21.08.07
Painful cake
Seems Mr Gatto (apparently I’m not familiar enough to use “Anthony”) has had a dodgy back and some interesting news re this was put on his forum. Basically he says that he got it sorted by the Cirque du Soleil people. An interesting post which I replied to as below. No doubt there’ll be more follow-ups on this.
quote:
Originally posted by anthonygattoSince around 2004, I have had a chronic lower back problem. It always had some pain and on some days it was nearly unbearable. I went to Doctors and they could never pinpoint what exactly the problem was.
There’s your problem. Why did you bother going to doctors? Why didn’t you ask someone who knows something about backs before now?
quote:
So, they had me take some x-rays and sent me to see their orthopedic doctor. He came up with the conclusion that the problem was not stemming from my back but rather from a lack of flexibility in my hamstrings. This caused my lower back to be pulled therefore causing some vertebrae to lock.
I wonder why they bothered with x-rays? Xrays are rarely useful in backs and just expose you to carcinogenic xrays for no purpose really.
Oh and hamstrings don’t attach to your back at any point. What they can do is pull your pelvis slightly into posterior rotation if they’re very tight or over-active (not the same thing).
quote:
So they sent me to Pilates class to learn some techniques. I also started to stretch adamantly and after about 1 months of becoming more flexible, I noticed that my lower back was not hurting. Now I stretch my hamstrings quite a bit, I am not what I call flexible but since I have been doing this, I have had no lower back pain. I am now going on 4 months without it!
That is good news that your pains are down but I reckon you’re undervaluing the correct treatment here. You also said you’re doing Pilates. This is known to reduce back pain. It works on the muscles that support the lower back – get them fitter and you have fewer problems.
Poor “core stability” can also lead to over-active hamstrings which will then appear to be short – when in fact they’re just over-working. Mine are a case in point – I improved my core stability (with stuff rather like Pilates) and my hamstrings appear to have lengthened – and I haven’t done any stretches to them. It’s just that they’re now working less. So yes – sorry about the waffle but Pilates = good for backs.
Flexibility is generally good but remember that just because a muscle is “tight” doesn’t necessarily mean it’s short, it might just be over-working. If it’s short it just needs stretching; if it’s over-working then something else needs to be looked at (that’s where your Pilates comes in in this instance).
quote:
I just wanted to share this with all of you in case anyone out there had a similar problem. I would have never thought it could be from flexibility and I am so glad that I had a doctor who didn’t just have money on his mind and recommend a useless surgery.A.G.
I’d agree that people with dodgy backs need to get assessment from someone who knows what they’re doing (and it sounds like your guy knew his stuff). And avoid back surgery like the plague if you possibly can. The possible side effects of back surgery can be horrific.
Have fun.