Pain Free Performance — Posture Alignment Therapy

Posture Alignment Therapists, Graduates of Egoscue University

muscle imbalance

HOW POSTURE CAN EFFECT YOUR ORGANS

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Good posture is one of the healthiest things you can do for your body – inside and out!  Not only will you look better (just like our mother’s told us over and over again….) you will feel better.  Do you know that posture moderates every physiologic function from breathing to hormone production?!

Our high-tech lifestyle does not help matters.  We hunch over our laptops while we work, eat, and sit in the car or in the coffee shop.  We crash on the couch for hours and hours, slouching while we watch entire seasons of Mad Men, House of Cards, Breaking Bad.    It all wreaks havoc on our posture, our body and our overall health.  There’s something called forward head syndrome that comes from the technologically-attached posture I’ve described – shoulders and upper back round forward causing the head to hang over forward.  You get up from your laptop in that position and unfortunately it becomes your posture when you’re up walking around…not good for the body and not the intended design! Look around, you’ll see this posture in a lot of people – young and old.

When we stand, gravity and the weight of our head (about 10 pounds) push down on our bodies all day long.  Our rib cage is designed to protect our organs, be an anchor for muscles and support for the head and neck.  The heads proper position is directly over the rib cage.  When you have forward head posture, there is strain on the rib cage, strain and compression of the organs, strain on the spine. 

While you might be thinking back pain, shoulder pain or maybe neck pain would be the only result, this combination of misalignment of the forward head position can lead to a long list of ailments including: 

  • Headaches develop because the brain is sensitive to oxygen flow – when the head is bent forward, the muscles next to the arteries in the neck and head do not fully assist the uphill travel of blood to the brain, decreasing the flow of oxygen and creating the headache.
  • Shortness of breath can occur when the forward hunched upper body compresses the lungs beneath the rib cage depleting lung capacity by as much as 30%.  It’s difficult to take a full breath and get enough oxygen to all parts of the body.
  • Decreased Spinal Mobility because the weight of the misaligned head is pulling the spine into an unnatural curve, movement is painful and restrictive.
  • Constipation or IBS can occur when the large intestine is compressed and proper digestion is compromised, which can create blockages in lieu of regularity.
  • Plantar Faciitis even!  You won’t believe this but all that misalignment in your upper body can cause foot pain!!  The forward head creates an unstable gait as your body struggles to stay upright and can cause you to constantly put more weight on one of your feet.  The uneven pull of the muscles can cause micro-tears in the connective tissue (fascia) on the bottom of the foot!

So, when you think of posture, you probably don’t think of these maladies but I want to encourage you to see the whole picture of posture and its effect on your health and your quality of life.  That’s the beauty of Egoscue!  At Pain Free Performance we look at the entire body, re-introduce the original design of the musculo-skeletal system (total alignment) to relieve pain, to restore function and give you back your life! 

 

Winter Wonderland

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With our recent winter storm gifting us with 12 to 16 inches of beautiful snow a lot of us have been talking about it.  How deep it was, where it was and how much there was to move!!!

So, probably like you, my workout the last couple of days has been the old fashioned kind – shoveling snow!!! And, there’s nothing like a lot of wet heavy snow on a 120 foot driveway to have me eating some humble pie regarding my strength and endurance.  However, I lived through the three hour workout without issue and I have my Egoscue menus to thank for it!  How did you do?  Hopefully you won’t have to use these until next season, but I wanted to share some pointers:

As a warm-up before I started shoveling, I did my menu of Egoscue e-cises which got me ready in two ways:  1) it lined me up and got me equal on both sides.  Both left and right sides of me were working and made sure my legs and hips were ready to work and not my back!  2) it warms up the big and little shoulder, leg and hip muscles that will be doing the major work!

If you don’t have an Egoscue menu yet, then try these simple things – swing your arms around in all kinds of ways especially imitating what you’ll be doing with your snow shovel.  After that, try an “airbench” for a minute or two – you may know it as a “wall sit”. (Your back – low back especially– is against the wall, legs bent as if you were sitting in an imaginary chair, knees over your heels, equal weight in both heels) Go back and forth between those two things a couple of times before you begin shoveling.

While shoveling, keep your back as flat and straight as you can, which will make you bend your knees and use your legs and arms to toss the snow, not your back.  Make sure you move your feet up close to the shovel or the shovel back to you before lifting to toss.  Take lots of little mini breaks – this is hard work so be nice to yourself and stop and lean on your shovel to admire how far you’ve come!!

When you are done for the day, do another airbench then spend about 15 minutes in “static back” (which is lying on your back on the floor with your lower legs over the seat of a chair with your butt right up to the legs of the chair and your arms out to your sides, palms up).  Relax.  You’ll feel great afterwards! 

Give yourself some kudos for a job well done!

HOW POSTURE THERAPY WORKS

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HOW POSTURE THERAPY WORKS

I had a client the other day that came in with major pain and I thought I would share his story with you because this visit clearly illustrates how posture therapy works.

“Tom” came to us with left knee pain.  He had tried all kinds of things to help it – yoga, massage, stretching, chiropractic, physical therapy, even medication.  Nothing seemed to help and often his knee hurt as much if not more after these activities.

The focus of our posture work is looking at the body as a unit, as a complete system.  Most people think the problem is where the pain is, but that is hardly ever the case.  Tom’s pain tells us there is an issue with his left knee, but the cause of that knee pain is most likely somewhere else.  How do we find out where the root of the pain is?  Let me take you through our thought process as Posture Alignment Specialists certified by Egoscue University.   

As I said before, we look at the body as a unit, without focusing on the symptom (Tom’s knee pain).   I look at him to see if his ankles, knees, hips and shoulders line up in straight lines and at ninety degree angles.  I’m not thinking about what I can give him to make his knee feel better but I ask myself how is his body working as a unit?

Looking at Tom, the first thing that jumped out at me was that his right hip was an inch higher than the left.  Viewing from the front or back, his right hip was definitely elevated.  Just standing there, I could see that he did not really put equal weight on his right side.  With a hip that is elevated, it is so out of position that it is unable to do its job taking equal weight.

As a little test, I asked him to stand on one leg at a time, bending the other and bringing it up waist high.  Standing on his left side, the painful one, he could balance easily, but he could not balance standing on his right side.  So, I’m thinking that hip elevation is probably the major cause of his left knee pain, but I want to watch him walk first.  When he walks across the room and back I can see that he definitely shifts more onto his left side.  When I ask him if he can feel that he lands harder on his left side, his answer was “yeah, sort of” but when I have him watch himself walk in the mirror, he sees it clearly.

It’s a little strange that he shifts onto his painful side.  Most people shift away from the painful side.  Tom agrees that it doesn’t make any sense to him and has no idea why he would do that.  I explain that with his right hip so out of position, he simply is unable to load his weight equally from left to right.

So, Tom’s thought was “If my left knee hurts because my right hip is elevated, I’ll do some hip exercises to even them out and we’re good, right?”  “Hang on” I explained, “Let’s figure out why that hip is elevated.  Maybe that hip is the problem, but there could be something else going on.”

Often what we see in the clinic is that the client’s upper body position has a huge effect on the ability of the lower body to work properly.  When I look at Tom from his side views, I see his head way forward,  his shoulders hinged forward and his upper body rounded over.  He looks like a big “C”.  Tom’s spine should have three little curves in a gradual “S” shape, not a big “C”.  I put my hands on the top of each side of his pelvis to confirm that his right hip is higher and leaving my hands there I have Tom interlace his fingers together and put his hands behind his head and pull his elbows back as hard as he can.  He grimaces as if this is a bit difficult, then jokes about the only other time he did this, he was talking to a police officer!  But, guess what, with his hands up like that his hips become even.  I have him walk across the room again keeping his hands behind his head and elbows back and as he does that his hips stay level and load equally from left to right.  The hip disparity is gone and he can see it for himself as he walks toward the mirror.  He is amazed.

He laughs, “so all I have to do is walk around like this the rest of my life?”  I said “yeah, and in your neighborhood, they’d think nothing of it!!”  In all seriousness though, we have to get Tom’s upper body in that position without him having to put his hands up to get there.  I could see that Tom got it.

Putting his hands behind his head took his upper back that was stuck in flexion and shoulders that rounded forward and got them into a more extended position, closer to where the body was designed to be.  In this position the rest of his body changed and we could see his hips were level and his walking become equal left to right.

Bottom line:  Tom’s left knee hurts because every step he takes, he makes it work harder than it’s supposed to by putting more weight on it than it should normally get.  Along with that, as he keeps loading that left hip more and more, it gets tighter and tighter and over time stops rotating the way it should, so then the knee has to take up that job.  The knee was never designed to rotate – it’s a hinge.  So he’s not only putting more weight on that side with every step, he’s asking his left knee to do something it was never designed to do — rotate!  That knee is working like crazy taking more weight and twisting with every step – one hard step off a curb and the ACL tears – ouch!!!

Because the right hip is out of position he cannot load evenly left to right.  The right hip is out of position because his upper body is pulling it there.  In order to resolve the knee pain we have to get his upper body and shoulders in a more extended upright position.

All the other people trying to help him were only seeing his knee as the problem and so focused on the knee.  But the cause of his knee pain symptom was not the knee but the position of his upper body.  He could have done and did all kinds of things for his knee (the symptom) nothing changed because the cause of that symptom was not addressed.  We gave him a sequence of exercises to get the upper body more extended and some others to help the hip change position and stabilize so by the end of our session he felt better and walked better than he had in years.

This is not the end of the story.  In fact, it’s just a beginning.  Tom has to do his exercises every day to retrain his body so it will live in the better position.  It’s not a quick fix, but if he does the work, he will begin to stay in that better position and he won’t have knee pain. 

Where you are having pain (symptom) is rarely the actual cause of the problem.  The body works as a unit.  When we observe and treat the whole body as a unit the results can be amazing; some people have said miraculous.  It’s not so much a miracle, it’s just returning to the body’s original design of straight lines and 90 degree angles.  If you would like some help getting your body back to this basic design, give us a call or check out our website.

If you can understand these simple concepts, you don’t have to live with or be afraid of pain.  Pain is just a message that something is wrong and your body is asking for help.  Instead of ignoring it, let’s listen and then respond to it with grace and intelligence.  Believe in your body and honor it by giving it the motion it needs and the results can be truly amazing.

 MACKIE BOBLETTE

HEALTH CARE CAN BE CONFUSING!

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I have spent the last eight years of my life devoted to postural alignment after a career in physical therapy and fitness.  I understand the body, injury, rehab and alignment.  As a Postural Alignment Specialist certified through Egoscue University, I know the amazing benefits of this work and the direct correlation to pain elimination, prevention and optimal health on every level.  I live it every day as a pain management clinic owner helping clients get out of pain.  I know with certainty that medical intervention, including medication and surgery can often be avoided or postponed.  However, this summer I am struggling with how to proceed with my own son’s shoulder injury and rehabilitation. 

My son is in high school.  Last fall while playing football, he was hit and his right shoulder dislocated.  For those of you who may never have witnessed this, it’s not pretty and the pain is excruciating until the shoulder is “popped” back in.  He went to the Emergency Room where they gave him pain medication and put the shoulder back in place then sent him back to school in a sling.  He worked with the Athletic Trainer at school and was back playing football.  Yay, right?  During the first week of summer vacation, he jumped in the pool and dislocated the same shoulder again.  We were back in the Emergency Room, same story.

I believe that the reason his shoulder is prone to dislocation is because of his poor posture.  He has a forward head, shoulders that are rounded forward, an upper back that is also rounded and the only curve in his spine is in his neck because of his forward head.  His pelvis tucks under, which flattens that needed lower back curve and also hinges his shoulders forward.  Any kind of stress on his arm or shoulder causes the shoulder to dislocate because it’s the only place it can go!

Ideally, postural alignment therapy is the answer to my son’s malady.  After his injury, I had him in to see my colleague Mackie.  Mackie, who is also Egoscue University certified and worked alongside Pete Egoscue for a number of years, gave him a sequence of exercises that repositioned his pelvis and changed his shoulder position to make sure that all of the muscles that interconnect the pelvis and shoulder are working.  My son felt much better and looked much better.  It’s not a quick fix because he’s been stooped over a computer doing homework and playing computer games for most of his life, which created the posture.  He needs to commit to the prescribed postural alignment program for the long term.  Sounds like a good plan?

The trick is, I’m dealing with a teenager!  He’s young, strong, he’s a great athlete, he’s busy and he’s not in pain.  He feels “fixed”.  Have you ever tried to get your teenager to stay consistent with a therapeutic exercise program when they have no pain?  It will take time to reposition his skeletal system…probably not enough time before football season begins again.

Research shows that some 85% of people who dislocate their shoulders playing sports at a young age will continue to dislocate them.  Usually the labrum (soft tissue) and the ligaments which keep the shoulder stable get torn or over-stretched causing an unstable shoulder.  All of my best shoulder resources are telling me that he needs to have surgery to avoid further dislocations.  Having the surgery, which will tighten the ligaments and hold the shoulder in place, will certainly fix the problem for now but it will not be without risks.  The surgery may leave him with a shoulder that is “frozen” in place without full range of motion, muscles could start compensating creating back issues and someday he may even need a shoulder replacement.  I have seen this in my practice and it is not something I want for my son.

We still have not decided exactly what course of action to take.  My son is a young athlete who wants desperately to finish his senior year playing with his high school football team.  We could schedule surgery and he might not be able to play at all, we can wait and see and risk another dislocation, we can encourage daily alignment exercises and also risk another dislocation if he is not compliant or does not respond in time.

Ultimately this is a group decision between my husband, my son and I.  No matter what we decide, eventually there may come a time where my son will understand how important it is to keep the body in alignment.  The human body functions as a unit and surgery will stabilize my son’s shoulder but it will not correct the disparity in his pelvis.  Untreated, that disparity will continue to affect every part of his body, even his shoulder.  Eventually, poor posture catches up with all of us.  I only wish I could get him to understand the implications now!

Cindy Meyers, PTA, PAS

 

AWARENESS = HEALTH

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AWARENESS = HEALTH

The human body is a miraculous system.  It has an innate ability to heal itself if we just pay attention to the messages it sends us.  Some messages are easier than others …when we are hot, we sweat; when we are cold, we shiver but when we feel pain, it might be hard to figure out why.

What is the best way to pay attention to the messages that our body is sending us?  Be aware.  It may take a little practice because we are busy, we are overworked and overstressed, we are stoic and we brush aside feelings, experiences, pain, as well as the good stuff because we have things to do.  Well, until we can’t do them anymore.  Because we didn’t heed the signs of things to come, we didn’t experience the pleasures or the pain…we were unaware.   

Pay attention to your pain.  Is it sharp or dull? Is it constant or brought on by certain movements?  What time of day is it?  Be aware. At Pain Free we are posture people.  We understand that joint pain is the body’s message that muscles are out of balance and are pulling the skeletal system out of alignment.  When we are out of alignment, then some muscles get too tight and painful, some atrophy and joints no longer line up properly causing them to wear down compressing the nerves.  Ouch!

If we automatically take pain medication, then we lose important information that our body is sending us.  We are no longer aware of movements that change or decrease the pain which makes it impossible to correct the underlying cause. The Egoscue method provides awareness techniques that enable you determine what is going on in your body and help us create a program to get you back to optimal alignment and out of pain. These are techniques you will keep for the rest of your life!

Practice awareness in all aspects of your life.   Focus on some simple things – as you are walking outdoors, feel the wind in your face, feel your leg muscles tighten, feel the rhythm of your arms swinging; when you are getting ready for your day, really feel the hot shower water hit your body, take a deep breath and let your muscles relax in the steam;  at the end of your day relish each bite of food at dinner and if you are sharing dinner with someone, listen, engage in conversation, enjoy the company.

Instead of rushing through everything to get to the next thing, slow down and experience, enjoy, listen, and feel this amazing life – including the pain.  Awareness is the first step to becoming pain free, reclaiming health and living your life to the fullest.

 

OH MY ACHING FEET! PLANTAR FACIITIS

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Lately, we have been having more and more people come in with plantar fasciitis pain.   It’s a burning pain in the feet that worsens with every step.  Sometimes the pain is so intense it can even feel like the foot is landing on a nail. 

The plantar fascia is the tough sheath of connective tissue that runs from the heel to the toes like a fan on the underside of the feet.  When you have this foot pain it is because there is inflammation in the fascia.  The question to ask is why is the fascia inflamed?  The answer is because there is improper loading at foot strike.  Plantar fasciitis is not a foot problem, it is a posture problem.  Because you are not appropriately using your big leg muscles and hip muscles, you have left your feet to fend for themselves.  The foot is smacking down on the ground with each step bearing the brunt of the entire weight of the body without the support of your legs, hips and back working as a team.  All of these muscles and joints must work together to keep you out of pain.

If you stand sideways in a full length mirror, imagine a plumb line that starts at your ankles and goes straight up.  Do your ankles, knees, hips, shoulders and head line up on the plumb line?  If they don’t, that’s why you have foot pain (and hip pain, shoulder pain, knee pain and who knows what else)!  Now, turn and face that mirror.  Are the shoulders, hips, knees and ankles in parallel horizontal lines and do your feet point straight ahead?  If not, then you cannot use the muscles of your legs, hips and back to help your feet, leaving them at risk for this intense pain called plantar fasciitis. 

You can do something about your foot pain and it’s easy!  You need to get your body’s weight-bearing joints to line up in straight lines and at 90 degree angles which is the intended design of the body.   We are the original all-terrain vehicle!  How do you do it?  The answer is one simple word, one amazing method of pain relief – EGOSCUE.  Call me at Pain Free Performance and I’ll get you started.

 

Dr. Greg Gelburd Discovers Egoscue at Pain Free Performance!

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DR. GELBURD DISCOVERS PAIN FREE PERFORMANCE!

It’s an early morning in Haiti and I’m doing an airbench before clinic. My eyes are closed and I’m concentrating on Cindy Meyers’ words: “push down on your heels and push your lower back into the wall and hold for two minutes”.  I look like a man sitting in a chair without the chair under me. This is a small pause before my very busy medical clinic begins.

How did I come to airbenches in Haiti, doing these and other  postures described in “Pain Free” by Pete Egoscue to help resolve issues in my foot, my lower back and my shoulder? I’ve written this little story to describe to you how postural therapy has rescued me and why I believe many others in Charlottesville would benefit from some time spent with the people at Pain Free Performance where they treat pain with postural alignment.

Seven months ago, I was faced with several muscular skeletal problems that were not going away, the result of one bike collision with a car, 45 years of running with the wrong stride and a slowly aging 60 year old body. My pain was so severe a year ago I hiked down a Glacier National Park mountain backwards for two miles because I couldn’t come down on my right heel, it felt like a knife jabbing my foot! The bears thought I was just wacky but at least they stayed away.  I sought out help from Cindy Meyers, Mackie Boblette, and Kat Draego at Pain Free Performance. In February I saw Cindy for an evaluation and she photographed my body from several angles against a grid background. She showed me where my shoulders and hip bones were off balance, and then how my head was too far forward on my neck and how my gut was not so much full of extra hamburgers as I thought, but it protruded a little because of the lack of curvature in my middle back. She watched me walk and perform some stretches and positions so she could evaluate the way my body moves and from that she gave me a specific regimen to begin to re-balance my body.

Cindy, Mackie and Kat are Postural Alignment Specialists certified by Egoscue University.  Developed over forty years ago by anatomical functionalist Pete Egoscue,  this postural alignment therapy focuses on realigning the entire body. So even though my heels were giving me fits, the fact that my head, shoulders and hips were off kilter is what was causing the overall dysfunction and pain in my feet.

Every two weeks I have spent an hour with Cindy and Mackie for re-evaluation and a new program prescription as my body changes. I spend about 15-20 minutes each day performing these simple but deeply effective isometric postures, strengthening and balancing my skeleton and muscles. The results are amazing! Who knew? Even a vegan diet couldn’t get rid of my gut, but not only is that disappearing but my heel pain is pretty much gone! I’m back to running after a two year hiatus and my foot strike is now mid foot not heel. I’ve even gained an extra half inch back in my height with my spine better supported!

Now my family, office staff and Haitian friends are accustomed to my  airbenches, cat-dog postures and standing shoulder shrugs. I am continuing to make these postures a part of my routine before my work day, before running and other workouts. This is an incredible team of caring and gifted health workers. Their skills and their motivation will keep you going in the right direction until you are as healed as you want to be.

Dr. Greg Gelburd

 

 

 

Stop Holding Your Stomach In!

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Stop Holding Your Stomach In!

I know most of you women (and a lot of you men) will think this is sacrilege when I say this, but for the good of your health and your posture…..

LET YOUR STOMACH RELAX!!!!

So, STOP HOLDING IT IN – LET IT GO – BREATHE!  Feel your belly expand as you take a breath.  Forget all that stuff you’ve been told (over and over and over) about zipping up the abdominals and strengthening your “core”. Your core is a lot more than your stomach! In fact, there are about 70 different muscles that make up your core and if you hold the stomach in, most of those other muscles cannot do their job of stabilizing your spine and pelvis. You are asking the 4 stomach muscles to do the work of 70 muscles and they cannot do it.

Secondly, if you hold any muscle in a constant contraction, it gets shortened and weak.  Muscles need movement – contraction and release – to gain and maintain strength. Think about what happens to your bicep when you keep your arm bent at 90 degrees (as happens with a broken arm). It gets weak and immobile. The stomach muscles will do the same – become weak and unable to move.

It also prevents your pelvis from moving as you walk.  Each half of your pelvis should go through a few degrees of flexion with each step (heel strike to extension as you push off of your toes). Holding your stomach in keeps that from happening, then you compensate in some way, for example twisting or elevating your hips, which leads to even more trouble!

And last, but not least, holding your stomach in effects your breathing!  As you inhale, the diaphragm should drop down to pull air into the lungs.  As it drops down, the stomach and low back need to expand to accommodate that movement.  If you are holding your stomach in, the diaphragm shuts down and you use only the accessory breathing muscles (the small muscles between the ribs and around your shoulder blades). Your breathing becomes very shallow and your oxygen intake is lessened by one-third!  In a normal day, we breathe up to 25,000 times so that’s a lot of oxygen lost.  Furthermore, the small muscles trying to do all the work without the diaphragm tire fairly quickly. They need help from the shoulders and neck to do the work, creating strain, pain, or tightness.  The muscles are exhausted and we are exhausted!!

So please, please let your stomach relax and take a nice deep belly breath!!! You’ll feel less stressed, you’ll feel less pain, you’ll give every cell in your body what it needs!