♪ Bob and Brad ♪
♪ The two most famous physical therapists on the internet ♪
- Hi folks.I'm Bob Schrupp,
physical therapist.
- Brad Heineck,
physical therapist. - And together
we're the most famous physical therapists on the internet
- In our opinion of course, Bob.
- So we're gonna talk about some back pain types here.
We think it's really important that you know this
because it's going to determine how you treat your back.
- Right. That's an important concept.
- I think it's really good because we're opposites.
- Yeah.
Exactly.
- So we'll talk about, are you a flexor?
That's me.
Are you extender?
That's Brad.
Are you a shaker?
I couldn't come up with any another name.
- Yeah, we now we've got 'em completely confused.
- And, or a compressor, right.
So we're gonna show you this video, what,
how you could check to see
whether you're flexor or an extender.
- And most people will be a flexor.
And it'll make sense to you
by the time we're done with this video
- Flexor is by far the most popular?
- Common.
- Yeah. Common one and,
extender I would say would be the second one.
- Right. As you age, you become an extender often times.
- Right. So flexor the most common part.
If you're a flexor, you will answer "yes,"
to most of these questions.
Is your back generally worse
when you've been sitting for a while?
You know, or when you get up from sitting,
after for a while, you know, you're that person that, "oh."
- It hurts when you straighten up
until you walk for a little while.
- You always make a noise every time you stand, right.
Next is your back pain generally worse
after prolonged bending, like if you're in the garden,
or you're bending over to make the bed.
- Or like me, I'm washing the floor a lot.
I'm scrubbing the floor bent over.
- Yeah. Yeah. I bet you are.
Digging.
Ironing.
- Yeah. Anything where it requires that bending forward.
- Especially when your back is in the,
what we call the C position, Brad,
I'm rounded out here,
versus over keeping it back straight.
The C position is a bad position.
Is your back pain generally better with walking?
If you're a flexor, a lot
of times the pain is gonna feel better when you walk.
And we would recommend it actually.
- So if they answered "yes" to, you know,
two to four, or all four of those,
then that's gonna help determine how
you're gonna treat your back pain.
So it gets better consistently.
- Yeah. And one last one, Brad,
if it feels better when you lie down.
Which probably for a lot of, if you're a flexor, extender,
it may feel better if you lie down.
So a lot of people with a herniated
or bulging disc are flexors.
- Yep. In other words,
it gets worse when you do those activities, we went through.
- Right. So we will show you a video that you
can do a simple test to see if you have sciatica.
Well, that'll be coming up in the future too.
So number one, we'll show you a test here too,
you can do.
One, you can just do repeated flexion.
You know, bend over.
- And this is, what, a McKenzie test,
Mackenzie's, you know, famous in the therapy world.
- You can do it seated, or you could do it standing.
- You do this.
And you know, usually you do 10 of 'em.
And if you're a flexor, a lot of times
before you even get to 10, it's starting to hurt.
And then you stop.
- You might grabbing the stool, Brad.
I want, would you grab and do,
I want you to sit on there
and you're gonna first test it bending.
Bend.
- So flex the back.
- And then extend the back.
And then keep it straight.
Now you're gonna do it with grabbing the seat pad.
- Yep, grab here.
- That way he can put pressure
through the back while he's doing the same test.
- Right. So if I'm up tall with good posture
I can grab the chair or the legs and pull down.
So I'm compressing the low back spine
and then test that compared to slouched,
and then pull.
And if you go way back and then pull again.
- So curious, does that hurt when you go back?
- No.
- Yeah. Yours is more a factor time, right?
- Right. Or if I did extreme force this way,
but I can't.
But so if you are like this and you pull down
it may hurt and make it worse.
And then for sure, you're a flexor.
- Right. And sometimes it does take time
or repeating in order for it to hurt a flexor.
- It's pretty common actually.
- Alright. So are you extender?
- What if I'm in a flexor?
What do I do?
- If you are a flexor?
We're gonna show you lots of things.
In this video program, by the way,
this video is part of a series of videos,
on back pain, you go to BobandBrad.com,
go to the program section, look for the one on back pain.
Unless you have sciatica,
then go look for the one on sciatica,
and you actually are gonna watch
the ones that pertain to you.
And in addition...
- [Brad] Oh, PDF printout, right on all these
you click the button, print it out.
You'll have the exercises
on the printout and a review of the video.
So you don't have to go back and watch it.
It's a wonderful thing.
Completely free.
Not even an email. It's free.
- Right. Okay.
Now, are you an extender?
Brad's an extender.
Now one of the first questions we ask a lot of people,
'cause they, a lot of people are older
when they're extenders, but not all.
Absolutely not bad.
Just did a video on gymnasts.
And you developed the pain when you were, how old?
- Oh, in my thirties or forties.
I don't remember exactly when but.
- Long time ago.
- Yeah, yeah.
It happened with whatever, an accident.
- If you are over 50, it could be increased likelihood
that you're an extender.
- Related to stenosis.
If you ever get diagnosed with that, you probably
irritates your back to do this,
or stand for long period of time,
or even walking long period of time.
- Yeah, if you have the diagnosis of a spinal stenosis,
you're probably an extender.
Or if you have Brad's diagnosis, you would say, Brad.
- Spinal osteitis, that's mouthful.
- And you can get that at any age.
You're also probably gonna be an extender
if your pain is worse
after you've been extending for a while.
- So extending means bending backwards.
If you're not quite sure
that anything where you're back goes backwards.
- Right, like you with painting the ceiling or.
- Yep, washing windows, paint a ceiling.
You know, waving up at airplane for a long period of time.
Then it's like, oh man, that really hurts.
And then when you sit down, it almost always feels better.
- Immediately. That's a good, that's a sign.
Is your pain worse with walking or running?
Brad went through a period of time where he couldn't run.
He would get pain down his leg.
- Or I could walk three fourths of a mile consistently.
And my leg was kind of numb.
So, I would stop.
And I've improved it with exercise since then.
- Yeah, and it coincides with shopping cart syndrome.
It feels a lot of people feel better when they can lean
on our shopping cart.
- Right. Or anything.
- A slight band.
You have a slight bend.
- And then relieves it.
- So the one test you can do, you can simply stand up, Brad,
won't we do it on you.
And you're gonna stand up.
You're gonna extend it.
You can bring your arms back
or you can actually extend to the right.
- Well, okay.
But you can put your hands on. That's what I like to do.
- And then has someone push down to your back.
Or extend the left, just have somebody push down.
Or if you're alone, you can just use your arms up on.
Yeah. Like that.
- Or you can repeat 10 times.
Now with me, those tests didn't hurt,
but I know if I do this 10 times.
- 10 times you'll feel it.
- It's already starting to irritated after three or four.
- So stay tuned.
We'll show the next video.
We'll show you how we can determine
whether or not you're a shaker or you're a compressor
- Right, so these are four common scenarios
with low back pain.
And once you determine where you fit
it's gonna help you know, what exercises to do or not to do.
- Yeah. You really don't even to know your diagnosis
to some extent.
I mean, because this is what's the important thing.
- Right, the treatment is gonna be very similar.
- All right.
Check it out. Thanks for watching.
- Good luck.
(Bob and Brad music)