Update : Included in the 3rd video on how to do a hamstring stretch!
Is it possible? It is true? Can a person heal lower back pain without medication? It sounds so mind-boggling that it’s impossible to be true. I mean, who am I to say that it’s possible?
Believe it or not, I found out it was possible even though I didn’t set out to deliberately find out how easy it was to reduce lower back pain WITHOUT MEDICATION. How did I do it? You have to read the entire article before trying it out. And I do mean, READ EVERYTHING!
It actually started after I had met Tatiana for the first time when I was researching solutions for my 2nd disc herniation. It was the 3rd day since getting diagnosed with the injury (or rather, a recurring old injury) and I was losing hope very fast. I got such a shock when she told me that she was going to be away for a week and that I wouldn’t be able to meet her until the following week! Argh! It felt so disastrous and my hopes felt so shattered. However, since I had an experience with my 1st disc herniation injury, I know that I can recover given enough time. I just may not be as mobile but I was determine to be healed.
Now the bit of information was the one that helped me get over pain medication. It was just some simple exercises that Tatiana had recommended to help with lower back pain relief so I continued to do it. I wouldn’t have believe it would have worked so easily until I ran out of pain medication (which was 3 days later) and I didn’t need to take anymore medication! All the pain management was done just using 3 exercises.
And that’s the secret! 3 simple exercises that I did everyday, a few times in a day. I did it in the morning. I did it in the office. I did it at home. I did it everywhere and anywhere whenever I felt the “twang” feeling in my back.
What are those 3 exercises? These were :
- McKenzie Pressup
- Butt (Piriformis) Stretch
- Hamstring stretch
The videos for all three exercises are here :
http:v//youtu.be/ODUBjdm7epc
When I do these stretches, I gave my body the relaxation that it needed to help with the healing process. Just these two stretches helped to reduce the pain of the herniation that my body could heal faster. In fact, rather than reaching for the nearest painkiller, I was looking around for either a surface to do a butt stretch or a clean floor to do a McKenzie pressup. For a modified version of the McKenzie pressup, just press yourself against the wall but maintain the curve of the back.
How fast did I recover once doing these exercises?
- 2 months later : Walk on a treadmill. It was a slow pace at 4.5 kmph but it felt great getting onto a treadmill
- 3 months later : Strong enough to get onto a plane to Singapore and attend a 3 day seminar
- 4 months later : Able to walk for an hour daily at 5.0 kmph
All without any pain medication and I haven’t taken painkillers for any back pain since Sep 2009. As for the exercises, I’m still doing these exercises until today. I don’t do it as frequently (5x a day) but I do about 2x-3x a day. It’s a great way relax and stretch the lower back.
Note : If you feel uncomfortable about trying out these exercise because of a back injury, that’s fine. In fact, the person who would take care of you is yourself. Feel free to seek another opinion as I am only sharing my experiences. I’d also love to hear any comments about what you think of the video series so far.
