Move More to Ache Less
“I am scared I’m not going to be able to do this eventually.”
My mom has worked as an art teacher for over 27 years and this past May she finally retired. She now has time for what she loves. Gardening, making pottery, and playing with nieces, nephews, and grandkids.
Recently, when catching up she shared with me how excited she was to be able to spend so much time making pottery.
Then this excitement and joy turned to worry. Her hips and back hurt as soon as she sits down at the wheel. After a few minutes she loosens up and all is fine - until she goes to get up. That's when the pain returns in her hips and back and it takes another 5 or so minutes of moving around before she feels good again.
This isn’t the first time this has happened and it’s not the last, at least not yet.
We’ve all been limited by low back discomfort or hip discomfort at one time or another.
“I can’t play golf today, my back is bothering me.”
“The weeds are getting out of control in the garden, but with this back pain I can’t get down to tend to them.”
“I picked up my son/grandson the other day and threw out my back, I’ll need to find a sub for pickleball league.”
“We wanted to do that hike, but my back was too sore. I hope we get back there someday - I hear the scenery is gorgeous.”
… and our typical remedy is rest.
Take a few days or weeks off and hope things get better on their own. An approach that sometimes works, especially in the beginning if the back is spasming.
But, and this is a huge but, if those periods of inactivity go on too long, they can become the problem rather than the cure. Not moving can weaken muscles. This can cause more pain and more problems. Inactivity negatively affects our adjacent muscles, cardiovascular, respiratory, digestive, nervous, and skeletal system. (For a detailed discussion of the anatomy and mechanics of lower back pain click here).
So what we do? We move better, to move better.
For mom we went over what she can and can’t do, movements that are comfortable and uncomfortable. What are the activities that she wants to focus on getting better at now and what does she want to aim for in the future.
We talked about ways to ease the discomfort with movement. We showed her new exercises to help make her hips and back stronger.
Some of the movements we went over are below.
What should you do if you’re also concerned about physical limitations?
Continued movement, if possible without pain, is critical. Keep the movements small and simple, but do your best to avoid becoming sedentary. I'd love to be more specific here, but that's not possible without seeing you in person. Without understanding your specific skeletal/muscular build, your functional capabilities, your strength, and your goals.
Speaking as a chiropractor, this is where I’d suggest scheduling an appointment. Getting a professional evaluation of the structure of your hips and lower back, your balance, your range of motion, your ability to control movement... From there I would use gentle, precise adjustments to reduce the tension and stress on the body.
We would then begin rehabilitation exercises. Specific exercises combined with targeted movements based on your lifestyle goals.
A little specificity can go a long way. For a golfer trying to regain swing speed after a back injury or for a gardener looking to garden for a few hours everyday.
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