Do You know someone with Back Pain? It's 90% of us!

 For the symptomatic relief of low back pain. 

Have you ever experienced back pain? Most of us have.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics National Board of Health in 2012 said that a whopping 90% of us will experience this debilitating problem at some time. As a Yoga teacher with over 30 years experience it is something I have thought about a lot. On a recent plane ride I sat next to an orthopaedic surgeon and asked him why HE thought so many people suffered from back pain. He suggested that, in his view, because we have evolved faster than other mammals, our lumbar vertebrae are simply not designed to be bearing the weight of an upright spine. It's an interesting theory, especially since most lower-back problems occur around L4 and L5 in the lower back.

The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases lists many other options which mainly come back to being unfit, a symptom of our increasingly sedentary lifestyle. The best things you can do is to stay fit (though this does not always work...see story below) and avoid getting too overweight. We have not even begun to talk about magnesium deficiency.

I was a professional dancer into my mid-twenties and had no lower back problems despite lifting a lot of young ladies around! Then one day, just sitting relaxing in the garden, a lizard ran up my leg...I kicked out...and subluxated my L4 and 5. For the following 20 years I woke up with back pain nearly every morning...which was embarrassing for me as a Yoga teacher! I was certainly fit and flexible and yet....Of course, the Yoga helped tremendously - but only if I did the movements every single day. The main one which worked for me was Locust Pose...held for 60 seconds every morning.

Now I am in my late 50s and I have no more back pain, or at least, not for the last four years. Using the magnesium roll-on before bed every night has improved my back tremendously. The habits of 20 years do not go away so easily though. When I am really tired, I will grunt as I go up each stair. My wife will ask if I am in pain with my back. No-I respond...'Then why are you making  that grunting noise?' I forgot...I do not need to grunt any more :)

What I personally find astonishing is how quickly it may work for lower backs...

Back pain may NOT something you have to just live with. I wish I had known that 20 years ago! Here is what I use (even though I am not as 'sporty' as I was!)

As always, if pain persists see your doctor.

The medical studies below do not refer to these specific products but are provided to educate in terms of magnesium deficiency.

 The multifaceted and widespread pathology of magnesium deficiency.Johnson S¹.

A double-blinded randomised controlled study of the value of sequential intravenous and oral magnesium therapy in patients with chronic low back pain with a neuropathic component:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23384256

                                                  The Sports Pack

                                         (Click on image to go to shop)