Lagos Sate Traditional Medicine Board Registrar Dr Bodunrin Oluwa answers the question on how to stop pile and back pain.
Back pain can be both frightening and debilitating. Its prevalence is high, going by individual practitioner case notes. Most Nigerians suffer from lower back pain severe enough to consult a health professional or use traditional or orthodox drugs to relieve the pain or reduce inflammation. Backache could lead a worker to absenteeism or lose time. There are professional ways to address the cause, not the symptom. These could be by Osteopath, chiropractic and acupuncture.
To understand your body, and arrive at a convincing answer whether you have back pain, answer these questions- Does back trouble keep you from playing your favourite sport? Does it stop you from bending or swinging your child into the air? Have you lost precious time from work, spent money on medications or undergone surgery, with little or no relief? Have you tirelessly experimented with various therapies to alleviate your back pain? If answer to any of these is yes, then you are suffering from back pain. And getting to the root cause is the best way to attempt a treatment, and also prevent a re-occurence. I am a Chiropractor and I will talk on Do It Yourself (DIY) way out of it, known as Alexander Technique, because you may not be located near a Complementary and Alternative medicine (CAM) practitioner.
Let me succinctly make you understand further, causes of back pain. Chronic back pain can be the result of inactivity, injury, emotional stress, flawed body mechanics or compressed posture. It is often treated with chiropractic adjustments, massage, pain relievers, anti-inflammatory drugs or surgery. Each of these approaches can have a valuable role in recuperation; but the Alexander Technique helps you perceive the cause of your back problem, and gets to the heart of it by helping you change your movement style.
If you slump when you sit, you are overworking some muscles and underusing others. This muscular imbalance is evidenced by a collapsed or rigid posture. If you over-arch the back or bend at the waist rather than the hip joint, you are unconsciously compressing spinal vertebrae. Sitting for sustained periods is the most challenging activity for the human spine, and it is how many of us spend our days.
The Alexander Technique is a proven method of self care that reduces pain, increases your mobility and provides long term relief. It gives you an understanding of the body’s fundamental design and a way to move that will help you feel better, on your own. For best results, you should learn it from an Alexander Technique practitioner, a highly-trained professional who can lead you through a one-on-one learning process tailored to your abilities and needs. Your Alexander Technique teacher listens to your symptoms, seeing them in the context of your entire movement pattern. Through keen observation of the body’s dynamics in movement, s/he focuses on how you move as you function.
How you can benefit from the Alexander Technique: You can then use the Alexander Technique to move safely and sensibly. Rather than slumping, you can learn to sit upright without strain. The Technique enables you to reduce overuse of the body’s surface muscles by engaging the primary control: your body’s central support system. Walking, lifting, reaching, climbing stairs, getting out of bed or into a car — you learn to accomplish all these routine activities, pain-free.
Lessons take place in a studio or clinic and usually last 30 to 60 minutes. You’ll be asked to wear loose-fitting, comfortable clothing so that you’re able to move easily. The teacher will observe your movements and show you how to move, sit and stand with better balance and less strain. The teacher will use his/her hands to gently guide you in your movements, with your head leading and your spine following.
During the lessons you’ll be helped to explore the way you go about everyday activities. You’ll practice applying the Alexander Technique while standing, sitting, walking and lying down, maintaining a better relationship between your head, neck, spine and back.
You’ll need to attend a number of lessons to learn the basic concepts of the Alexander Technique. Once you have gained an understanding of the main principles, you’ll be able to apply them to everyday life.
Since study of the Alexander Technique helps you increase sensory awareness, you become more attuned to your body’s warning signs of tension and compression. You acquire the capacity to lessen or prevent episodes of pain, enabling you to decrease your dosage of painkillers or anti-inflammatory medications or agbo jedi- anti pile herbal preparation. You demystify your back problem-you understand where it comes from and how to change it. The efficacy of such an approach to this common problem is borne out by facts: Majority of back problems are known to be muscular in origin — meaning they are related to how you move your body. Most importantly, it puts into your hands the capacity to relieve and prevent your back problems. Rather than wondering why you’re flat out on the couch after picking up a newspaper, you move through your day with more confidence, grace and ease.
What is the Alexander Technique?
The Alexander Technique is an education system that aims to improve posture and movement and promote the efficient use of muscles. It was founded in the 1890s by Australian actor Frederick Matthias Alexander, who often experienced laryngitis with the stress of an upcoming performance. After multiple fruitless visits to doctors, he discovered that his symptoms were directly related to excess tension and poor posture, especially in the muscles of his neck. He developed a way of speaking and moving that cured his chronic condition, and then taught these techniques to others for the rest of his life.
The central focus of Alexander Technique is proper positioning of the head and spine by correcting imbalances caused by tension and poor postural habits. The technique focuses on unlearning poor habits of posture, movement, breathing and body orientation, replacing them with fluid movement that is free of tension.
Are there other therapies that might work well in conjunction with Alexander Technique? The answer is yes. There is evidence that this therapy is beneficial in conjunction with physical therapy, massage, osteopathy, chiropractic and acupuncture. Because Alexander Technique focuses on body alignment and posture, it can be useful with any type of massage or manipulation. Pilates and yoga also focus on core strength, flexibility and body alignment and can easily complement the Alexander Technique. Mind-body therapies also go hand-in-hand with this as both address how thoughts affect physical states.
How do I get in touch with a practitioner is a natural question to ask. There are some in the country, but mostly found in private practice. We have Archbishop (Prof) Magnus Atilade, Dr Olufemi Bankole, an Osteopath and I. At the Lagos State Traditional Medicine Board, we are training some young hands now in the art. You can also get this done through a physical therapist, chiropractor, physiatrist or Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation physician (PM and R), certified athletic trainer (ATC), or other spine specialist.
Alexander Technique is unique among bodywork therapies in that it does not generally consist of routine exercises – instead, guidance is individualised to fit each person’s unique needs. Two exceptions are a special method of lying down as a means of achieving deep muscular relaxation, and a “Whispered Ah” vocalisation technique used to promote efficient use of the voice.
