Do you live with back pain day after day? Do you endure pain running from your buttocks down into your thigh that flares up time and time again? Usually that's piriformis pain (but naturally you need to test to be sure.) Well, did you know that the problem in both these cases most likely has nothing to do with your back or your legs?
You see, the truth is in our modern day lifestyles we constantly fold and hold our bodies for long periods of time in positions that are biologically abnormal for us. Whether it’s working at your desk for 8... 9... 10 hours a day, commuting to work, relaxing and watching TV, etc, your body isn’t meant to stay in the “sitting” position for very long. Just watch the National Geographic Channel when they're featuring tribal peoples who still live as people did in pre-"civilized" times - You'll notice they're almost never sitting in one place for as long as we do today.
Now I don't know about you, but I'm a modern-day kind of guy, and even though I like to exercise, outside of that, whether I'm working, driving, hanging out or enjoying some entertainment: I'm usually sitting. It all adds up to the majority of most days spent - more or less - parked on my derriere. And I dare say that's true for most of us. And the catch is even if you avoid this trap in your personal time, the vast majority of us can't avoid many hours of chair-riding when it comes to our work hours on the job.
What’s the result of this? The body becomes misaligned… especially your hips. After a prolonged period of time of this, your hips start to pull excessively on the tendons and ligaments that connect it to your back. This constant pulling is the most common cause of the sharp or dull back pain most people suffer from at some time in their life; including me not too long ago.
For others, it leads to piriformis pain. Piriformis pain occurs in this instance because some people tend to sit nearer the edge of the chair with their feet apart and toes pointed outward - The piriformis muscle is in the hip area and it's the major muscle that rotates your leg/feet outwards. Thus in these cases the piriformis muscle is constantly contracted and shortened, and eventually becomes tight and stiff. In this position it then squeezes the sciatic nerve, creating piriformis pain. The medical name is piriformis muscle syndrome.
If you were to go to a typical doctor, you’d probably be told to do some stretches to “fix” your back or your leg respectively.
But there’s a problem with this "solution"...
Most of these stretches are designed to loosen your joints. And the key factor that these doctors unfortunately don’t know about is that you don’t want loose joints. You want them to be tight. Tight joints mean stable, strong joints that help prevent injury in the first place.
That’s why I recommend a specific set of stretches to anyone with these painful conditions. I revealed two of those amazing stretches - with video - that relieve piriformis pain in my previous articles; One Of The Best Piriformis Stretches Ever For Relieving Piriformis Pain and in As Easy As Sitting: Another Powerful Piriformis Pain Stretch.
The following stretches are ones I show to anyone I know with general back pain. They help realign your hips and other major joint regions to relieve stress on your back, but also works to keep those joints nice and tight to resist injury in the future. Do these great stretches from my friends over at the Healthy Back Institute daily to reduce or better yet avoid back pain...
Shoulder Stretch: You really need to stretch and develop these muscles' flexibility because they are prone to injury. Tight shoulder muscles also contribute to back and neck pain, especially if your head and shoulders droop forward.
How To: Stand in an open doorway. Raising your arm to a 90-degree angle with palm facing out, press your hand and shoulder against the wall and doorjamb. You should feel the wall against your armpit. Slowly increase the tension as you push forward. Hold for a 10 count. Then repeat with the other arm.
Hip Flexor Stretch: You seriously have to do this stretch if you sit all day at work like me. Sitting all day puts pressure on the hip flexor muscles. This is a major cause of minor lower back pain (if you can call any back pain “minor”). It's totally avoidable - Stretching your hip flexor muscles several times a week will prevent this kind of lower back pain.
How To: Stand in a modified runner's stance, with right foot forward and left foot back, feet flat on floor. Put your hands on your hips and keep your back and hips in straight alignment. Push forward with your hips, while maintaining your erect posture. Slowly, push your hips forward only until you feel a comfortable level of tension. Hold for a count of 10. Switch sides by reversing your leg stance and repeat.
Give these a try. They work like a charm for me. If you're already following an exercise program that's even better; you can fit these into your warm-up or wherever you judge best. Start off every other day and go from there. Consistency is vital.
There are other steps you can take to overcome back pain and sciatica naturally, too. In fact, Jesse Cannone – a top pain relief expert, fitness trainer and co-founder of the Healthy Back Institute – has written a book called The 7-Day Back Pain Cure. It shows you how to identify the real root of back pain/piriformis pain/sciatic pain problems as there are a variety of causes and attacking the wrong cause will not bring pain relief. Then it teaches you how to fix them without drugs, injections, or surgery - which don't really FIX anything anyway.
The book also reveals numerous measures you can take to prevent back pain in the future. Truly invaluable information coming from someone who's been treating clients in pain for well over a decade.
It's not an eBook or anything like that - it's a real book for sale on Amazon, but don't go buy it because if you go to his website right now you can get a Free copy. You just pay a small shipping fee...
And it gets even better... a portion of your shipping fee is donated to one of two great charities: Habitat for Humanity or Kiva.org - you choose which.
Help yourself and help charity: Get your free copy of the bestselling 7 Day Back Pain Cure book here.
Jevaughn Brown
http://twitter.com/Jevaughn_Brown
Try The 7-Day Back Pain Cure
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