angled down), your low back maintains its natural curve, and your head is level

Even better though, and this is a corollary to rule #1, is to change your sitting position often. Sit on the edge of the seat, sit against the back rest, prop your feet up for a few minutes, or even kneel if you must (and if you can)! I tried that last one once and it even temporarily relieved the back pain I was having at that time in my life. I suggest getting yourself a chair that facilitates different sitting positions and that has a low back support. Rule #3: Sit well.

Water. There are many health reasons for drinking plenty of good water. Among these are that it benefits the bones, ligaments, and joints. The added bonus is that if you drink a lot, you’ll get up and move a lot. Rule #4: Drink plenty of water.

Break time. Use it wisely. Your body and mind love variety and movement and they will thank you for it by being healthy and happy. Therefore, if you sit a lot, stand; if you’re still, walk; if you’re hunched over, bend backwards. If you do close-up work (and I have a hunch that a few of you do), go outside, take off your glasses, and look at the beautiful sky and mountain or ocean vistas that we’re blessed with here in the Northwest. Rule #5: Do the opposite of what you normally do.

Finally, and most important, is to listen to your body. You live in it, no one else does. Don’t let anyone talk you out of your experience. Try these things I am suggesting and see if they hold true in your reality. Listen to your aches, your joys, and your intuition. You will be glad.

Dr. John Stern is a graduate of Parker College of chiropractic. He teaches spinal integration and reha-bilitation in Ashland, OR and can be reached at jstern1028@yahoo.com.

John Stern