Ask The Experts: Pain-Free for Life

By Matt Whitehead of The Egoscue Method – Portland, Oregon  

Matt Whitehead at the Egoscue Method addresses the topic of pain and exercise.

We all know that pain is a message from our bodies.  Most people and experts think pain is a message of limitation or that something is broken.  We at Egoscue do not believe this to be true.  We believe pain is telling us that something is not happening that should be happening.  What is not happening is proper movement and posture.

Why exercise sometimes causes pain
The benefits of exercise are well documented and we are doing our best to get our daily exercise, whether it’s working out on an elliptical trainer or treadmill, playing basketball or a round of golf, practicing yoga or Pilates, taking a walk around the neighborhood or gardening in the backyard.  But if exercise is so good for us, why does this exercise cause so much pain?  Your back hurts when you golf.  Your elbows or wrists hurt when you play tennis.  You no longer run or do aerobics because it hurt your knees.  A closer look at motion and the two types of motion will allow us to see why these activities cause pain and how we can take the pain out of those activities.  There are two types of motion: correct (design) motion which allows us to do any activity without pain; and incorrect motion which is the source of all our pain.  To fully understand the difference between the types of motion we must first define “design.”

What is Design Posture?
If we look at the standing normal anatomical position we see that the human body is designed to be perfectly balanced from left to right.  The human body has eight major load joints: the ankles, knees, hips, and shoulders which should be vertically aligned and parallel with each other.  The torso and head should be centered.  This allows for proper shock absorption and distribution of forces during all activities which creates positive stress on the body.  This positive stress leads to increased bone and muscle mass.

Muscles move bones
Bones do what muscles tell them to do, so postural balance or imbalance is a muscle issue.  Motion is critical for the body to maintain its muscle strength and balance.  When the body’s posture is balanced all motion is positive.  When the body deviates from its design then many motions and activities can become negative stressors to the body.  This can show up as a degenerative joint, muscle tightness or spasm, disc herniation, or migraine headache.  Traditional medicine and most therapies focus on achieving symptomatic relief through all available modalities (drugs, surgery, electrical stimulation, massage, therapeutic exercise, bracing, etc.) and treatment for the affected area.  At Egoscue we focus on the body as a unit, after all “the foot bone’s connected to the leg bone…” and look to restore postural balance to the body.  This in turn takes away the noxious stimulus that was causing the symptom to appear.

How’s your posture?
Before we go on, let’s find out whether you are balanced by doing two simple tests.  First, take your shoes off and stand up.  Let your arms relax by your sides and step in place several times.  Then stand still, close your eyes, and get a sense of where your weight is in your feet – left to right, front to back, and side to side.  The weight should be perfectly balanced on the balls of the feet.  If it is not, your posture is compromised and this is a major reason why the movement you do causes pain.

The second test is done standing in front of a full length mirror.  Ask yourself two simple questions:  1) Are your shoulders level with each other?  2) Are your feet pointed straight ahead?  Give yourself 5 points for shoulders being level and 5 points for both feet pointed straight.  If you scored a 10, your deviations are minor.  If not, you can rest assured that these postural deviations will eventually lead you down a path to pain if they have not already.

Rediscovering the bodies design allows healing
Correcting your posture is a process of reminding your body of proper position and movement through a series of specific exercises and stretches.  These exercises will start changing your muscle memory and, before long, your body will remember how it is designed to stand and move.  As this happens, your pain will go away and your body’s natural healing response will take care of the rest.  Remember, a pain-free active lifestyle is not only possible, it is the way you should expect to feel and live.

 

About Matt Whitehead: Matt Whitehead is the Clinic Director of The Egoscue Method in Portland, OR.  The Egoscue Method, with 25 clinics worldwide and growing, is world renowned as “The Leader In Non-Medical Pain Relief.  Egoscue has treated the finest professional athletes such as Jack Nicklaus (PGA Golfer), Junior Seau (NFL All-Pro), and Trevor Hoffman (MLB Career Saves Record Holder), and also helps thousands of people of all ages regardless of their athletic background.  Matt is available to answer your questions at the email address and phone number listed below.

matt@egoscue.com  (503) 350-0888