Relieve Low Back Pain | Reduce Low Back Pain | Canada's Leading Authority in Human Movement | Dev Chengkalath

As the shrill screech of your morning alarm slices through your dreams of flying, leaping over tall buildings, and otherwise saving the world from destruction, you realize that your peaceful respite has unceremoniously come to an end.

Morning has broken and it’s time to start your day.

You slowly rub the sleep from your eyes, fling the warm, enveloping covers off your body and allow the frigid air of your bedroom to jolt you further from your reverie.

“Why does my back feel so stiff?” is your first fleeting thought as you hunch forward on the edge of your bed, pawing for your fuzzy slippers with your feet. Your sleep-drunk legs have trouble locating their targets so you bend farther forward through your back to add some visual assistance.

You pull yourself to a somewhat upright position, stumble to the bathroom, turn on the tap, bend down to the sink and splash the last vestiges of sleep from your being…

So maybe you don’t dream of saving the world, and perhaps you don’t have fuzzy slippers. Heck, you might not even wash your face.

But if you’re like most people, you likely go through some of the same movement patterns I’ve just described.

What’s the big deal?

The big deal is that your intervertebral discs (yup, the same ones that are involved in “slipped discs“), according to Dr. Stuart McGill’s research, are actually in a more hydrated state after a night of slumber, which puts them at higher risk for injury (disc herniations, disc bulges etc) with certain types of movements, most notably flexion.

Why do the discs “inflate”?

After having spent six to ten hours in a horizontal position while sleeping, the effects of gravity are minimized through your spine. So instead of being compressed (as they are when you’re upright), your discs are unloaded to a certain degree and actually suck up fluid like a sponge. This is why you’re actually taller after waking.

What can you do about it?

This is the simple part. Avoid flexion (bending forward) through your spine until the discs have had a chance to lose some of that fluid.

See, I told you, simple.

McGill’s research suggests that it will take about an hour after waking for this to occur. After that golden hour, it’s safer to bend that way.

Now the hard part: avoiding flexion means you’ll have to modify how you get out of bed, how you sit on the edge of your bed, how you wash your face, brush your teeth and even sit on the toilet.

And depending on how fast you are at getting pretty in the morning, it would also mean you’ll have to avoid slouching at the breakfast table (you do eat breakfast right?).

These are all automatic habits you’ve been reinforcing for years. It’s not going to be easy to change them, but as a former low back pain sufferer, I can honestly say that I prefer dribbling toothpaste down my chin than having bolts of lightning shoot down my leg.

Yours in movement.

Dev Chengkalath

Let’s face it.

Back Pain Sucks.

And it really does get in the way of life.

But it doesn’t have to!

Over the past few years in my physiotherapy practice I’ve had the pleasure of working with some wise and insightful clients on their journey towards a back pain free life.

For some of these individuals, the constant irritating pain has been a loyal companion over long stretches. At times abating to a dull nagging “friend” that tags along for the ride. And at other times rushing to the forefront of their awareness in crushing, life-altering waves of excruciating spasms.

Through their pain, suffering and journey towards salvation, each of these clients has taught me something new about living life with back pain.

Without further ado, here are the top 5 things that my clients have taught me about back pain:

1. You can do something about it: You don’t need to live with the pain. There are solutions out there. You may just need to dig a little deeper and search a littler harder. Ask around. Find out what others you know who have had back pain have done. This doesn’t mean their solutions will work for you, but at least it’ll give you someplace to start.

2. Keep moving: Exercise almost always helps. In most cases of low back pain, appropriate movement will help. It will keep joints lubricated, muscles working and mental outlook up. If you’re carrying a few extra pounds, losing those will ease the load on your spine and other joints. Even dropping 10 lbs will significantly decrease the wear and tear on your body. Getting in shape will dramatically improve your capacity to tolerate various stresses, mental and physical.

3. Empower yourself: Be your own best advocate. Only you truly know how your back pain impacts you. Only you are the “expert” on your own life. It’s easy for someone else to sit across a desk from you and say “stop doing ____.” They aren’t the ones living your life. It’s much better if the people who are supposed to help you, work with you, to generate workable solutions that can be implemented in your “real world” and not in some imaginary or unattainable “ideal world”.

4. Consistency is key: Stay on track and keep at it. Don’t give up. Be relentless. There will be peaks and valleys on your journey towards relieving low back pain but in the end, you will find a solution that works for you, a solution that will let you get back to the business of enjoying life.

5.  Know and respect your body’s limits. The body is capable of some pretty amazing feats. It can heal and repair itself from some pretty incredible situations if given the opportunity. This does not mean you can’t push the limits or even reset them. By all means, this should be the goal when looking at reaching new heights of human movement and performance. Just do so safely within the tolerances of your body structures.

If you have any insights on relieving low back pain, I’d be interested in hearing about them. Drop me a comment and let me know.

Yours in movement.

Dev Chengkalath

In my practice as a physiotherapist in Toronto, I often come into contact with people who end up at the clinic seeking relief from their low back pain.

While many of their stories are unique, there are always certain similarities.

This holds true for not only back pain, but also shoulder pain, hip pain, knee pain or any other pain that you can imagine.

One of the most common questions I’m asked at the clinic is:

“How long will my low back pain last?”

And that, my friends, is a great question.

In some cases, my clients had low back issues resolved within days while others have taken months or longer.

But really, that just means I don’t know.

I wish I had a simple answer but since the actual mechanisms of low back pain are so varied and distinct for each sufferer, I wouldn’t honestly be able to answer that question with a blanket timeframe.

It just doesn’t exist.

There is no magic bullet, cure-all pill or results-guaranteed surgery. There is no exercise panacea.

Unfortunately.

However, in cases of mechanical low back pain, if you remove the root causes of the pain, the body has the incredible ability to heal itself.

While that task may appear simple, it’s not necessarily easy.

Fixing a bad back will take time and effort on your behalf. You will have to be consistent in working on improving your situation.

You’ll have to be willing to acquire the knowledge to learn what’s causing your pain or keeping you there.

You’ll have to be willing to break old habits, be aware of your postures and alter your positions.

You’ll have to be willing to do the work.

Basically,  you’ll have to give your body a chance to heal.

And that begs the question that has become the title of this blog post:

“How long will you let yourself suffer with lower back pain?”

What would you do to stop it?

What steps would you take?

What information would you need?

What price are you willing to pay?

What would you be willing to sacrifice?

These sound like hard questions to ask yourself, but they are absolutely necessary.

I’m looking forward to hearing your comments.

To your low back pain relief.

Dev Chengkalath

As the name implies, this isn’t for those people who are in the midst of an acute low back pain attack.

In fact, I would say this isn’t a physiotherapy core exercise for most people who are in any form of pain…

…Unless they can get out of the pain through abdominal bracing and using a neutral spine position. And they can hold that position without much difficulty.

That being said, in my Toronto physiotherapy practice, I use this exercise often when my client has progressed from the basic core re-training program to add a little variety to the exercise and rehabilitation program.

In this dynamic variation of the plank exericse, the key is to keep your body in that set “plank” position, without allowing your hips or your low back to sag or peak, while you raise and lower your body from your forearms to your hands.

This follows the idea of avoiding excessive flexion or extension based (forward or backward bending) positions through the low back (as discussed in the 3 Worst Core Exercises For People With Low Back Pain).

Yours in planking (dynamically or otherwise!)

Dev Chengkalath

Just wanted to mix things up a bit and try out a new method (at least for me!) of getting the information out there.

I put together this short clip discussing the major causes of lower back pain.

Let me know what you think!

Yours in movement,

Dev Chengkalath