DSC_0038DSC_0038Yes we can. All it takes is good posture 24/7. Yes I can see your eyes rolling to the back of your head …not that stuff again. But, that’s all it is – a matter of core strength, internal support. So take charge, right now! Brace that core, stretch that spine. In return, the reward is a healthy pain-free back.
Healthy discs between each vertebra are symmetrical and fat. With persistent poor posture they tend to be squashed and distorted. There is heaps we can do to re-shape and preserve them
Here’s a quick anatomy lesson of a disc. Think of a wheel of a car. The black tyre represents the elastic outer ring, the silver hub cap the soft inner cushion.
The outer ring is strong and elastic, holding the inner cushion in. Back pain is caused by many things and one possibility is we have the beginning of a herniated (disc bulge) or ruptured disc where the outer ring has been damaged. This happens when the inner cushion is compressed to distort the outer ring (with bad posture) or indeed with so much pressure, such as in a bad bending or lifting incidence, that a fissure or split occurs in the elastic outer ring. This enables the inner gel of the cushion to ooze through the split in the outer ring, producing a bulge which presses on nerves, causing back pain.
Good posture and correct spinal alignment 24/7 has a direct influence on the discs ensuring even pressure over the whole outer ring. Now your spine is ready to deal with what life throws at it, healthy enough to endure short periods of abuse where we sit badly or lift incorrectly.
Posture your spine, yes right now, tuck your chin and lift your head, lengthen your body towards the ceiling, feel your core drawing in to support this action. This is the anti-gravity movement.
And by the way, blood supply to the discs is considered to be rather poor. So in order to maintain good blood flow to your vertebrae, having full range movement in all directions squeezes and massages those “cushions,” stimulating blood flow, nourishing the discs. Smoking reduces blood flow to the discs.
“The secret life of spinal discs” – when you sleep. At the end of each day this inner cushion has been so persistently squashed, fluid seeps out, only to be re-absorbed while we sleep. Discs are thinner at the end of the day, fatter when we wake up. We are the tiniest bit shorter at the end of each day, recovering spinal length by the morning. Yes that is why you feel stiffer in the mornings. So, the taller you sit or stand, the longer you stretch your spine, the less fluid loss, the less seepage.
Holiday back pain was recently discussed here.