It is true that in our jobs, our play, and in our every day lives, we all do things that compromise the safety of our backs. Many times and or almost always, back disorders are preventable. Give that some thought!
The cause of the vast majority of neck and back disorders today are mechanical damage to the spine related to poor ergonomics, work environments that require poor posture, excessive material handling, highly repetitive motions, poor lifestyle, obesity caused by poor eating habits and lack of exercise, loss of flexibility and the weakening of the supportive muscle of the neck and lower back.
You hear me saying over and over that we need to improve our body awareness (mind muscle connection). Being aware of our posture is the ultimate description of body awareness. Too many people deal with spinal problems like they do other health issues. They don’t worry about them until the problems occur.
When back problems prevent normal activities such as work, driving a car, sitting at your desk, enjoying intimacy with your spouse, and caring for your children, then the disability becomes so dominating that it causes a complete deterioration of the quality of your life.
BETTER UNDERSTANDING YOUR BACK PROBLEM
The spine has thirty-three bones called vertebrae (plural) (singular: vertebra) and between each one is a shock absorber called discs. Each disc is like a small container with a very durable covering made up of connective tissue, mainly collagen, that surrounds an inner core of softer material made up of protein and water. You may have heard it being called “jelly”. Just think about that really old jelly doughnut in the office that no one ate and after years how now it could be used as a chew toy for your Chihuahua!
One of the main objectives of preventing back problems is to protect the jelly in each disc so you retain the shock absorption function of the discs for years to come. This is not as easy as it may seem when you understand that the average person bends and twist the spine over 2000 times a day and exposes the lower back to hundreds of pounds of pressure when going through your daily tasks of lifting, pushing and pulling. The spinal disc is made up of layers of collagen, the same connective tissue as found in ligaments of the ankle and other joints. Some very simple techniques can be used to prevent back and neck problems from happening and allow healing to begin if you already have a problem.
The activities of modern life deprive the disc of nutrition and weaken the disc wall. The human disc starts to lose its blood supply at the ripe old age of 10 years and by age 20 or so, the disc (except for the out wall layers) are devoid of blood supply! As we all know, tissue in the body has to have a blood supply to bring oxygen and nutrients to keep it healthy. The disc receives nutrients by absorbing body fluids through a process called “passive osmosis”. This means the fluids move into the disc when the disc pressure is lower than the pressure of the surrounding body tissues, and moves out of the disc when the disc pressure is higher than the pressure of the surrounding tissues. Therefore, a healthy exchange of body fluids and waste products requires pressure in the disc to be alternatively increased and decreased over time. This occurs with dynamic movements of the spine when walking and stretching.
Sustained pressure to the disc will prevent the fluid uptake in the disc and therefore prohibit proper nutrition of the disc. This results in cell death in the disc that leads to weakening of the cellular structure of the disc wall causing a tear in the disc wall or disc ruptures and disc degeneration.
Let me put this in simple terms: if you sit at a desk all day with very infrequent breaks, the lower spinal disc are under such pressure that the fluids will not be able to get in and the waste product can’t get out and this will cause the disc to begin to degenerate and or rupture and here comes the back pain and all of the problems with it! The human body is not designed to be bent over a worktable or sit at a desk all day without periodically moving in a way to reduce disc pressure. If we do so, we are destined to suffer from disc deterioration, especially in the lower back where most of the pressure from spinal flexion is exerted.
Now, the best way to reduce disc pressure is to lie down. I don’t think your boss will vehemently encourage that remedy.
In my exercise video this week I am demonstrating some exercises you can do in your office with a set of dumb bells that will strengthen your lower back and stimulate these body fluids to your disc.
Also, getting up at least every hour or so and going for a walk down the hall, take a couple of rounds if you can. The walking motion is one of the best ways to stimulate these body fluids to the spinal disc because it creates a pelvic rocking motion that helps to facilitate fluid transport in the disc and therefore is a healthy exercise for the lumbar spine.
I hope you will watch the exercise video this week and begin to use these techniques to help prevent any future back problems and reduces the negative effects of the ones you may already have.
Here’s to Getting Fit the Wright Way! Email me with any questions or comments you might have on getting and staying fit. Weldon@bodybywright.com.
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