Back pain? You are not alone. Over 80 % of Canadians will experience back pain atleast once in their life. However, about 90% of back pain is not caused by any serious injury or disease. That being said, it doesn’t make it any less painful or debilitating. For a lot of people, traditional physiotherapy and massage therapy works well, but if it doesn’t don’t be discouraged… there is still hope! As a physiotherapist myself that has suffered from back pain, yoga has changed my life! It has helped me increase my flexibility, core strength, improve my posture and overall enhance my life.
Why Yoga?
1. Stretching
The spine is meant to move in lots of different ways. If we don’t move or stretch it gets stiff and rusty. This can start to cause some aches and pains which can get worse over time if it is not addressed. It can also make you more susceptible to becoming that 10% of people that suffer from a more significant injury. “But it hurts to move,” you say… Yes, oftentimes it does cause some discomfort to move especially if you haven’t tried to move in certain directions for a long time but science now tells us that it is far better for your back to move in a controlled and safe way rather than not moving. This is where yoga can help…. Yoga is a very gentle and proven way to help loosen up your back and make sure it moves smoothly within all its normal ranges of motion.
2. Strengthening
All of us have heard that if you have back pain you should strengthen your core, right? Yoga creates a great way of functionally strengthening your core. What that means is instead of isolating certain muscles, the yoga poses (asanas) that you are taken through will help you learn how to use all the muscles of your core together (including your diaphragm and pelvic floor!). If you continue strengthening your core on the ground then your body doesn’t get stronger in the positions it needs for everyday activities. For example, vacuuming your house requires you to be slightly bent over and pushing/pulling. Yoga poses that can simulate will force you to strengthen your core muscles in the positions it is needed so that once you get stronger, vacuuming won’t be painful.
There are many other benefits of yoga that can help with pain from breathing techniques (if it works for women in labour then it can work for your back pain too!) Also, mind-body awareness and connection is developed to help you realize if there are postures or positions that you are doing out of habit that you don’t realize can be harming your body. Yoga can correct imbalances of your musculoskeletal system that you didn’t even know existed.
Click HERE to book an appointment with a physiotherapist at one of our eight locations.
- Physiotherapy Etobicoke – Triangle Physiotherapy Etobicoke
- Oakville Physiotherapy Clinic – Triangle Physiotherapy Oakville
- Physiotherapy North York – Triangle Physiotherapy North York
- Mississauga Physiotherapy Clinics – Triangle Physiotherapy Mississauga
- Downtown Physiotherapy Clinics – Triangle Physiotherapy King West
- Uptown Physiotherapy Clinics – Triangle Physiotherapy Lawrence Park
- Physiotherapy Clinic Downtown Toronto – Triangle Physiotherapy Queens Quay
- Physiotherapy Clinics Mississauga – Triangle Physiotherapy Erin Mills
Yoga can be a powerful tool for improving back health, enhancing flexibility, and reducing pain when combined with physiotherapy. For those seeking professional physiotherapy services to complement their yoga practice, there are clinics in physiotherapy Etobicoke, Oakville, North York, Toronto, Lawrence Park, Queens Quay, Erin Mills, Mississauga, and Liberty Village. These clinics offer expert care and personalized treatment plans to help you maintain a healthy back and overall well-being.
Low Back Pain/ Hip Dysfunction caused by poor posture
The average person’s work week consists approximately of 40 hours, for a lot of those the majority of that time can consist of them sitting at a desk on a phone or computer. That time doesn’t even factor in commute time as well as dinner and lounging at home. Experts say that the average person can spend more than half their waking hours in a sedentary state.
It is well known that sitting for long periods of time can cause a lot of negative effects such as strain on your cardiovascular system as well as an increase risk in colon cancer. But what a lot of people don’t know about it is the actual physical disorders that come with sitting for long periods of time, such as weaker/underused abdominal muscles, weak glutes whiles shortening your hip flexors making them tight and decreasing Range Of Motion in your hip. This muscular imbalance can begin to force other muscles that are not commonly used to become overworked and tired and furthermore contribute to a muscle imbalance, which can cause hyperlordosis, kyphosis, and scoliosis, as well as a twisted pelvis. Tight low back muscles can pull and twist your spine which could lead to degenerative disk disorder (DDD), or a subluxation of one or several vertebrae. When you decrease the activity of muscles you begin to decrease the electrical activity going to those muscles which begins to make them weak and underdeveloped which could lead to atonic muscles. The decreased angle in the hip while sitting for long periods can cause a decrease in blood flow to your legs decreasing the amount of blood, oxygen, and nutrients that can feed your muscles making for leg cramps and sometimes swelling in the feet due to lack of venous return.
Luckily Massage and Physiotherapy can be used as a preventative as well as therapy for the many conditions that sitting for long periods of time can cause. The main focus of both is too focus on the muscular imbalance and to bring you back to your norm as much as humanly possible. Some of the main areas of focus during treating is to loosen tight hip flexors, increase neurological function in the low back, glutes, and abdominals, loosen up Para spinal muscles which will decrease the risk of DDD and subluxation of the spine. During a massage the pressure and direction of stroke will help to increase blood flow to your low back and hip as well as into your legs providing oxygen and nutrients to areas that are being malnourished due to lack of blood flow.
The best was to prevent any disorders caused by sitting to long is simply to stand up and move around. Experts say you should stand up for at least 5 minutes every hour to get muscles working and blood flowing. Staying hydrating is very important during any point of the day for it helps keep muscles elastic (including your heart muscles), the spine works like a pump while moving bringing fresh water to your vertebral disks keeping them hydrated. Some offices have implemented standing desks or the use of exercise balls in place of regular chairs which can keep workers constantly moving, keeping blood flowing and muscles working. Stretching and strengthening exercises are very important to maintain healthy muscles, stretching out hip flexors to maintain full ROM in the hip, strengthening core either by doing push ups or the plank, stretching out your low back and abdominal area by doing both the cat and cow pose, and finally strengthen your back by doing rows and one arm rows.
Written by: Sean Cameron, RMT
Sources:
http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/20140407/sitting-disease-faq
http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/sitting-for-too-long-can-kill-you-even-if-you-exercise-study-1.2918678
http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/much-sitting-linked-heart-disease-diabetes-premature-death-201501227618
http://fitness.mercola.com/sites/fitness/archive/2015/05/08/sitting-too-long.aspx
Click HERE to book an appointment with a physiotherapist at one of our eight locations.
- Physiotherapy Etobicoke – Triangle Physiotherapy Etobicoke
- Oakville Physiotherapy Clinic – Triangle Physiotherapy Oakville
- Physiotherapy North York – Triangle Physiotherapy North York
- Mississauga Physiotherapy Clinics – Triangle Physiotherapy Mississauga
- Downtown Physiotherapy Clinics – Triangle Physiotherapy King West
- Uptown Physiotherapy Clinics – Triangle Physiotherapy Lawrence Park
- Physiotherapy Clinic Downtown Toronto – Triangle Physiotherapy Queens Quay
- Physiotherapy Clinics Mississauga – Triangle Physiotherapy Erin Mills
Managing low back pain effectively requires a comprehensive physiotherapy approach to alleviate discomfort, improve mobility, and strengthen the back. If you’re looking for professional physiotherapy services to treat low back pain, there are clinics in physiotherapy Etobicoke, Oakville, North York, Toronto, Lawrence Park, Queens Quay, Erin Mills, Mississauga, and Liberty Village. These locations offer expert care and customized treatment plans to help you manage pain and enhance your quality of life.