The Back

Self Examination It's safe to assume your back is giving you trouble because it does in most people anyway. That's the price we pay for standing up on two feet. Therefore, having a crummy back shouldn't necessarily keep you from getting into an exercise program or take part in most sports--unless you fail the first self-exam, of course. Doctors often prescribe conditioning exercises to treat back pain, so you could be doing your back a favor by beginning these mild conditioning exercises. Okay, you probably don't need to be told how important your back is. If it's in bad shape, you know all too well. Mine is killing me most of the time. You can thank poor stomach tone for that. I can remember looking at my profile when I was a very very thin eight year old, and noticing my swayed back and wondering why my tummy hadda stick out like that. If I had known better I'd have been doing many many situps every day (which would have been an improvement but nowadays we do curls and crunches rather than involve the back, which is what situps do, to cure the back). Anyway, bad muscle tone, bad posture. The result, I have a couple of herniated discs in the mid-lumbar region which decide to let a certain nerve pair explode if I move wrong, a very nasty ache in the lower lumbar region, another nasty burn in the thoracic region which sets on fire if I work with my arms out, disqualifying me from doing a desk-type job, and occasionally (especially when I bend down to pick something up) shooting pains down the backs of both legs, a problem often called "sciatica". That's all going to end. The two worst areas of hurt are from an injury I caused myself back when I was 14. I fell down the stairs and landed on my back. The stairs had no carpet on them, just exposed walnut flooring, so when the leading edges of these things came in contact with my back (I was carrying something big and it didn't occur to me to drop it and catch myself before I hit the stairs), everything tore there. The doctor from next door told us that I had torn muscles. I think I tore whatever tissues protected and kept the spinal column in a straight line, allowing the vertebrae twist and move just enough to pinch the nerves. The pains were on both sides until they settled in on the right side only. And they would start up most unexpectedly. I'd be fine for two weeks and then my back would explode in pain that pulsed across from side to side and hurt horribly enough for me to scream for help from my mother downstairs. I was still having these unexplained explosions of pain five years later, and when I took a job at age 26 doing desk work, my arms hovering in the air above piles of paper all day, the pain by the end of the day was so bad I had to go home and lie on a heating pad, which may not have been the best thing to do but it was all I knew. Garrick tells us that the clues that let you know you've got a back problem are: Pain Obvious tingling or numbness in the arms or legs Obvious weakness in the arms or legs Coughing or sneezing causing a sharp pain If you have any of the above, that's a fail for your history. Now if it's just a stiff and sore back because you overdid it in the garden yesterday, the best cure, and the best prevention against future injury, is to increase the strength and flexibility of the muscles in and surrounding your back. Self Examination History: Do you have pain radiating down your leg or legs? Do you have back pain or radiating pain when you cough, sneeze, or strain, such as in moving your bowels? Do you have weakness in your legs, such as the inability to stand on your toes? Any numbness or tingling in your legs or feet? Have you ever been diagnosed as having disk disease or a ruptured disk? Have you ever been told x-rays of your back are abnormal? Have you had more than one episode of significant back pain or other back problems within the last year? If any of these is "yes", get yourself to a doctor. Any of these could be a tip-off to a larger problem. If all of them is "no" then go on to level 2: Is your back stiff when you get up in the morning? Does your back ache after you've been sitting or standing for more than thirty minutes? Does your back ache after you do some unaccustomed activity--skiing or tennis, for example? If any of these is "yes", you should begin a back exercise program before you go on to a fitness program. That's okay, you can do more than one area at the same time, and you will feel wonderful just from beginning these exercises. If all of these are "no", you can probably go one to the next level of the examination: Sit on the floor with your legs extended in front of you. Now lean forward with your arms outstretched. Can you comfortably reach your fingertips beyond your kneecaps? Lie on your stomach. Are you able to arch your chest and legs upward painlessly? Are you able to move your back in all six directions--bend forward, bend backward, bend to the left, bend to the right, twist to the left, twist to the right? Can you do so comfortably? Are you able to do five curl-ups? If all of these are "yes", you're probably good to go on the fitness program for the back. If any of these is "no", you should proceed with the back strengthening program suggested in the next post.