Sciatica is one of the most common back pain complaints. It can be treated in a number of ways that can help, and in a few ways that can cure. Here are a couple of stretches that help some people.

Not everyone will find back pain relief with this stretch, but it will help some people. This makes it well worth trying.

This stretch can be a little hard on the knee. Pay close attention to your knee when doing it. If it hurts at all, stop. There is a modification following that can allow you to go a little deeper into it.

We’ll explore this stretch on the right side. It is a good idea to stretch both sides, but you mainly need to do it on the side that has the pain.

Start by sitting on the floor with both legs extended. Shift your weight to the left by lifting your right hip off the floor. Use your left hand for support.

Next, bend your right knee so your foot is out to the right side with the angle between the thigh and lower leg at ninety degrees.

Sciatica Stretch part 1

Here’s the part that can be hard on the knee. Slowly let your right hip down until you feel the stretch or until it starts to hurt. Remember to avoid pain.

Sciatica Stretch part 2

Modification For Knee Pain
If there is pain in the knee, back off away from the pain. Use one hand on your upper thigh to rotate the leg inward, and the other hand on the lower leg to rotate it outward and let the right hip down again.

Sciatica Stretch part 3

Note: If you’re not sure which direction is which, try both rotating the upper leg one way and the lower leg the other way until you find the direction that allows you to go deeper without pain in the knee. For some people this still won’t be possible. It is much more important to keep from hurting your knee than to find the stretch.

There are two main causes of sciatica. They usually have to happen at the same time for the problem to develop. One is structural, the other has to do with a difference in bodies.

The sciatic nerve is a long nerve that runs from the lower back and down the back of leg. In some people, it moves through a hip flexer that can swell and press on the nerve causing the pain known as sciatica.

This muscle is the piriformis which wraps around near the top of the hip in back. If this muscle swells for some reason, sciatica pain often results. This is the most obvious cause of the pain. However, there are reasons this happens in the first place.

One of the main reasons has to do with a misalignment in the sacrum and the hip joints. In some people, this misalignment itself causes the pressure on the nerve. In others, the misalignment causes the piriformis to become inflamed which causes pressure on the nerve.

This misalignment can be corrected by mechanical means such as a chiropractic adjustment, or by adjusting yourself using Self Adjusting Technique. However, there is often a complication present, the root cause of the misalignment in the first place.

Many chronic misalignments have a root cause that has to do with a weakness in the ligaments and tendons in the area. Most often, this weakness is caused by a systemic weakness that develops from a poor diet, toxic environment, stress or a combination of these three factors.

The body easily deals with these issues if they are short term and don’t happen often, but that is rarely the case in this modern world. The ready availability of processed foods makes right diet difficult for many. Emotional stress is just around the corner pretty much no mater what you do. And, toxins are in the environment from pole to pole, nowhere is completely safe anymore.

These issues are all dealt with in similar ways. Toxins less so than emotional or dietary stress, but still requiring the same intervention by the body. Nutrients are used up as the body works to return to balance from these assaults. Many of the nutrients that are used to keep this balance are the same ones that the ligaments and tendons use to maintain their strength. Keeping systemic balance is more important to immediate survival, so the connective tissue is neglected.

The best way to prevent and cure sciatica is to avoid the stress that causes the problem in the first place. There are short term methods that can help, but cleaning up the diet, avoiding stress — or at least releasing it, and a program of detoxification are the best ways to have back pain relief from sciatica.

Tomorrow I’ll post some yoga stretches that can help with temporary relief from sciatica.

The adrenal glands sit on top of the kidneys, which is why this energy is said to be related to the kidneys. Weak kidney chi doesn’t usually have to do with the kidneys directly as in kidney failure, but there is a relationship between the kidneys and the adrenal glands. 

TCM is great for reaching deep into the body and affecting a change. This is often obvious from of how good people often feel after an acupuncture treatment or taking the proscribed herbs. It really is good work that can have a positive affect on peoples’ energy. 

One problem with TCM, especially if the doctor is Chinese, is that they often won’t tell the patient what they need to do to keep from losing kidney chi and developing adrenal fatigue. One reason is they don’t think westerners will follow dietary and other restrictions, so why bother? Unfortunately, for the most part they are right. However, if even one client can be helped, why not give some guidelines? 

TCM considers the kidney chi to be the root energy of the body. There are many ways to damage kidney chi. Many Taoist practices are designed to stop the drain on the kidney chi, and to help develop more of it. 

One guideline that is given is to limit sexual activity. One of the adrenal hormones is DHEA which is the precursor for both testosterone and estrogens. More sex means the adrenals have to produce more DHEA. More they work, more tired they get, and so does the body.

Another restriction is to avoid sugar. Sugar is a direct stressor on the adrenal glands because of the hormonal nightmare it causes. The body works furiously to balance this sugar induced catastrophe, usually successfully. The adrenals produce hormones that affect the levels of sugar in the blood to create this balance. This is okay from time to time, but many people consume a lot of sugar throughout the day causing a constant imbalance. This attempt at balance usually leads to adrenal fatigue because several of the hormones they produce are directly involved in sugar handling. With high sugar levels, they have to work extra hard causing adrenal stress and therefore fatigue. 

Another thing an acupuncturist recommends when the kidney chi is low is to avoid cold and raw foods. The reason for this has to do with how they look at digestion. They see the stomach as a cooking pot. When cold or raw foods are added, extra energy is needed to heat the pot so the food can be cooked — digested. Physiologically, there is something to this. It does take more digestive enzymes and more time to digest these foods. 

While getting acupuncture may do a lot of good, try these dietary restrictions for two or three weeks in conjunction with your treatments and herbs. See if it makes a difference, you may be surprised at how much faster you recover from adrenal fatigue.

You can listen to the show by going to my Blog Talk Radio show page here: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Kalidasa

I actually didn’t have a big plan about what I was going to talk about. It happened that there were some great questions though which really helps me out. I do much better with questions than some prepared speech, though I can talk about health and back pain for a long time.

We talked about fight flight and how that causes neck pain as well as acid reflux. And, we talked about scoliosis and how flight flight causes that as well.

Another caller had an issue with sciatica that the chiropractor hasn’t been able to help. This is usually caused by a mechanical issue, but a tight piriformis muscle is often involved as well. So, we talked about how to do pressure point release and how that can help the piriformis which can relieve sciatica.

I hope you can listen to the show, it’s only 30 minutes, and let me know in the comments if you’d like me to do another one. So far there have been a few people that were very interested in the connections that were made, so there is a pretty good chance I’ll do another. Let me know what you think, I am interested in your views.

And, the official Blog Talk Radio button that connects directly to the show:
Listen to Kalidasa on Blog Talk Radio

You can call in if you have any back pain questions: (646) 652-2169

The air time is set for 30 minutes, but I’ll continue for a few minutes if we are into something.

You can listen live or to the recording which should be available shortly after we end.

Let me know in the comments how it works for you.

Before we discuss misalignments, let’s cover some of the other possibilities for a pain in the rib cage.

First, there are injuries, like a bruise or a broken rib. Other injuries to the chest area or to the cartilage areas of the ribs usually cause pain as can any other kind of muscle injury or strain.

There are serious issues as well that could be causing the problem. Here’s a list of some serious issues that can cause rib cage pain: Osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, cancer, osteoporosis, pneumonia, tuberculosis, asbestos exposure and herpes zoster. Remember, these are not as likely as a simple misalignment that we’ll get to in a minute.

There could also be inflammation of the ribs or the muscles between the ribs. This inflammation could be caused by a number of things, like the diseases above. Certain drugs can cause inflammation, and some drugs, like steroids, can be a direct cause of rib pain.

The pain can also be referred from other areas of the body like the spine where the ribs connect. Anxiety and stress can also cause pain in the rib area from tensing and a stressful breath.

Wow, maybe I should have put those at the end of the article. In most cases though, a pain in the rib cage is nothing really serious. It may hurt to take a deep breath, or if you move your body in a particular way, but a misalignment in the rib cage is not often very serious, and is usually easy to correct.

The ribs form a joint with the spin in an interesting way. There isn’t much room for a misalignment, but then it doesn’t take much. And, the ribs can become misaligned in the front too, usually in the lower sternum area.

Sometimes it can be really hard to tell if you just have a rib out of alignment or something more serious. If it is serious, and you have had an accident, or you are at risk for some condition, then seeing your doctor would be a good idea, if for no other reason than to eliminate the more serious issues.

Doctors don’t usually know much about adjusting a rib, with the exception of an osteopath. So, if you do determine that your issue is a misalignment, then you have a couple of choices.

You could get your rib cage adjusted for back pain relief. Some people are not interested in going to a chiropractor for one reason or another, usually because of fear of the often forceful and sometimes painful adjustments.

It is possible to adjust the ribs yourself with Self Adjusting Technique. You can find out about finding your own back pain relief through self adjusting at the link if you’d like to go that route.

Just to be straight with you, adjusting your own ribs can be difficult. It’s the last Self Adjusting Technique that I developed. I have been able to help people work out how to adjust their ribs via email, and I recently put up a couple of videos to support people who buy Self Adjusting Technique.

Rest assured, if I can’t help you end rib cage pain, then I will give you your money back. You can use the contact tab at the top of the page here to reach me any time you like.

You can sit or stand comfortably for this one.

Start by taking your right arm up at a 90 degree angle in front of you with the elbow bent at a 90 degree angle so your fingers point up. Take your left arm under the right arm and wrap it around that right arm.

Bring your palms together if you can. If not, use a strap or something that you can hold on to with your hands. Bring your hands as close together as you can.

Once you have a good hold, take your hands up and away from you. Keep breathing as you hold the stretch. Continue to take your hands up and away.

Upper Back Stretch

Upper Back Stretch

You can also round your back, and really push your elbows away from you for extra stretch to help with middle back pain.

I hope you like the stretch. And, thanks to Anthony for showing us another back pain relief stretch.

In ancient times, a life threatening situation could happen at any time. People either had to react quickly or face death. Adrenalin was natures answer to this problem.

In modern times, these stressful situations are rarely life or death, but our bodies still react the same way. A sort of biochemical nightmare happens. Everything the body has is put towards immediate survival. Every system that is not needed now is shut down.

This takes a heavy toll on the body, and it has to have time to recover or these systems don’t get a chance to recover. Systems like the immune system, digestion, sex, and cellular repair. The things essential to survival of the species and long life.

To make maters worse, modern life provides luxuries that ancient cultures didn’t have, and these very same luxuries cause a fight flight reaction in our bodies, just like facing imminent death.

We end up being stuck in a permanent state of fight flight with none of the systems that keep us alive long term functioning fully if at all.

The ailments that develop from being stuck in fight flight vary from person to person depending on their genetic make up, environmental factors, and the person’s disposition — happy people tend to live longer. Most major health conditions that happen today can be traced right back to fight flight chemical reactions, if the biochemistry is looked at the right way.

The luxuries that cause our modern condition? One factor is emotional stress that can be caused by everyday activities like driving around, going to a job, not having enough money, bad news that comes to us all the time, multitasking, eating on the run, and so on.

In most cases, the biggest stress factor is diet. Modern processing has made food amply available in many countries. The body naturally craves carbohydrates because times were often lean for our ancestors. A sweet tooth is hereditary, they either fattened up for winter on sweet fruits or died. The biochemical reactions necessary to deal with sugar are the same as fight flight. Actually, it’s more accurate to say that sugar causes a fight flight reaction.

Every serious modern ailment can be traced back to the chemical reactions caused by the instinctual fight flight response. Everything from lower back pain to cancer. Diabetes, heart disease, depression, anxiety attacks, dementia, chronic fatigue all can be traced back to the reactions that come from fight flight and the adrenal fatigue that usually results. Of course, the whole of a condition has many factors.

There are things you can do about it. Learning to relax and accept maters for example. Studies show that being grateful for what you have increase happiness. And of course, avoiding processed foods like the plague that they are.

Adrenal fatigue is a big theme of this site, and that’s where fight flight leads. The body lives much longer when the adrenals are at peak efficiency, when stress is low

This has been a very incomplete article on what happens when the body is under stress for prolonged periods of time. Much has been left out or only hinted at. The whole story is pretty complex, but the main thing is to do everything you can to reduce or eliminate stress in your life. It will increase the length of that precious life.

Two areas where back pain often strikes are in the middle and upper back. A simple exercise for these areas is cat stretch.

Another area is the lower back which can benefit from cat stretch and its counter stretch cow pose.

These are yoga stretches for back pain that can be very affective for some. Here’s how to do these stretching exercises in combination for maximum benefit.

Start on hands and knees. Be comfortable with padding under your knees if needed, and your hands under the shoulders in a natural feeling position.

Start by taking your back up high when you exhale. You can hold here and work the shoulder blades strongly towards the sky. This can produce a great stretch in itself that will feel great on the upper back. You will almost definitely find back pain relief in the shoulder blade area, upper back, and middle back.

Cat Stretch

Next, let your back drop down as you inhale for cow pose. Be careful not to go too deeply as it can aggravate lower back pain.

Cow Pose

You can hold here too if it feels good, or go right back up into cat stretch.

There are two methods for doing these stretches, holding and breathing into each one, or moving between the poses with your breathing. Exhale when moving up to cat stretch, and inhale as you drop back down to cow pose.

I hope these simple stretches help you find long term back pain relief. Let me know in the comments. And, I’ll see about posting more back pain exercises like these.

p.s. Thanks to Anthony for demonstrating these poses for us.