Post #120463 by ZebraTiki on Tue, Oct 19, 2004 6:26 PM

I had a friend who had severe pain from a disc protusion, and he did crunches to build up his core muscle group to support his spine. He was so bad off, that he started doing crunches while leaning back on the seat of a tall-backed couch, as he couldn't possibly lie down. He started slow, then worked up to about 100 or more a day. His doctor was sceptical, but if he didn't do crunches, the pain returned by the evening.

I have been thrown from horses, and kicked by several large animals (not all at once!) and have aches that feel like the spine cannot be straightened, and I have to limp awhile to "get going". I've done the yoga stretching called the "cat pose", which is arching your spine as much as you can in both directions, and that really helps. My doctor also reccommended that my neck is stabilized at night, and to use a flatter pillow than I was using. I have one of those Tempur-pedic memory foam pillows, and it's amazing.

Aside from the baryard incidents, I tend to get so immersed in work where I am standing and using detailed instruments for hours on end, and that is my downfall. If you're holding any posture throughout the workday, you must stretch your back every fifteen minutes, or at least every half hour. Don't wait until it leads to numbness or Carpal Tunnel pain, as that can cause nerve damage.