Personal Testimonial regarding Tai Chi and Back Pain

[Audi]

Greetings all,

I attended the recent seminar on October 4-7 in Danbury, Connecticut, USA. I have intermittently suffered from low back pain for the last several decades; and two hours before leaving for the seminar, I threw out my back the worst I have done so in years. The timing couldn't have been worse.

Generally, I have minor spams and low level pain only a few times a year and successfully manage it mostly according to the theory espoused in the McKenzie Method. Having recently done things to strain my back and having been lazy about my exercises, I think I set myself up for an attack.

I immediately did my McKenzie exercises to get myself to the point that I could walk almost normally and finish packing. I used a lumbar roll to make the 2-3 hour car ride tolerable and wondered how the weekend would go.

For the first couple of days during the seminar, I found sitting in a chair barely tolerable and only thanks to the lumber roll I used. But when I would hobble out to my place to do the Tai Chi Gong Form and the Essential Form, my back felt great through almost all the postures. Doing the form took away the pain.

The only posture that did not work out was the Lotus Kick. This posture has always been a challenge to my flexibility, and there was no way my back could tolerate it. This is what I expected from the McKenzie method. As compensation, I found that I did Snake Creeps Down better than ever. Since I absolutely did not want to bend my back, I kept good erect posture throughout the motion and again had no pain.

We also did extensive "waist circles." I found the horizontal ones find, but the vertical ones challenging at first due to my pain. If I circled in the wrong place and involved my spine too far down, I had instant pain; however, when I circled only my upper spine, it felt fine. Doing the figure eight circles gradually started to feel wonderful and became my go-to therapeutic exercise over the weekend. The more I did circles, the better I felt--until I had to sit down again for an extended time.

During Push Hands practice in the evenings, my back also generally improved; however, again, I had to watch some of the more vertical circles.

During both the form practice and the Push Hands practice, I was even able to do some moderate solo fajin and fajin to launch a partner without pain. However, I really had to watch my structure very carefully.

Over the seminar weekend as a whole, I went from barely able to walk to feeling pretty good, despite, or perhaps due to, the hours of Tai Chi practice most days.

Does Tai Chi help back paine? Well, it certainly helped mine.

Take care,
Audi

[Louis Swaim]

Greetings Audi,

It's great to hear that your back pain management methods are working. i can also attest to the effectiveness of the McKenzie method (for neck issues -- I wonder if I learned about it from you), and regular taiji practice is also key.

I wonder if you've tried any core strengthening exercises to augment your other methods? I occasionally do gentle floor exercises, including pelvic tilts (flattening the small of your back against the surface of the floor), and a light routine of crunches. I don't overdo it, but just enough to add tone to the core muscles. This can help a great deal with back pain.

Take care,
Louis