Natural Healing and Back Pain Relief

Yesterday I wrote that I would post two stretches for sciatica. This one turned out a little long, so I’ll post the other stretch tomorrow.

Sciatica is one of the most common back pain complaints. It can be treated in a number of ways that can help, and in a few ways that can cure. Here are a couple of stretches that help some people.

Not everyone will find back pain relief with this stretch, but it will help some people. This makes it well worth trying.

This stretch can be a little hard on the knee. Pay close attention to your knee when doing it. If it hurts at all, stop. There is a modification following that can allow you to go a little deeper into it.

We’ll explore this stretch on the right side. It is a good idea to stretch both sides, but you mainly need to do it on the side that has the pain.

Start by sitting on the floor with both legs extended. Shift your weight to the left by lifting your right hip off the floor. Use your left hand for support.

Next, bend your right knee so your foot is out to the right side with the angle between the thigh and lower leg at ninety degrees.

Sciatica Stretch part 1

Here’s the part that can be hard on the knee. Slowly let your right hip down until you feel the stretch or until it starts to hurt. Remember to avoid pain.

Sciatica Stretch part 2

Modification For Knee Pain
If there is pain in the knee, back off away from the pain. Use one hand on your upper thigh to rotate the leg inward, and the other hand on the lower leg to rotate it outward and let the right hip down again.

Sciatica Stretch part 3

Note: If you’re not sure which direction is which, try both rotating the upper leg one way and the lower leg the other way until you find the direction that allows you to go deeper without pain in the knee. For some people this still won’t be possible. It is much more important to keep from hurting your knee than to find the stretch.

Sciatica is one of the most common back pain complaints there is. Back pain relief can be elusive if the cause is not found and treated. This article is about the primary causes and what you can do to eliminate the problem.

There are two main causes of sciatica. They usually have to happen at the same time for the problem to develop. One is structural, the other has to do with a difference in bodies.

The sciatic nerve is a long nerve that runs from the lower back and down the back of leg. In some people, it moves through a hip flexer that can swell and press on the nerve causing the pain known as sciatica.

This muscle is the piriformis which wraps around near the top of the hip in back. If this muscle swells for some reason, sciatica pain often results. This is the most obvious cause of the pain. However, there are reasons this happens in the first place.

One of the main reasons has to do with a misalignment in the sacrum and the hip joints. In some people, this misalignment itself causes the pressure on the nerve. In others, the misalignment causes the piriformis to become inflamed which causes pressure on the nerve.

This misalignment can be corrected by mechanical means such as a chiropractic adjustment, or by adjusting yourself using Self Adjusting Technique. However, there is often a complication present, the root cause of the misalignment in the first place.

Many chronic misalignments have a root cause that has to do with a weakness in the ligaments and tendons in the area. Most often, this weakness is caused by a systemic weakness that develops from a poor diet, toxic environment, stress or a combination of these three factors.

The body easily deals with these issues if they are short term and don’t happen often, but that is rarely the case in this modern world. The ready availability of processed foods makes right diet difficult for many. Emotional stress is just around the corner pretty much no mater what you do. And, toxins are in the environment from pole to pole, nowhere is completely safe anymore.

These issues are all dealt with in similar ways. Toxins less so than emotional or dietary stress, but still requiring the same intervention by the body. Nutrients are used up as the body works to return to balance from these assaults. Many of the nutrients that are used to keep this balance are the same ones that the ligaments and tendons use to maintain their strength. Keeping systemic balance is more important to immediate survival, so the connective tissue is neglected.

The best way to prevent and cure sciatica is to avoid the stress that causes the problem in the first place. There are short term methods that can help, but cleaning up the diet, avoiding stress — or at least releasing it, and a program of detoxification are the best ways to have back pain relief from sciatica.

Tomorrow I’ll post some yoga stretches that can help with temporary relief from sciatica.

Edit: I recently released two free reports on the adrenal glands. The first one is an expansion on 30 Symptoms Of Adrenal Fatigue. There are now 50 symptoms in this free report. And, there is an article on what you can do to help your adrenal glands come to full health. This report is based on Traditional Chinese Medicine. You can get both these reports and more free information on the adrenal fatigue at the link.

Many people go to an acupuncturist for fatigue because they often deliver results. What most people don’t realize is that very often they are being treated for adrenal fatigue which traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) calls weak kidney chi. This isn’t the whole story behind what they call weak kidney chi, but it will do for this discussion.

The adrenal glands sit on top of the kidneys, which is why this energy is said to be related to the kidneys. Weak kidney chi doesn’t usually have to do with the kidneys directly as in kidney failure, but there is a relationship between the kidneys and the adrenal glands.

TCM is great for reaching deep into the body and affecting a change. This is often obvious from of how good people often feel after an acupuncture treatment or taking the proscribed herbs. It really is good work that can have a positive affect on peoples’ energy.

One problem with TCM, especially if the doctor is Chinese, is that they often won’t tell the patient what they need to do to keep from losing kidney chi and developing adrenal fatigue. One reason is they don’t think westerners will follow dietary and other restrictions, so why bother? Unfortunately, for the most part they are right. However, if even one client can be helped, why not give some guidelines?

TCM considers the kidney chi to be the root energy of the body. There are many ways to damage kidney chi. Many Taoist practices are designed to stop the drain on the kidney chi, and to help develop more of it.

One guideline that is given is to limit sexual activity. One of the adrenal hormones is DHEA which is the precursor for both testosterone and estrogens. More sex means the adrenals have to produce more DHEA. More they work, more tired they get, and so does the body.

Another restriction is to avoid sugar. Sugar is a direct stressor on the adrenal glands because of the hormonal nightmare it causes. The body works furiously to balance this sugar induced catastrophe, usually successfully. The adrenals produce hormones that affect the levels of sugar in the blood to create this balance. This is okay from time to time, but many people consume a lot of sugar throughout the day causing a constant imbalance. This attempt at balance usually leads to adrenal fatigue because several of the hormones they produce are directly involved in sugar handling. With high sugar levels, they have to work extra hard causing adrenal stress and therefore fatigue.

Another thing an acupuncturist recommends when the kidney chi is low is to avoid cold and raw foods. The reason for this has to do with how they look at digestion. They see the stomach as a cooking pot. When cold or raw foods are added, extra energy is needed to heat the pot so the food can be cooked — digested. Physiologically, there is something to this. It does take more digestive enzymes and more time to digest these foods.

While getting acupuncture may do a lot of good, try these dietary restrictions for two or three weeks in conjunction with your treatments and herbs. See if it makes a difference, you may be surprised at how much faster you recover from adrenal fatigue.

Yesterday we had a great show! It was small with only two people calling in with questions, but I expected that. I did get to give out some great information about back pain relief though, my main goal.

You can listen to the show by going to my Blog Talk Radio show page here: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Kalidasa

I actually didn’t have a big plan about what I was going to talk about. It happened that there were some great questions though which really helps me out. I do much better with questions than some prepared speech, though I can talk about health and back pain for a long time.

We talked about fight flight and how that causes neck pain as well as acid reflux. And, we talked about scoliosis and how flight flight causes that as well.

Another caller had an issue with sciatica that the chiropractor hasn’t been able to help. This is usually caused by a mechanical issue, but a tight piriformis muscle is often involved as well. So, we talked about how to do pressure point release and how that can help the piriformis which can relieve sciatica.

I hope you can listen to the show, it’s only 30 minutes, and let me know in the comments if you’d like me to do another one. So far there have been a few people that were very interested in the connections that were made, so there is a pretty good chance I’ll do another. Let me know what you think, I am interested in your views.

It looks like I’m going to finally have my first radio show today At 3:30 Pacific time. Here’s the direct link:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Kalidasa/2009/11/02/How-To-Have-Natural-Back-Pain-Relief

And, the official Blog Talk Radio button that connects directly to the show:
Listen to Kalidasa on Blog Talk Radio

You can call in if you have any back pain questions: (646) 652-2169

The air time is set for 30 minutes, but I’ll continue for a few minutes if we are into something.

You can listen live or to the recording which should be available shortly after we end.

One of the best neck pain relief methods I know of is a simple massage you can do on yourself. Here’s a video on how to do this great technique.

Let me know in the comments how it works for you.

A lot of questions about rib cage pain have been coming in recently. There are different kinds of rib cage pain, and of course, different causes. In most cases, rib pain is simply a rib out of alignment.

Before we discuss misalignments, let’s cover some of the other possibilities for a pain in the rib cage.

First, there are injuries, like a bruise or a broken rib. Other injuries to the chest area or to the cartilage areas of the ribs usually cause pain as can any other kind of muscle injury or strain.

There are serious issues as well that could be causing the problem. Here’s a list of some serious issues that can cause rib cage pain: Osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, cancer, osteoporosis, pneumonia, tuberculosis, asbestos exposure and herpes zoster. Remember, these are not as likely as a simple misalignment that we’ll get to in a minute.

There could also be inflammation of the ribs or the muscles between the ribs. This inflammation could be caused by a number of things, like the diseases above. Certain drugs can cause inflammation, and some drugs, like steroids, can be a direct cause of rib pain.

The pain can also be referred from other areas of the body like the spine where the ribs connect. Anxiety and stress can also cause pain in the rib area from tensing and a stressful breath.

Wow, maybe I should have put those at the end of the article. In most cases though, a pain in the rib cage is nothing really serious. It may hurt to take a deep breath, or if you move your body in a particular way, but a misalignment in the rib cage is not often very serious, and is usually easy to correct.

The ribs form a joint with the spin in an interesting way. There isn’t much room for a misalignment, but then it doesn’t take much. And, the ribs can become misaligned in the front too, usually in the lower sternum area.

Sometimes it can be really hard to tell if you just have a rib out of alignment or something more serious. If it is serious, and you have had an accident, or you are at risk for some condition, then seeing your doctor would be a good idea, if for no other reason than to eliminate the more serious issues.

Doctors don’t usually know much about adjusting a rib, with the exception of an osteopath. So, if you do determine that your issue is a misalignment, then you have a couple of choices.

You could get your rib cage adjusted for back pain relief. Some people are not interested in going to a chiropractor for one reason or another, usually because of fear of the often forceful and sometimes painful adjustments.

It is possible to adjust the ribs yourself with Self Adjusting Technique. You can find out about finding your own back pain relief through self adjusting at the link if you’d like to go that route.

Just to be straight with you, adjusting your own ribs can be difficult. It’s the last Self Adjusting Technique that I developed. I have been able to help people work out how to adjust their ribs via email, and I recently put up a couple of videos to support people who buy Self Adjusting Technique.

Rest assured, if I can’t help you end rib cage pain, then I will give you your money back. You can use the contact tab at the top of the page here to reach me any time you like.

Here’s a great stretch for back pain relief in the upper back. It gives a nice stretch to the area at the tops of the shoulders and can reach down as far as the shoulder blade area.

You can sit or stand comfortably for this one.

Start by taking your right arm up at a 90 degree angle in front of you with the elbow bent at a 90 degree angle so your fingers point up. Take your left arm under the right arm and wrap it around that right arm.

Bring your palms together if you can. If not, use a strap or something that you can hold on to with your hands. Bring your hands as close together as you can.

Once you have a good hold, take your hands up and away from you. Keep breathing as you hold the stretch. Continue to take your hands up and away.

Upper Back Stretch

Upper Back Stretch

You can also round your back, and really push your elbows away from you for extra stretch to help with middle back pain.

I hope you like the stretch. And, thanks to Anthony for showing us another back pain relief stretch.

Fight flight is an instinctual response to a stressful situation. In ancient times our ancestors often needed to fight or give flight in order to survive. Today, we still have that same instinct along with the intense chemical responses that come with it. One problem is that we experience a lot more of it than our ancestors did.

In ancient times, a life threatening situation could happen at any time. People either had to react quickly or face death. Adrenalin was natures answer to this problem.

In modern times, these stressful situations are rarely life or death, but our bodies still react the same way. A sort of biochemical nightmare happens. Everything the body has is put towards immediate survival. Every system that is not needed now is shut down.

This takes a heavy toll on the body, and it has to have time to recover or these systems don’t get a chance to recover. Systems like the immune system, digestion, sex, and cellular repair. The things essential to survival of the species and long life.

To make maters worse, modern life provides luxuries that ancient cultures didn’t have, and these very same luxuries cause a fight flight reaction in our bodies, just like facing imminent death.

We end up being stuck in a permanent state of fight flight with none of the systems that keep us alive long term functioning fully if at all.

The ailments that develop from being stuck in fight flight vary from person to person depending on their genetic make up, environmental factors, and the person’s disposition — happy people tend to live longer. Most major health conditions that happen today can be traced right back to fight flight chemical reactions, if the biochemistry is looked at the right way.

The luxuries that cause our modern condition? One factor is emotional stress that can be caused by everyday activities like driving around, going to a job, not having enough money, bad news that comes to us all the time, multitasking, eating on the run, and so on.

In most cases, the biggest stress factor is diet. Modern processing has made food amply available in many countries. The body naturally craves carbohydrates because times were often lean for our ancestors. A sweet tooth is hereditary, they either fattened up for winter on sweet fruits or died. The biochemical reactions necessary to deal with sugar are the same as fight flight. Actually, it’s more accurate to say that sugar causes a fight flight reaction.

Every serious modern ailment can be traced back to the chemical reactions caused by the instinctual fight flight response. Everything from lower back pain to cancer. Diabetes, heart disease, depression, anxiety attacks, dementia, chronic fatigue all can be traced back to the reactions that come from fight flight and the adrenal fatigue that usually results. Of course, the whole of a condition has many factors.

There are things you can do about it. Learning to relax and accept maters for example. Studies show that being grateful for what you have increase happiness. And of course, avoiding processed foods like the plague that they are.

Adrenal fatigue is a big theme of this site, and that’s where fight flight leads. The body lives much longer when the adrenals are at peak efficiency, when stress is low

This has been a very incomplete article on what happens when the body is under stress for prolonged periods of time. Much has been left out or only hinted at. The whole story is pretty complex, but the main thing is to do everything you can to reduce or eliminate stress in your life. It will increase the length of that precious life.

Back pain can be caused by many different factors. When caused by muscle strain or muscle weakness, it is possible to find back pain relief with simple back pain exercises or stretches.

Two areas where back pain often strikes are in the middle and upper back. A simple exercise for these areas is cat stretch.

Another area is the lower back which can benefit from cat stretch and its counter stretch cow pose.

These are yoga stretches for back pain that can be very affective for some. Here’s how to do these stretching exercises in combination for maximum benefit.

Start on hands and knees. Be comfortable with padding under your knees if needed, and your hands under the shoulders in a natural feeling position.

Start by taking your back up high when you exhale. You can hold here and work the shoulder blades strongly towards the sky. This can produce a great stretch in itself that will feel great on the upper back. You will almost definitely find back pain relief in the shoulder blade area, upper back, and middle back.

Cat Stretch

Next, let your back drop down as you inhale for cow pose. Be careful not to go too deeply as it can aggravate lower back pain.

Cow Pose

You can hold here too if it feels good, or go right back up into cat stretch.

There are two methods for doing these stretches, holding and breathing into each one, or moving between the poses with your breathing. Exhale when moving up to cat stretch, and inhale as you drop back down to cow pose.

I hope these simple stretches help you find long term back pain relief. Let me know in the comments. And, I’ll see about posting more back pain exercises like these.

p.s. Thanks to Anthony for demonstrating these poses for us.

I am not sure exactly what happened with the radio show, but it didn’t happen this time. Really too bad, I was looking forward to doing it.

What I do know is that the date that was scheduled is not the date I thought it was. I went to the drop down menu and selected the next available date and it seemed to work. But, somehow it came out for the next month!

The menu comes up with a calendar where I chose the next Monday. So, I would have had to click on something else to get it for the following month. Who knows? maybe I did.

This isn’t the first problem I had either. I thought I had scheduled something for Saturday, but when I checked on Friday evening, that one didn’t show up at all!

On the plus side though, I do have a date scheduled for November 2 which I am going to keep. And, I will try to get another date this week.

I’ll let you know what happens, and I’ll be sure to triple check everything this time.

Kalidasa

Today I will be live on a web radio show talking about back pain relief. This is my first such show, I hope it goes well.

Well for me means not making any technical mistakes that could affect the show.

Since it’s my first, I made it short, only 30 minutes. If there is a lot of conversation going on, I can talk longer and it will be recorded for later, but the show will stop broadcasting on time.

It starts at 3:30 p.m. Pacific time.

You are welcome to attend and call in with your questions if you like. Or, you can listen any time after it airs.

Here is the URl for the show page (I think): http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Kalidasa/2009/11/02/How-To-Have-Natural-Back-Pain-Relief

The call in number: (646) 652-2169

And, this is supposed to be the player (I’m not very technical):
Listen to Kalidasa on Blog Talk Radio

Edit: I recently released two free reports on the adrenal glands. The first one is an expansion on 30 Symptoms Of Adrenal Fatigue. There are now 50 symptoms in this free report. And, there is an article on what you can do to help your adrenal glands come to full health. This report is based on Traditional Chinese Medicine. You can get both these reports and more free information on the adrenal fatigue at the link.

Here is a quick home test for adrenal fatigue. It isn’t one hundred percent by any means, but it is an indicator.

One adrenal fatigue symptom is sensitivity to light. The reason for this is because the pupil doesn’t constrict correctly when the adrenals are really low.

You can do this test by yourself or with a friend. I like the self test because you get to see the results which are immediate. The idea is to watch to see how fast or slowly the pupils constrict.

All you’ll need is a mirror and a small flash light.

Start by dimming the lights so that your eyes get a chance to dilate. Allow at least ten minutes or longer to make sure the pupils get as dilated as possible.

While looking at your eye in the mirror, shine the light in from the side so that you can watch the pupil, and so the light isn’t to hard on the eye. Watch to see how the pupil reacts.

The constriction should be immediate. If there is any hesitation at all, then you most likely have adrenal fatigue.

As I mentioned earlier, this test isn’t 100 percent. A slow reaction could be a completely different issue. And, adrenal fatigue won’t always produce a slow reaction either.

Try correcting your diet and taking some of the herbs and supplements that are recommended in this article on nutrition for adrenal fatigue.

The drug companies, media and government are getting out of hand with the flu scares they are making lately. For example, I’m risking being shut down just writing those words. The supreme court is even getting involved, maybe that body can put a halt to some of the insanity.

Mostly, I want to direct you to a page that gives you real information about the swine flu and what a hoax the drug companies are perpetrating for the sake of money.

Basically, the information behind the scare is full of holes. The current swine flu wasn’t as severe as they thought in the southern hemisphere which just came out of their flu season, why should we expect worse?

It seems, when looked at completely and logically, that this flu is no more dangerous than any other seasonal flu. But, I’ll let Dr. Mercola give you the straight dope in their swine flu update.

Here is are a couple of things that I recommend that you can do to protect yourself from any flu. I do these things most of the time anyway.

First, be sure to take vitamin D. It has been shown to increase the ability of the immune system to prevent the flu. Vitamin D activates the part of the immune system that seeks out and kills pathogens like the flu virus. 400 units a day is plenty, but take more for a few weeks if you are low.

Secondly, go out for at least a short walk every day. Walking moves the lymph which clears out pathogens like the flu. It is really hard if not impossible to get the flu if your lymph system is flowing regularly. It only takes 10 to 15 minutes to clear out the sludge from the day. Alternately, you can do minimal movement exercise which is demonstrated in the video at the link.

A couple of days ago, a friend of mine, a little boy 8 years old, came down with the flu. We don’t know which one it was, but he had a fever of 104.5 at one point. Of course, his mother gave him something to bring that down, but if I had gotten there sooner he wouldn’t have needed it. What I did was open his lymph, and give him Congepelx from Standard Process. It only took a few hours until he wasn’t sleeping all the time, and he got hungry.

The dosage for Congeplex if you have symptoms is six an hour for up to seven hours, or until the symptoms abate. I’ve never seen it fail in about a hundred cases. Then take three twice a day for another couple weeks. For my 8 year old friend who weighs about half what I do, three an hour. The capsules were too big for him, so we put the contents in a little juice. He didn’t think it tasted bad at all.

I haven’t had a flu in years. The last couple of times were after a long flight, and I had Congeplex to knock it out quickly. That, plus a good nights sleep, and I was playing tourist just fine.

Another supplement from Standard Process is Immuplex. It is very similar to Congeplex, but better as a preventative, though Congeplex can be used to prevent illness too. I just bought three bottles of Congeplex to pass around and have available for my friends. You might want to do the same.

I hope you read Dr. Mercola, you won’t be nearly as afraid if you do. He gives a few more preventative suggestions too. All you have to do is be a little proactive and you will avoid the flu all together, or be able to finish with it quickly in most cases.

Back pain can have many different causes. A misalignment from an injury or some systemic inefficiency is the main cause in most cases. However, a tight muscle or muscle group can play a significant role. Often the tightness is caused by a misalignment, but adjusting a misalignment may be difficult because of the tight muscle.

Trigger point release is one of the best ways to help a tight muscle that may be causing back pain.
The right technique is needed in order to insure a good release of these tight muscle. The right trigger point or points must be found, the right pressure applied for the right amount of time. Otherwise the release won’t be as complete if achieved at all.
One important tip is that the best pressure point is rarely right where the pain or injury is. A proper understanding of where the muscle is, where it originates and inserts (begins and ends), and its path are needed in order to find the right place to apply pressure can be found.
Finding the trigger point itself is fairly easy only requiring a little sensitivity. They are hollow areas in the muscle that dip down or have less resistance when a little pressure is applied. It’s like the muscle opens up to the massage therapists hands as they work into the point.
The amount of time to apply pressure depends on many factors. A trigger point usually needs to be worked for a shorter time at first building up the time over a few sessions, but in some cases a longer time can be applied right away.
The closer you are to the point of pain or injury the more sensitive the point may be, so a shorter time might be better when working in those areas. Working right on the area that hurts often only aggravate the injury. However, at times the direct approach is best, but with great care.
Many therapists work a trigger point for too short of a time. The ideal time is until the muscle releases. A sensitive therapist can feel the release which often comes in stages. They can tell by feel when the muscle has released enough, and when any more time might cause undo irritation or soreness. The holding time can be up to three minutes, with a longer time usually being better as long as proper care is taken.
One great thing about trigger point release is that like Self Adjusting Technique, it can be self applied for fast back pain relief. It is best to have a skilled practitioner do the work for you, but working on yourself has the obvious advantages of immediacy and that it doesn’t cost anything. Massage tools can be employed to avoid causing your fingers to cramp with the long holding times required for a good release. One massage tool is a big “S” shape that allows you to work the back quite effectively.

Trigger point release can also relax muscles that affect misalignments so the adjustment will hold. A look at some anatomy charts can be very helpful in knowing what is needed. And, stay in communication with your therapist, let them know if you think the pressure or time is too much or not enough.
Self adjusting the area is much easier when the muscles cooperate. If you are using Self Adjusting Technique to adjust yourself, and the adjustment doesn’t seem to be working, you might try releasing the muscle with trigger point release technique first. Likewise, if the adjustments don’t seem to be holding, you might try getting the muscles to release with trigger point release technique.
Be sure to get your free copy of Back Pain Secrets here. It’s loaded with back pain relief information. The emails you get will only be from me, and they all have good information in them. No spam, I promise, and you can unsubscribe with a click should you ever want to.