May 2011
When Ed Smaglik finished up his practice games before the U.S. Bowling Congress Open Championship in June 2009, he sensed something was amiss. He’d suffered lower back issues a couple of times a year from overuse.
“I’m a guy, so I just lived with it,” he said, though he usually took time out from marathon running, cross training, and, of course, bowling to nurse it. This was a big event, so Smaglik pushed through. Several days and 120 games later, his back rebelled. He limped away from the competition–one in which he regularly won thousands of dollars–to seek urgent care for the sharp pain. Continue reading “Getting Back the Back”
Posture misalignment can cause pain in your back or anything connected to it. After all, the hip bone’s connected to the back bone, the back bone’s connected to the neck bone, and on it goes. It’s not just a folk song, but the integrated reality of our body. The key to good posture is correct joint alignment, though the complete picture involves balance, nerves and muscular strength—strong abdominals avoid pulling on the lower back.
Posture is the position or bearing of the body whether characteristic or assumed. The functional problem with posture arises when we assume a pose to walk around. Robert E. Dahl of Dahl Chiropractic Clinics said, “The head is heavy—about 10 pounds—and we’ll hold it in whatever way necessary to keep pressure off the nerves. If there is difficulty, our musculo-skeletal system gives off pain signals, but the brain sends messages to realign for proper flow to keep vital organs functioning.”