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I'll Tell You What is Causing Pain for Almost Everyone in the Western World

chrishugh.blogspot.com

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Re: I'll Tell You What is Causing Pain for Almost Everyone in the Western World

#31

Post by lutorm »

stretchwithme wrote: post #2

I feel posture just aggravates existing muscular problems. Its good to understand the mechanisms that cause and perpetuate these problems. There's the muscle sheaths that have stiffened by the lack of use of the full range of motion and the constant deposition of collagen, which literally glues the sheath to itself. This tight sheath can impair blood flow to a muscle, especially when the muscle is contracted for a lo…

I will make my standing recommendation for "The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook" now: http://www.amazon.com/Trigger-Point-Therapy-Workbook-Self-Tr...

Re: I'll Tell You What is Causing Pain for Almost Everyone in the Western World

#32

Post by niels_olson »

Doctor here. Best things you can do are, in order: work out 4 to 5 times a week, eat real food (not to much, mostly plants), and get a standing desk. If you like massage, have at it. Brazilians, well, I don't know. The only Brazilian I know well is an art dealer who advocates Coca Cola as tanning lotion and has a 30' snake skin on the wall.

Re: I'll Tell You What is Causing Pain for Almost Everyone in the Western World

#33

Post by eru »

z0r wrote: post #17

Taking up lifting as a hobby, especially squatting, has done wonders for my posture (although it is by no means perfect)

Yes, I am also quite free of back pains since taking up weight lifting. I do get sore occasionally, but that usually does not hurt.

Re: I'll Tell You What is Causing Pain for Almost Everyone in the Western World

#34

Post by stretchwithme »

lutorm wrote: post #31
stretchwithme wrote: post #2

I feel posture just aggravates existing muscular problems. Its good to understand the mechanisms that cause and perpetuate these problems. There's the muscle sheaths that have stiffened by the lack of use of the full range of motion and the constant deposition of collagen, which literally glues the sheath to itself. This tight sheath can impair blood flow to a muscle, especially when the muscle is contracted for a lo…

I will make my standing recommendation for "The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook" now: http://www.amazon.com/Trigger-Point-Therapy-Workbook-Self-Tr...

That's the book that got me started on this whole thing. $13 well spent.

Re: I'll Tell You What is Causing Pain for Almost Everyone in the Western World

#35

Post by stretchwithme »

joe_the_user wrote: post #27
stretchwithme wrote: post #2

I feel posture just aggravates existing muscular problems. Its good to understand the mechanisms that cause and perpetuate these problems. There's the muscle sheaths that have stiffened by the lack of use of the full range of motion and the constant deposition of collagen, which literally glues the sheath to itself. This tight sheath can impair blood flow to a muscle, especially when the muscle is contracted for a lo…

Bingo! Excellent point... "Stand-up straight" as advice is simply too simple. Still, I think your good advice from Trigger Point therapy should be supplemented with some information from the Alexander technique. You see, original article begin correctly in saying that "bones don't get tired, muscle get tired". If someone could stand or sit without muscular tension, they could avoid getting or aggravating trigger poin…

I think a lot of the problems are caused by shoes, chairs and toilets. We more fully exercised our range of motion every day before all of these things that made our lives easier and stiffer.

Re: I'll Tell You What is Causing Pain for Almost Everyone in the Western World

#36

Post by caryme »

gruseom wrote: post #13

The trouble with advice like this: Stick your butt out [...] Stick out your chest and fill up your lungs. Now tuck in your chin [...] is that people interpret it to mean they should apply force to correct their habitual posture, which is like trying to bend something rigid back into place: it compounds the problem. Of course it's hard and often painful to do this, so we almost never keep it up (barring some sort of m…

I highly recommend finding an Alexander teacher as well. I took Alexander classes through my university (it is common among musicians) with John Henes - a great Alexander teacher in Evanston, IL if you're in Chicagoland.

One day in class I particularly remember, prof Henes brought a balance board (one of those round boards on a ball) and asked us to balance on it. He then pointed out that the way we naturally tried to balance was to force the board down in reaction to movements. He taught us to instead balance our bodies, and if we were truly balanced, the board would be too when we stood on it.

Re: I'll Tell You What is Causing Pain for Almost Everyone in the Western World

#37

Post by gommm »

gruseom wrote: post #13

The trouble with advice like this: Stick your butt out [...] Stick out your chest and fill up your lungs. Now tuck in your chin [...] is that people interpret it to mean they should apply force to correct their habitual posture, which is like trying to bend something rigid back into place: it compounds the problem. Of course it's hard and often painful to do this, so we almost never keep it up (barring some sort of m…

I've been interested in the Alexander Technique for a while but haven't started yet (and it's quite expensive here in Shanghai). How would you evaluate a good teacher?

Re: I'll Tell You What is Causing Pain for Almost Everyone in the Western World

#38

Post by joe_the_user »

stretchwithme wrote: post #35
joe_the_user wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bingo! Excellent point... "Stand-up straight" as advice is simply too simple. Still, I think your good advice from Trigger Point therapy should be supplemented with some information from the Alexander technique. You see, original article begin correctly in saying that "bones don't get tired, muscle get tired". If someone could stand or sit without muscular tension, they could avoid getting or aggravating trigger poin…

I think a lot of the problems are caused by shoes, chairs and toilets. We more fully exercised our range of motion every day before all of these things that made our lives easier and stiffer.

Yes, these things "cause" plenty of problems. But not by themselves - our unconscious adaptation to them is part of the mix as well. The pace of modern life also comes in.

Re: I'll Tell You What is Causing Pain for Almost Everyone in the Western World

#39

Post by gruseom »

caryme wrote: post #36
gruseom wrote: post #13

The trouble with advice like this: Stick your butt out [...] Stick out your chest and fill up your lungs. Now tuck in your chin [...] is that people interpret it to mean they should apply force to correct their habitual posture, which is like trying to bend something rigid back into place: it compounds the problem. Of course it's hard and often painful to do this, so we almost never keep it up (barring some sort of m…

I highly recommend finding an Alexander teacher as well. I took Alexander classes through my university (it is common among musicians) with John Henes - a great Alexander teacher in Evanston, IL if you're in Chicagoland. One day in class I particularly remember, prof Henes brought a balance board (one of those round boards on a ball) and asked us to balance on it. He then pointed out that the way we naturally tried t…

Yes, the Alexander Technique is by far best known among musicians and actors, so much so that for many years it was thought of as an acting practice. (Of course Alexander himself was an actor and developed his technique while figuring out why he had lost his voice.) I think this is because these professions have a lot to do with how body and consciousness work together, and this is the area in which AT is very practical. To some people that might sound like gobbledygook, but when your profession depends on it you quickly go with what's practical.

The teacher I like best (who's in the San Diego area) told me that her dream was to get more athletes to realize how much they could get out of it.

Re: I'll Tell You What is Causing Pain for Almost Everyone in the Western World

#40

Post by gruseom »

gommm wrote: post #37
gruseom wrote: post #13

The trouble with advice like this: Stick your butt out [...] Stick out your chest and fill up your lungs. Now tuck in your chin [...] is that people interpret it to mean they should apply force to correct their habitual posture, which is like trying to bend something rigid back into place: it compounds the problem. Of course it's hard and often painful to do this, so we almost never keep it up (barring some sort of m…

I've been interested in the Alexander Technique for a while but haven't started yet (and it's quite expensive here in Shanghai). How would you evaluate a good teacher?

I would go for 2 or 3 lessons and get a sense of the chemistry between me and the teacher. I would also try as many different teachers as possible. The difference between a good teacher and an ok one is dramatic, so this is worth exploring. (Who's "good" may vary from student to student, of course.) I've also noticed that some of the teachers tend to be more doctrinaire than others. I avoid the latter, but YMMV.

If you give it a try, I'd be curious to hear your assessment. The Alexander work is one of very few practices I use every day -- "use" isn't the right word; it's integrated into my habits -- and I have reaped rich rewards from it. To pick a simple example, I've gone on many long motorcycle trips over the years. Typically once I'd been riding for a day or two pain management would become an integral part of the trip. The last trip I did I was astonished at not having that problem any more; I'm pretty sure the AT stuff was the reason.

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