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DIAGNOSTIC INSTRUMENTS
It is my belief that bulging disks and
lower back pain are indicators; indicating that some of
your vertebrae are out of alignment.
Getting yourself back into alignment
relieves the pressure on muscles, ligament, tendons and
disks. The pain goes away.
The good news is that you can
relieve the pain yourself if you do the right exercises.
The bad news is that rubbing, heating and
crunching around the area where it is painful does
little to get you back into alignment. It's palliative,
and while that's not a bad thing, it doesn't go far
enough toward restoring poor function to
good.
THE SYMPTOM
Tight muscles
In a nutshell, your back pain is a
symptom of tight and weak muscles elsewhere around your
body.
In particular, tight calf, buttock and
hamstring muscles will tilt your pelvis, backwards,
which in turn will cause vertebrae further up to go out
of alignment.
On top of that, the buttock and hamstring muscles
on one side of the body may be tighter then those on the
other side. This will cause the pelvis to twist,
resulting in further misalignment further up your spine.
Weak muscles
Weak back and abdominal muscles
exacerbate the problem. A lot of people aren't strong
enough to keep their spinal column in correct alignment.
They don't have a regular and systematic strength
training program.
THE PRINCIPLES
This theory rests on two principles
1. Muscles take bones out of
alignment.
2. The cause of the pain is rarely
at the site of the pain.
POSTURAL DIAGNOSIS
If you want an opinion as the cause of
your lower back pain and you are unable to see one of
our practitioners,
click here to go to the diagnostic service page on
our affiliate internet site
Global Back Care.
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1. Standing up
straight
Do you stand up straight? |
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2. Standing side on.
Are you close to your ideal
weight. once you become 20 Kg over your ideal
weight you dramatically increase your risk of a
crook back. |
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3. Putting
on socks
Can you put on your socks while
standing on one leg?
If you can't, you've definitely
tightened up - hamstring, buttock and back
muscles.
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4. Wall sit
When you sit up against a wall,
is your bottom in close to the wall.
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Poor
Good |
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5. Buttock stretch
Can you sit up straight with your hands clasped behind
your back.
Is one
buttock muscle is tighter than the other. |
Poor
Good |
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6. Hamstring test
Can you get in close to a wall, with both legs straight - one on the
floor and the other up against the wall.
Is one hamstring tighter than the
other? |
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7. Hip Crossover
Put the side of the heel of the
right foot up toward the top of your left knee.
Then drop the knee and the foot
down onto the floor. Push your right knee
away from your body, opening up groin.
Repeat with the other side.
Do you find it easy to get your
feet and knees onto the floor.
Is one side tighter than the
other?
Does it hurt when someone gives
you a firm massage on your buttock (see red
spot). |
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8. Super hip and thigh
stretch
Can you hold on to the toe of a
straight right leg with the hand of your left
arm - with left shoulder on the floor.
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9. Shoulder, wrist and hand test
Stand with your heels, backside
and shoulders against the wall.
Can you get the back of your forearms and hands
comfortably against the wall when in the
'surrender' position.
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10. Head alignment
Stand with your heels, backside
and shoulders against the wall.
Then place your head against the
wall. Are you looking straight out in front of
you or are you looking up at the ceiling? |
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STRENGTH TESTS
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1. Situps
How many situps can you do in 30
seconds.
Start with feet flat and knees up, arms
outstretched on your thighs.
Sit up so your fingers touch the
bottom of your knee caps. If you can't
get that far score zero. |
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2. Pressups
How many pressups can you do in
30 seconds - men on toes and women on thighs, as
illustrated.
How many pressups you can do
correlates highly and positively with lower back
function. |
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3. Squats
How many times can you squat
down, with your backside as close to your heels
as it will go - in 30 seconds. |
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4. Flexibility test
With legs straight and back of
knees on the floor, how far can you reach
forward toward your toes. Do this with shoes on.
The scoring goes like this:
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0. |
Can't touch toes with
legs straight. |
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4. |
Fingers just touch end of
toes. |
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6. |
First knuckle reaches end
of toes |
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7. |
Second knuckle reaches
end of toes. |
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7. |
Bottom of fingers reaches
toes. |
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9. |
Half way between bottom
of fingers and thumb. |
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10. |
Level with thumb. |
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11. |
Wrists reach end of toes |
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Score: .......... |
MUSCLE TESTS
It is highly likely that in some of the
stretch positions some muscles will be extremely tender.
Here are the areas that are likely to be painful when
given a firm finger massage by someone else.
It is likely that one side will be
tighter than the other.
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1. Tight and
painful buttock muscles |
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2. Tight muscles
at top of buttock |
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3. Tight hamstring
muscles |
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4. Tight buttock
muscle
To
increase the stretch take your chest
closer to the floor. |
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John Miller
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