Pain Free Performance — Egoscue Certified

Posture Alignment Therapists, Certified by Egoscue University

Movement For Alignment

A Simple Trick to Test Your Alignment

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Many clients seek out our practice to reduce pain and regain their quality of life. 

Often, they are not aware that their body is out of alignment. 

When one aspect of the body is altered, it changes the function of the muscles and joints that surround that site. 

For most of us, our work week involves sitting at a desk in front of a computer. 

This position drives the shoulder forward, forcing the upper back to round, and bringing the head and neck into a flexed position.

In order to not develop chronic neck, shoulder, and back pain here is a simple trick to see if you body is aligned:

Stand vertically at the wall with the back of your head, shoulders, hips, and feet touching the wall.

In this position, is your head able to touch the wall? Or is there tension in your neck from bringing the head back?

For every inch forward that your head is from the wall, it increases the weight of your head on your neck by 10 lbs!

With the Egoscue method, we can reduce the forward head positioning and neck strain by getting to the root of the problem in the body.

How long does it take to create pain relief when practicing The Egoscue Method?

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Most of the clients we see are in pain. These clients come to us for relief with their knee pain, back pain, hip pain, and shoulder pain. Oftentimes, our clients have been to chiropractors, physical therapists, doctors, massage therapists, and acupuncturists that have been unable to create a lasting change with their muscle and joint pain. This can be challenging for our clients because their journey for pain relief has already taken weeks and months before we meet our clients for the first time. 

 

In order to create lasting pain relief, as Postural Alignment Specialists that practice The Egoscue Method, we assess the muscular imbalances in their bodies. This begins through a complete health assessment and history to understand the patterns of movement (or lack of movement) that led to pain. We complete postural photos to see how their joint position aligns against a grid to understand how their joints are loading. This can reveal if an elevated shoulder and hip are leading to the back pain or if a forward head position is causing the shoulder pain. Finally, we complete a series of functional testing and gait analysis to determine what muscles are active or inactive that are resulting in muscular compensation and pain. 

 

When our clients leave their first postural alignment session, they can expect to feel a change in their body. This often results in a decrease in pain. If a client’s body has compensated for years, they might notice feeling “lighter” or “straighter” after doing their Egoscue therapy exercises. This is a sign that their body is becoming more functional and balanced. 

 

The work towards alignment and health takes time and effort. Our muscle memory begins to take effect in 90 days and is often the time our clients begin to notice less pain due to their enhanced alignment. Change is not always linear and might result in peaks and valleys. We encourage clients to remain focused on what is changing. Our cells and tissues are constantly adapting and we will continue to adapt new exercises and stimuli to create a change in the muscle structure. One of the great benefits of our bodies is that they are dynamic and constantly in motion. This is why the method works! Now, let’s get moving!

Moving into the New Year!

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A new year brings opportunity for new beginnings. Many of us look at January as a start date for change and for removing bad habits from our lives. What if we viewed this new decade as an opportunity to add something positive to our lives? This could be adding an Egoscue e-cise menu to your life to correct your joint position or choosing to do your Egoscue more regularly. When we add positive health choices to our life, even once a week, our body and our health change immensely.

In our culture, going to the gym the first month of the new year is a tradition for many. Many of us believe “moving more” is “exercising more”. This year, we’d like to encourage you change the way you think about movement. Moving more could be taking breaks every twenty minutes from sitting or standing at work. Take a walk around the office or out to the mailbox.  Moving more could be sitting on the floor to watch tv at night instead of collapsing into our couch or comfy chair. The more resistant surface of the floor encourages increased blood flow – seems crazy, but this is sooo good for your body! And, it’s so simple.

When we move in any which way, our bones our nourished and joints have enhanced flexibility. If your goal is to be pain free or enhance your health this new year, consider adding more movement to your life outside of the gym. Be creative. There are no rules to how you have to move just move as often as possible!

Alignment While Exercising

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Have you ever been told by a fitness instructor or a health care professional to tuck your pelvis under to protect your back?

Look in any anatomy book at the skeletal system and you will see that the lower back is designed to have a curve in it.  The curve of the lower back is there to absorb the “shock” of your body weight when you stand or move.  When you tuck the pelvis under you are decreasing the curve of your lower spine and taking away the shock absorber.  Doing this will eventually contribute to back pain. But that’s not all!

Our bodies work as a unit.  Everything is connected in one way or another.  A tucked pelvis can also create rounding in the upper back which can cause the shoulders to move forward.  A rounded upper back can cause the head to go forward.  Below the waist the tucked pelvis will change the way the leg muscles work.  The change in the work of the leg muscles due to a tucked pelvis will force a slight bend at the knees. Overtime the uneven pressure on the knees can lead to a wearing of the cartilage, inflammation and pain.

Anytime you change the design of the skeletal system it effects the system as a whole.  There are safe ways to exercise with or without weights that do not involve changing the natural alignment.  Use your Egoscue programs to align your body (get straight).  Then when you embark on a fitness activity (strengthen), allow the natural curve in your spine and keep your shoulders back while performing upper body exercises.  If you need additional guidance, we are happy to help.

Moving Toward Being Pain Free

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We often work with clients experiencing significant changes in their quality of life due to pain. Many are having pain for the first time and don’t understand why. They progressively and reluctantly remove the activities they love that seem to increase pain. Ironically this leads to no longer being able to sit, stand or move without discomfort. The catch is, even in pain, our bodies are meant to move. Ultimately, the body moves the way you move it or, doesn’t move because you don’t move it.

If you have been a cardio-queen, spending an hour doing the elliptical every morning and then go off to work sitting for eight hours, that’s a problem. Perhaps you’re a jogger and pound the pavement on the weekends but lay low during the week. Both of these scenarios can cause pain over time. Parts of your body and muscles are deprived of oxygen for all that time you are sitting or sedentary. Most people are out of alignment and can unwittingly create more dysfunction with activity. It creeps up on you and then one day, as our clients describe above, you are in pain for the first time. You have back pain, hip pain, foot pain, neck pain or shoulder pain and you don’t know what to do! You hurt, so you stop the morning exercise, the running, the elliptical. Inactivity is not the answer, but the right activity to correct your alignment is key to healing your pain.

At Pain Free, our job is to evaluate each client’s body, to diagnose what is truly causing the pain and reintroduce appropriate movement. This prescribed movement restores alignment, naturally removing pain which reunites people with the activities they enjoy! Let us join you on this journey back to moving well and doing the things you love to do.

Getting Back to Exercise

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Often when clients are feeling better, they want to get back to their exercise routine. In order to create a change in posture, we ask that people hold off on weight lifting or repetitive exercise in the beginning so as not to strengthen any unresolved dysfunction. We completely understand that when the body is becoming aligned and pain has decreased, you are eager to get back to a more physical and active lifestyle.

So the question is: how do you exercise and remain pain free?

If there is an activity you love and want to get back to, you should try it! Listen to your body while doing the activity. If you have concerns about what you feel, acknowledge it. Your body will give you a signal if it is resisting, like pain or restricted range of motion. Our rule of thumb is to complete your Egoscue menu first, in order to align your body the best you can prior to your workout. Always follow up your activity or workout with a few exercises that your therapist recommends for your body or even repeat your menu. This will allow you to the live the life you love and remain pain free.

Remember, the best exercise equipment is your own body. Just walking puts your body in dynamic motion and allows your 200 bones, 230 joints, and 600 muscles to become energized! Not only will walking increase your aerobic response and nourish your joints, but it will maintain something called the “cross crawl pattern” within the brain that’s necessary for maintaining balance.

If you have any questions about getting back to your active lifestyle and remaining pain free, our Egoscue Certified Posture Alignment Specialists at Pain Free Performance will keep you on the right path!

Alignment Matters Because Movement Matters

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We’re in pain, so we move less. We move less, so we’re in pain.
Which comes first…the chicken or the egg?

When we are in pain it can hurt to move, so most of us stop doing the movement that hurts. Although we avoid the painful movement, we still have to go about our daily tasks. The body will create a new movement pattern to get the task at hand done. The new movement patters ask some muscles to perform in ways they were not designed to, while others stop doing their job altogether. Eventually, the body will break down from the new uneven alignment. We’re in pain so we move less.

We live in a world where we move less and less. We have been marketed a host of gadgets to make our life easier. But, these gadgets make us move less. Think about it. We use remotes to turn on/off our TV’s and open our cars and garage doors; we use back-up cameras to pull out of our driveways. We drive instead of walk. We sit at computers instead of shopping at stores…the list goes on. All of the sedentary things that we do shorten and weaken our muscles. This lack of movement changes our muscle/skeletal alignment which leads to pain. We move less so we’re in pain.

If you’re having back pain, neck pain, knee pain, hip pain, elbow pain it’s probably the result of what we were just talking about. You’re out of alignment. Let us show you how to retrain your body by correcting the muscle imbalances to correct your alignment so that we can get you moving again – without pain. Movement is vital to health. Alignment matters because movement matters.

Movement Challenge

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Our bodies are meant to move! Walk, run, jump, kneel, stretch, reach, twist, squat, hang – the more we do these activities, the more aligned and healthier our bodies. You’ve probably heard the “sitting is the new smoking” catch phrase? I want to challenge you to go a step further than just standing up to understand what exactly our bodies need. When we fill our days with the activities listed above, amazing things happen. The movements keep the muscles in our hips elongated; encourage a mobile straight spine, our shoulders fall more easily back into place supporting a strong neck and balanced head.

We’ve got it easy these days compared to our “hunter-gatherer” ancestors. The luxuries that resulted from the Industrial Revolution have presented us with an unforeseen dilemma. With all the conveniences and less to do to get what we need, how do we continue to stay active? The answer I often hear from clients is “I exercise one or two hours every day!” Great! Maybe you’re like me; I love to work up a sweat. I want to be fit. As a former fitness center owner, I cannot imagine not having exercise in my life. I love to hike and kayak with my family. My husband is an avid biker. We exercise, but we need more movement.

After years working in physical therapy, and going on twelve years as a Posture Alignment Specialist, Certified by Egoscue University, I love helping people restore the alignment of their joints, become more functional and relieve their pain. So, you might wonder why I’m talking so much about movement.

Exercise and movement are very different things. Exercise is one important piece of the puzzle – how you move the rest of the day is just as important. Alignment is key. Exercise often works one area of the body through focused repetitive motion. There are great benefits yet at times we are inadvertently compromising other areas of the body. With repetitive exercise we are asking our bodies to function in ways they were not originally designed to function. The body wants and is able to perform with complete range of motion.

When thinking of movement, think of activities more people did generations ago: squatting while harvesting farmland, walking barefoot on uneven terrain, carrying items up and down hills, sitting on the floor. Movement works all parts of the body in the way it was intended to move. Movement is important because it nourishes the whole body by promoting blood flow, improving overall circulation – keeping us strong.

Alignment is important because when you move, the forces that go through your joints determine if your body is functioning properly. Think of your body like a car. If your car tires have worn unevenly, your car will pull to one side. You go and buy new tires and get the car aligned in order for it to drive smoothly. If the muscles in your body are imbalanced, it will create pulls that change the way you move. Correct the muscle imbalances and you improve the function of your body. Improving function means you’re moving better and probably moving more.

ALIGNMENT MATTERS AND MOVEMENT MATTERS.

The challenge is how to incorporate more movement into our daily lives. Awareness is the key! Just being aware of the amount of movement in your day will help you come up with ways to move more. Stand at your desk and roll your shoulders or do some toe raises. Squat down several times per day to pick things up. Walk on trails or hills rather than sidewalks and wear less rigid shoes for increased foot movement. Sit on the floor more while watching TV and notice how much more you move your body. Next time you take the kids to the park – YOU hang from the monkey bars too! Have fun with it. Challenge yourself. The more you move, the more you can move. Ask us next time you’re in Pain Free and we’ll give you some more amazing ideas!