Here's my back as I understand it.
window.google_render_ad();
My hips are tilted forward, which gives me a bit of a paunch (unattractive, I know), and also causes my lower back to be too arched. Additionally, I have a twist in my spine so that my right shoulder is slightly higher than my left (the osteopath and physio both told me this - without them I don't think I would have spotted it).
Apart from being woken up at night with lower back pain, symptoms include not being able to stand upright for long periods of time - and I find walking slowly or mooching around museums or shops almost impossible.
According to Pete Egoscue's snappily-titled " The Egoscue Method of Health Through Motion", this means I have Condition II (the spinal twist) piggybacking onto Condition I (the pelvic tilt). The book provides a good set of stretches to sort out both Condition I and II, but I'm not cured yet. I don't blame the books - I blame my lack of willpower to continue with the stretches when my low back pain eases.
One of the other problems is lack of time. The exercises can easily take an hour or so to do, and these days I just don't have the time.
One of the things I'd like to do is work for myself one day. When I stop being a corporate drone I'll make sure that I set aside enough time to do these (and other) exercises.
But until then, I'm still working on it and still looking for a miracle cure for my lower back pain.
Here's my back as I understand it.
My hips are tilted forward, which gives me a bit of a paunch (unattractive, I know), and also causes my lower back to be too arched. Additionally, I have a twist in my spine so that my right shoulder is slightly higher than my left (the osteopath and physio both told me this - without them I don't think I would have spotted it).
Apart from being woken up at night with lower back pain, symptoms include not being able to stand upright for long periods of time - and I find walking slowly or mooching around museums or shops almost impossible.
According to Pete Egoscue's snappily-titled " The Egoscue Method of Health Through Motion", this means I have Condition II (the spinal twist) piggybacking onto Condition I (the pelvic tilt). The book provides a good set of stretches to sort out both Condition I and II, but I'm not cured yet. I don't blame the books - I blame my lack of willpower to continue with the stretches when my low back pain eases.
One of the other problems is lack of time. The exercises can easily take an hour or so to do, and these days I just don't have the time.
One of the things I'd like to do is work for myself one day. When I stop being a corporate drone I'll make sure that I set aside enough time to do these (and other) exercises.
But until then, I'm still working on it and still looking for a miracle cure for my lower back pain.