| Low Back Pain If you are experiencing pain when you cough or sneeze, there is a good chance you have a bulging disc and need to be extra careful. Untreated, this condition could lead to a herniation of the disc. Think of the disc as a jelly doughnut in-between two plates. If the two plates put too much pressure on the doughnut, the jelly get pushed to one side (bulging disc). This can put pressure on a spinal nerve and cause a malfunction. For example, you might experience a shooting pain. Either way, I suggest you see a chiropractor or physical therapist to help get the disc back under the plates of the vertebra or address your specific situation. While you are resting, you may place ice on the painful area for twenty minutes on and then twenty minutes off. Do this for two hours at a time, twice a day. Use a sheet of cloth to protect your skin from irritation. I also recommend you to do the static back position explained in the Body Friendly Golf book and Pete Egoscue’s book Pain Free. If you see a chiropractor or physical therapist, they will probably do some kind of stretching of the lower back. They are trained in many methods of Disc Distraction. They might use a vertebral distraction pump, or Cox distraction table, or hands-on distraction using wedges. Following are some exercises you can do at home to simulate something similar. Be sure to pay attention to how you feel. It is very important not to overdo it. If the pain gets worse during these exercise, you should stop and go back to the resting and static back exercise. Consult with your treating healthcare practitioner before doing any of these stretches or exercises. 1. Inversion. Try to hang from your hips. There is an inversion machine that works well. Try to simulate this on a table as long as it doesn’t make the pain worse. This will not only create more disc space to “slide” the disc between the plates but also will stretch the latissimus dorsi muscle as well. 2. Supported Back Stretch. Secure a strap over a door or beam. Grasp the handles so that the palms face each other. Slowly lower your butt back and down until you feel a gentle stretch on you lower back. Start with one-two minutes on the supported back stretch and then work up to five-to seven minutes. In addition to rest, ice, and decompression, do some gentle stretching within your normal range of motion. That means moving without pain, either in your lower back or radiating down into your buttock or legs. The cat and camel stretch is one of my favorites. This is a basic yoga stretch that I have elaborated on in the latter part of the book. Once you get out of the acute phase of your lower back pain, you can design a program to stabilize your lower back and get you playing better golf at the same time. First you must heal from your current injury. |
