Three Home Exercises To Relieve Lower Back Pain

Although it's tempting for them to just lie down, people with lower back pain will find more relief by performing exercises that stretch and strengthen the lower back. 

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The following are three exercises to relieve lower back pain that can be done at home.

1. Pelvic tilt

A strong core prevents postural problems and the accompanying lower back pain. The pelvic tilt is an exercise that stretches, stabilizes, and strengthens the abdominal muscles.

Lie flat with the arms spread towards the sides, palms facing up, knees bent, and feet flat on the floor. Tighten the abdominal muscles until the back is flattened against the floor. Avoid lifting the hips. Tilt the pelvis upwards until there's an arch in the lower back. The tailbone should remain in contact with the floor. Hold the pose for a few seconds.

2. Cat-cow stretch

The cat-cow stretch or chakravakasana increases spinal flexibility.

Get down on all fours, with the knees in line with the hips and the hands beneath the shoulder joints. The neck should be in line with the torso. Exhale, then contract the abdominal muscles, drawing the belly into the back until the back is arched like that of a startled cat. Allow the head to drop towards the chest. Hold the pose briefly. Exhale, then reverse the pose by lowering the belly to the floor and gazing upwards. Hold the pose briefly.

3. Towel hamstring stretch

Tight hamstrings can limit pelvic mobility and stress out the lower back, causing poor posture and pain. The hamstring stretch prevents lower back pain from getting worse by strengthening supporting muscles and improving hip mobility, posture, and lumbar support.

To begin, sit on the floor and loop a towel around the foot. Lie down flat on the floor and pull the ends of the towel while raising the leg until a stretch is felt behind the thigh. The knee must be straight. The other leg should be completely flat on the ground. Hold this position for 10 to 30 seconds, then repeat on the other leg. 

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For more severe cases of lower back pain, or lower back pain that results from trauma, it's best to consult a medical professional before starting any exercise program.

Physiatrists like Mary Kneiser prescribe comprehensive exercise programs designed to strengthen the lower back and relieve pain. Subscribe to this blog to learn more about coping with back pain.

Back on Track: Helping Injured Athletes Regain Physical Vigor

Injuries are constant risks for athletes of every sport. Whether in basketball, gridiron, dirt track racing, or even fishing, the threat of a physical catastrophe looms at varying levels. At the worst case, players are left without choice but to prematurely end their careers and spend the rest of their lives in frustration. Fortunately, physiatrists come to the aid of athletes in accomplishing peak injury-free form.

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Physiatrists work diligently to help injured players bring back the bliss and energy in their life following a massive accident or a dreaded disease that left them bedridden, immobile, or disabled. Through a range of customized programs, proven treatments, and physical exercises, physicians restore a certain percentage of the patient’s original physical state. The process is not easy and requires significant patience, determination, and a positive mindset. There have been cases of players fully recovering after religiously following their physiatrists’ advice.

Sports medicine, a sub-specialty of physiatry, is a dynamic and holistic approach to bringing back the body to full function. It focuses on the performance needs of athletes and the prevention of sports-related injuries. It applies to all types of sportsmen: professional, amateur, recreational or scholastic.

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When athletes regain their physical might, they are more determined to recommence their careers and emerge triumphant. They rebuild their self-esteem, create new realities, and improve their overall relationship with other people. The tragic history of injuries serves as cautionary tale that helps athletes become more conscientious of their actions and more strategic in their competitive approach.

Dr. Mary Kneiser is an expert in treating and assessing physical injuries through different technologies such as Electromyography (EMG). For more about her specialization, visit this website.

Physical therapy and its role in cancer survivorship

Since time immemorial people suffering from illnesses, whether chronic or short-term, have been advised to get off their feet to rest and recuperate. While this is still a sound recommendation especially if moving causes the patient pain or aggravates the condition, studies have shown that physical activity and exercise, under the guidance and advisement of a physical therapist can prove beneficial to cancer patients and survivors.

A fact sheet released by the World Confederation for Physical Therapy mentions that maintaining an exercise regimen during and after treatments has a positive impact on the general well-being of patients and survivors. Chemotherapy and radiation treatments have some adverse side effects on patients, but these are significantly lowered by the inclusion of physical activity in the individuals' routines.

 

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Without exercise, the cancer patient (or any patient who is bed-ridden for long periods of time) may experience trouble with their body functions, muscle weakness, and stiffness of joints. Adding to that, regular exercise can stem some of the problems that may lead to cancer recurring such as obesity.

That said, cancer patients and survivors may not always feel like they have the ability or the strength to exercise, and that's quite understandable since their health was compromised. To that end, physical therapy and rehabilitation can help cancer patients and survivors improve their quality of life by helping increase physical strength, allowing them to care for themselves and manage their symptoms and treatments.

Physical therapists work with the oncologists, occupational therapists, nurses, and nutritionists to keep the cancer survivors healthy by helping them, especially those who are having trouble with their body's movements during and after their treatments, regain control of their bodies. Physical therapists will not only encourage the cancer survivor to get some exercise but also help them decrease feelings of fatigue while raising endurance and muscle mass.

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More than anyone, physical therapists will know which exercise routines benefit cancer patients the most, especially as their abilities will differ vastly from that of a healthier person's, and thus, along with the oncologists and the entire cancer treatment team, pave the way to the survivor living a longer, cancer-free life.

Dr. Mary Kneiser specializes in physical therapy and rehabilitation medicine which she has used to help patients suffering from conditions including cancer, strokes, and chronic pain. To understand more about what a physiatrist does, visit this website.

It’s a marathon: Three ways to prevent running injuries

Running is becoming more popular these days not only because of an increase in health awareness among the public, but also because the activity seems relatively easy to learn and to participate in compared to other sports.


However, one cannot simply grab his or her sneakers and run marathons or even half-marathons. Running is still a demanding sport. Also, like any other sports, running increases the risk of getting injured. Here are three ways to prevent running injuries:


Condition the body … slowly

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Before running, one should warm up by stretching the muscles and the joints to be affected. However, it is important not to overstretch as it can do more harm than good. Moderate stretching already helps a lot. Also, walking before running conditions the mind and body to the arduous task at hand.


After a successful run, don’t sign up too quickly for longer distances or extremely difficult tracks. The distance should be increased gradually. A rule of thumb for most runners is to increase mileage only at 10 percent. That’s how the mind and body can be conditioned to run at longer distances slowly.


Lastly, it wouldn’t hurt to add some strength exercises in between runs or marathons.


Change running form

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Running is not as easy as it seems. Done incorrectly, running can lead to gradual, but serious pains and injuries, especially in the feet, knees, and lower back.


There are proper forms of running depending on one’s size, built, speed, and even foot shape. But the overarching theme of all the forms is efficiency. Not only will it conserve one’s energy, it will also put less stress on one’s body. Getting running advice from a running coach will prove extremely helpful to avid runners.


Change sneakers

Again, the human feet come in different shapes and sizes, plus people run differently. It is important to get the right kind of shoes for the right foot size and shape and the right running style. Who knew that there are so many different running shoes, right? There are shoes with support for the foot with a high arch. There are shoes especially designed for those whose soles land first when running.

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Also, getting the right shoes will help prevent major injuries to the foot, the knees, or even up to the lower back. Again, consulting a running coach can assist in determining the right shoe for the runner.


Dr. Mary K. Kneiser is a physical medicine and rehabilitation specialist who has been accredited by a number of top hospitals. Visit this website for more information about her practice.

Life in the balance: All about addressing balance issues

The art of keeping balance as accomplished by the human body is so intuitive to many people that it is often taken for granted by anyone who isn't a gymnast or acrobat. Balance issues, however, are very real conditions that can severely impair mobility and daily functions.

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Balance disorders are characterized by sudden bouts of dizziness and lightheadedness and of spinning surroundings (vertigo) and are sometimes accompanied by blurry vision and outright disorientation. Side effects include nausea and vomiting.

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As a whole, balance issues often start suddenly and with no obvious causes and are very difficult to diagnose. They are caused by a number of reasons, including arthritis, muscle imbalance and medical conditions such as low blood pressure. The most well known reasons, however, are ailments that affect the organs located within the inner ear. A person's sense of balance is maintained by the balance of fluids in the labyrinth and other inner ear organs that comprise the vestibular system, responsible for keeping a person's head oriented correctly.

These disorders can lead to falls among older adults, which can jeopardize their wellbeing and quality of life by causing serious, often lifelong injuries that are difficult to recover from.

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Treatment usually entails pinpointing the exact cause of the balance issue and treat it. Sometimes this involves medication, while other times the moments of vertigo and dizziness must be coped with, necessitating specialized therapy. In the meantime, patients must clarify with their doctors which activity is safe for them in their current condition.

Dr. Mary Kneiser is a trusted authority in the field of physical medicine and rehabilitation and receives excellent marks from three top hospitals. Visit her website for more on her and her contact details.

REPOST: Google Glass Is Finding Its Footing in the Workplace

Far from being merely a spectacles-borne novelty mobile device, Google Glass is finding acceptance in a serious field: modern medicine. Eric Levenson of The Wire writes about the potential held by Google Glass in the emergency room.

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Faced with substantial wariness toward privacy concerns, and continued mocking over fashion concerns, Google Glass is moving away from individual consumers toward a more natural ally of its wearable technology — businesses. More specifically, toward hospitals and doctors who can use Glass as a tool rather than a diversion.

A recent study highlighted by Mashable underscored the general problem, as 72 percent of Americans said they won't wear Glass because of privacy concerns. The New York Times puts the conundrum succinctly. 

"Consumers have been wary of Glass. Yet it is finding more enthusiastic acceptance in the workplace: in medicine, law enforcement, manufacturing and athletics," The Times writes.

As if on cue, late Monday night Google introduced its Glass at Work program that targets businesses directly. "A number of companies have already teamed up with enterprise software developers to create new ways to serve their customers and to reach their business goals," Google writes. "This is only the beginning of what’s possible for Glass and business." Glass at Work will initially work with the Washington Capitals hockey team, but there are plenty of other areas it can move into easily.

Image Source: thewire.com

The potential for medicine appears to be the most relevant and dramatic, and several U.S. hospitals have begun equipping doctors with the technology. For example, The Times details a U.C.S.F. lung surgeon who uses Glass during surgery because it shows live images from scans in the corner of his vision while he works. In low-pressure situations, too, like doctor-patient check-ups, some Glass software can hear patient information and automatically input that into electronic medical records. That streamlines the documentation of charts and also allow doctors to spend more time with their patients.

Glass even indirectly helped save a life recently, as The Daily Beast highlighted. In an emergency situation where every second mattered, Boston doctors using Glass were able to access a patient's medications and allergies without breaking eye contact. That allowed for quicker help in the high-pressure ER. And given the importance of sterilization in medicine, Glass's voice activation can help doctors access records without needing outside help, or even putting down their instruments.

The strict legal rules of doctor-patient confidentiality and HIPAA regulations also help by making clear what's okay and what's out of bounds privacy-wise. While the public has yet to fully address the legal ramifications of Glass, medicine has clear boundaries. Software for Google Glass used in hospitals have specific protections built in, including keeping information off Google servers and disabling the technology in different locations. 

The technology is still in its early phase, of course, but targeting medicine and doctors allows Glass to answer the vexing question of why it needs to exist. “It’s a technology that’s searching for problems to solve, and it’s really a matter of where do the problems emerge?” a chief technologist for business consulting firm PwC told The New York Times. Thus far, those problems point Google to a more corporate-oriented pitch for Glass.

For more updates on medicine and advancements in physical therapy, rehabilitative medicine, and health care, visit this blog for Dr. Mary Kneiser.

REPOST: Rise of sport science cannot hold back sands of time for footballers

How do medicine and sports science influence a footballer’s form and performance? Sean Ingle of The Guardian investigates.

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It was a week for football's golden oldies. Samuel Eto'o, at 33, deftly opening the door against Galatasaray and Arsenal and Ryan Giggs, at 40, adding calm and class to Manchester United's engine room against Olympiakos. Arsène Wenger, at 64, chalked up his 1,000th Arsenal game in a daytime "nightmare" at Stamford Bridge.

Amid the eulogies for Wenger, John Hartson spoke of his methods "putting another two or three years" on the careers of Tony Adams, Lee Dixon and Ian Wright. Few would dispute that. In the past decade, those methods have become football's methods. Players are fitter. They recover from training with finely tuned protein-carb shakes, ice baths and massage; not a swift one-two at the pub.

We have come a long way from the days when footballers regarded broccoli as that guy who produced the Bond movies, and only did a downward dog when they slid off a bar stool.

Last year Sir Alex Ferguson said that "sport science is the biggest and most important change in my lifetime". Manchester United monitor 29 variables that may increase a player's susceptibility to injury; sometimes players will be pulled out just before training because something in their data isn't right.

Given such widespread advances, you might expect the average age of players in Europe's top leagues to be climbing sharply. It is not. The Football Observatory recently compared the average age by position of players in the Premier League, Serie A, La Liga, Bundesliga and Ligue 1 from 2005-06 to 2013-14 and found it was also static.

The average age of a first-team defender in the big five European leagues in 2005-06 was 26.21 years; now it is 26.35 – an increase of 0.14 years. The figures for goalkeepers, midfielders and attackers have barely changed either.

Meanwhile in the Premier League, Prozone's data for the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons shows that full-backs 33 or over played just 2.0% of all minutes played by full-backs. For wide midfielders that figure was 2.7%; strikers 3.6% and central midfielders 4.9%. For central defenders – whose positioning can sometimes negate a lack of pace – it was higher at 10.1%.

Image Source: www.theguardian.com

So what is happening? Two things. Sports science is helping older players to stave off the effects of ageing. But, at the same time, the physical demands on footballers is far greater too. So the status quo prevails. Once footballers hit their early thirties they are on borrowed time. Just like they always were.

What is striking, though, is how much faster football has become in the past decade. TV commentators in the 1970s and 1980s were fond of talking about matches being played at 100-miles-an-hour. It was a Sunday morning pootle compared to today's game.

Image Source: www.theguardian.com 

In 2006-07 the average number of sprints per team in a Premier League match was 330.2. This season Prozone's data show that it is 431.1, a 30.6% increase. Meanwhile recovery time between high intensity sprints (speeds of greater than 5.5 metres per second) has dropped from 54.6 seconds to 43.5 seconds, a decline of 20%. 

Image Source: www.theguardian.com 

Perhaps it is not surprising there are so few full-backs, wide midfielders and forwards over 33. They play in positions where a dip in pace is more likely to affect performance. It is not only in road safety adverts where speed kills.

Another development is that clubs monitor GPS and heart-rate data in training. They usually know when a player is 'gone' before we do.

The growth in post- and pre-season tours may also be a factor. Players have less down time to recover in the off-season – so recovery time, which becomes more important with age, can be scarce.

Of course the rate of decline will vary. Genetics, lifestyle, injury history and the number of games can all be a factor. But players are battling against age earlier than is often assumed. Maximal aerobic capacity – or V0₂ max – peaks around 18 to 20 and while it can plateau until 25 it tends to then decrease by approximately 8-10% per decade.

Dr James Carter, the head of the Gatorade Sport Science Institute at Loughborough University, says that vigorous training after the age of 25 can limit that decline to around 5% per decade but "significant reductions in physiological and performance-related capabilities will be more pronounced once a player enters their thirties".

With some players physiology is not everything. Even in his final season, Paul Scholes's passing figures were as good as ever. Others make themselves relevant in fresh ways. When Giggs still possessed the acceleration of a Maserati and the hips of a ballroom dancer, the ball was lover to nuzzle on those jinking, parabola-like runs; now it is more of a passing acquaintance.

But as a general rule, improvements in sport science and medicine have benefitted younger players as much as older ones. And so veterans are better retained at a similar rate than they were a decade ago. As Carter reminds us, "extending the shelf life of footballers beyond 35, in most cases, is still beyond the remit of science, technology and best practice".

When Giggs and Eto'o started out, football was considered a young man's game. Despite their notable achievements in the past week it still generally is.

Dr. Mary Kneiser’s nearly 20 years of experience in physical medicine and rehabilitation is decorated with various awards and recognition for her skill and expertise in patient care. Get a glimpse of her highly respected practice by visiting this blog.