What This Professor Wishes People Knew About the Real Causes of Low Back Pain | Hacker News Reader

What This Professor Wishes People Knew About the Real Causes of Low Back Pain

theptdc.com

10 pointskasperni4 comments

McGill is the man. I suggest his book Back Mechanic to anyone dealing with back issues. I blew my back out last year. I assume it was either a very bad bulge or herniated completely. I could barely walk for 2 weeks, excruciating sciatic pain every time I stood, to the point I was in tears.

Granted, my mother went through similar issues at the same age so I kinda knew what I was dealing with. Anyway, suggestions from the book I'm back doing squats and deadlifts in the weightroom. I ski and mountain bike regularly as well. I get occasional pain but if I take a day off as soon as I'm aware it usually feels better quickly.

He's very against surgery except in emergency situation where you can't go to the bathroom or lose feeling/motion in your legs. In most cases your back will heal in a similar amount of time without surgery.

One suggestion I have is DO NOT SIT FOR LONG PERIODS. Sitting is awful for you. Walk and stand during your breaks at work if you're in an office job. If you can get your employer to buy a desk that allows you to stand at least some of the time that is also very helpful. Follow his big 3 exercises or get to the gym and do something to strengthen the muscles in your back.

There are so many great resources on the Internet with McGill that is difficult to choose. But this video is a good introduction to his work [1]. It provides some background on his lab at University of Waterloo and what his learned from 33 years of research into the spine.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyGaKuSzD_M

A bunch of "myths" without any helpful advice for folks with back pain. In short, stretching won't help, lying in bed won't help, daily workouts won't (necessarily) help, yoga/pilates won't help, etc.

Super helpful.

TLDR:

  - "Myth 1: Back pain is linked to having tight hamstrings"
  - "Myth 2: Lying in bed is good for back pain"
  - "Myth 3: My daily workouts at the gym will get rid of my back pain"
  - "Myth 4: Yoga and Pilates are great ways to alleviate back pain"
  - "Myth 5: Stronger muscles will cure my back pain"
  - "Myth 6: Stretching is good for reducing back pain"
  - "Myth 7: Having a powerful back is protective"

His not saying his Yoga/Pilates/Stretching is universally bad. He is staying that some of the things that yoga and pilates recommend can actually make your problems worse.

Take, for example, the forward fold which I've seen recommend in a lot of places for desk workers that experience lower back pain. So you sit all day at your desk with your lumbar spine (lowest part of the spine) in flexion all day. After some years your back back starts to get a bit achy. Maybe a little disc bulge because your vertebrates are asymmetrically pressing on your disks for 10 hours a day. Doing a forward fold will only further aggregate any issues you might have. Because you have already spent 10 hours a day for years with your back in flexion. Flexion is your problem, not the solution. It is like have a sore thumb and then start hitting it with a hammer to try and fix it.

If you have backpain from sitting too much. Blindly starting to bend and twist your lumbar spine is not going to solve anything. In the worst case it will only make things worse. Instead do lots of core work with neutral spine and work on some hip mobility and try to rediscover those glutes you forgot you had.

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