- Hello everyone.
And I know what some of you might be thinking.
Why is this video so long
if it's only a 90 second treatment?
But it works very well and.
- It's a fair question to ask.
But we have to teach you how to do it and demonstrate it.
So it's gonna take like five minutes or so.
- Maybe Four
- Three
- Okay, whatever, you'll find out.
It's gonna work well.
(gentle music)
So this simple technique
has been around since the 1950s from the Jones Institute
- And it is known as strain counter strain,
or it's also known as a positional release.
- That's right.
So this low back technique is very simple,
but you must follow the sequence appropriately
as we show it.
- So pay attention carefully.
- All right, again,
so you're experiencing low back pain here.
It may be left side dominant or right side dominant
or all the way across.
The treatment is the same.
You're going to lie down on a bed.
If it's a firm bed is more preferable.
Actually down on carpeted floor,
assuming you can get down carefully
without irritating your back symptoms.
Even on a bed you're gonna watch me get down slow,
lift up one leg
keeping my back in a comfortable, neutral position.
And I'm going to get down in a position prone
as you can see, lying on your stomach.
And once you get here, you monitor your back pain, okay.
If for some reason your back is uncomfortable lying flat
you may have to put a pillow underneath
your abdominal or hips area to elevate.
And oftentimes that will let the pain calm down
and just relax there for a bit.
Hopefully after 30 seconds or so
you can take the pillow out
and then go to this position at that point.
If the pillow coming out is uncomfortable
keep it there and then proceed as we're going to show you.
If I started at a five, over 10
10 being the worst
zero being no pain.
And I get to this position and eh
it's down to about a three.
That's good.
Alright
- So if you're feeling good
and your pain is going down like Brad said,
what you want to start doing
is to get your lower back muscles,
say it's his left side, on slack.
So that means you're gonna go into extension
like I am right now.
So Brad is gonna grab a pillow
and hug it if this position is comfortable.
Some people might be further towards the mat
some people might be up more.
So what this is doing
is putting his back muscles here on slack,
giving him some release from the tension.
Now, if he wants to put more slack on this left side,
he can either bring his left leg forward
into a roadkill position we like to call this,
putting more slack on these muscles.
He could also try shifting his hips more to the right
and this will also put your left lower back on more slack.
The whole idea is to get in this position
and try to hold it for at least 90 seconds.
Or he can go go up to 120 seconds.
Just getting it to be nice and relaxed.
- I do want to mention
you once you get to this position
and you get your pillow here
and you say the pain is already to zero.
Then there's no need to start shifting around.
The idea is, that's why it's called positional release.
You want to find the position of most comfort.
And it may be here already.
Do some shifting if it's not.
And then like Mike said,
it's absolutely critical you go for 90 seconds.
You literally have to time it.
And just lay there, completely relaxed
for 90, up to 120 seconds.
When you're done with that time
then the whole goal is to get up from that position slowly.
There's nothing to be rushed about.
You wanna take your time, get out of bed or off the floor
trying to keep your back relaxed
and straight in that neutral position.
And then you do not go into any activities.
It's gonna feel better
but you're gonna take it easy for the next couple hours.
In other words,
you're not gonna go for a jog or go do some gardening.
You're gonna' relax, eat some supper, whatever it may be.
If you have success.
(laughs)
- Success
- Thank you Mike.
Do this two to three times per day
and you'll find that you'll be doing it less and less
and things will fall right into place.
It is absolutely a delightful treatment
because it's so simple and it works.
- So that was more than 90 seconds, obviously
but we hope you enjoyed the video.
And what else are they supposed to do Brad?
- Well, you can do a little self massage like this
which feels good,
but other than that I want you to be pain free.
- Be helpy.
- Be relaxed.
(laughs)
- I combined two words there.
Be gone.
Okay, bye.
(gentle music)