Pain Free Performance — Posture Alignment Therapy

Live Pain Free!

shoulder pain

Text Neck

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“TEXT NECK”

My cousin’s 17 year old has been complaining of neck pain, headaches, dizziness, shoulder pain and even some anxiety.  As she walked across the parking lot, the cause was clear, she was looking down at her cell phone, head forward, shoulders and upper back rounded forward.  If you are reading this, you might be hunched over a desk or slumped back in a chair or even reading this on your smart phone in roughly the same position.

Whether you are 17 or 70, that position is causing you pain.  The average head weighs 10 to 12 pounds when it is in its neutral position with the ears over the shoulders and shoulders over the hips.  For every inch your head is forward, that weight doubles!  So, that young man on the bike in the picture above is effectively holding up more than 30 pounds!!  We often do this for hours without even thinking – then, we wonder why our upper back is killing us or we can’t move our neck or our shoulders are tight and painful.

The other thing that’s happening when our shoulders and back are so rounded forward is that our diaphragm cannot possibly work efficiently.  If the diaphragm isn’t working then you are not able to take a regular breath, you are not getting enough oxygen and you can end up with headaches, dizziness and yes, even anxiety.

Several years ago, a doctor gave this syndrome a name – “Text Neck” – to grab the attention of our young people.  The problem has been around ever since we began spending more and more time sitting at computers.  Now with cell/smart phones we don’t come out of that stooped position even when we are standing and walking around.

In the blueprint of the body, the ankles, knees, hips, shoulders and head line up along the vertical line of gravity as we look at the body from either side.  We call that “vertically loaded” where all of the muscles front to back, right to left, and inner and outer are working equally to maintain balance.  In order for the body to do this, we need movement, lots of it and all kinds – as big a variety as possible.  Unfortunately, in our 21st century environment, we are getting less and less movement and in a smaller and smaller box.

That is where we can help!  While I’m sure you won’t be throwing out the cell phone anytime soon, we’ve got something that can counteract the painful results of this associated posture.  The Posture Alignment Specialists at Pain Free Performance will help get you out of that small box of activity, and get you standing tall and vertical!  We will evaluate and prescribe an individualized sequence of exercises that re-activate all of those muscles that have gone off-line while texting your friends or sitting at the computer. So, if you are ready to get out of that hunched over position and get out of pain, call us!

SUPINE GROIN PROGRESSIVE

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If I told you there was something you could do for one hour that would help your back pain, your shoulder pain, hip pain and leg pain and all you have to do is lie on the floor, would you do it?  Well there is such a position – it’s called Supine Groin Progressive.  It’s sort of an exercise, but not really because you don’t do anything except lower your leg down through different levels every few minutes while lying there relaxing.  The benefits are amazing…let me explain.

This is the tower.  If you’ve been to Pain Free Performance, you’ve probably seen one.  If not, it looks a little weird, but it’s an amazing postural tool.  You see in the photo that one foot is in the upper level of the tower, the other is over a block.  What do you do?  You just lie there for 5 minutes each level and then do the same thing to the other leg.

What is it doing?

Several things are happening in several different muscles.  Because the floor acts as a template, this puts your head, shoulders, back, hips, legs and feet on an even plane. For most of us, this is not the norm when we are standing.   When you first lie down, you most likely will notice that there is space between your low back and the floor.    Your body will eventually conform and sink into the floor. 

Specifically, the ilio-psoas muscle at the base of the spine will relax and let your low back and pelvis settle back to the floor.  The ilio-psoas starts at the low spine, crosses over the pelvis and attaches to the inside of the upper thigh.  Because a lot of us sit so much, this muscle gets tight and since it is right in the middle of the body, it affects the whole body…especially the mid back and hips. 

How does it work? 

The body remembers this release of muscle tightness and the misalignment that comes with it.   Doing this Egoscue exercise has a cumulative effect on the body and is a great antidote for all those hours of sitting.  Over time, this muscle memory becomes the norm for your body’s posture when standing, running, sitting, or playing! 

If you have questions, call us at Pain Free Performance and schedule a posture evaluation.  The tower is just one exercise that would be a part of a postural exercise prescription.  Each person is given an individualized program based on their postural issues.  We can show you how improving your posture gives you pain relief, restores function and makes a world of difference in how your body feels and how you feel about almost everything.  This is why we do what we do!!!   

               

 

Golf Exercises

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Spring is finally here!  Really!  I see more and more people out at the driving range and on the golf course, and that is great!  What I also see though, is a little alarming…the golfers bodies, especially shoulders, upper back, neck and hips are still frozen and stuck from winter.  Getting that golf ball off the tee and into the air is not a pretty sight and often results in some fairly substantial pain from the musculo-skeletal compensation used to get the job done.  That’s a mouthful, but it means there is a lot of pain in the low back, knees, elbows and shoulders for these golfers because of this. 

Here is a quick sequence of e-cises you can do both before and after golf that will unlock the upper back, hips and shoulders so the body can work as a inter-connected unit rather than disparate parts.  Our Egoscue enthusiasts will recognize these e-cises.  If you are not yet familiar with Egoscue e-cises, and would like to know more about these, give us a call and we’ll give you some pointers.

ARM CIRCLES to strengthen the upper back muscles involved in the ball and socket work while reconnecting the back and pelvis.

ELBOW CURLS to remind the shoulders that they have a hinge function while getting the upper back out of its rounded stooped place.

STANDING OVERHEAD EXTENSION getting all the load-bearing joints to line up in the vertical line and extending the upper back through the neck.

UPPER SPINAL FLOOR TWIST uses rotation of the spine to continue opening and lengthening the mid and upper back while strengthening the hips in the same plane, twists the upper body against the lower body (important for that swing!).

CATS AND DOGS work hips, spine, shoulders and neck in coordinated flexion-extension and asks all the muscles of hips, back shoulders to work bilaterally – both right and left shoulders together at the same time.  This is so important as more and more we use just one side of our bodies predominantly.

Try these both before and after you have played your round of golf.  I can guarantee you’ll feel the difference.  Contact us at Pain Free Performance with any questions.  Enjoy the course!

PAIN FREE — IT’S YOUR BIRTHRIGHT!

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Pain Free Performance – It’s the name of our posture clinic in Charlottesville, Virginia and it is also every person’s birthright.  We should be able to do whatever we want free of any kind of chronic musculo-skeletal pain.  For most of us, that is not the case.  We live with pain every day, but the good news is, we don’t have to!

In its truest form, pain is the body’s alarm system.  It is telling us that something is wrong and urging us to do something about it.  When we listen to that alarm, a whole new world awakens!  First, we need to determine what our body is trying to tell us and then take responsibility and be pro-active to regain our health.  That’s where our expertise at Pain Free Performance comes in!

In listening to your pain, is there a position that helps it feel better or decrease?  Is that position associated with an activity?  What happens when you do that activity with perhaps more mindfulness?  Does the pain/symptom increase, decrease or not change? 

The body thrives on movement and it must move to maintain health.  Load bearing joints need to line up in vertical and horizontal lines to allow the body to move without limitation or pain.  So, if you’re in pain, you need some help with alignment to get your body back to its original perfect design.   After all, for thousands of years we have walked, run, danced, crawled, dug, thrown, climbed, swung, jumped and played.  By doing these things, we thrived! There’s no reason we shouldn’t be doing these things all of our lives.  Our technology-oriented society has taken us away from our life of movement and well-being  (hunched over desks in front of computers rather than moving) but we can reclaim our active lifestyles!

So, I ask you, is your back pain, shoulder pain, hip pain, neck pain or knee pain keeping you from doing something that brings you joy or makes you feel good about life?  Are you willing to take some action to change that?  People may be suggesting medication, injections, even surgery but there is another way.  You have to do it, but we’re here to show you how.  It’s your move and your body! 

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

 

ARTHRITIS

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Perhaps you’ve visited your physician lately because of joint pain, and she tells you that you have arthritis.  Maybe she mentioned “degenerative joint disease” – which sounds even worse!  Well, these two things are basically the same thing – inflammation of the joint.  Many people think that the arthritis diagnosis is inevitable especially as we get older, not realizing that there is something to do to correct it, not just mask the symptoms with pain relievers. 

There are several different kinds of arthritis but we are talking about Osteoarthritis (OA).  This is the most common form of arthritis.  It is often called “wear and tear” arthritis and happens when cartilage in the joint breaks down creating the painful symptoms and joint swelling.

Sometimes OA presents on just one side of the body and not the other.  You might wonder why since both sides of the body are the same age! It all has to do with joint position.  When we are out of alignment (perhaps due to an injury) then we “load” one side of the body differently than the other, favoring the injured side.  When this happens, then that side will “wear” differently and faster which begins the arthritic process.  Sometimes people with osteoarthritis experience pain in all of their joints.  When joints are not lined up, the surfaces of the joints wear unevenly creating friction.  This friction causes inflammation, pain, and stiffness ….arthritis

One of my clients has arthritis in her hands…stiff sore inflamed joints-ouch!  But it’s not really about her hands at all.  Her shoulders are rounded forward, causing her elbow and wrist to be out of alignment.  All the joints are not moving well together and there is friction in every text and email she sends.  So, we’ve got to get her shoulders back into proper alignment, which will get her elbows in place and on down to her wrists and fingers. 

At Pain Free, we teach people how to get their bodies back to the original design – joints back in an equal bilateral position and the rest of the body aligned in strait lines, at 90 degree angles to the line of gravity.   So, don’t despair if you are experiencing arthritis pain – the healing power of your body is amazing!  You just need to know what to do and we’re here to help.

 

 

NECK AND SHOULDER PAIN RELIEF!!!

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Is your neck and shoulder pain becoming debilitating?  Perhaps you are constantly twisting your your head side to side, shrugging your shoulders, trying to find a neutral position to take you out of pain.  Maybe you try to stand up straighter, you get your spouse to rub your shoulders at the end of a long day, you take an Advil (or three), and it all helps – for a little while.  The next morning you have the same pain and you start all over again.  You wonder what you “did” that made you hurt.  Did you lift something too heavy, twist a funny way, reach for something, or was it sitting hunched over at your desk all day?  Most likely, even if one of these scenarios brought on your current discomfort, the real answer is found in one word:  balance, or in this case, imbalance!  Not the kind that the gymnast shows while traversing a balance beam, but the balance in your musculo-skeletal system, the alignment of your body.
How do you restore balance to your body and relieve your pain?  The Egoscue Method.  Pete Egoscue developed this method as a result of pain he suffered with after serving our country in Vietnam.  He was unable to find anything but temporary relief through typical channels; doctor visits, medication, traditional hands-on symptom based treatments.  Sound familiar?
Egoscue began thinking about the actual cause of his pain and determined that if the body is  aligned properly, it becomes pain free.  He also created this method to be a self-treatment approach — empowering all of us to keep our bodies in optimal alignment and function!
So, what is the Egoscue Method?  It is a series of positions, stretches and strengthening exercises that help reposition and realign your musculo-skeletal system.  This allows the load-bearing joints to line up along the line of gravity.  After a thorough evaluation by a trained Egoscue Certified therapist you are prescribed personalized programs for your body issues.   You actually train your body to rest in vertical alignment.  So, like breathing, you don’t have to think about standing up straight or moving a certain way — you just do!   As your body becomes aligned,  your pain subsides.
If you’d like to learn more, give us a call at 434-296-0600!  We even have  free screening appointments available if you’d like to see our studio space, meet us and learn more about Egoscue!
In Good Health,
Cindy Meyers