Musculo-skeletal dysfunction explained

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If you've got a lower back or other musculo-skeletal pain you've come to the right spot.

Whilst therapy helps speed up the rehab process, it's a big (and often expensive) ask expecting your body to get better by having someone do something to you. Sooner or later you're going to have to do something to yourself.

Ask yourself this question; 'Do I want to get better?

If the answer is 'Yes', then ask yourself the next question 'Am I prepared to do whatever it takes to get better?'

If you're serious about getting better, you'll start doing the exercises you need to do to get your body back into alignment and eating the foods, vitamins, minerals, nutraceuticals, herbs and spices that contribute to good joint health. You'll steer clear of the junk foods, particularly foods containing the two white powders (flour and sugar) that contribute to poor health generally and joint health in particular.

You'll spend as many hours a day as you can, doing the exercises designed to gradually get your body back into better alignment.

If you don't have a crook back, your participation in the CrookBackClinic will provide you with the exercise program you need to adopt to make sure you never get one.

THE BACK PAIN EPIDEMIC

There is an absolute epidemic of musculo-skeletal dysfunction in our community. In any group of people, around 50% will give themselves 5/10 or less for the current condition of their musculo-skeletal system.

The number of people with crook backs, stiff necks, frozen shoulders, bung hips, game legs, dicky knees and limp wrists is legion.

The honour roll of people with artificial hips and knees, (replaced in the main with the assistance of a public health subsidy) is growing at an exponential rate. The private and public cost of the lack of individual strength, flexibility and postural alignment is horrendous.

By signing up for the CrookBack Clinic you will gain access to information and resources to assist you to look after your musculo-skeletal system.

THE GOOD NEWS - 80-20

I work on the Pareto principal. For 80% of people I believe that there is an 80% chance of restoring function back to at least 80% of what it was, providing you do the right exercises, on a regular and systematic basis.

Would you be happy if your back got 80% better than it is now? Of course you would. There is an 80% chance that it will if you start doing the exercises you will learn in the CrookBackClinic That's what I did and my back's 97% pain free. 97% of the time I would never know that I'd every had a crook back.

WHAT'S HAPPENED?

If you're suffering from any sort of joint and muscle pain, particularly back, neck, hip and knee pain it's highly likely that your skeletal system is out of alignment. You can find out whether that is the case or not by completing the Clinical Diagnostic Assessment.

If the system is out of alignment it's pretty much pot luck which particular joint will experience pain first.

The images immediately below showcase a number of people with joint and muscle pain and who were, at the time on workers compensation. Their inability to sit up straight determines the underlying cause of their complaint. They're all suffering from a personally-generated pre-condition that's been brought into the foreground by an incident.

Get the system back into better alignment and strengthening the muscles that support it gives you the best chance of relieving joint pain in all your joints.

If you're suffering from back, neck, hip and knee pain, there's a good chance that your pelvis has become twisted, dragging the bones above and below it out of alignment.

Squaring up your pelvis is the first place to start in getting your skeletal system back into better alignment.

SEARCH FOR THE CAUSE

When looking for causes of musculo-skeletal dysfunction, bad luck is regularly tagged as the usual suspect. The real causes,

a skeletal system that's out of alignment as illustrated by poor posture

lack of general fitness

a lack of flexibility that results in bones being taken out of alignment

a lack of strength and

being overweight

... often don't get much of a look in.

The diagnostic regimes are expensive and often of doubtful value. For the most part all an x-ray does is tell you that bones in your lower back (neck, hip and knees) are out of alignment. It doesn't tell you what the cause of the misalignment is.

A photograph of you in a diagnostic posture - using the Clinical Diagnostic Assessment - will provide more information about the cause of the dysfunction than an x-ray.

It has a cause and it can be fixed
Find the cause and you'll be halfway along the track to fixing your dysfunction. In the Clinical Diagnostic Assessment we'll help you find the cause of your dysfunction. Once we've identified the cause we'll work with you to prescribe a suite of exercises to get your skeleton back into better alignment - and pain free.

When bones are out of alignment, ligaments, tendons, muscles and disks will all feel the pinch. The pain is telling you to fix the alignment problem.

Blame a lack of physical activity?
Absolutely! The major cause of musculo-skeletal dysfunction is motion starvation. We don't move enough. We are not in good enough physical condition to maintain good function, even in a sit down job. The body that was designed to climb trees, chop wood and draw water can no longer push a pen or tap a keyboard without groaning and travailing in pain!

A good general exercise program that includes aerobic fitness, strength and flexibility exercises will be enormous beneficial for most people. Join a fitness centre, get an all round program and get cracking. In a couple of months you'll feel better - and your back will feel better as well.

Blame Work?
Hardly! It is drawing a long bow to blame your job for your musculo-skeletal dysfunction. If you're not strong and flexible enough to do your job, if you don't keep yourself in good nick, it's hard to blame work!
Most of the people I see with sore shoulders, necks and arms are not keeping themselves strong or flexible enough to tap a keyboard or push a pen without becoming dysfunctional. That it should come to this!

Blame the office furniture and equipment?
Doubtful! Bad workmen have always blamed their tools. Most of the people I see with crook backs already have good office furniture.

Blame over-use?
On the contrary? Occupational over-use is caused by under-use. You don't do enough of the right strength and flexibility exercises to meet the needs of your job.

Blame Your Age?
Another myth! It doesn't matter what age you are. (In fact the older you are the fitter you ought to be, you've had longer to train!!!)

Blame Your Food?
Maybe! It's quite possible that some musculo-skeletal and particularly arthritic complaints are diet related. The nation that started off lean and tough and wiry has ended up fat, weak and miserable, addicted to the high fat, starch, sugar, caffeine and alcohol diet. Steer clear of foods containing the two white powders.

Blame Your Weight?
Yessiree! Even being a little overweight can alter your balance and tip your body out of alignment. A crook back goes with a fat guts.

Blame The Stress Of Life?
Sure can! It is well known that when we get anxious muscles tighten up. Tight muscles become sore muscles. They start to pull unevenly on bones. You end up with misalignment, leading eventually to dysfunction and pain.

Blame your doctor
Maybe, if all you get from your doctor is a pain killing drug and  the advice to go home and rest. Back pain is not caused by a lack of Celebrex, Valium, Voltarin, Vioxx, Mersyndol, Nurofen, Ibuprofen or heat!

Blame yourself

Probably. If you've been taught the exercises that need to be done to get your body back into better alignment, and you don't do them.

DO SOMETHING TO YOURSELF

Don't ask what your doctor/pharmacist/therapist can do for you, ask what you can do for yourself.

It's a big ask expecting your body to get better by having someone do something to you; sooner or later you have to do something to yourself.

Passive manipulative therapy may make your condition feel better for a while. But if your body is not getting stronger it's getting weaker. If it's not getting looser it's getting tighter and sooner or later there is a high likelihood the dysfunction will reappear and the pain will come back to haunt you.

MUSCULO-SKELETAL RISK FACTOR PROFILE

By taking part in the CrookBackClinic you'll be able to complete the musculo-skeletal risk screen and the clinical diagnostic assessment and get a good idea of why you've become dysfunctional and what you need to do to fix yourself up.

EXERCISES

It's a very big ask expecting to get better without doing some strength and flexibility exercises. In the Back in Alignment Clinic we show you the exercises you need to do to get your body back into alignment.

We treat the body as an ecosystem. What this means is that if something goes wrong with one part it may affect another pare, That's why tight calf, hamstring and buttock muscles are frequently the principal cause of lower back and neck pain.

Being an ecosystem we encourage people to maintain a regular and systematic strength training program at the gym and spend some time at the end of these sessions doing some flexibility exercises. We teach you the ones we consider to be crucial to keeping your body in better alignment.

Of course, the best flexibility classes are run by yoga teachers.

Strength Exercises
You'll learn which strength exercises to use in the gym and which ones to use at home. There are four exercises that stand head and shoulders above others for keeping the major parts of your body strong and helping to fix up a crook back.

You'll learn which strength exercises to use in a fitness centre, so you can get the most effective workout in the shortest possible time. Don't let fitness centres intimidate you. Just go and do what you have to do - which is an aerobic workout, a strength workout and a flexibility workout.

Flexibility Exercises
You'll learn which flexibility exercises you can do at home or after the aerobic and strength components of your gym workout. Here's a few key ones for starters.

Flexibility refers to the ability to maintain a wide range of movement about the joints of the body. When they are not stretched regularly, muscles and tendons become tighter and the range of movement around the joints decreases. The implications for postural alignment are wide-reaching, because if one muscle is pulling tighter than another, bones can be moved out of alignment. Sooner or later you experience pain in one or more joints.

DON'T TAKE MY WORD FOR IT

We violate the design sense every minute of every hour of every day. By so doing, the body cannot operate according to design; the functions go into limbo and are never utilized again. This inevitably and inexorably leads to pain.
Pete Egoscue 'Pain Free'

So we see that the lower back is often stuck in the middle of a wide variety of passions, conflicts and psychosomatic needs. It is not surprising, then, to discover that so many people have accumulated a great deal of stress and tension in this region.
Ken Dychtwald 'Bodymind'

The muscles contract as a result of an unending series of impulses from the nervous system; for this reason the muscular pattern of the upright position, facial expression and voice reflect the condition of the nervous system.
Moshe Feldenkrais 'Awareness Through Movement 
 

Because the national diet becomes increasingly deficient and because it is difficult to rid oneself of stresses, particularly unconscious mental ones, arthritis will undoubtedly always be with us.
Adelle Davis 'Let's Get Well'

Wellness includes both awareness and the willingness to take responsibility for decisions we make in our best interests. It does not necessarily mean the absence of disease but rather taking responsibility for the diseases we decide to have.
John Harrison 'Love your Disease'

Unfortunately the pain killers and anti-inflammatories have problems. They temporarily relieve pain, but in the long run they simply cover up the symptoms while the disease progresses further.
Jason Theodosakis 'The Arthritis Cure'
 

It is wrong to treat a painful back as a local condition. Back pain is always accompanied and preceded by general mis-use.
Wilfred Barlow 'The Alexander Principle'

What is the best treatment for arthritis and allied conditions? The simple, logical and practical answer is: elimination of irritant metabolic waste products.
Bernard Aschner 'Arthritis Can be Cured'

The other good news is that you can do most of the rehabilitation yourself. Phase by less painful phase you can steer yourself back out of the maze where you have been stumbling about for so long.
Sarah Keys 'Back Sufferers' Bible'
 

Behind each improvement that can be attributed to 'technology' there lies a powerful human intentionality.
George Leonard 'The Ultimate Athlete'

CREATE A VISION - SET GOALS

If you take part in the CrookBackClinic we'll give you great encouragement to develop a strategy to fix yourself up. You'll be encouraged to answer these questions.
 

The most important question though is, 'Do I want to get better?' If you do, welcome to the Back in Alignment Clinic.

The second most important thing to do is create a vision for what you want to feel like and look like. You want to be restored to good musculo-skeletal function, right? Then imagine yourself restored to good function. Start with the end in mind.

Thirdly, set goals for what you're going to do to achieve your vision. When do want to be restored by? Next month, next year or next decade? Make a choice. Attend a CrookBackClinic. Learn what do and then start doing it.

If you want to be in good shape do what people in good shape do to keep themselves that way.

If you take part in the Back In Alignment program you'll learn the exercise secrets that thousands of people have put into action to get themselves back into good shape and then stay in good shape.

Are you ready for a breakthrough or more of the same? If you keep doing what you've always done you'll continue to get what you've always got.

Most people aim at nothing in particular in life and achieve their aim with remarkable accuracy. Set yourself the goal of getting better and getting better quickly.

If you are suffering from musculo-skeletal pain, the good news is that for 80% of people, the right amount of the right exercise, coupled with the right diet will restore 80% of the function and leave you relatively pain free.

80% of musculo-skeletal dysfunction is eminently fixable, providing you work at it.
 

Wouldn't you like to be 80% better than you are now?