"Boy, am I going to PAY for this in the morning!!"
The last few weeks I have been consumed by a recent move for my family (sorry for the lack of posts!). As I write this we are still in the final stages of moving from our small 1 bedroom condo to a beautiful 3 bedroom house.
This move gives our 1 year old the much needed space to be active, play, and enjoy the outdoors. This move also allows more room for my wife and I - we plan on converting the spare bedroom into a small home gym/guest room (I will keep you posted on this progress).
Moving provides many challenges. One of the main challenges for me was the excessive lifting and moving of objects. Even though we had a moving company handle most of the large items, there is still a decent amount of packing, lifting, bending and maneuvering of the body in awkward positions.
I have heard many horror stories from clients with back pain about how they injured or aggravated their spondylolisthesis or spondylolysis picking up or moving items of all sizes. I have heard everything from picking up a golf ball out of a hole to picking up a small dumbbell off the ground.
Since this was on my mind, my goal was to make it through the move healthy and unscathed from the large amount of lifting. The last thing I wanted to have was a spondylolisthesis setback in my new home.
This got me thinking, why do so many people have setbacks when lifting small objects?
I have noticed over the years that many setbacks take place doing little things, not necessarily JUST lifting the heavy stuff.
Movements that most would take for granted such as sneezing, picking up kids, tying shoes, picking up toys, etc. are the activities that seem to cause the most setbacks for those with spondylolisthesis.
The reason for these setbacks during simple movements could be attributed to improper movement and muscle imbalances. If you have read any of our previous posts you know that we are big on fixing movement mechanics for long-term relief of your spondylolisthesis.
Most spondylolisthesis and spondylolysis patients we come across have improper movement and muscle imbalances. We see them have less movement at joints where they should have more, and have more movement where they should have less (meaning they aren't stabilizing). Consider bending down to pick up the pencil - the mind tells the body that this movement HAS to be accomplished and the body will do whatever it can to create that movement.
Over time this leads to inflammation of the low back because the body chose to give up its natural stability in order to have the mobility to get the job done.
Muscles, tendons, ligaments, soft tissue, and joint surfaces are stressed in ways they aren't meant to be stressed. This can create the pain and stiffness often times associated with spondylolisthesis flare ups.
When people get small objects off the ground they rarely think about how to bend over, they just bend over and pick up the object.
For most with proper movement this is no problem. Their muscles groups work the way they should - ankles, hips, and upper backs do the majority of moving while the knees, low back, and shoulder blades work to stabilize. The stress is distributed evenly and everything is great.
For spondylolisthesis patients however, there is a different story. Compensations occur due to a combination of poor flexibility limiting movement and “weak and unstable muscles” not controlling the movement you do have. Poor movement causes the body to “cheat” and joints will bear stress in manners they weren’t meant to - like at the low back.
Have you ever noticed when you are moving something heavy you often hear people say “lift with your legs and not your back?” The idea is to keep a straight back and hinge at the hips to achieve a safe back position and reduce the strain placed on your low back. Simply rounding your back would put all the strain on your back and lead to BIG problems.
I think this could be the reason for so many spondylolisthesis setbacks when people bend over to pick up small objects or assume awkward positions when lifting things off the ground.
People forget to focus on proper movement and due to the years of compensations, overuse, and weak muscle groups the muscles designed to help support and protect the back simply do not perform as they should. The poor movement is engrained into the body and bad things happen when someone has poor movement.
The result…….shooting pain in the low back, disk injuries, and spondylolisthesis flare ups, etc, etc.
If we all had proper movement, strong and stable supporting muscles, and great mobility we would not be discussing this topic. Everyone would move and feel great.
Unfortunately not everyone has these qualities (strong and stable supporting muscles and great mobility). Most spondylolisthesis patients lack at least one and maybe all of them.
So instead of always thinking about how to bend over the right way, you need to work on a few things so this movement comes naturally.
Make sure to follow part 2 of this post to learn what things you work on to start moving better to help reduce the risk of those nagging injuries and setbacks when picking up simple objects.
This move gives our 1 year old the much needed space to be active, play, and enjoy the outdoors. This move also allows more room for my wife and I - we plan on converting the spare bedroom into a small home gym/guest room (I will keep you posted on this progress).
Moving provides many challenges. One of the main challenges for me was the excessive lifting and moving of objects. Even though we had a moving company handle most of the large items, there is still a decent amount of packing, lifting, bending and maneuvering of the body in awkward positions.
I have heard many horror stories from clients with back pain about how they injured or aggravated their spondylolisthesis or spondylolysis picking up or moving items of all sizes. I have heard everything from picking up a golf ball out of a hole to picking up a small dumbbell off the ground.
Since this was on my mind, my goal was to make it through the move healthy and unscathed from the large amount of lifting. The last thing I wanted to have was a spondylolisthesis setback in my new home.
This got me thinking, why do so many people have setbacks when lifting small objects?
I have noticed over the years that many setbacks take place doing little things, not necessarily JUST lifting the heavy stuff.
Movements that most would take for granted such as sneezing, picking up kids, tying shoes, picking up toys, etc. are the activities that seem to cause the most setbacks for those with spondylolisthesis.
The reason for these setbacks during simple movements could be attributed to improper movement and muscle imbalances. If you have read any of our previous posts you know that we are big on fixing movement mechanics for long-term relief of your spondylolisthesis.
Most spondylolisthesis and spondylolysis patients we come across have improper movement and muscle imbalances. We see them have less movement at joints where they should have more, and have more movement where they should have less (meaning they aren't stabilizing). Consider bending down to pick up the pencil - the mind tells the body that this movement HAS to be accomplished and the body will do whatever it can to create that movement.
Over time this leads to inflammation of the low back because the body chose to give up its natural stability in order to have the mobility to get the job done.
Muscles, tendons, ligaments, soft tissue, and joint surfaces are stressed in ways they aren't meant to be stressed. This can create the pain and stiffness often times associated with spondylolisthesis flare ups.
When people get small objects off the ground they rarely think about how to bend over, they just bend over and pick up the object.
For most with proper movement this is no problem. Their muscles groups work the way they should - ankles, hips, and upper backs do the majority of moving while the knees, low back, and shoulder blades work to stabilize. The stress is distributed evenly and everything is great.
For spondylolisthesis patients however, there is a different story. Compensations occur due to a combination of poor flexibility limiting movement and “weak and unstable muscles” not controlling the movement you do have. Poor movement causes the body to “cheat” and joints will bear stress in manners they weren’t meant to - like at the low back.
Have you ever noticed when you are moving something heavy you often hear people say “lift with your legs and not your back?” The idea is to keep a straight back and hinge at the hips to achieve a safe back position and reduce the strain placed on your low back. Simply rounding your back would put all the strain on your back and lead to BIG problems.
I think this could be the reason for so many spondylolisthesis setbacks when people bend over to pick up small objects or assume awkward positions when lifting things off the ground.
People forget to focus on proper movement and due to the years of compensations, overuse, and weak muscle groups the muscles designed to help support and protect the back simply do not perform as they should. The poor movement is engrained into the body and bad things happen when someone has poor movement.
The result…….shooting pain in the low back, disk injuries, and spondylolisthesis flare ups, etc, etc.
If we all had proper movement, strong and stable supporting muscles, and great mobility we would not be discussing this topic. Everyone would move and feel great.
Unfortunately not everyone has these qualities (strong and stable supporting muscles and great mobility). Most spondylolisthesis patients lack at least one and maybe all of them.
So instead of always thinking about how to bend over the right way, you need to work on a few things so this movement comes naturally.
Make sure to follow part 2 of this post to learn what things you work on to start moving better to help reduce the risk of those nagging injuries and setbacks when picking up simple objects.
