Orthopedic   Massage

Lower Back Pain & Sciatica

According to the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, back pain is the most common ailment with 80% of our population suffering some form of painful problem. Only 1% are disc problems. Tight Psoas muscles pulling on the lumbar spine can cause degenerative disc disease. Once the muscles are relaxed (released) there may not be a need for surgery.

If you have a bad back see your doctor and get a diagnosis. It's difficult to make decisions when you don't know the problem. Learning about your back pain will take some research. Ask your doctor questions. Learn what's happening to your body. If you don't understand the answers ask for clarification in language you can understand.

Knowing what questions to ask would help. You might begin simply: What is the cause of the problem? Are there muscles involved in the disorder? Which muscles? The Internet offers information as well as chat rooms. Seek others who have had your specific problem. There could be more than one way to treat your ailment. Ask your physician for all the alternatives before resorting to surgery. More often than not it will take a lot of time to research and find out what's going on with your body. You can leave this decision up to your physician or you can take the road to learning, do your research and than make informed choices.

My personal experience with degenerative disc disease and sciatica led to surgery. Within a few years I began to relapse. What worked for me was intense massage treatments followed by an exercise and stretching program I try to follow to this day. I was told I would not run again. I am now doing triathlons. Each of us is different but there is always hope.

I evaluate my clients with low back pain checking hip alignment to determine where the problem lies and muscle testing to determine the cause. There are several major muscles that stabilize the area: psoas, iliacus, hamstrings, hip rotators and one of the quadriceps. Any one of these can cause hip distortion which puts the body out of balance and can create pain and discomfort. Finding the Key muscle, the muscle that started this problem in the first place, is the first step. Starting the relaxation of that muscle is the second. Palpation, or massaging the muscle, begins to release the tension, stretching and movement will be the continuation. Movement, as passive as possible, in most cases, helps to release tight muscles.

The movement I recommend for these muscles is a 10 minute ride every other day on a stationary bike (in the easier gear). But any suggestion would depend on the severity of the injury and the individual being treated. The stretches would be individual as well.