Body and spine alignment the gentle way.
Release Sacro-Illiac joint pain with this very simple technique. It will provide lower back pain relief, usually within minutes.
Do the circles very slowly and rest for about 30 to 90 seconds. Then change direction. The slower you go the more effective the release will be.
A Scoliosis Case Study
“Sarah” was a fit, young woman in her mid 20’s. She had been diagnosed with scoliosis in her teenage years and was suffering with neck, shoulder, upper, middle and lower back pain.
She was very skeptical about Ortho-Bionomy, stating, ”I don’t know why I bother. Nothing works anyway”. She had tried many different therapies and had not been able to find relief for any length of time. I was attending her workplace doing short sessions for the workers in their lunch and tea breaks to help them deal with a very stressful job taking emergency calls from with people in extreme circumstances.
We worked on a massage table for 15 minutes, with her fully clothed, jumper and all. I found the most comfortable position for her neck, which was quite tilted to one side and very tense. Once her neck was comfortable, Sarah immediately sighed and said how much it relieved the ache in her neck. I also showed her how she could get relief from her nagging back pain with a very simple home exercise.
The following week she reported that she had relief from her neck pain for the whole week from our short time together. She asked her boyfriend to try the spinal “twist” which allowed her to be relatively pain free in her upper back as well.
During the 2nd session we worked with her pelvis which was quite rotated and causing her pain, again taking her to positions of comfort. I explained that if she did the exercises I was to give her it was possible to correct her condition. We began with 2 simple exercises to alleviate her mid back tension and to stabilize and strengthen the small muscles of her pelvis and correct muscle imbalances.
Sarah continued to come and see me on a weekly basis in her lunchtime. After five visits the pain in her shoulders, neck and lower back had gone. Now her ribs were causing her trouble. On examination, I noticed that her spinal curvature was almost gone too.
She reported that her waist had become even and now she could wear clothes that until recently had not fitted her properly due to the spinal twist caused by the scoliosis. On a visit to her family her mother had commented that she was walking differently – more evenly with both of her legs and hips instead of leading with her right all of the time.
Scoliosis- Pain Free
During those five visits, Sarah had left my office with simple exercise she could do at the computer desk or standing and waiting in queues, with a few which were better done at home in a relaxed environment. The exercises I prescribed were to re-establish functional movement patterns and alleviate any pain or discomfort which may arise between visits.
Next we needed to address the twist in her ribs. By this time she found her ribs caused her more discomfort than any other part of her spine. Ribs are involved in almost every function from breathing to moving in any direction. They never get a rest because we breath constantly.
Over the next few visits, I showed her how to assist her ribs to untwist and sit comfortably with her spine. She was very willing to persist, because she could see the enormous changes that had happened in such a short time with a condition that would only get worse with age. Her perceptions were changing.
After her tenth visit I reassessed her spinal curves and her rib patterns and found them to be in correctly aligned positions. She was completely pain free!!
This young woman now has a set of exercises to help her whenever her neck, back, ribs or shoulders pain cause her strife in the future, as well as ones to help maintain her new and healthy spinal position. Sarah has noticed that her flexibility and strength have both increased with this simple, safe and pain free work.
If you know of anyone of any age who suffers with Scoliosis, I can certainly assist them to find a pain free life with gentle retraining and strengthening exercises. The treatment is painless and empowering. My philosophy is to teach you the methods and exercises, so you can maintain your own health.
I hope this is helpful to you on your healing journey
Vicki Tate
Vicki Tate is keenly interested in many areas of postural alignment and well-being. She is owner and Principal Practitioner at Body and Spine Align, Norman Park, Brisbane, where she has private practice offering Ortho-Bionomy, EFT and VibroGym sessions. Vicki incorporates her training as a Registered Nurse, teacher and Ortho-Bionomy to offer highly targeted and effective treatment for muscular skeletal and postural issues. She has a special interest in Scoliosis.
Call 0429030111 for appointments and enquiries or email info@bodyandspinealign.com.au
A professional woman in her mid 40′s was referred to Body & Spine Align 
with chronic lower back pain since the last trimester of a pregnancy 10 years earlier. She had re-injured her back 2 1/2 years ago when she had been diagnosed with a disc bulge at L5/S1. An Osteopath had been treating her weekly during that time. Her symptoms had improved very slowly with very little change for over 18 months.
Now she was complaining of pain in her upper back and left shoulder as well as a very stiff and chronically sore lower back. She had lost a lot of fitness due to the injury and was gaining weight too which was compounding her problems.
When I examined her shoulders, spine and ribs were all tight. Using very gentle movements and positions of comfort with occasional isometric exercises, she was able to move more freely at the end of the session.
I discussed the importance of stretching and relaxing all the muscles of her back as well as doing some strengthening exercises at home. We spent about 25-20 minutes practicing these before she left my practice.
When she stood up she exclaimed ” Oh My goodness! I don’t have ANY pain. I can’t believe it. I’ve put up with this pain for years and you are so gentle and the exercises are so easy.”
She was planning an overseas trip in 6 weeks time,so was very relieved that she now had a way to manage her symptoms and feel better. I received a post card from her overseas trip saying what a wonderful time she was having and her back had not caused any problems even during a long haul flight with stop overs.
There are few pains that are more distracting than neck, shoulder and upper back pains. The intense burning of muscle spasm can make life difficult, especially if you are spending most of your work day at a desk.
I know exactly what it’s like as I’ve had my fair share of injuries, including shoulder problems brought on by an old neck injury as well as torn muscles in my arms from the chronic tightness in my neck, shoulders and upper back.
These injuries are what lead me to learn Ortho-Bionomy over a decade ago. So I know a thing or two about how to deal with and eliminate these aches and pains. Plus, over the past 13 years, I’ve assisted many people overcome neck, shoulder and upper back pain, here at the Body & Spine Align.
This is my Top 5 list to reduce pain as quickly as possible:
Arnica is a homeopathic remedy that is a powerful tool against inflammation, bruising and muscle spasm. Brauer’s have Arnica spray or tablets that are easy to carry in a First Aid kit. I keep some in the car and house too. Arnica is also very good at alleviating the initial pain symptoms.
There are many anti-inflammatory drugs on the market. They have their place, but I recommend using natural methods first. Traumeel cream and tablets are readily available from good health food stores. I always keep some in the house. Also Fisiocrem can work a treat
Epsom Salt soak 350 mls (1 ½ cups) of Epsom Salts in a warm bath and soak for 20 minutes will eliminate a lot of inflammation. You can also use a strong solution of Epsom salts on a face cloth as a compress.
Spasm causes a majority of pain in the back neck and shoulders. Most people don’t realise their muscles are in a constant state of minor spasm which causes most of their discomfort.
Simple isometric exercises if used in the initial stages of discomfort will eliminate spasm and retrain the muscles to be more flexible. Isometrics are easy to learn and use as a home treatment.
What you think will influence how fast you will heal. Remembering to turn any self talk to the positive will greatly enhance your recovery. Turning your mind to pleasant thoughts will also decrease your pain response. “You Can Heal You Life” by Louise Hay has many helpful suggestions and information.
You will get well. Your body wants to be well and healthy. So give it some encouragement and thank your body for doing so many wonderful things everyday without your knowledge or intervention.
Whenever there is pain, the body will be out of balance. Muscles will tighten to protect a part that is hurting. It doesn’t matter whether you have had an accident or not…. If you are in pain you will have muscle imbalances.
If the underlying causes of the muscle imbalances are not identified and corrected they can become chronic conditions and eventually degeneration of tissues, joints and cartilages will occur.
“Yes, but my condition is caused by….….!” It doesn’t matter what you have been diagnosed with or told or think is the underlying factor.. If you have pain there will be muscle imbalances.
Muscle pain is a much BIGGER factor than you may think… and once these are addressed and corrected you WILL recovery quite quickly and your quality of life will improve.
There may be many other conditions that you were “learning to live with” or thought were a “natural part of growing older”, which will also disappear.
Muscles will respond to kindness as well as brute force. My approach is to take the stress off the muscle fibres allowing them to relax until all the tension has dissolved. It’s like giving them a hug until they sigh and say “That’s better”. Some of these techniques are very easy to learn. Most of my clients will take home 2-3 simple ‘exercises’ to assist their healing.
I believe that you can learn to be your best healer. If you know how to prevent a symptom from becoming worse that is a gift you can give to yourself. I will teach you the tools to use as First Aid to help prevent body issues from becoming problems.
I hope this has been helpful to you as you navigate your healing journey.
A “pain in the back” can be much more difficult to cope with when it persists for longer than a few months. Chronic back pain affects millions of people in the civilised world. Our lifestyle of sitting for long periods and using motor vehicles diminishes the structures that support our backs and make us more prone to chronic back pain issues.
Learning what is causing your pain is essential to becoming empowered to both prevent it from happening and finding a pathway to cure the pain or control the symptoms.
Your back is basically a set of building blocks [vertebra] stacked one on top of each other with a piece of tough sponge [intervertebral discs] between each. Those building blocks are held together with strong rubber bands [muscles and tendons]. Down the middle of each block is a fine fiberopitc line that can easily get twisted or bent [spinal cord]. If one of the building blocks gets out of alignment all the other structures in the tower get stressed and begin to make any adjustments to keep everything from falling over.
Each vertebra only has a small degree of movement buteach of those small movements combined allow your spine to twist, turn, bend and stretch. Your back supports your truck and allows you to do all manner of activities, such as sitting, standing and playing sport etc.
Bending and twisting adds extra stress on your inter-vertebral discs. The lower back [lumbar] vertebra are designed to bend but not twist. Unfortunately many back injuries are caused by twisting and bending or lifting at the same time.
To protect your back it is important to understand that your back is supported by your abdominal muscles as well as your back muscles. Keeping your back supple as well as strong will greatly reduce your chance of injury.
Your body will produce a pain reaction when something is not working properly. It is trying to tell you to stop doing that activity. Unfortunately your back can often take 24 – 36 hours to react to an injury. It then goes into a state of spasm which causes more pain. Depending on the injury you experience, the pain can be dull, deep and achy or sharp and electric. You can experience the pain anywhere from your head to your toes. The most common area for chronic pain is the lumbar region or lower back as it gets put under a lot of strain with our body weight resting down onto the discs and is used for most bending and lifting tasks.
Quite often patients will come to the clinic complaining of heel, knee or elbow pain that gets worse at certain activities. When I examine their back, I will often find a very tender area close to the spine that they were not aware of.
Chronic back pain is most commonly located in the lower back or upper back areas. Chronic pain can be caused by injury, e.g. motor vehicle accidents, sporting injuries or falls, or degeneration. Most degenerative changes occur in people over the age of 50 and are usually associated with arthritis [both osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis], osteoporosis or past injury.
Factors such lifestyle, activity, diet, genetics and injuries will have a huge impact on your spinal health as you grow older.
The inter-vertebral discs, are the cushions between each vertebrae. If they are impacted or put under stress, either acutely or over a long period of time, they can flatten and shift and even break the capsule that surrounds the gel which is the ‘spring’ in the middle of the disc. If this happens the nerves associated with that disc will be affected and usually cause a lot of chronic pain. This is commonly called a “slipped disc” or “herniated disc”. Watch a video that explains how this causes pain.
Many people have a bulging disc that does not cause symptoms of pain, but in others is can be a severe hindrance. It is not uncommon to find a very old injury, 15 or 30 years previous, has been the initial cause of disc and vertebral changes that are now causing pain, degeneration and osteoarthritis.
Osteoarthritis is the degeneration of the cartilage and bone of the spine, this causes pain as the nerve roots are compressed. Another cause of nerve root pain is spinal stenosis. A condition where the bone of the spine grows into the space of the vertebral canal and causes narrowing or the nerve root and spinal cord canals.
Exercises and stretches are vital to keep your muscles, nerves and joints in good order. You will need to get advice from your therapist as the road to wellness is not a straight line. There will be ups and downs. As people get stronger, they are often less diligent with their exercises and begin to attempt doing activities that are beyond their back strength. This nearly always results in a re-injury which is very disconcerting and frightening for the client.
Unfortunately, many people lose all their core strength when their back is painful. Strong core muscles are one of the major factors in preventing further injury to your back. Find a good physical therapist, Ortho-Bionomy or bowen practitioner, yoga or pilates teacher in your area and begin to gain your confidence and strength again before attempting any muscle building activities at the gym.
Pain relief and muscle calming medication is useful in the initial stages of pain management but can become addictive. Try other methods of pain management such as deep breathing and meditation. Both of these have been found to be very effective and sometimes more effective than conventional medication at relieving chronic pain.
How you go about gaining relief for chronic back pain is very personal, but relief is possible. There are many options other than medication and surgery , which should only be condidered as a last resort. Regaining spinal alignment is very important. Muscle imbalances are often a major cause of spinal misalignment. Muscles can be retrained quite easily. It doesn’t need to be forced, gentle realignment can be even more successful for many people. Gentle methods include Ortho-Bionomy, Bowen, Gentle Osteopathic, Craniosacral therapy, relaxation, stretching, meditation, deep breathing, yoga, QiQuog, Tai Chi are just a few options that are available to you to explore and find the one that works best for you.
If you suffer from chronic back or neck pain, the Wesley Hospital in Brisbane has an excellent back pain clinic that runs for 5 day a week over 3 weeks and discusses every issue associated with your health and lifestyle.
Hello and thanks for visiting the Body & Spine Align website. My name is Vicki … [Read More...]
How to lose weight The question on everyone's hips.... and belly. " What is the best way to lose … [Read More...]
There are few pains that are more distracting than neck, shoulder and upper back pains. The intense … [Read More...]
What is Scoliosis? Scoliosis is a term used to describe the abnormal sideways spinal curvature. … [Read More...]