"One niggling feature of my existence which has negatively impacted my life is a long running low back injury. I have a disk bulge in the L4-L5 region that, if improperly managed, can lay me out for days. So long as I stay up on my mobility and trunk-work, things are pretty good, but if I get “too busy” and sit too often, neglect my mobility, particularly my hip flexors, I am begging for problems. When I was wrapping up the editing for Wired To Eat I found myself in a situation in which I convinced myself I was “too busy” to stay on top of my mobility. A jiujitsu class got my back irritated. A sneeze (really) dropped me like I’d been tasered. A friend of mine here in Reno, Carolyn Dolan heard that I was laid up and offered to help. Carolyn is a DPT who is also certified in the Mckenzie Method of back assessment and rehab. I’ve tried just about everything from PRI to crystals and moonstones, so I was not overly optimistic about this whole process. Well, after a thorough movement screen Carolyn suggested a sequence of simple movements which provided almost immediate relief. It’s been a process, but so long as I stay on top of my symptoms, and really work on the exercises that help to (in theory) pull my bulging disk back into place, I do pretty damn well. Sitting too much can still be a problem. Working too much closed guard with 240lb guys can get me into trouble. But now I am paying much better attention to the low level symptoms and just staying religious about my corrective exercises. ALSO. If I am feeling a bit “fragile” I don’t roll, or if I do I pick my partners carefully and I work on things I know will not irritate my back. I’m hoping to get Carolyn on the podcast soon to delve into all of this, but I wanted to mention all this as I know many folks suffer from low back pain and the Mckenzie method might be a good option."
-section of blog post from robbwolf.com Robb Wolf, author, father of 2 and BJJ competitor, SOARing parent |
Dr Carolyn Dolan DPT, Cert MDT, MSHNWhere physical therapy, nutrition and lifestyle meet, because how you live your life determines whether or not you soar. Inspiring action with information so you can reduce pain, optimize healing and improve function naturally during recovery from injury, surgery or painful condition. This is a website for the open-minded; obstinate need not apply. |