Back Pain – Your Goals Physical Therapy

What to Do About Overuse or Repetitive Strain Injury Causing Lower Back Pain?

Dr. Molly McDonald — Wed, 28 Aug 2024 15:38:57 +0000

Chronic lower back pain caused by overuse or Repetitive Strain Injuries is quite common. Most cases of lower back pain occur due to overuse that develops from our daily activities and postures — especially repetitive activities.

The Multifidus and Erector Spinea muscles play a role in extending the spine. To put it differently, functionally, they resist excessive spinal flexion exerted on the spine by the abdominal muscles.

These muscles were not designed for the way we use them in our daily lives. For instance, they are used when we spend hours sitting in a hunched position, whether it’s for working at a computer, watching Netflix, or using our phones – and no one would think they are using their back muscles during these activities.

So, what do you do to help your back heal? Let’s examine everything, from the cause of the pain and common symptoms to 6 things you can do to recover without pain medications:

We will start with What Activities Lead to Repetitive Strain Injuries in the Lower Back?

Slouching, sitting in a hunched position, and using your back to bear loads — plus bending or twisting while using your back to bear loads.

Back muscles also weren’t created to be the primary muscle for lifting or moving things across the room. Hip muscles are meant to be the primary muscles during those movements, while the Erectors Spinea, Multifidus, and abdominal muscles are there to stabilize the spine.

That’s why repeated movements or sustained poor posture eventually lead to stress on these regions, causing the spine’s misalignment. Over time, these repetitive forces provoke an inflammatory response, contributing to significant strain and possibly, nerve compression or instability.

To go into more detail about how Poor Posture stresses your back…

Slouching or leaning forward causes the spine to shift out of its natural alignment, placing undue stress on the muscles and ligaments surrounding the back.

By maintaining a posture that has your ears over your shoulders, shoulders over hips and hips over ankles, you lower the required strength of your trunk muscle especially your lower back muscles.

For instance, if you have an increased curve in your thoracic spine, then upper back muscles are stretched past their anatomical or “normal” position.

To compensate for the change in a spinal curve in the upper spine, the curve in the lower spine will also change.

If the lower back reverses its normal curve then the erector spinae and multifidus will be stretched compared to their normal position. If the lower back increases the curve (increases the lordosis) then the erector spinae and multifidus will be placed in a shortened position. Over time both these positions will reduce the strength of these muscles.

These spine alignment changes can be complicated by a phenomenon known as tissue creep. Placing a tissue in a stretched position for a long time causes tissue creep, which changes the natural length and strength of the tissue. Basically, that tissue becomes less able to tolerate the daily stresses placed on it.

I will leave links for you to get Tips for an ergonomic workstation and furniture that can help correct back posture

Let’s talk a little more about the symptoms of recurring lower back pain…

A common story is that pain started after their workout, but then it would go away. The pain acted weirdly. It would be mild at the start of a workout, then go away in the middle, only to return after the workout. Eventually, the pain would affect everyday activities.

Clients have reported having strong ache in their lower back after sitting for long periods, after standing for long periods of time, with bending down to pick something up, or even doing basic household tasks like dishes.

Walking is typically okay to start, but then the pain can limit how far they want to walk. In many cases these simple daily tasks would change the strong aching pain pain to a sharp jabbing pain.

The pain becomes too much to work through, they not only stop working out but they limit all activities for a week or two. Unfortunately, even if their pain went away, many times it only lessened after the two-week break, when they returned to their normal activities, the pain returned.

What can you do to help recur lower back pain?

Thankfully our bodies are designed for motion. The spine is designed to flex, extend, side bend and rotate all without pain. Just because you have lower back pain today does not mean you have to have lower back pain for the rest of your life.

My patients find permanent relief through hands-on techniques, prescribed exercises to correct strength imbalances, improving their work station set ups, and improving their mechanics with functional (daily) activities.

If you are suffering from lower back muscle strain or overuse injury, here are 5 things you can start doing today to heal your lower back pain:

1. Icing for Back Strain

Icing is a great method to reduce swelling in overused muscles by constricting blood flow and disrupting the body’s inflammation process.

I know that everyone always says ice or heat injuries and it might sound like a throwaway piece of advice. But I have had clients call me in acute pain that dramatically changed after laying down for 10 minutes with ice.

Watch this video for a suggested set up:

Icing can be particularly beneficial for managing symptoms associated with overuse injuries and muscle spasms. By addressing inflammation and promoting healing in the ligaments and tendons, patients with conditions like a lumbar strain injury may find relief and improved function as back strains heal.

2. Massage for Back Pain from Strain Injuries

One issue for overused muscles is they lack sufficient time to heal. The muscle fibers end up crossed instead of in a straight line because of the extended inflammation process and hurried elastin production. Through massage, fibers can be re-aligned to improve strength and endurance.

By simply rubbing your fingers horizontally across the muscle fibers, you reduce pain, inflammation and the function of your lower back muscles.

3. Stretching for Back Pain

Similar to massage, gentle stretching can help an overused muscle regain its normal length and reduce pain with contraction.

Try these lower body stretches, in addition to your favorite hamstring, hip flexor and quad stretches:

Double Knee to Chest Stretch Modifications

Child’s Pose Stretch Modifications

Gentle stretching is particularly beneficial for easing muscle tension and alleviating symptoms from back pain, including those caused by lower body strain.

Engaging in repetitive movements, especially those that involve sudden twisting or prolonged compression, can increase the risk of a spinal strain injury.

Addressing tight hamstrings and hip flexors and ensuring proper spinal alignment can significantly improve the overall health of the lumbar region and help prevent common back injuries.

4. Strengthening

It’s highly important to strengthen overused muscles. But you have to start off with gentle strengthening. The trick to healing an overused muscle is to strengthen the muscle just up to the point of discomfort. This is not the time to push through pain.

With a lower back strain, it is equally important to strengthen the surrounding muscles for quick and lasting recovery. A well-rounded strength program should be introduced to address any muscle imbalances in the torso and hips.

To foster healing in injured muscles, it’s crucial to recognize that many overuse injuries stem from repetitively straining the erector spinae or multifidus past their strength or endurance tolerance.

By implementing a structured strengthening program, one can help restore proper lower back curvature, alleviating residual compression and promoting overall spinal health.

5. Improve Your Posture

Maintaining proper posture can significantly diminish the risk of chronic pain, as it helps prevent damaging the vertebra or the intervertebral disc and surrounding tissue.

Practicing good posture can lead to decreased pain from back sprains and other injuries, promoting faster and more effective healing.

To get started, you can simply practice good standing posture during a normal part of your daily routine. For instance, at the gym while surrounded by mirrors or while you do your dishes, or on your daily walks, pay attention to if your shoulders are slouching or if your head is forward.

If you work long hours at a computer changing the ergonomics of your workspace can help you maintain proper posture. For many people, it might mean getting a taller chair, or adjusting a monitor height.

Over time, you will be more aware of your posture throughout the day, allowing you to make adjustments without having to concentrate on your posture all day.

6. Personalized Guidance from a Physical Therapist for Back Pain

Fast track your recovery by talking to a physical therapist who specializes in identifying the underlying cause of low back pain or overuse in active adults.

Trying to find the best way to relieve pain and resume your favorite activities can be overwhelming when dealing with overuse or muscle strain injuries. At Your Goals Physical Therapy, we help active adults end their lower back pain, so they can reclaim their favorite recreational activities and live life to the fullest.

To address the pain, we first determine its root cause and provide relief. Then, through specialized hands-on techniques and strengthening activities, we restore the muscle’s healing and strength. Lastly, we enhance muscle strength and resilience to prevent future injuries.

The entire way, all exercises and activities are prescribed to not prolong symptoms and avoid side effects.

If you are tired of just managing your lower back pain and you are ready to get started today, click the button below labeled “ask about cost & availability” to fill out a simple form that allows us to contact you.

If you have questions about your specific situation, whether you are not sure if physical therapy is the right treatment for you or you wonder if it would be any different from your last experience. Click the button “Talk to a PT“, we will be happy to help contact you to set up a 20 minute chat with a physical therapist to make sure we are the right fit for you.

Why Is Balance and Stability Training Essential for Lower Back Pain Relief?

Dr. Molly McDonald — Tue, 23 Jul 2024 17:18:02 +0000

The short answer to why stability and balance training are essential for lower back pain relief is because these training objectives train your body to control the amount of joint movement and compression at each level of your spine. By improving your stability and balance, you will reduce the overall force placed on your spine.

Let’s break down how each training objective works, how it improves running mechanics, and suggested exercise plans for each.

Stability Training

Stability training concentrates on improving your ability to keep your torso stiff while running. A stable torso is the ideal foundation your legs need in order to move smoothly and efficiently. This type of training is crucial for core stability and overall physical fitness.

How Stability Improves Your Running Mechanics

Many people forget how heavy their head and arms are since we carry them around all day. But think about this: While you run, you are constantly moving your body up and down. Over time, it can become tiresome to hold yourself in good upright posture, not to mention controlling your arm swing and trunk rotation.

To save energy, your body will let you slouch. Unfortunately, slouching your shoulders limits how deep you can breathe, and limits your natural arm swing and momentum. This can lead to stiffness and reduced range of motion.

In your lower body, with every stride you take, one leg is being pulled forward by your hip flexors and the other is being pulled back by your glutes. This alternative motion creates an opposing force on your pelvis, which when your trunk muscles get fatigued they stop resisting. Then your trunk will rotate, bend to either side, with every stride, eventually the excessive motion will wear down joints in your spine.

Just think about it, all that energy you’re using on trunk motion could be spent moving you forward at a faster pace or for a longer distance. By controlling that motion, you are reducing the stress on your spine and potentially preventing chronic pain or musculoskeletal disorders.

Stability training and strengthening core muscles are two most effective ways to optimize your stride—and protect your lower back.

The Lumbar Multifidus

The Lumbar Multifidus muscle, which is the largest deep muscle along the spine, is essential for counteracting lower back flexion caused by the abdominal muscles. You can stop damage to your lumbar spine by strengthening your multifidus muscles; since a strong multifidus prevents excessive flexion of the spine.

Where training lower back muscles goes wrong, causing injury, is with exercise that actively extends your spine into excessive lordosis, especially with resistance. The Lumbar Multifidus holds the vertebrae in place by resisting flexion, not extending into lordosis. This means the exercises that strengthen your multifidus are trunk stabilization exercises, not lumbar extension exercises.

Balance Training

Balance training concentrates on improving how steady you are on your feet, on uneven surfaces, and on one foot. This type of training is essential for fall prevention and improving overall physical strength.

How Balance Improves Your Running Mechanics

Running is essentially a single leg activity with momentum. It is not common for some to think about training their balance if they don’t fall or trip when they walk. However, with all sport activities, you should train your muscles in a way that mimics the movements you use during the sport. This improves your skills and prevents injuries. Therefore, for running, balance training has big payoffs.

When running, every stride you take has you landing, quietly preferably, on one foot then transitioning your weight from behind that foot (or on top of your foot depending on stride length/style) to in front of that stance foot, while bringing your other leg forward to do it all again.

There is a lot going on when you run. If your foot or ankle moves all over the place while you are simply standing in one place, then that is happening while you run. Not being able to control your ankles when you land means that your knee or hips will be affected.

How I Check Patients for Proper Form and Technique

When I first work with a runner for any reason, I check their single leg balance. More often than not I find they either have to shift their body weight dramatically over the standing leg bending their torso or their ankle moves so much that they can’t stand for 30 seconds.

With this one simple test I find out what happens every time they land while running.

It might not seem like a huge deal that you have to shift side to side; however, that is a lot of work for lower back muscles to continually pull you back to upright with every step you take. Not to mention, you have not been running when I do this test. What happens when you start to get fatigued?

Similar issue if your ankle moves a lot when you’re balancing on one leg. If when you land your ankle falls inward, towards your arch, your knees will rotate inward, which causes your hip to drop down. Over time, this running mechanics causes anything from patella femoral syndrome to lower back pain.

Examples of Stability Training Exercises

Examples of stability training exercises are:

Plank variations
Bird dog
Dead bug
Medicine ball rotations

These exercises focus on improving core stability and overall physical strength.

Examples of Balance Training Exercises

Examples of balance training exercises are:

Single-leg stance
BOSU ball exercises
Heel-to-toe walk
Yoga poses like tree pose

These exercises help improve balance, coordination, and can aid in fall prevention.

Although these exercises can be beneficial, it’s best to see a Physical Therapist who specializes in training runners to identify the exercises best for your situation.

I work with adult runners, 40 years old and up, to develop personalized programs for their specific needs. These programs often incorporate elements of strength training, stretching, and functional training to address issues like sciatica, spinal stenosis, and hip pain.

If you’re experiencing lower back pain or want to improve your stability and balance for better running performance, it’s critical to seek a professional who specializes in active adults. This can help prevent over-training and reduce the risk of strain injuries.

At Your Goals Physical Therapy, we help active adults end their aches and pains and reclaim their favorite physical activities – without medication, injections, or surgery.

If you are in the Cypress, Texas area, and you have a few questions about your specific situation, request to schedule a time to talk with me. On that call, we can discuss your specific situation, making sure we are a good fit before you commit to a paid service.

Ready to start? Complete the “ask about cost & availability” form and we’ll call you to create a personalized plan that addresses your specific needs, getting you back to running at the level you want.

How to Strengthen Your Core Muscles for Running

Dr. Molly McDonald — Sat, 29 Jun 2024 17:07:19 +0000

How to Strengthen Your Core Muscles for Running

Hey there! Let’s talk about how your anatomy plays a big role in your athletic performance, especially when it comes to running.

Now, when we say “core muscles,” we’re talking about more than just those visible abs. Your core includes all those deep muscles that connect your pelvis, hips, and legs. Think of your core as your body’s stability center—it’s where all your limb movements start.

When you’re out running, your core muscles are working hard to keep your torso balanced, your spine aligned, and your legs moving smoothly.

This means you get a more efficient stride, which is super important if you want to run longer or faster without getting tired too quickly. Plus, a strong core helps your legs move efficiently and keeps your knees healthier by reducing unnecessary stress.

If you want to boost your running distance and endurance, it’s critical to control trunk movements like side-bending, rotation, and flexion. The exercises in this video will help you train your body to resist these motions, letting you save more energy for hitting those longer or faster runs.

Ready to unlock the full power of your core and transform your running game? Let’s dive in!

Why Runners Need a Strong Core

A stable and well-aligned posture during your runs springs from a solid core. This translates into better running efficiency and performance. In fact, a study in Sports Medicine¹ has shown that core strength training can improve running economy for distance runners.

Strengthening the Pelvic Floor for Running

The pelvic floor muscles might not get as much attention, but they’re a critical part of your core. These muscles support your bladder, bowel, and in women, the uterus. They also play a key role in maintaining proper pelvic alignment while you run.

Strengthening your pelvic floor enhances stability, improves posture, and lowers the risk of injuries tied to pelvic instability. Exercises like Kegels are commonly known as exercise to strengthen your pelvic floor; however, they are just the entry level strengthening exercises. When done with proper form, more functional movements such as bridges and squats target these vital muscles and offer real benefits for runners.

How Core Muscle Activation Boosts Running Efficiency

At every stage of your stride, your core muscles kick into gear to stabilize your pelvis and spine. This active stabilization prevents excessive movement of the trunk and the limbs which conserves energy, and helps translate force more efficiently.

A real world example of this is when you try to get up from a beanbag chair vs a kitchen chair. It is far easier to push yourself up from a low kitchen chair than it is to get up out of a beanbag chair.

Even though this makes sense to me, there is research in Sports Medicine² that backs up the critical role of core stability for effective movement control and efficiency.

Connecting Core Strength with Injury Prevention and Running Longevity

The benefits of core training for runners don’t just stop at improving your movement quality and running form. A robust core lowers the risk of typical running overuse injuries. According to a review in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise (MSSE)³, runners with weak core stability are more prone to lower extremity injuries.

This tells me that strengthening your core is like stacking the deck in your favor, ensuring you can run healthily and happily for many years to come.

How to Strengthen Core Muscles to Alleviate Lower Back Pain

But what happens if you already have a back injury?

Dealing with lower back pain can be frustrating, and muscle spasms are often the main culprit. While stretching can be a good start for relief, the best long-term solution involves strengthening your abdominal muscles. By strengthening your core muscles, you increase the stability of your spine and reduce the workload of your lower back muscles.

Check out the exercises in this video—they’re my top picks for easing lower back pain:

These exercises are low-intensity, specifically targeting your abdominal muscles while minimizing likelihood of recruiting other muscles. High-intensity exercises like leg lifts, planks, and deadbugs can sometimes make back pain worse by involving the hip flexors and lumbar extensors too much.

By focusing on these carefully selected exercises, you’ll be better equipped to strengthen your core without aggravating your lower back, helping to put those pesky muscle spasms to rest for good.

Why Are Flexibility and Mobility Training Important for Lower Back Pain After Running?

When running, if you lack flexibility in your hips, knees, or ankles, your body’s mechanics can get thrown off. Limited hip extension, for example, forces your lower back to compensate by overextending, leading to joint compression. Over time, this constant strain can cause degenerative joint changes, osteophytes, compression fractures, or disc bulges.

Now, you might think that being super flexible is always a good thing for runners. But that’s not necessarily true. Take ankle flexibly—having too much on one side could seem okay, but it becomes risky when you’re navigating uneven terrain or if your foot accidentally ends up half on and half off of a sidewalk.

In those moments, the ability to control your ankle flexibility is crucial to prevent awkward stumbles or ankle sprains. The same logic applies to your spine.

When one of the joints in your lower back lacks flexibility, adjacent joints often compensate by becoming overly flexible. This excessive motion can lead to pain and irritation and if a vertebra moves too far your back muscle will clamp down to prevent a catastrophic event in your spine. In contrast, the less flexible joint in your spine may develop osteoarthritis due to decreased joint space.

By incorporating stretching and mobility exercises into your routine, you can improve spine flexibility and achieve a balanced strength & flexibility throughout your entire spinal column.

Conclusion

You’ve discovered how much it pays to have a strong core for running. But we know that doing these exercises by yourself can be daunting. I mean, there’s so much information out there, isn’t there? Sure makes your head spin.

That’s where we come in. I’m Dr. Molly McDonald at Your Goals PT in Cypress, Texas, where we cut through the confusion by providing you personalized core strengthening programs designed specifically for runners like yourself.

Imagine eliminating the guesswork and stress of where to start or what’s right for your unique needs. Our one-on-one guidance ensures you will do the right exercises so you can achieve your running goals without setbacks or injuries.

Discover how our specialized core training programs can amplify your performance, endurance, and enjoyment on every run. If you’re in the Cypress, Texas area, choose from one of the options below to begin your journey:

We help active adults end their aches and pain, so they can reclaim their favorite recreational activities and live life to the fullest.

Dr. Molly McDonald, PT, DPT, LMT

Next Steps

Cost & Availability

At YourGoals PT, we recognize that understanding the cost and availability of physical therapy is essential before making an appointment. If you're in this position, we're here to provide you with the information you need. Simply click the button above to explore the details.

Yes! Lets Find Out

Talk To Dr. Molly

If you are not quite ready to go ahead and book an appointment with a Physical Therapist right now, perhaps you have some questions and think it would be good to talk to Dr. Molly first so you can be 100% sure that we can help you, please click the button below and fill out the short form to schedule a call and Dr. Molly will answer all the questions you have over the phone, completely for free:

Claim Your FREE Phone Consultation

Discovery Visit

We realize some people may be “unsure” if Physical Therapy is right for them. It could be that you’re not sure it’ll work, or whether we can help with what you’ve got, or maybe you had a bad experience somewhere in the past? If that sounds like you and you’d like to come in and see for yourself how Dr. Molly can help you, please fill out the short form below and tell us more about you so we can answer your questions:

Unlock The Power Of A FREE Discovery Visit

Works Cited

^ Hibbs, Angela E., et al. “Optimizing Performance by Improving Core Stability and Core Strength.” Sports Med., vol. 38, no. 12, 2008, pp. 995-1008. ResearchGate, https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Duncan-French-2/publication/23489963_Optimizing_Performance_by_Improving_Core_Stability_and_Core_Strength/links/0deec5177070b68703000000/Optimizing-Performance-by-Improving-Core-Stability-and-Core-Strength.pdf. Accessed 20 June 2024.
^ Leetun, Darin, et al. “Core Stability Measures as Risk Factors for Lower Extremity Injury in Athletes.” Medicine and science in sports and exercise, vol. 36, no. 6, 2004, pp. 926-34. PubMed, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15179160/. Accessed 20 June 2024.
^ Llanos-Lagos, Christian, et al. “Effect of Strength Training Programs in Middle- and Long-Distance Runners’ Economy at Different Running Speeds: A Systematic Review with Meta-analysis.” Sports Med, vol. 54, no. 4, 2024, pp. 895-932. PubMed Central, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11052887/. Accessed 20 June 2024.

Should I Run with Lower Back Pain?

Dr. Molly McDonald — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 14:58:39 +0000

Should I Run with Lower Back Pain?

Whether you are new to running , or you’ve been running since diapers, your back should not hurt before, during, or after a run.

I often talk to patients who tell me it’s normal to have back pain from running. Let me assure you, it may be a common issue – but pain when running is not normal.

Now, I’m not saying that you need immediate medical attention. But you shouldn’t ignore or push through back pain.

Pain is a signal from your body that something is wrong. If you have pain that lasts longer than 2-3 weeks, it’s best to have someone help you resolve it.

Don’t wait until the back pain is unbearable. If you do, you’re more likely to find out you have permanent damage. However, if you go see a PT when the pain starts, it’s far more likely no permanent damage has started, and everything is completely reversible.

Read on to find causes of back pain among runners, and 7 tips to address (not push through) your back pain.

5 causes of lower back pain when running

Lower back pain when running can come from various causes. Each affects the body’s mechanics and stability differently.

1. Hip Inflexibility

Your hips ideally should allow a full range of motion without restriction. This ensures that your hip joint stays healthy. Your hips need to be strong and stable throughout the full range of motion into flexion, extension, internal rotation, external rotation, hip abduction, and adduction.

If you lose the ability to move through one of those ranges while you are running, your body will adapt, but over time that adaptation can strain your back.

For instance, let’s say that you have difficulty lifting your knee to your chest or even to 90 degrees. Then you go running. You will either limit how high your knee comes off the ground, or your lower back will have to tuck under to help give you the range you want.

Or let’s say you have limited hip extension. Then every time you advance your leg, your lower back has to extend or arch to give you the range of motion you need to propel yourself forward.

Both of these adaptations add stresses to your back that are not typically there, which will lead to pain.

2. Poor Trunk Stability

Unlike your hips that need to be very flexible, your trunk needs to be very stable. While doing all things, your trunk is supposed to resist all motions such as rotating, bending, and twisting.

Think about how weird it would be if you could not sit up in a chair without slumping forward or to the side. Or if you walked down the street, every time you wanted to turn your head, your whole body would turn with you. Our ability to move as freely as we do is because our trunk has the ability to be stable.

Now to running…When you run, you add additional forces to the mix compared to simply sitting or walking. Your muscles have to be able to resist the impact of you pushing yourself forward and landing on the ground.

This adds additional stress to your upper back from your neck and shoulders moving and to your abdominal muscles as they try to stabilize your lower back and pelvis.

When your upper back or your abdominal muscles get tired and are no longer able to hold your bones steady, you will notice side to side trunk motion, and that your shoulders will slump down or rotate more.

All these motions add stress to your spine, which will lead to back pain.

3. Impaired Posture

Ideal posture is created by maintaining the natural slight curves in the spine. Due to sitting and other aspects of modern life, we tend to have an increased curve in our thoracic spine, the upper back or shoulder blades area, and the lower back.

By increasing the angle of these curves, we are inadvertently compressing one part of our spine bones more than the other. Over time this uneven pressure can cause permanent changes to our spine alignment and health.

This change to the lower back posture can happen over time in several ways. Two common ways are from tight muscles either on the lower spine or front of the hips pulling the bones in your spine closer together. Whether the tight muscles are in the front or the back, both cause your lower back into an exaggerated lordotic position, commonly called anteriorly rotated.

The thoracic spine changes typically happen from having our head forward, causing the muscles in the upper back to get stretched and weaken over time from trying to hold our heads up.

Back to running. If you start with a shortened joint space, caused by these changes in posture, then you add compression forces from the impact of landing while running, you further shorten this space. Over time this can lead to muscle spasms, fractures in the spine or disc bulges.

4. Weak muscles

Since running is an endurance sport, we tend to forget that we need a baseline amount of strength to run with good mechanics.

Strength is what allows your muscles the ability to continually absorb the impact of landing then quickly propel you forward. And running is a full-body sport. Your upper back works to hold your shoulders during arm swing, your abdominal muscles help you breathe efficiently while keeping your pelvis stable, and your legs are completing single-leg hops for however many miles you are running.

It doesn’t take but one muscle to be weaker than the rest for this whole system to start making adaptations.

For example, if your hip flexor muscles are weak, then you will have to change how you lift your knee up. One way to get around using your hip flexor is to bring your knee out to the side versus straight forward. This uses a different muscle. Unfortunately, that different muscle is supposed to help you not shift from side to side. Over time this shifting left to right makes it hard to stabilize your pelvis when you are on one foot, which leads to lower back pain.

As a side note: Weak muscles can come from overtraining. It is important to make sure you recover between runs, to ensure you don’t break down your muscle strength.

5. Poor Shock Absorption

The moment your foot hits the ground, you’re supposed to be absorbing shocks. Proper shock absorption starts with your feet, then moves to the muscles in your legs up to your hips.

Weakness or poor coordination in your feet and hips can lead to hard impacts with the ground, sending the shock all the way up your legs into the back.

This repeated force can aggravate the muscles around your spine and/or the joints in your spine.

How do I stop my lower back from hurting when I run?

Here are seven tips that will help you stop having lower back pain and get you back to running without limitation.

1. Good Running Shoes

Make sure you are running with the correct equipment.

For this sport, the shoes you wear are very important for reducing the stresses on your body. You need proper support and cushion depending on the surfaces you’re running on and the number of miles you are running.

Running shoes are designed to last for about 500 miles. If you are running 9-15 miles every week, then you need a new pair every year. But if you are running about 20 miles a week, then you should replace them every 6 months.

To find out more about proper shoe fit, please check these articles & videos and read the one appropriate for your foot position:

2. Warm Up

When you’re a kid, you just run for fun; you don’t get sore. Your body is used to ramping up quickly and then shutting down just as quickly.

Welcome to adulthood – your body needs a transition.

Just like when you put on music to get your mind pumped up for your run, your body needs 5-10 minutes to get ready for the run (warming up).

If you are looking for ideas on how to warm up for a run. I personally like Active stretches, high knees, butt kicks, lateral lunges. These can be done at a lower intensity than running but they use the same muscles. By the time you get down with 30 sec to a minute of these exercises your body is warm and muscles have been prepared for your run.

Once you get into the habit of warming up your body will thank you.

3. Stretch

Stretching is like the medication everyone knows they should take but don’t.

After running, I always suggest stretching. First, it is a great cool-down activity; it prevents muscle soreness by improving recovery time. Not to mention helping joint health throughout your body.

To cool down, my go-to stretches are passive stretching (so you hold these for 30-60 seconds) hamstring, hip flexor, quad, piriformis, and calves.

Stretching is vital for everyone but especially for runners. Stretching helps your muscles and joints maintain the balance and resilience needed to run for years.

As a side note: Any running program I design has a day of active recovery, which consists of a long stretching program 15 to 20 minutes of stretching. When you take the time to stretch, it helps you become more in tune with your body.

4. Strengthening

Running is an endurance sport. However, it takes a lot of strength to maintain the proper body mechanics to run properly.

Your whole body is challenged while running; which is what makes it such a good thing for your health and wellness.

I know that most runners have a hard time with the idea of not running for a day. However, all professional runs follow a strengthening program. This tells you the importance of strength training. Taking the time to strengthen your body with weights or at least body weight activities will not take away from your running; it will only add to your pace and distance while improving your recovery time.

Exercises like lunges, squats, and heel raises are foundational movements for runners.

5. Plyometric training

Back to being a kid…when you are 5 years old, jumping was part of your everyday life. As an adult, most of us don’t have a daily reason to jump.

Like everything in life, jumping and landing is a skill that we lose over time if we don’t practice. Plyometric training is a way to practice the skill of absorbing the impact of landing.

Start plyometric training by jumping rope or just small hops on the ground. When you land, you should not hear a loud thud as you hit the ground. By learning to absorb the impact, you will be reducing the stress on your back and other joints while you run.

6. Ice and Heat

Apply ice for 10 minutes. If that doesn’t relieve your symptoms, apply heat for 10 minutes. Whichever one helps your pain is the right one for you. But you shouldn’t feel the need to constantly have ice or heat on your body to make it through the day.

After applying ice or heat, you should have less or no pain for at least 30 minutes.

7. See a physical therapist that specializes in runners

As a runner, if you’ve suffered nagging back pain for more than 2-3 weeks, please see a physical therapist that specializes with runners to find the root cause.

Why let discomfort steal the joy of running and being active for any longer than necessary?

There are various reasons for back pain while running. A physical therapist – especially one who helps active adults – should work hands-on with you to:

Help you learn the root cause of your pain
Create a plan to stop the pain
Fix the problem
Make your body resilient against the same injury.

If you’re in the Cypress, Texas area, and you need help with your pain, don’t keep waiting. Call us now or request an appointment.

If you’re unsure, read reviews and testimonials of Your Goals PT from runners like yourself.

We help active adults end their aches and pain, so they can reclaim their favorite recreational activities and live life to the fullest.

Dr. Molly McDonald, PT, DPT, LMT

Next Steps

Lower Back Pain from Lifting- What Do I Do?

Dr. Molly McDonald — Wed, 20 Dec 2023 23:38:16 +0000

Lower Back Pain from Lifting- What Do I Do?

Are you suffering from lower back pain after lifting? And you’re wondering what you should do? This video is perfect. That’s exactly what I’m gonna talk about. My name is Dr. Molly and I’m with Your Goals Physical Therapy.

Tom came to me after several months, like six months, worth of dealing with lower back pain after he was at the gym and he went down for a squat. As he was coming up, his lower back just grabbed him and wouldn’t let go. He was able to re-rack his weights and after sitting for a little bit the pain kind of subsided. But over all the back pain stayed with him for a very long time, so long that he was afraid to lift. His back would ache when he sat for too long, while transitioning from sitting in his car to standing, and if he sat for too long on his couch, this nagging pain just persisted

It was so uncomfortable that he wasn’t even going to try to lift because obviously something was wrong. After two or three weeks, he went to his doctor. His doctor took X-rays and told him there was nothing wrong.

Well, that actually frustrated Tom even more because he’s like, “there’s pain, there’s obviously something wrong.” He wasn’t too thrilled with that. And again, this pain persisted for a very long time, even after taking the muscle relaxers, the doctor gave him and resting like the doctor told him.

He was still very frustrated that he wasn’t able to get back to lifting. So during our first meeting, it was very apparent that Tom looked at being able to lift weights and go to the gym as not only his time away to like decompress from his job and his family, but also a huge sign of his health and being able to stay young and do the things that he wanted to do.

He saw going to the gym as the way that you stay on track and, um, that you stay healthy and so not being able to go to the gym was affecting him in a lot of ways. He really was nervous that he wasn’t gonna be able to go back to lifting the way that he liked to lift. He wasn’t really interested in lifting lighter weights, which is one of the things the doctor told him. The last thing that he was, again, I’ll reiterate how frustrated he really was when the doctor told him there was nothing wrong with his back, knowing that he was uncomfortable.

I started by going over the anatomy of his lower back. Then I talked to him about very specific things he could do at home, which I will share with you to help calm down his pain. I know that lots of people have tried physical therapy and when they’re trying to get back to lifting, there always seems to be a disconnect. They get out of pain while they’re in therapy, but they might not be able to lift the way that they went. So I’m gonna talk a little bit about that later on in the video also.

The anatomy of your lower back, your lower back is made up of five bones that have cushions between them that help you with shock absorption. You have ligaments that surround that making a very good scaffolding. If you’ve ever looked at a spine, the way that the spine is designed, it has a specific intent to keep your spinal cord very, very safe. There are a lot of bony prominences, there are lots of ligaments everywhere. Everybody thinks that your low back muscles are the things that keep you stable. Ultimately all your low back muscles are designed to do is keep your spine in its normal alignment. So if you have an increased curve, that means your back muscles are doing more work because they’re shortening and they’re just constantly on tension.

If you have a complete reversal of that normal curve, now those muscles are overstretched and then can become weak or create muscle spasms. Due to the way that we sit and stand and move, oftentimes many people go from one extreme to the other. You go from completely reversing the curve in your lower back to completely hyperextending the curve in your lower back, all depending on if you’re sitting or standing. And so this can really wear out your lower back before you even get to exercising.

The main muscle group that is supposed to help keep your spine stable while you’re moving, are actually your abdominal muscles. So the health of your back is not necessarily determined by the strength of your low back muscles, which of course do play a role, but the stability of your spine is really a measure of how strong your abs. In addition to being directly related to, or they have a really close relationship with how flexible and strong your hips are as well.

For instance, you’re supposed to hinge at your hips for everything. By hinging at your hips, then your low back doesn’t have to flex forward or back for you to get your trunk to come down closer to the ground to pick things up, to move things around, right? So if you have very tight hips, like if your hamstrings are tight or your hip flexors are tight, that will directly affect how much you have to use your low back.

And like I was mentioning before, when we have to go through those extreme movements in our back, we’re inadvertently wearing our back out and making things fatigued and weaker without necessarily realizing it because it doesn’t always cause pain until it’s just overdone.

Now if I get back to Tom after that anatomy, he came in and he was having some very acute lower back pain. One of the first things I suggested he do when he got home is to lay flat on, uh, it doesn’t matter, it could be your bed or the ground. Just be in a comfortable position and put an ice pack on. But like many people, Tom couldn’t actually lay flat because it hurt his lower back. So, what I told him to do is to use pillows to build up his hips so that he could still be on his stomach and laying down, but without having too much stress on his back. He was able to find a comfortable position like that and lay with ice on top of his lower back. Icing help calm down inflammation. Overuse muscles that are strained or causing a muscle spasm by putting ice on it, you help alleviate some of that inflammation.

The next thing I showed him was a few lower back stretches. I stressed a lot the idea that a stronger stretch is not necessarily better. You really just wanna barely feel a stretch, barely be uncomfortable. If you’re dealing with low back pain because of a severe muscle spasm and you go cranking into these stretch positions, all you’re gonna do is cause that muscle to contract even harder and you’ll have more pain and more discomfort.

We practiced how to gently stretch his back. We did try a few stretches to see what would work for Tom. We tried what they call a single knee chest. We tried a double knee to chest, we tried lower trunk rotations. And finally we tried child’s pose, all very gentle.

You can control how hard you pull and it really depends on the person on which ones work best for them. The rest of the time we looked at hip flexibility, core stability, all these little parts because his ultimate goal is to get back to squatting. He wants to be able to squat more than the weight that he got injured lifting. So we needed to start from where he was and then work on getting to his goal.

This would be one of my biggest suggestions, no matter who you choose to help you resolve your low back pain, if your goal is to get back to lifting a certain weight or getting back to a sport, you need to work with a physical therapist or a movement specialist that is gonna take your goal to heart. Someone who will set up a plan to achieve just that goal.

Just getting Tom out of pain is probably gonna take, maybe three or four sessions to have his pain stop. But that’s not when the healing stops. If you injured yourself and now you’re just out of pain, are you really strong enough to get back to the sport that you want? Are you really stable enough to get back to doing what you want?

There’s lots of research out there that shows that specifically with back injuries, because it is so complicated, it doesn’t just take two or three sessions to fully heal. As in to heal enough to not deal with this problem again. For that complete healing it takes a certain level of strength and strength just takes time to develop. So that was how we set up our program with Tom. We had milestones that we were gonna hit to help him achieve his goal that he ultimately wanted to lift. When Tom completed his program, he was no longer frustrated with the fact that the doctor said there was nothing wrong. He actually understood what that doctor really meant was that there was no structural damage, which is good, right?

That’s always a good thing. However, his lower back muscles were overworked. He and I were able to work on calming his back muscle down, stopping his pain while getting him strong enough to squat at the same level before injury without any complications or setbacks.

If this is the type of care that you’re looking for, that is fabulous, because that’s what I love to help people do. I love to help people get back to their favorite sports. So much so that I even created an online book, an ebook, for “How to keep your back from going out more often than you do”. Lower back pain is a huge issue and lots of people are dealing with it. You shouldn’t have to deal with it any longer than you already have.

I’ve put together my best tips. If you’re looking for a little bit more information, there’ll be a link for that.

If you are having a specific concern and maybe you really have had therapy and you’ve tried all these things and you’re just wondering what, if anything I can offer that would be different, I’m gonna leave a form. You can fill that form out and let me know a time or a day or a time that’s good for you. I will get back to you. We’ll set up a 20 minute call so that you can ask me all the questions. If we end up being a good fit, we can set up the next steps to work together. And if not, you will have more information on how to get the help that you do need. I hope that everybody’s having a great day, and I’ll talk to you soon. Bye.

We help active adults end their aches and pain, so they can reclaim their favorite recreational activities and live life to the fullest.

Dr. Molly McDonald, PT, DPT, LMT

Next Steps

Cost & Availability

Yes! Lets Find Out

Talk To Dr. Molly

Claim Your FREE Phone Consultation

Discovery Visit

Unlock The Power Of A FREE Discovery Visit

Are there any ergonomic adjustments I can make to my workspace to reduce back pain?

Dr. Molly McDonald — Sun, 19 Nov 2023 01:03:39 +0000

Are There Any Specific Ergonomic Adjustments I Can Make To My Workspace To Reduce Back Pain?

A comfortable and ergonomic workspace doesn’t just look nice. It’s there to take care of your body and overall well-being. Keeping good posture and adding ergonomic adjustments to your workspace can make a huge difference in reducing back pain and improving your overall health and productivity.

Background

We’ll get into ergonomics in a moment, but first, here’s a real-world story of pain in the workspace. A person who’s not yet aware of ergonomics.

John works in a fast-paced, restless workplace, sitting at a computer in an office every day.

He finds himself wrestling with unrelenting upper back pain that seems to grow more severe as the days pass.

This pain only started out as a minor annoyance. Now, it’s chronic. A spike of hurt down his back stiffens him. He frequently catches himself distracted by sharp twinges or dull aches. Every single time, it intensifies, and stiffens his back.

The pain diverts his attention. Every day, John perches himself at the computer, hoping to complete his obligations as normal. Try as he might, he only completes half the work he wants and needs to. The rest of his time? Dominated by his pain.

No longer does John simply “perform” his daily tasks. He endures them. Even getting up and walking feels like a chore. His concentration breaks. His productivity, way down. John is fatigued, ineffective, and miserable, and at risk of being fired.

Outside his office, the repercussions of his back pain become even more pronounced. Activities that John once pursued with vigor and enthusiasm, like hiking on weekends, playing catch with his kids, or running, have become strenuous, if not outright impossible. Correction – he actually can’t run outside of work. The joy & leisure he cherishes is now nearly gone.

“What the heck do I do!?”

John tries to recover in many ways.

He takes prescription meds, and enjoys relief – only for a short while. Every time. The pain always returns.
He gets regular massages. Sure, he enjoys quick comfort from the soothing hands of therapists. But – the pain always returns.
He stretches. He faithfully follows paper exercises suggested by wellness influencers. Momentary ease. But – the pain always returns – if not worsens.

A constant cycle of trial and error. Each failed attempt only leaves John more frustrated. Now, he wonders if there even is a solution that lasts…

Let’s pause for a moment:

What Is Ergonomics?

Ergonomics is the science of designing and arranging objects in harmony with the human body. Its goal is to optimize the interaction between people and their environment, for better comfort, productivity, and overall well-being.

By making these adjustments, John could reduce strain on his body, rebuild proper posture, align his muscles, and ultimately, massively help his back pain.

Definition and Significance of Ergonomics in the Workplace

Ergonomics creates an ideal fit between a person and their work environment. It takes into account factors such as body mechanics, equipment design, and workflow to minimize physical stress and improve productivity.

The significance of ergonomics in the workplace cannot be overstated. Work on computers can bring the misery of a sedentary lifestyle if you don’t tackle it properly. Worse — you could develop further musculoskeletal disorders.

When your workspace is ergonomically optimized, you are less likely to experience discomfort, develop worse back pain, and can prevent injuries, and best of all, prevent absenteeism.

How Ergonomic Adjustments Can Positively Affect the Body and Overall Comfort

Here’s some simple yet key ergonomic adjustments that can work wonders for your posture & back:

Adjusting your chair: Ensure that your chair provides proper lumbar support and allows you to sit with your feet flat on the floor. This promotes a neutral spine position and relieves pressure on your back.
Positioning your monitor: Adjust the height and angle of your monitor so that the top of the screen is at or slightly below eye level. This helps maintain a good posture and reduces strain on your neck and upper back.
Arranging your keyboard and mouse: Keep them at a comfortable distance, ideally at elbow level, to avoid unnecessary strain on your wrists and shoulders.
Organizing your desk: Ensure that frequently used items are within easy reach, reducing the need for repetitive stretching and reaching movements that can strain your back.

John discovers an article like this about ergonomics. He gets to thinking. He raises and lowers his desk until it’s more comfortable. Finally, something reasonable.

But that still doesn’t help the back recover. What does John do next?

Evaluate Your Workspace

Here’s a handy step-by-step procedure you can take to set up your office space for better ergonomics, to prevent back pain, and if you do have it, make it at least somewhat easier on your back.

A. Desk

Optimize desk height for proper posture and comfort
Adjust computer monitor, keyboard and mouse for appropriate distance and angles
Use ergonomic accessories like wrist supports and document holders

B. Chair

Adjust chair height to maintain proper posture and reduce back strain
Adjust the backrest and lumbar support for optimal comfort and support
Using a footrest to promote good posture and reduce stress on the lower back and legs

C. Computer Monitor

Position the monitor at eye level to minimize back and neck strain
Ensure the monitor is positioned directly in front and at a comfortable distance
Consider an adjustable monitor for better ergonomics

D. Laptop

If using a laptop, consider using it on an adjustable stand
Adjust stand and monitor to eye level to avoid straining back and neck
Position keyboard at a comfortable angle to reduce strain and stretch on your arms and hands

E. Keyboard and Mouse Setup

Place the keyboard and mouse in a comfortable and neutral position so you don’t need to reach too far
Use an ergonomic keyboard and ergonomic mouse for enhanced comfort and reduced strain on the arms

F. Lighting Adjustment

Ensure adequate lighting to avoid excessive glare, which can strain the eyes and adversely impact posture
Properly position desk lamps or overhead lighting for optimal visibility

G. Other Workspace Components

Optimize the layout of phones, printers, and personal belongings to minimize repetitive reaching or twisting motions

Taking Care of Your Health

Neglecting your health is the sure way to not be able to show up for work. If John was healthy and aware, and he just needed his back to handle the grind, he’d need to treat his body well – as a preventative mesaure. Consider these simple activities:

1 – Take Regular Breaks

Not enough breaks? Ask your boss if it’s okay to do it every hour! Regular breaks are a great tool for a healthy body and reducing the risk of back pain.

Prolonged sitting can stiffen you, stress you, and seriously hamper your overall well-being. Taking a short break every hour allows you to stand up, stretch, breathe, relax, and move around, relieving pressure on your back and helping blood circulation.

Plus, if you stare at a computer too long, it’s hard on your eyes. Take a 20-second break from the screen every 20 minutes. It does a great deal good for your eyesight.

2 – Do Stretching Exercises or Micro-Movements

Simple stretching exercises or micro-movements can provide significant relief from back pain. Incorporating exercises such as shoulder rolls, neck stretches, and gentle twists can help alleviate muscle tension and improve flexibility. These exercises can easily be performed at your desk, ensuring minimal disruption to your work routine.

Be careful not to do the wrong exercises, or the right exercises wrong – especially if you don’t know the root cause of your back pain.

3 – Use Ergonomic Principles

Ensure that your chair offers proper lumbar support and is adjusted to the correct height and angle. Additionally, position your monitor at eye level and use a keyboard and mouse that allow for comfortable, natural wrist positions. We can’t restate enough: Ergonomics makes computer work easy on the back!

Unfortunately, John hasn’t prevented the back pain, so it’s too late to try to stretch or break. His back still can’t handle it. The pain nags him chronically.

Now, he’s frustrated. His pain still persists even after adjusting the desk. He’s cranking the handle back and forth, in little micro-increments, and his efforts are in vain.

He’s about to snap from the pressure.

“Is there any hope?”

You’re not alone. The root cause of back pain is individual. You can’t try to treat the symptoms. It can be a different muscle or bone that’s causing the worrisome, spiking, stiffening feeling.

Enter Dr. Molly at Your Goals Physical Therapy. She sees people like John in her Cypress, Texas office every week.

Dr. Molly’s secret sauce is finding the root cause of your pain (down to the specific muscle and bone) to help you come up with a comprehensive program to end your back pain.

Now, you’re not just suppressing warning signs from your body’s pain receptors. You’re correcting structural damages inside your body. You read that right – structural damages, from stress to improper posture. Your body is made in a certain way, and if it’s out of order, chronic pain is the warning signal.

Hence, when you restore what’s inside – tissue, muscle & bone – to its natural state, you’ll experience long-term relief. Dr. Molly’s personalized treatment protocols are designed to do just that.

Let’s say John gets a consultation with Dr. Molly. After Molly analyzes his pain and creates a custom program, John follows it step by step.

A few sessions later, he’s back to normal. He’s flying! He’s running again, enjoying quality time with his kids, and the moment he walks through the door at work, his boss’s eyes light up. “Is that really John!?” Hours of productivity, regained, with a perfectly organized computer desk.

John can use the steps in this guide to keep his workspace ergonomic. He even buys his own equipment for this purpose. Ah, yes, this is the life.

Back Pain Relief When Working from Home

How about working from home? While yes you do have certain freedoms the regular workspace doesn’t, you’re still probably plopping yourself in a chair to work online and attend Zoom meetings. And working long hours from home in this way is a sure recipe for — you guessed it — back pain.

A work-from-home environment can still give you back discomfort from poor posture, lack of movement, and a lack of ergonomic adjustments.

Addressing the Problem

The great news? Your home gives you freedom of ergonomics! Depending, of course, on the furniture and objects you have at hand, you can rearrange a great deal to alleviate your back pain and make your WFH workstation a safer, more comfortable and healthier one.

Here are are specific ergonomic adjustments you can make:

Optimal Chair and Desk Height: Ensure that your chair and desk are at the appropriate height to maintain a neutral posture. Your feet should be flat on the floor, and your knees should be at a 90-degree angle. Adjust the chair’s height or consider using a footrest if needed.
Lumbar Support: Invest in a chair with built-in lumbar support or use a lumbar cushion to maintain the natural curve of your lower back. This helps minimize strain and promotes proper alignment.
Monitor Positioning: Position your computer monitor at eye level to prevent straining your neck and upper back. Consider using a monitor stand or stack some books underneath if necessary.
Proper Keyboard and Mouse Placement: Place your keyboard and mouse at a height where your elbows can comfortably rest at your sides and form a 90-degree angle. Avoid reaching or extending your arms while typing or using the mouse.
Regular Movement: Take regular breaks to stretch and move around. Prolonged sitting can contribute to back pain, so try to incorporate short bouts of standing, walking, or stretching throughout your workday.
Furniture: If you can stand still for hours at a time, consider an adjustable standing desk instead of a regular table or desk. These allow you to use your computer while standing. The adjustable height lets you further position your keyboard and monitor for comfort, be it with a desktop or laptop computer.
Exercise Accessories: Work out with efficiency. Have a yoga ball or other exercise tool nearby. Every time you take a break, if you’ve got specific exercises for your back pain as prescribed by a professional — like our own Dr. Molly at Your Goals PT — you can do one better, give your back the exercise it needs at the source, and literally give your back a pat on the back.

With these ergonomic adjustments, you can minimize the risk of back pain and create a more conducive and comfortable work environment at home. Now you can be your own boss of workplace safety — at home!

Conclusion

By now, you understand ergonomics has REAL benefits. It’s a great & highly effective tool to reduce back pain in the workspace.

Next time you punch in and step into the office, ask yourself: “Hmm. How can I rearrange all my stuff?” Chances are great that rearranging your stuff — in an exact way — can make work life comfortable and pain-free.

Recapping the ergonomic adjustments we have discussed:

Adjusting the height of your chair and desk to support proper posture
Positioning your monitor at eye level to reduce strain on your neck
Utilizing a supportive ergonomic chair to minimize back pain
Using a keyboard and mouse that promote a natural arm position
Incorporating frequent breaks and stretches to prevent muscle tension

Think of the age-old motivational quote: “Do something today that your future self will thank you for.”

These simple adjustments today will determine your long-term health and productivity. Your back will thank you. Heck, if you take pride in your job and this means you don’t have to miss a day anymore, your boss could even give you a raise!

So do these simple adjustments and you can significantly reduce the risk of back pain and related discomfort.

If you DO have back pain, be careful not to perform non-prescribed exercises. They can worsen your back pain if you don’t know the root cause. Remember what we wrote earlier about structural damage. See a licensed medical practitioner (like Dr. Molly, a physical therapist) for personalized advice before undergoing treatment.

Remember, taking care of your health should always be a top priority. Invest time and effort into creating an ergonomic workspace. You’ll be grateful you did. You’ll reap the benefits of a comfortable, pain-free work environment.

DISCLAIMER: This article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not to be substituted for medical advice. We believe the appropriate exercises and strategies to fix posture & relieve pain are unique to every person suffering back pain. If you want to discover what those are for you, and you are in the Cypress, Texas area, please contact us to request a consultation or inquire about cost & availability.

We help active adults end their aches and pain, so they can reclaim their favorite recreational activities and live life to the fullest.

Dr. Molly McDonald, PT, DPT, LMT

Next Steps

Cost & Availability

Yes! Lets Find Out

Talk To Dr. Molly

Claim Your FREE Phone Consultation

Discovery Visit

Unlock The Power Of A FREE Discovery Visit

Overcoming Chronic Low Back Pain: Restoring Freedom And Reclaiming Your Active Lifestyle

Barbara Sorensen — Thu, 20 Jul 2023 18:53:23 +0000

Overcoming Chronic Low Back Pain: Restoring Freedom and Reclaiming Your Active Lifestyle

Chronic low back pain can be a persistent annoyance, limiting your ability to engage in activities you love. Whether it’s a constant presence or an issue that flares up periodically, living with chronic low back pain can be uncomfortable and worrisome. The impact reaches beyond physical discomfort, influencing decisions about daily activities and even vacation plans. However, there is hope for relief and a return to a pain-free, active life.

Understanding the Challenges:

Living with chronic low back pain means constantly being cautious about triggers and limitations. It can lead to questions like, “What’s wrong with my back?” and “What can I do to fix it?” The uncertainty of how long it will take to recover and the concern over the associated costs only add to the frustration. Many individuals have tried various remedies, including medications, icing, heating, and exercises, but the recurring pain persists, limiting their quality of life.

A Story of Transformation:

Let me share with you the inspiring journey of a recent client who overcame chronic low back pain. This individual had gone through multiple physical therapy sessions, experiencing temporary relief but never achieving long-lasting results. During our evaluation, we discovered a crucial factor: the connection between her thoracic spine and her lower back.

Addressing the Root Cause:

Posture played a significant role in our client’s pain. Prolonged periods of hunching over had caused a rounded shoulder posture, leading to tight chest muscles and weakened upper back and neck muscles. As a result, when she attempted to raise her arms overhead, her lower back would arch, triggering pain. By focusing on improving her thoracic spine mobility and reactivating her upper back muscles, we were able to restore her strength and flexibility.

Regaining Freedom and Joy:

Through targeted treatments and exercises, our client experienced significant progress. Her pain gradually subsided, allowing her to return to activities she once thought were no longer possible. Tennis, running, and other favorite pastimes became a part of her life again. By addressing the root cause and improving her posture, she gained confidence in her body’s abilities and rediscovered the joy of an active lifestyle.

The Importance of Posture:

It’s essential to understand that posture goes beyond shoulder and neck alignment—it impacts your entire spine. Neglecting proper posture can lead to stiffness, weakness, and coordination issues in your upper back, affecting the overall functioning of your body. By addressing posture-related issues, such as rounded shoulders and stiffness in the thoracic spine, you can alleviate pain and improve your overall well-being.

Reach Out for Personalized Help:

If you’re struggling with chronic low back pain or have questions about your specific situation, I’m here to help. Don’t let pain limit your life any longer. Take the first step towards a pain-free future by reaching out to me for personalized guidance and treatment options. Reach out today

Living with chronic low back pain can be challenging, but it doesn’t have to be a permanent condition. By addressing the root cause, improving posture, and strengthening key muscle groups, you can experience significant relief and regain control over your life. Feel free to contact Dr. Molly or explore the options provided below. You’re not alone in this journey, and together, we can find ways to overcome the challenges of chronic pain and improve your quality of life.

If you are looking for more information.
Check out one of these blogs.

Rocked by Pain: How to Find Relief after a Concert Back Injury

BACK PAIN RUINING YOUR VACATION?

5 Tips To Stop Back Pain

Which option works best for you..

Rocked by Pain: How to Find Relief after a Concert Back Injury

Barbara Sorensen — Sun, 21 May 2023 17:00:00 +0000

Rocked by Pain: How to Find Relief after a Concert Back Injury

Greetings! I’m Dr. Molly, and I proudly represent Your Goals Physical Therapy. Recently, I received an urgent phone call from a distressed woman who had experienced a back injury at a concert. She reached out to me with a specific query: “I hurt my back at a concert. How can I recover?” This incident has inspired me to create today’s blog, where I’ll delve into the very topic of recovering from a back injury sustained at a concert.

While not everyone may have suffered a back injury at a concert, there are often commonalities in the nature of such injuries. Therefore, the advice I’ll share can be beneficial for anyone facing comparable challenges.

Join me as we delve into the causes, symptoms, and recovery strategies for back injuries sustained in diverse settings, including concerts.

Now, let’s delve deeper into Katie’s story. Katie found herself at an outdoor concert with her children. The concert was an all-day event, and in an attempt to keep her kids engaged, she had them positioned on her back. However, this setup eventually led to her injury.

She had her arms up around her shoulders. Legs are wrapped around her waist and she’s just having a good time bopping around enjoying life. From her perspective, she realizes looking back, it was a long time that she was bouncing around with kids, but at the time it didn’t feel like it was that long.

Initially, Katie didn’t perceive anything out of the ordinary while she was carrying her child at the concert. It wasn’t until the following day, Sunday, that she experienced a sudden and severe change. Upon waking up, she found herself unable to move freely. Her back felt incredibly tight and stiff, causing intense pain every time she took a deep breath. Throughout the day, she tried to limit her movements, although it proved challenging with her little ones requiring attention.

By Monday, Katie’s pain had not subsided, leading her to reach out to Your Goals Physical Therapy for guidance. She was eager to find a solution that would alleviate her pain as quickly as possible. Additionally, she was uncertain whether she should seek medical assistance and had several questions regarding her condition.

Let’s explore Katie’s journey in more detail, shedding light on the sudden onset of debilitating pain and the uncertainties she faced. I will address her concerns and provide insights into the appropriate steps she should take, including whether a visit to the doctor is necessary. Understanding her experience will help us uncover valuable lessons and offer guidance to those who find themselves in a similar situation.

Upon examining Katie’s condition, it became evident that she didn’t have any immediate indications of injury. During her visit, I assessed her back and discovered that she was experiencing a significant muscle spasm. As Katie demonstrated the activities she engaged in while carrying her children on her back, it became clear that her lower back muscles were not only supporting her own weight but also bearing the additional load of her kids. The added stress eventually caused her lower back to become fatigued, leading to the onset of a severe muscle spasm.

The severe pain Katie experienced manifested with every movement and even during deep breaths, caused her distress. During our consultation, I provided her with several recommendations for home care, including gentle stretches tailored to her condition. To alleviate her discomfort, I suggested using ice as a form of treatment. Katie expressed some uncertainty, as she had initially believed that heat therapy was the appropriate approach. While heat can be helpful for muscle spasms in certain cases, given the nature of her condition, which involved an overused muscle, cold therapy was more suitable.

Fortunately, we were able to alleviate her discomfort through the use of manual techniques. By employing massage and hands-on methods, we successfully interrupted the cycle of muscle spasms and provided her with much-needed relief. The treatment helped to relax and release the tense muscles in her lower back, allowing for improved mobility and reduced pain.

Let’s delve deeper into the specific manual techniques and therapies utilized to address Katie’s muscle spasms. Understanding these techniques will not only shed light on her individual case but also equip you with valuable information that can aid in managing similar issues or discomfort in your own life.

It’s important to remember that individual responses to treatments may vary, and it’s always best to consult with a healthcare professional to determine the most suitable approach for your specific situation.

To draw a parallel, treating muscle spasms is akin to addressing post-workout soreness. Just as you wouldn’t apply heat to your legs after a run, we need to avoid increasing blood flow to the affected area when dealing with muscle spasms. In Katie’s case, there was already an ample supply of blood flow to the region. Our priority was to bring about a state of calmness and reduce inflammation in the tissues, which is precisely where ice therapy proves most effective.

I advised Katie to apply ice for 5-10 minutes, depending on her tolerance level. Remarkably, if the area is already inflamed, the cooling sensation of ice can provide immense relief. Katie followed this advice and experienced a significant calming effect on her back. As a result, she regained a greater degree of mobility, particularly after incorporating the stretches I had taught her.

Katie demonstrated dedication by continuing her therapy sessions even after her pain subsided. You might wonder why therapy is necessary if the pain has gone away. It’s a valid question. However, aside from the fact that carrying her children placed excessive strain on her back, she should have been able to perform those movements without experiencing such a severe reaction. As I closely observed her movements, I uncovered additional underlying issues that contributed to her injury. Addressing these underlying factors became the focus of our sessions. Currently, we are working on enhancing Katie’s hip strength and overall core stability. By targeting these areas, we aim to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future. It’s crucial to address any imbalances, weaknesses, or movement patterns that could potentially lead to injuries or reoccurrences.

Remember, even when the pain diminishes, it’s essential to address the root causes and work towards long-term solutions. Katie’s commitment to her therapy sessions will not only aid her current recovery but also serve as a proactive measure to safeguard her well-being in the future.

I sincerely hope that Katie’s story brings some reassurance to those who may be experiencing similar anxieties. If you find yourself in pain, please remember that help is available. You don’t necessarily need to schedule an appointment with a primary care office or orthopedics clinic. Physical therapy can provide effective relief and allow you to leave the office pain-free.

By seeking the expertise of a physical therapist, we can thoroughly assess the condition of your tissues and provide targeted treatments to calm inflammation and facilitate the healing process. Unlike the waiting period often associated with obtaining X-ray or MRI reports, physical therapy offers immediate relief and proactive care.

Remember, you don’t have to suffer in silence. Reach out to a physical therapist to experience the relief you deserve and start your journey toward optimal well-being. Click below for a free discovery call.

If you are looking for more information.
Check out one of these blogs.

Back Pain While Running?

5 Tips To Stop Back Pain

BACK PAIN RUINING YOUR VACATION?

Back Pain E-Book

If you are looking for a few tips to get you started with back pain relief at home, I've put my best tips for back pain relief in this Free Ebook, "How To Keep Your Back From Going Out More Than You!" Simply click the button below, fill out a quick form, then check your inbox.

Get Your Tip, Now!

Discovery Visit

Unlock The Power Of A FREE Discovery Visit

Vacation Killer: How Lower Back Pain Can Ruin Your Trip

Barbara Sorensen — Sun, 23 Apr 2023 17:00:00 +0000

How Lower Back Pain Can Ruin Your Trip

Is severe lower back pain, threatening to ruin your upcoming vacation. This video is perfect for you. Hi, I’m Dr. Molly with Your Goals Physical Therapy. I help active adults overcome their aches and pains to keep them doing their favorite activities without pain medication, injections, or surgery. In this video we’re going to talk about Tom. Tom woke up with severe lower back pain and it could not have come at a more inopportune time because he had been planning for months, an amazing hiking trip in Africa.

With long walks in airports, the long travel hours, and the actual vacation being about hiking, he was freaking out that he was gonna have to cancel the vacation. And worse, he thought he was gonna have to have his third lower back surgery!

In this video we’re gonna talk about how he went from that horrible moment to fully enjoying his vacation without pain!

Play Video about How Lower Back Pain Can Ruin Your Trip.

Tom is in his early sixties and he loves to travel. He takes photos and has taken beautiful pictures all over the country and he plans these large trips with other groups. In this case, the trip was to Africa and this trip had been on the books for months. Because of his history with lower back problems, he’s had two surgeries, one of which was a, a fusion, one of which was a laminectomy.

A fusion helps join two bones together to help it improve its stability.

And a laminectomy helps open up the joint space. Your nerve goes through a hole and sometimes that whole shrinks. So they go in and open that hole again. They basically just drill out some bone. That’s what a laminectomy does.

But when you have had two back surgeries, you just don't want to have another one.

Back health is his number one priority, and because of that, he has changed a lot about his lifestyle. He has a trainer that he works with on a regular basis and his wife and he go on walks at least three times a week, they walk two miles in the morning and two miles in the evening…which is amazing.

All good things for his back, so when he called me, he said he woke up with severe lower back pain. His wife had to help him get out of bed, once he was up, he was like, okay, maybe this is not as bad as I thought. He walked around for a little bit and it was all right.

Over the course of that day, what he discovered was that he couldn’t sit in his office chair for longer than 30 minutes the aching became too severe and it was almost worse as he was trying to get up, but at least it would subside for a while once he was standing up. After two or three minutes, he was okay walking It would start off uncomfortable, but it would be good for a little bit and then it would just be excruciating. And so he wasn’t able to complete the walks with his wife.

Not being able to complete the walks with his wife devastating because it, it was part of his workout routine it was also their time to talk, it’s their time to socialize with their neighbors. So this back pain was just wrecking a lot of things for him.

He couldn’t work, he couldn’t hang out with his wife and do the things that they usually do, and now the pain may take away his vacation. He went ahead and called the surgeon because he was certain he was gonna need MRI and possibly an injection. He called me relatively early I was getting there before he had seen his surgeon again.

So we’re poking around and trying to figure out where the pain is coming from. I check out how his spine is moving. We look at how well his hips are moving, check out some strength. I watch him walk, look at his overall posture and what we’ve figured out was it was that the severe pain going across his lower back but luckily it did not go down his leg. If pain goes down your leg, it means a nerve is being pinched so just having the pain in his lower back and being able to press on it and it was very teder. That told me that we were dealing with two isolated points of irritation. Now the question is why are they irritated? Here comes a bit of an anatomy lesson.

In your hips and lower back you have your sacrum & your coccyx, it attaches to your hip bones. And these two joints on Tom were severely inflamed. Then you have your lumbar spinefor Tom, these two joints just don’t move so the joints below and above are supposed to move even a little bit more. But on him, nothing was moving. This whole thing was completely locked out, and these two joints here were the hips attached to your sacrum were moving way too much. I think we figured out the cause of your discomfort these two points are severely inflamed so we talked about icing, we talked about how to stabilize those joints, while he’s doing his everyday activities to allow the joint to relax and heal and let some of the fluid leave.

When we finished up the eval, I gave him a couple things that he could do and I had already done some manual stuff to see if that would calm it down. The next time I saw him, he was amazed. He said, “I was a little sore that night, but when I woke up the next morning,

80% of my pain was gone.”

He said, “I’m not canceling the surgeon yet because I wanna see how this goes over the next couple weeks. But, I’m very hopeful now.” A huge weight was lifted because he was able to sit longer at work. He was able to go about halfway on a walk with his wife. He saw an amazing transformation and it decreased the amount of worry and anxiety he had dramatically. So we continued to work on a few things, isolating muscle groups to make sure things were working correctly. I talked to him about how to modify what he was working on with his trainer, so he didn’t have to stop doing other things that he was doing with his trainer. Over the next couple weeks all of his pain subsided and that couldn’t have come at a better time because by the time all the pain subsided he was getting ready to to pack and do some other things for his trip.

Next we talked about what to do if he has a flare up on vacation. I gave him an action plan for that and things that he can do to stabilize and stretch if he has any pain. I was very thankful that when he came back he told me that he had no pain. He’d never had any inkling of problem and he fully enjoyed that amazing vacation.

I got to see the most beautiful pictures from Africa, some amazing animals that you don’t get to see anywhere else. Tom was over the moon and so he is fully back to walking his four miles a day with his wife and he is enjoying life. His trainer was also very thankful because he’s back working with him full-time. All’s well that ends!

If this is the type of service that you're looking for,

but you have some questions about your specific situation, it’s different for everybody and it can be very overwhelming and reading stuff the internet and all the different advice you get from friends, sometimes it’s a little too much to process and deal with. So if you have questions that you would like to ask before committing to an appointment, then you’re gonna click the button below that says, talk to a pt. You’ll fill out a quick form, what time would be good for us to call you back. If you need immediate relief I have put together some of my best tips on how to treat back pain, in an ebook so if you click the button below that says, get my tips and fill out a quick form, then just check your inbox and that book will be waiting for you. So until we have an opportunity to meet, I hope that you’re having a great day and I’ll talk to you soon.

If you are looking for more information. Check out one of these blogs.

Back Pain While Running?

5 Tips To Stop Back Pain

I Hurt My Back At A Concert. How Do I Recover?

If you’re not quite ready to book an appointment yet, you might have some questions you would like answered first. Click below to request to speak with a PT first.

If you’re looking for more information on how to overcome back pain, I’ve put my best tips in this Free Ebook

“7 Tips To Keep Your Back From Going Out More Than You!”

click the link below, fill out a quick form then check your inbox.’

Don’t Let Your Herniated Disc Stop You From Working Out

Dr. Molly McDonald — Sun, 29 Jan 2023 18:00:00 +0000

Don’t Let Your Herniated Disc Stop You From Working Out

Hi, I’m Dr. Molly with Your Goals Physical therapy. Did you just come back from your doctor’s appointment with your MRI report? That does confirm your worries, that you do have a herniated disc in your lower back, and now you’re wondering if you have to give up working out. You also could be worried that if you went back to working out, you would hurt yourself or make things worse, but then maybe you want to go work out because you think it’ll make it better, but you don’t even know where to start.

You could be bouncing back and forth between both of these thoughts. Like many, many of my clients, so many of my clients who have come to me with an MRI report that says they either have a disc bulge or a herniated disc. They’re absolutely devastated because they’re afraid that they will never be able to work out at the level that they had been or work out at.

Some people are coming in, in so much pain, they’re afraid to breathe heavily. The idea of working out seems like a very distant and far off event. Wherever you’re starting, if you’re curious, if you have to give up working out because of your herniated disc, in this video I’m gonna talk to you about why you should not be giving up working out because of a herniated disc. In this video, we’re gonna talk about the anatomy of your spine, what it functionally means to have a herniation or a disc bulge.

Then we’re gonna talk about why it is so important for your spine health to be working out. Then we’re gonna talk about the ways to get back to working out as safely as possible and as fast as possible. So let’s get started.

Back pain is one of those very, very scary things. It is often impressive to hear clients retell stories of these really devastating injuries, knee injuries and hip injuries. There doesn’t seem to be nearly as much anxiety and pain associated with those as a back injury. I think that’s because our spine is so important to our whole body. Our spine houses our spinal cord, and so it needs to be very, very safe.

Our spinal cord is housed by bones and then a whole lot of ligaments and a whole lot of muscles. Our body has done a lot to make sure that our spinal cord is very safe. Anything that happens, any injury that jeopardizes that or puts that in any kind of risk has a lot of physiological effects and they don’t go away quickly. They take a long time, which can increase the anxiety of what’s making it and why is it getting worse?

It’s just a very intense injury. So if we think about how amazing our spine is, it’s supposed to keep that spinal cord stable, but we’re still able to move and twist. So how does something stable that’s supposed to be very rigid also allow us to be this bendy, so to speak, right? That brings us to how it’s all put together. We’re specifically talking about the lower back, right?

We have five bones in our spine, they’re called vertebral bodies, they’re bones. Then we have disks in between those. Those are called intervertebral discs. Those are key because without the disc, we wouldn’t be able to bend. It would be bone on, bone on bone on bone. Not only would we really not be able to bend, but we’d have to walk really softly because those disks are one of the things that allow those bones to move. It compresses because there’s a little bit of a liquid in there, inside the disks that allows it to compress and then bounce back, compress and then bounce back.

This is also why we naturally shrink when we get older because the water or the liquid inside naturally slowly dehydrates as we get a little bit older. Isn’t that something to look forward to?

Now the herniation or the disc bulge occurs when there’s either a really long force, it’s something that’s held, for a long period of time on that disc at an angle. So effectively, if I smush this part of the disc down, then the back end has more pressure on it and it can cause a little bubble. If we think of our vertebral discs as a jelly donut, then if we just smushed the jelly donut straight down, it stays its same shape, but if we press it more on one side, we can create a bubble on the other, side of that disc, the donut.

As long as the jelly is still inside the donut, all we’ve created is a disc bulge. There can be varying sizes, but it’s still just a bulge. The moment that jelly comes out of the donut is a disc herniation. It means that the disc has actually ruptured the liquid is outside of the disc. That is the more severe version of a disc bulge. That is a whole lot of fancy terms and a lot of anatomy, but what does that mean functionally for you?

Now, as you sit here trying to get back to working out. Very simply, it means your spine is not stable. The caveat to that is that the disc bulge is more the symptom of your spine not being stable, not the cause. What I mean by that is that the fact that your spine was able to be bent in such a position that would’ve caused the injury means that something, some mechanism failed and the the spine actually bent beyond its normal capacity or what your body likes for it to be able to do.

The resulting injury is this disc bulge or herniation. Now you might be thinking, well I know that I did it when I was deadlifting, and I know that very well could happen. I’d have to listen to your story to figure that out. Just in our everyday life, we put a lot of stress on our lower back that we don’t even think about.

If you sit on your couch and watch Netflix, sitting in that comfy position where your back is really rounded and you’re kind of slumped down and you’re there for a really long time, that actually puts a whole lot of stress on your back because you’re completely reversing the natural curve and that adds compression. Another thing that we don’t think about is how many times you pick stuff off the ground. If I drop a pencil, I bend over and pick it up, I drop my phone, which happens at least twice a day, then I’m gonna bend over, I’m not gonna do a squat to pick up my phone.

I’m just gonna bend over and allow my back to completely arch and then I’m gonna come right back up. Well, depending on how often you do that, or maybe what you’ve been doing for that week, it could have just hit fatigue. That’s when you have these injuries occur, that’s when the stresses are happening. Then the question is, my spine is unstable, what do I do with that?

Well, that’s where the exercises come in. Exercises are a great way to be intentional about either stretching things, making things stronger, or making sure that they’re doing what you want them to do because it’s an intentional time to do it.

You can’t really think about how to move while you’re chasing your three year old or you’re trying to run a marathon. That’s just too intense. You’re paying attention to other things, but spending your time doing exercises is your intentional time to learn how to move.

Exercises are great for increasing your hip flexibility, which is key. If your hips are stiff, then your back has to do more moving. So if you’re able to bend more at your waist, then your lower back doesn’t have to flex as much to do everything in your life, like putting away dishes, brushing your teeth, right, you, you do bend forward when you do that.

The other thing it helps you do is strengthen your hips. Again, the stronger your hips are, the less strong your back has to be. It gives you a little bit of support, helps you train your abdominal muscles, and it helps you to get all those things to work well together.

The other thing that’s great is that if you’re practicing squats, lunges and deadlifts, those are all the same things that we do throughout our day. They’re functional movements that help us train for the rest of our day, so exercises are great. There are other benefits; it releases wonderful, happy hormones, they improve your mood, compression and recoiling of just walking around the rhythmic movements of our arms going, all those things are great for our spine.

So exercises are amazing for spine health and overall health. So that being said, I also know that it’s very overwhelming if you go look on the internet, you are gonna find hundreds of articles that give you a thousand different points of view on what you should be doing, what the best exercises are, what the best stretches are.

If you have tried those and they haven’t worked or you’re in that position where you just keep researching because you’re not really sure where to jump off. You want to know what the fastest and safest way to get you back to working out at the level that you were before you were injured, then my suggestion is to give me a call, because this is exactly what I do every day. I help active adults get back to working out without having back pain and without being worried that they’re going to injure themselves or that they will further injure themselves.

After having a diagnosis of a disc bulge, it is a very scary process to go from hearing that news to figuring out how to integrate that information back into your life. With each one of my clients, we start with the evaluation. We find out exactly what your body is doing and what you can do right now, what kind of strength you have, what kind of flexibility you have, how stable you are. We go from that to find out what your goal is and we figure out the path to get from A to B.

The only thing that we are worried about is making sure that you achieve your goal safely and without the fear and anxiety that you are going to cause further injury to your spine. If that is the type of service that you’re looking for, I’m going to leave a button below that says, “ask about cost and availability”. You just fill out a quick form and my office will take the information from that form and give you a call back.

If you are still at the very beginning of this research project and you’re still trying to figure out what you think may or may not be helpful, I have put my best tips for back pain in an e-book and I will leave a link for that here. Underneath my ebook is called “How to Keep your Back from going Out more often than you Do”. It has some tips for things that you can do specifically at your house to get you started so that you can see some positive changes before we even talk.

So if that is what sounds good to you, then simply click the link below, you’ll fill out a form and then you’ll check your inbox because that’s where it’ll be sent until we have an opportunity to speak. I hope you are having a great day. Bye.

If you are looking for more information. Check out one of these blogs.

5 Tips To Stop Back Pain

Back Pain

Lower Back Pain After Running

HOW DO I WORKOUT WITH BAD KNEES?

We understand you may want to find out a little more about the cost & availability of physical therapy before booking an appointment. If that’s you, then click the button below.

If you are still searching and would like something to help guide you, Then click the button below to get a copy of my e-book “How to Keep your Back from going Out more often than you Do’.