Resources for Back Health

"No one has your unique biology or your unique biography." ~ Bernie Clark

We are all different, from the shapes and sizes of our bones to our medical history. This makes all the difference in creating the right approach to your back health. To reduce the chances of injury and to gain the most optimal results, make sure to approach your back health in a way that respects your uniqueness.

Factors that contribute to back health:

Approximately 80% of adults will experience back pain at some point in their lives. Back pain can result from a number of factors, including genetics, underlying medical conditions, disease, pregnancy, obesity, injury, postural malalignment, physical weakness, and repetitive motions.

Several factors contribute to good back health, including:

• good nutrition (anti-inflammatory diet) and adequate hydration
• proper sleep
• proper postural alignment, flexibility, and movement mechanics (the goal is to avoid protective guarding and to move well naturally)
• the right amount and type of physical activity ​
• stability and strength
• proper breathing (try to avoid breath holding!)
• stress management

Back health resources:

​Depending on your back issue, you may find relief with physical therapy, acupuncture, therapeutic massage, structural integration, craniosacral therapy and other body work.

There is so much that you can implement right away to improve your back health. You may find one or more of these modalities helpful:

• Myofascial release (foam roller, therapy balls, etc.; I particularly like the Roll Model Method and the MELT Method)
• Therapeutic Yoga, including Mukunda Stiles' Joint-Freeing Series
• The Egoscue Method
• Gokhale Method
• Dynamic Neuromuscular Stabilization (DNS)
• The Feldenkrais Method
• The Alexander Technique
• Foundation Training​​
• Cognitive Functional Therapy (CFT) may be especially helpful if you have a lot of fear and anxiety around movement.
• Here are a few of my favorite books for back pain:
  • Jill Miller's Body By Breath: The Science and Practice of Physical and Emotional Resilience provides breathwork and movement practices to relieve pain and downregulate your nervouse system.
  • Dr. Stuart McGill's book Back Mechanic, as well as his website BackFitPro, provide evidence-based information to help prevent and rehabilitate back pain.
  • Dr. John Sarno's Healing Back Pain: The Mind-Body Connection.

​It's worth noting that all of these approaches advocate movement. 

​For chronic back pain, I recommend getting a thorough assessment then meeting with an osteopathic or functional doctor to create a holistic treatment plan.