Holistically Speaking - Oh, My Aching Back!

Welcome to a new blog that will discuss holistic options. By trade I am predominantly a massage therapist, however, in the past I had a TV show on public access entitled 'Holistic Health Today' where I had various guests come on the show to discuss their services.

This blog will be a spin off of that show where instead of my deciding what the articles will cover all the time, you get to ask questions as well. It can be on the topic or information you would like to know more about. If I don't know the answer, I will either find out the answer for you or I may have guest writers come on board to answer your question. T

o start the blog I will ask a question that some of my clients have asked.

Q. My back hurts all the time - why doesn't it get any better?

A. There could be several reasons why you are experiencing this issue. One reason may be that your pain is being caused by a bone being out of alignment. In this case, you may need to see a chiropractor for an adjustment. There are several techniques they may use from traction to an adjustment to realign the bone. Once the bone is back in place, the muscles fall back in place and is no longer being pulled by the bone that was out of place. 

If you are seeing a massage therapist and they are using techniques that are ineffective, then you won't receive long term relief either. You would need to speak to your therapist as to what they feel it will take to release the muscles and get you back where you want to be. Depending on how tight the area is and how long it has been that way it may take several sessions before you see any change. Usually the therapist will provide you with stretches that allow you to have the ability to keep loosening the area after your session. Another reason is that the muscles might have been weakened by an injury or repetitive movement you are doing and massage or chiropractic care may not be enough. Physical therapy may be needed to strengthen weak muscles. Once you know the proper exercises that can help you, they can be repeated at home or the gym to keep your muscles working properly.     

In my practice, I receive calls from new clients that state their back hurts and the massages they have received only last a short time. I ask if they ever have the front to their body massaged. The response is usually, "No, because my back hurts!" This is when I explain how one part of their body can cause problems in another part.In the case of upper back pain, those issues are usually caused by the muscles in the front of your body right below your clavicle in the pectoralis muscles.

When tight, they cause you to round your shoulders and over-extend the upper back making that area hurt. By loosening the muscles in the front, and strengthening the back area, the muscles go back in place and you usually no longer have upper back pain.If you have pain in the lower back, there are 2 areas that I check. One is the sacral tuberous ligament that is between the tailbone and the 'sits' bone. If tight, it causes your hip to be higher on that side causing you to walk unevenly. I see this happen a lot of time in runners and cyclists that use the street most of the time.

Since they use the same side of the street and there is a curve to the street to allow water to run off to the sides, the runners and cyclists are compensating for that curve which then causes one hip to become tighter as they stay upright during their activity. The other area I check for tightness are the illiopsoas muscles that are located in the front near the hip. This can be caused be prolonged sitting or cycling activities. It can also be caused by bending forward during gardening or even in my profession where although I stand during a massage session I am still bent over to massage my clients. These muscles will tighten as I massage my client and are muscles I need to stretch on a regular basis.

If the illiopsoas muscles are tight, your hips tilt forward putting undue tension in the low back area. Once that area is released, the person stands upright and their low back usually no longer bothers them.Now that I have covered what could be the cause of your back pain, in the second half of this article I will discuss tips on body positioning as well as stretches that you can do to help loosen the areas I have just discussed. 

I will be happy to answer any questions you may have but due to an active practice I unable to answer daily. I will repond each weekend to any questions or suggestions you may have. May you have a wonderful, relaxing day!  

Barbara P. Gaudio, LMT, CH owns the Shunyata Healing Center, llc in East Haddam, CT- www.HealAtShunyata.com. She specializes in surgical and injury recovery. For appointments call: 860-526-1111 or email: Barbara@HealAtShunyata.com.