PATTERNS and PAIN. Too much of a good thing

Post category:Injuries
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More often than not an acute neck or back spasm occurs as a result of a simple movement; brushing your hair or bending to pick something up.

The movement itself is not the cause of the issue but rather our movement patterns in the preceding days, months and years.

Remember that anything in excess is no good. Even if it is something “healthy.”

Consider George, an avid road cyclist and IT specialist. As a young man he cycled competitively and was blessed with a body that required little in the way of maintenance. George put all of his aches and pains down to aging. When I met George, he was 53, and had now spent 25 odd years seated for 5 days a week behind his desk; and thousands of hours on his road and spinning bikes.

George was in pain! Neck, back, hips and a tingling sensation down one arm.

Looking at these two images gives us a clear idea as to why George might be experiencing problems. Let’s start from the top.

On average, your head weighs 5 kgs. That’s a lot! Both cycling and the forward and down head position of looking at a screen put HUGE strain on the neck. Looking simply at the front and back lines of the body, we can see a ‘shortened’ front line and a ‘lengthened’ back line.

Looking further down the spine, the cycling position of being hunched forward ‘lengthens’ the back line and ‘shortens’ the front line. Sitting at a desk and leaning forward to type or use the mouse reinforces this same pattern.

Cycling is an exercise that is front line dominant in terms of lower extremities. IE Your thighs work like heck as do your hip flexors (muscles responsible for bringing your knees up to your chest). If you are cycling correctly and are using cleats, you should be including a “pull” element to your cycling stroke, but this is a conversation for another day. Sitting ‘shortens’ the hip flexors as does cycling.

We can analyze images and movement patterns in far greater depth and detail but this is not necessary for general understanding of patterns and pain. What the images tell us is that George is overusing some parts of his body and effectively “over stretching” others because of the repetitive positions and patterns. These imbalances cause pain!

We started our treatment by loosening up the muscles in the front of his neck; loosening up his chest muscles with manual therapy and stretches as well as his abdominal area. We were literally trying to unfold him and get rid of the creases. We also focused on loosening up the front of the thighs and hip flexors which had been working so hard.

The next phase was for George to commit to doing some exercises that would strengthen and engage the muscles that had been lengthened and were under utilized. We were trying to restore balance between the front and back lines as well as the medial and lateral lines. Incidentally the tingling down the one arm had been caused by the repetitive reaching for and movement of the mouse. This too began to improve over time.

Fundamentally the story of George serves as a good example of too much of a good thing. Cardiovascularly he was in great shape, but the repetition had taken its toll; as had the repetitive working aspect of his life.

What I tell my clients to remember is to think about what they have been doing for the past few hours and do the opposite for a few minutes. If you’ve been hunched over your handlebars, open up when you get off your bike. Move your body gently in the opposite direction. If your knees have been repeatedly pulled up towards your chest – extend your legs backwards and stretch out the over used parts. This is true for any activity or inactivity: gardening, sitting, playing pool, playing games on your phone, hiking, etc.

Something else to note with this specific case was the lack of gentle impact in his life and workouts. Walking, running, dancing, jumping etc cause impact and vibration which help to keep bone density healthy. Sitting and cycling do nothing for bone density and this is something else we needed to address. Cross training is SO vital for all around health and well being. You can’t just do one thing and hope to not end up with issues of overuse and repetitive strain. George agreed to walk on the promenade or in the forest every other workout to help balance his regime. The walking movement also went a long way to improving his overall physical balance and well being.

Remember, TOO much of a GOOD thing is a REAL thing 🙂