I cannot stress enough the importance of stretching. Americans work out at the gym all the time, but – we don’t stretch.

A recent trip to China demonstrated this to Julie in a very poignant way. While taking classes in the far outskirts of Beijing she joined many hundreds of elderly people at 6:00 AM while they did their exercises in the park. But these weren’t exercises like she’d done in America, they were stretching programs such as Tai Chi, Chi Kung, and so many other stretching regimes that it would be impossible to count. She watched elderly people move freely during the day, rarely using a cane or limping their way through life. The movements they made in these early morning sessions were amazing, to say the least! People literally hung from trees, and walked through the park swinging their arms out in wide circles around their bodies. She came back to the United States determined to share what she had seen in China. She knew we wanted to help people loosen the chains that were binding them in pain, and get back the spring in their step. And, we’ve been working with our patients on a daily basis to discover the methods that will work best for Americans - who live a far different life than the Chinese whom she had witnessed.

We’d like to share with you, the readers, a simple stretching program that is both beneficial and easy. Stand up, or sit in an armless chair if standing is too difficult, giving yourself plenty of room to swing your arms freely in all directions. Now, think of yourself as a large stick of cold taffy that needs to be softened. Did you ever play with taffy when you were a child? Remember how you gently played with it, warming it, and eventually it became easy to stretch it all the way out? That’s how we want you to see your body.

Begin to gently swing your arms while you turn your head. Get into the rhythm and drop your head down toward your chest – swinging it from side to side. Rotate your hips in the opposite direction from your shoulders. Lift and drop your shoulders. Hold onto a chair and swing your leg back and forth. Do anything you can think of to move all your joints in as free and easy manner as possible. This is a relaxing stretch, there should be no pain – just the feeling of the muscle and joint stretching easily. If you feel a sharp pain anyplace – STOP! If it feels good you’re doing fine. Do this for about 5 to 10 minutes, depending on your schedule. As you do it every day you’ll discover new moves that feel wonderful to you. This is a time to feel like you’re releasing the tightness of a night’s sleep, or the stresses of a day’s work. Stop when you think you’ve done enough.

Pain in the Back

The back has a primary muscle called the Erector Spinae. It means, in Latin, “erect spine”, and it is a group of muscles that enable us to stand erect.

There are several conditions that are adversely affected by spasms in the erector spinae group. First of all, these muscles insert on your rib cage. So, if there is a spasm in one of the fibers, the rib that is attached to it will not be able to move freely when you breathe. You will either feel a stabbing pain in the rib area, or you simply won’t be able to take a nice deep breath.

Another problem is that some of the fibers originate directly on the spine. When they are pulling tightly they end up “stepping” on the disc. To understand this situation consider the vertebra of the back. Each vertebra is separated by a disk, which cushions the vertebra so it can move easily without pressing on the vertebra above or below it. Then attached to the sides of each vertebra are muscles. As each muscle individually contracts the vertebra moves in that direction. When a muscle contracts tightly it pulls the two bones together; compressing the disk, impinging the nerve that is passing through, and also causing tension at the insertion point of the muscle which then causes pain similar to the hair pulling analogy. When the vertebra are held together for a long period of time the disk will begin to get compressed, even herniated (ruptured). This can all be prevented by simply releasing the muscle that is putting the strain on the bones.

Stretching is the way you can treat yourself for back pain. A qualified deep muscle therapist can find, and treat, each specific muscle. However, it must be deep treatment since a nice, relaxing massage won’t get through the strong surface muscles to get to the deeper muscles. The treatment is a bit uncomfortable, but you are in control, tell your therapist if the treatment is approaching your tolerance level. The therapist will back off until the pressure is perfect for you. If you are interested in a good stretch, with pictures, for the Erector Spinae muscles, it is featured this month as the “Hint of the Month” on our website: http://www.aboutcts.com.