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

In my clinical practice as a physical therapist, I’ve come across some complicated backs. Very complicated. 

Some a few days or weeks young. Some a few months young. Some a few years young. Some with twenty, thirty, forty or more year histories. Those ones, not so young!

The other day, I had a few minutes between clients so I was discussing how to relieve low back pain with a colleague. In those brief moments, we ended up chatting about all the different ways out there to help resolve this fairly significant issue. 

We concluded, after debating back and forth a bit, that with all the advances in science and technology, the best outcomes to relieve low back pain still came down to two things:

Education. And Movement. 

So where am I going with all this?

Well my friends, with both young and old low back pain, the solution is still the same. If you just developed the problem, or if you’ve had it for years, you need to:

Educate Yourself. And Move Correctly. 

So to let you in on one of the most simple, yet effective movement strategies I use to help my clients relieve their low back pain here’s the hip hinge. 

As a throwback to the 1920’s this one is almost a silent film. For those of you needing further clarification, the clip description will elaborate a bit more. As always, feel free to comment or email me with your queries.

To your clean hinging. 

Dev Chengkalath

“Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever.”

Lance Armstrong

Pain is an interesting phenomena.

No two people will feel it the same way. No two people will have the same experience. No two people will respond to it the same way.

It is as unique to you as your fingerprints are.

In my practice as a human movement specialist and physical therapist at SHAPE Toronto, I am privileged to be given an inside look at how people deal with pain.

At times, this pain is acute with known cause, a fall, a trauma, or a sporting injury perhaps. And oftentimes, this pain is chronic, of “unknown” origin and having outlived the doctor’s pill prescriptions, become an accepted part of my client’s daily life.

which pill?

About 8 out of every 10 clients I see come in with low back pain, have had an episode of low back pain or have decided that they’ll have to live with their low back pain.

THIS IS NOT THE CASE.

You don’t have to suffer for the rest of your life. You don’t have to give up golfing. You don’t have to stop playing with your kids, nieces or nephews. You don’t have to resign yourself to a lifetime of discomfort and disability.

YOU DON’T HAVE TO SPEND YOUR BEST YEARS ON YOUR BACK IN BED!

But, it will come down to what you believe.

If you believe you will be in pain forever, you most likely will.

If you believe you won’t be able to relieve your low back pain, you probably won’t.

If you believe you will get better, you will.

If you believe you won’t let this stop you from living the life you want, the life you deserve, it won’t.

Times have changed. Knowledge has improved. The stakes are a lot higher now.

Why is belief so powerful? How can these simple thoughts become such powerfully allies in your quest for that pain free life?

Well, my friends, thoughts by themselves will accomplish nothing.

It’s when these thoughts become actions, behaviours and habits that the magic happens.

Not only for low back pain, but for every aspect of your life.

Send me your comments or experiences with pain.

Let me know what you think.

Believing in you.

Dev Chengkalath

In this final installment of your low back pain fix-it plan, I was originally going to talk about deconditioning and its nefarious effects on your movement system.

I’m still going to write about deconditioning, however, I’ll also be writing about the miraculous GOYA therapy that can be used to fix it and your low back pain. GOYA therapy is so amazing it can even fix a whole host of other ailments, diseases and disorder as well.

That’s how good it is.

But first, let’s start with defining deconditioning.

You are out of shape. You are unfit. It’s that simple. You huff and puff after every set of stairs. The walk down your driveway is considered your daily marathon. Your body can therefore be considere deconditioned.

Severely Deconditioned

You may be carrying a few extra pounds. You may be carrying a few dozen extra pounds. This won’t help the cause either. To make things worse, if you spend 8-12 hours a day sitting, you aren’t going to be working your muscular, skeletal or cardiovascular system a whole lot. At least not according to those all important principles that I discussed here.

That’s deconditioning.

If you’re not in the kind of shape you should be in, chances are, you’re using poor posture, your muscular system is not working on all cylinders, you’re not as mobile as you should be where it counts, and most certainly your deconditioning combined with the above, will lead you to use faulty movement patterns as compensation.

In order to help you fix your deconditioning and all the other causes of low back pain, I’m going to introduce you to GOYA therapy.

The Ancient Art of GOYA

This ancient therapy has been around for centuries. Its history cannot be traced back to one culture or people as it has trancended the bounds of human migration. It has been practiced by the ancient Greeks and Romans, just as it was practiced by Aboriginals throughout the world. It was truly a ubiquitus and fundamental component of everyday life.

Alas, over the last hundred years or so, GOYA therapy has fallen to the wayside. Given up and forgotten. Lost to most. Replaced by pills and potions capable of masking symptoms but unable to alleviate the cause. Replaced by electrodes and mechanical devices.

The easy “solutions”.

This is where GOYA therapy really differs. It’s not easy. It takes time. Effort. Consistency. It’s hard work.

Many people don’t want to hear about it. These people want solutions to their back pain but will stop listening when GOYA therapy is mentioned.

“How can I try to explain, when I do he turns away again, it’s always been the same, same old story.”

Cat Stevens

But there’s also a strong undercurrent, a strong movement of people who want to bring GOYA back.

I am proud to say that I’m one of those people.

Are you?

If you are, stand up and join the ranks.

GOYA: Get Off Your Ass. Now that’s powerful therapy.

Dev Chengkalath

Yesterday I wrote about abdominal bracing. 

Today,  we’ll continue with fixing your aberrant movement patterns.

If you haven’t checked out my post on mobility issues, you’ll definitely want to check it out here before reading further.

That’s because the two, mobility and movement, are so intertwined. Along with posture. And Muscles.

Each of these areas has to be addressed independently and collectively.  

The big issue related to low back pain is still altered biomechanics at the hips and lumbar spine. 

Here’s how to fix it: The Bridge

When executed properly, the bridge (and its variations) will teach you how to mobilize your hips, stabilize your spine, activate your glutes and brace your core. 

All at once.

Now that’s efficient.

To your bridging.

Dev Chengkalath

If you stop and break down every type of movement you do throughout your day, you’ll notice that they can be broken down into a few patterns or combinations thereof.

Dr. Stuart McGill, one of the world’s premier spine researchers, describes them as follows:

• Squat/Lift
• Lunge
• Twist
• Push/Pull
• Gait
• Balance

Now what if you did one of these, or a few of these, incorrectly?

What if you repeated that over and over again, day in, day out, day after day, week after week, year after year?

What if your compensation movement just so happened to be in your low back?

Perhaps every time you squat down to sit in a chair?

Or every time you bend down to tie your shoe laces?

Or every morning when you brush your teeth or wash your face?

Gold star for you if you’ve come to the conclusion that your bad movement pattern is probably making your low back pain worse.

Be nice to your spine.

How do you fix it?

Because we’re dealing with low back pain, one of the most important movement pattern skills to learn is abdominal bracing. This simple (not easy) skill can help you accomplish all the patterns listed above more efficiently and effectively, while protecting and stabilizing your spine.

As well, abdominal bracing can be an important factor for improving your posture, fixing those muscle related issues, and optimizing mobility.

Here’s how you do it:

Start by standing up tall.

Place your thumbs in the small of your back, with your fingers wrapped around your abdomen.
Slowly start to lean forward at the hips until you feel the muscles in your back and under you thumb start to tighten up.

As soon as you feel them tighten up, slowly come back up to an upright position, feeling for the muscles under you thumb to go slack again.

Once they’ve gone slack, tighten up your stomach muscles until you feel that same tightness develop in the muscles of your back under your thumb.

There you have it, the abdominal brace.

This is the first part of my exploration of bad movement patterns and how to fix them.

Join me tomorrow for the next episode.

Yours in movement,

Dev Chengkalath