How I Have Fixed My Back

A short story of me figuring out the sciatica back pain. It’s anecdotal, but nevertheless might be useful to to you.

I’m spending most of my time behind a computer desk. And as many of us, office workers, has started to develop some discomfort in the lower back region.  

And probably as many other people do (or it was just me, so naive) my first solution was to throw money at the problem. A better office chair, a better mattress, more ergonomic keyboard..  And as you can guess that didn’t really worked out. 

At some point the pain became so bad that I had to go to a chiropractor.  She has helped to alleviate the immediate problem, but didn’t provide a long term solution.  Luckily during one of the sleepless nights in between have finally spelled it for me: 
“You have pain because your body wants to tell you something. Gotta listen, stupid!”

So I’ve woken up and really started to audit my bio-mechanics. How do I sit,  how do I walk, what position do I sleep in. And bit by bit I’ve started to put the pieces together.

Now, finally, after about 4 month I can say that sciatica has gone. I’m pain and discomfort free.

So here what’s worked for me:

0. Reducing inflammation

I didn’t want to use NSAIDs, they are not too good for the stomach lining. So  I’ve asked my functional doctor for something that wouldn’t irritate my digestion.  And he pointed me to Curcumax Pro: Movement Support. 
You can read the reviews and I totally agree with them. The stuff is amazing and worth every penny. 

 

1.  Workspace

 

Can you see what’s wrong with the first picture?  Yeah, just a small, but very important detail. The mouse.

To solve this I had to throw away my big ergonomic keyboard, which was taking all space on the tray. Then I bough a short one, so I can align it with the mouse. And that made a huge difference.

So pay attention to your workspace. Make sure that everything is aligned and that you don’t have to bend or overstretch.

 

2. Sitting

Second thing I’ve realized is that it doesn’t matter how expensive your chair is, if you are sitting wrong in it.

Take a short brake and check you position:

• Are you sitting on your tailbone? (slouching)
• Are your shoulders rolled forward? (leaning)
• Can you take a deep breath down into your stomach without any constrictions? 

Now sit straighter,  maybe closer to the monitor and maybe put a small pillow behind. Make the font bigger, if you have to.
Next, setup an alarm clock to buzz every hour just to remind you to check your position.

Blip Blip worked for me just fine in the beginning. Nowadays I use my webcam with FaceNoMore demo app to “babysit” my posture in real time.

In either case the idea is to change your behavior. It’s not enough to know what the good posture is. You have to rewire your brain to actually do it.  Knowledge is not the power. Action is. 

 

3.  Walking

With the hourly alarm I’ve split my typical long daily walk into several smaller ones.  Keeping blood and lymph moving is definitely helpful. Oxygen gets delivered, thing get fixed.

Best way to do it during the short walks is to go “interval”: speed up and slow down in random order.

And make sure, especially during the “sprints”, to land on toes to absorb the shock with calves and not joints like in heel landing.

4. Stretching

They are all good for the general health.  Not sure if any yoga stretches have really helped me specifically with the sciatica though.  I haven’t noticed any special improvements, but kept doing a few before the sleep anyway.

But what I’ve found was really awesome for my back (and for any kind of back or shoulder pain apparently) are a plain old pull up bar or a pair of rings.

If you want to dig deeper, there is a good book by J. Kirsch:
Shoulder Pain? The Solution & Prevention

I personally found rings to be much more gentle on my elbows, because you can rotate them slightly inward. 
With them I  did a very simple 2x2x2 regiment: 
– Every other day, two times a day, two minutes in total. 

Bam!  Massive relieve. 

5. Sleep

Last but not least. I used to sleep on my stomach. Well, not anymore. You have to make a conscious effort to stop doing it. I’ve found that keeping an extra pillow on my side prevents me from rolling over. It’s not perfect, but I don’t have any better solution for now.

And that’s that. 

Comment below if you know any other tricks.

 

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