8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back (Remember When It Didn't Hurt)

First, I'm gonna start with my background. I've spent 25 working years of my 40 year old life, in labor intensive, outdoor, on concrete, making a living. Since the late 80's, thanks to Dell pc's, I have had a pc to slump over, for many hours as well. About 15 years ago, I started noticing a numby, tingly sensation down my left leg. Saw my first ever chiropractor and he took xrays. He said I had some birth defect visible and some degeneration or a thin disk. Said with several treatments to mobilize my lower spine that was trying to fuse up, it should get rid of the sensations. About a month later, he was right it was gone. Since then I've led a pretty active, busy, life. However I have for years gotten some flare up inflammation around left low back/si joint area. Usually stretching will help it within a matter of dsys. About 4 months ago, I have started going to the gym, to do my physical job better, feel better and maybe less achey/sore than I should feel at 40 years old. 4 weeks ago my old left low back/si area again inflammed up, so my wife suggested I might be interested in some of her yoga routine. She has had back problems for years and she bends over like pretzel with this yoga stuff, so I said sure my flexibility is horrible. I did a few days of yoga stretches, and finally, one night, I couldn't even sleep my low left back was hurting so bad, didn't matter what position I took, I couldn't get comfortable. I went to doctor, got some anti inflammatories, and muscle relaxors to help at night. Asked for P/T and a new mri to see if I had really damaged something or if something was worse. Mri showed pars defect at L5, I believe that was my birth defect issue, plus a hemongloma (benign tumor at L5) Spondylolysis at L5-S1, mild DDD changes at L5-S1 with mild assymmetric left disc bulge and left face hypertrophy resulting in mild left foraminal stenosis at L5-S1. Basically what I got out of that is degenerative disc or drying out of discs at l5-s1, now bulging some, some narrowing of nerve tunnel from arthritis so now nerve is getting a slight pinch, causing some pain on low left of back at 40 years old, unbelieveable. I have spent a couple year working with trigger point therapy work on getting rid of plantar fascitis in left foot. P/T just wanted to stretch and stretch left calves and hams, but the problem was I was loaded with trigger points which stretching made worse. I take all kinds of multivitamins/ supplements, try to eat right, not over weight, don't smoke, and have been working out and strengthening my core, why am I having back problems. Well Doc said if P/T didn't work she'd send me to a neuro surgeon. I don't even want to think about that at 40 years old. My dad had numberous fusions, wirings, you name it in the 60's and he was never GOOD again, just pills to help him get by. I don't want that. I looked around and found Esthers book here on Amazon, and all the reviews. I saw other stuff on the internet too, like Ebooks for back relief and pain, excercises, and tucking your pelevis. I tucked my pelvis for a week and a half until Esthers book showed up and she says no, you shold not be doing that. Unbelievable, one person says do this, another video says no that's bad do this. I also ordered her DVD, at the same time. I have now had both for one week. I wish I could tell you, that I'm flying up out of bed and screaming Hooray, I'm Healed, lol. But, I can't, but being honest here, when you have spent most of your life working hard physically, as in back bent over type work for much of the day, in my case 25 years, plus, bad habits, (not knowing better) and a little stupidity when I was younger, you aren't gonna get HEALED in a day, a week, or a month. But, if I can stop the further damage as of this point now, and begin a slow process of reversing the pain, bringing back activities I have had to shut down, and restore some damaged tissue/disc with healthy tissue, I will try it. I have read this book, I just finished last night, and I've watched the dvd once. As I said, I am also back in P/T. I don't know third world civilization and their habits, but this book shows a lot of smart ways to use your body, and back. Critics might say this book is just about posture or posture can't cure all. I will say this, I was never really shown much or taught to bend over at the hips, I've always bent over and worked for long hours with a rounded back. Then I've spent many hours hunched forward and over a computer. Esther even talks about this in her book, we as western civilization have tons of back problems because of this, I didn't know any better. Sure I've tried to replay what mom use to say, "sit up straight", puff my chest out, arch my back, tuck my pelvis, hike my shoulders, suck my gutt in, geeese, like a manicun, and it was all wrong. I asked my P/T the other day, if he could show me the proper way to bend over, because I don't know, my body just can't do it right. He showed me almost verbatum what Esther does in this book with hip hinging, the back is straight, the hamms get a stretch, I practiced for a half hour and I started to get a little feel for it. I am doing the stretch sitting right now on the cushion I just got yesterday, in a foldup chair, my back is more comfortable than my big lazy boy chair I sat in last night while eating dinner. I have been doing the stretchlying at night while I sleep. I also bought a knee pillow because I can only really sleep on my side and since my knees are bony, it is uncomfortable to stack my knees on top of another. This is all taking some time to get use to, I'm waking like clock work about every 2 hours, maybe the knee pillow shifted, maybe my body is telling me I need to reposition to stretchlying again, don't know but I'm all for giving it a try. My chiropractor uses a traction table so I understand Esthers principle and it makes sense to me. So much of her book is not rocket science really, it does make sense, and several of the excercises also I have either done or at least a variation, make sense as well. Many people, as I did, think working your core means, more crunches. I said I started a gym 4 months ago, that's what the trainer taught me along with planks. Crunches, are nice, but their not doing a thing for your deep transverse abs for the spine. So again, bad habits, I thought I was doing what I was suppose to. I've also upped my glucosamine/chondroiten intake, fish oil omega 3 and vitamin c for inflmmation. It's nice to find a book with great pics and descriptions to tell people to help undo some of the bad habits they have and hopefully get on with life again with a healthy back/body. I will update in a few months after I have more practice, time with her techniques and see how my activities and pain level respond. Right now I say, deffinitely recommend the book, just on good knowledge of posture, correct excercise technique and understanding of what bad habits are doing to your back and body. UPDATE #1 (1 month) Right now, I feel better than I did one month ago. In the beginning, I couldn't sleep at night from my back discomfort/pain. I had to take 5 weeks off of work, and I just started back light duty last week. The pain in my back is not gone, but it was a 6-7 on a scale of 10, and now a 2-4. The 2 is generally early in the day, and the 4 is late in the day, I think that's just part of DDD. I do the sleep stretching everynight in bed, plus I use a knee pillow to since I'm a side sleeper. I was waking up every 2 hours like clockwork, now it's about 3 hours, not for pain, I sleep without pain now, it's just to readjust myself and roll over to sleep stretch. I just finished P/T, and everyday, probably for the rest of my life, I will work on my stretches/excercises to help with the back. When at home, I sit in this stretch sit cushion at the computer, and don't get any back pain or stiffness, where as a regualr chair after a while I would. I am hoping for continued improvement and diminishing discomfort. It takes a lifestyle change, posture change, dedication to excercises/stretching, and I think the additional techniques in this book are complimenting that. I will update again around 3 months.

I went online to buy Peter Egoscue's book "Pain Free" (which I also bought). I'd like the thank the kind reviewer in that forum who recommended this book instead. I just got it today and, while I haven't really completed any exercises yet, have already skimmed through the whole thing and tried the first exercise, at least. So you know, I am a body worker and have studied yoga as well. First, this is a beautiful book. There are many color photos of people from around the world with natural posture. They provide an inspiration to try the exercises, and they show how beautiful the relaxed, unaffected human body can be. Second, this book addresses fundamental causes, not bandaid solutions. I do an hour or more of stretching and self-massage daily, but still have tightness and back pain. I tried yoga which helped some things but made other things worse. Every other book I have seen has given a lot of strengthening and stretching exercises - there's not time in the day to do them all, and it's discouraging when you do them but your daily life just negates all that hard work. This book addresses how you carry your body and move in daily activities so (in theory) you don't need exercises long term. Third, the book gives very clear instructions on how to improve your posture and movement in a carefully sequenced fashion. Many people/books have told me I need to improve my posture, by "tucking my tailbone in or out," "holding my thoracic spine straight," or "keeping my head high." What they don't understand is that if I hold my head high, for example, my back is so crooked it's very uncomfortable, the weight of my body goes straight to my low back. Better books caution against trying to hard to force a "correct" posture, but don't give guidance on how to achieve good posture if you don't already have it. This book gives clear, easy to follow exercises which are sequenced so that you work on first things first, and progress over time. This approach instinctively feels right to me. I agree with the author's assessment of what an ideal, healthy body should look like. I have traveled a lot. Many people in Africa and SE Asia have a natural ease in their bodies; that is exactly what I am looking for for myself, but have not known how to achieve. (Note, however, that, contrary to what the book implies, not all people in non-industrial countries are free from back pain - I have heard from farmers in Western Africa and hotel workers in Thailand who complained about back pain in spite of their excellent posture - even "traditional" people are susceptible to overuse and overload injury). I am looking forward to working through the exercises and seeing if they benefit me. Note, not everyone will be able to do all the exercises right away. In some cases, you may be too stuck and need therapy to help you unstick before you start (massage, PT, yoga). Perhaps that could have been explained more in the text - in those cases I think it would be great to get that therapy while gently working through what you can with your therapist on board. As a bodyworker, I think the combination of receiving serious structural bodywork (such as Rolfing or Thai bodywork) and simultaneously working through this book would be very effective. The key is not to force exercises you cannot do easily and comfortably. If you have a structural injury, the author recommends working with your doctor to see what you can do safely. This book is not a panacea, of course, also - will it cure every pain? I doubt it. But for $14 and change, for people who can read through the exercises and apply them; are willing to make some changes in their life and interested in this kind of thing, I think it is a phenomenal value. (In comparison - a decent massage session in Washington, DC costs about $120-160, and the effects usually last a few days). In addition to people with tight muscles, restricted breathing, or back pain, I would recommend this book to another group: new parents, especially mothers! It gives minimal information on what to do, but - at least it raises the idea that how you carry and handle your child is an ergonomic issue both for YOU (reducing bodily strain) and for YOUR CHILD (developing their body). I would love to see the author address this in a specialized book; all my friends with small children complain of back pain. My bodywork teacher in Thailand repeatedly notes how parents traditionally helped children develop healthy postures, but that Western or "modern" parents don't have this knowledge. This is exactly what is shown in the book.

Ich habe mich 25 Jahre lang gekrümmt - weil meine Beckenstellung falsch war. Ich kann dieses Buch nur empfehlen! Anhand von Beispielen aus der natürlichen Haltung von Kleinkindern, oder auch aus der gesunden natürlichen Haltung indigener Völker, wie man stehen, laufen, sitzen und sogar liegen soll. Es öffnet einem die Augen für die in unserer modernen Gesellschaft allgegenwärtige Fehlhaltung - selbst bei vielen Sportlern! Mein Huckel schwindet und ich habe nie mehr Rückenschmerzen. Ein Muss, dieses Buch!

The book is an outstanding work in terms of research related to the role of posture causing back pain and the solution in terms of simple steps.

Me ha gustado mucho. Estoy haciendo el curso y es un apoyo indispensable. Es un libro que me gustará conservar cerca para consulta hasta integrar todo lo que propone sobre buena postura, sentados, de pie o tumbados. Me encanta y lo recomiendo 100%. una cosa: Me compré la traducción en castellano y lo tuve que devolver, porque no entendía muchas frases, eran raras, raras....

very easy and simply adjustments that changed my back and neck to being pain free. No necessary equipment or gismos needed and you can do yourself without a teacher or having to do tiresome daily exercises, gym and weight training. I can practice the adjustments whilst cooking, cleaning etc.

It is a beautiful book full of pictures and very easy to follow! I am sure it is very effective for back pain!