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For the PT's out there.. the book Posture Alignment by Paul D'Arezzo.... are the exercises in this book safe for us? If so, they seem to be great for restoring correct posture, but I wanted to ask some of you all first!
Exercise Surgery Chronic pain Confusion Back pain Alli Fractures Physical therapy Osteopenia Constipation Pain Osteoporosis
Sara, may I have info re. your exercises too please?
Also, does your back brace stop the back bending and prevent injury when being active?
Does anyone know if a stair-step machine would be considered weight bearing?
Is it safe to use one?
Thank you,
April
Hi Sara:
I am not a proponent of any of the cardiovascular machines because of their straight line movement patterns. I would think however anytime you load the spine you are in fact weight bearing. So standing could be technically considered a weight bearing position especially for the lower extremity, hips, pelvis and spinal column. If in fact you are correct, NOF might want to consider a modification to the exercise page on their website.
Woody
Reston Herndon Virginia Osteoporosis Support Group Leader
I would like to get other PT's opinions on this; however, the only truly weight-bearing exercise, as I understand it, is where you get out and carry your body weight through your bones. There is no ground-reaction force with the elliptical trainer or stair stepper. Low and high-impact aerobics would count as weight-bearing as would walking, running, jogging and dancing.
The treadmill is a problem because there is no push-off phase of gait on the treadmill. The treadmill does it for you and you are just keeping up with the moving platform; therefore, you lose the all-important action of the hip extensors in gait.
I am not saying any of these machines are contra-indicated but, what I am saying is that you need to get a ground-reaction force and move your body through space or against gravity for true weight bearing. Also, research on weight-bearing exercise building bones is rather weak. Recommendations for weight bearing come out of the fact that we know when people are not weight-bearing (bed rest, astranauts as examples) they lose bone. Therefore, we recommend weight-bearing exercise.
I will put a query out on other listservs and check. Meanwhile, any other PT's want to weigh in here? I am ready to be proven incorrect on this but haven't seen much to counter what I have said.
Hi Sara:
I noticed in one of your posts you do not consider the elliptical trainer to be weight bearing but NOF as it listed as a non-impact weight bearing exercise recommendation. To avoid confusion this is copied from the NOF website:
Weight-bearing, Low-Impact Exercises can also help to build bones and are safer for people who cannot do high-impact exercises.
Some of these exercises include:
Elliptical training machines
Low impact aerobics
Stair-step machines
Walking (treadmill/outside)
Woody McMahon
Reston Herndon Virginia Support Group Leader
ok Edan thanks... in fact i order my strontium from NN so it won't be a problem to get the SB.
Also, Ali, I order strontium from "Cureself" , they are 29.99 for a bottle of 60.
I get strong bones from" National Nutrition" { just put that in the search box} and it'll bring it up. The last time I ordered from them the bottle of 90 pills was 19.99, a lot cheaper than health stores. I would get 4 bottles at a time .
Thanks Edan .. good story .. good results for herbalists wife I may try Strong Bones when I run out. Think they are made by Canadian Co. so I guess I will have to order online as I checked the health food store in my area and they don't stock it. I am on the strontium and (vit K2.. the MK7) Please keep us posted with your next density reports to see if SB made a difference. This board is great for info.. thanks for responding!!
Ali, sorry for the delay, I do notice that taking the Strong Bones my bowels are definitely looser than before, and I tend to go quite a few times a day. But its not like its diareah. A herbalist that my daughter went to recommended it as well as the strontium and vit k2. I only saw him once and he said that his wife had been diagnosed with osteo and in a couple of years of taking these supplements as well as some weight bearing things she did, she could virtually do anything. That was his story anyway.
I am so grateful to you Sara,I will email you, thankyou again.
Edan:
I have prepared a document on what I call The Re-Alignment Routine. This is a series of 5 exercises that are fairly simple to do but have a profound effect on body alignment. The intent is to improve the effect of weight-bearing forces and muscle contraction on the bones. Unfortunately, I cannot include an attachment on these replies.
Please send an email to me at sara@sarameekspt.com and I will send the document via reply email as an attachment. No charge and no strings attached.
These are not all one can do but they are a good place to start.
Hi edan you mentioned u were taking "Strong Bones" I think that is by New Roots which has MCHA phosphorus.... lysine.. glucosamine along with lots of other stuff. I was thinking of trying that before just wondering do u have any side effects.. bowels constipation etc .. you can fill me in thanks appreciate it. Did someone recommend this kind or did u find it on your own? I had an increase after taking strontium in a year.. they say you need a 10% overestimation because strontium is heavier than calcium but my next Dexa next Oct should tell the tale for sure. Vitamin K2(mk7) is supposed to be helpful too and biosil
I am wondering if there are other additional exercises that I could do for my osteo, it is severe in the lower lumbar area and osteopenia in the hip. I have taken strontium as well as strong bones[ I ran out of strong bones so am taking ordinary calcium+D ] for 16 months, I had it diagnosed just before that and didn't want to take the fosomax that my doctor recommended.I am 63 years old. I have started doing the decompression exercise and would like a few other ones as well. Thankyou in advance
Thank you Sarah for the detailed info on the one exercise.. like you said.. the key is to do it!! I feel like, though, I'm finally narrowing down what will really help my posture and make me feel better & make my body function more properly... so surely that will be a motivating factor!!!
Jill
When I started I was doing it in person and they took the photos I paid $100. Now that I am doing my own photos and doing it online the cost is much less. Send me your regular email address and I will send you some more information and share a set so you can actually see what a set looks like. My email address is hofffazio@comcast.net. I don't want to put a large amount of in-depth information on this site as alot of people who and are not authorities have many varied opinions as to what is the right thing to do for them & others but since you are the only one who voiced an interest I would be glad to share more info with you.
Check out this site for a some testimonials http://www.egoscue.com/about/testimonials.php
Dear Alli:
And your experience points out the importance of bending the hips and knees in this exercise. When your hips and knees are bent, the back can relax and re-align better. When the hips and knees are straight, there can be a pull on the vertebral bodies and a change in the spinal alignment. This, if you had a fracture, would pull on the fracture site and cause pain.
Thanks for sharing your experience.
Thanks Sara for your expert tips. When I had my first fracture last year the only way I could get comfortable in bed was in that position with my legs bent and the minute I would stretch out both legs the pain would come pouring back. I still shutter when I think about the fracture pain I witnessed for months and nothing showed up on xray so I still do not know where it was and my doc did not order scan. and no fractures showed on my bone density.
There are many ways to "bad" posture and, then again, many ways to "good" posture--some more involved than others. In my experience, posture is related to many things--the tendencies we inherit from our family, how we experience our growing years (exercise, activity, nutrition etc.,) lifestyle--are we sedentary or more active, accidents we've been in that change our alignment, illnesses we've had, emotional states (you can notice someone who's depressed or feels good,) not to mention belief systems we have. When we are developing in adolescence, do we hide our developing breasts, do adolescents who experience growth spurts "hunker down" so as to be with their peers on a height level? It's complicated.
Here's one rather simple idea for improving body alignment:
The therapists who have taken my training have begun to call my program "The Meeks Method" and it has, at its core, body alignment (posture.) The single, best "exercise" for better body alignment and relief of most back pain is what I call the Decompression Exercise.
At least once a day, lie down on your back on the flattest, firmest surface you can...this works best on the floor; however, if you are not safe getting to the floor, use your bed. Make sure head and arms are supported as much as necessary, but as little as possible.....the idea is to lengthen and relax the spine (this includes the neck.) Place your arms on the floor, palms up (to stretch out the tight muscles on the front of the chest and shoulders) with arms about 35-45 degrees out from the side of the body. Hips and knees are bent, hip distance apart with feet resting flat on the floor. Or legs up on a sofa in 90/90 position. Lie here 5-15 minutes--no TV, no reading, no lifting weights--and let your spine, body and mind relax. Practice some deep breathing is a good thing to do while lying there. At least once a day. 2 or 3 times a day won't hurt.
There is much more one can do for body alignment but this "exercise" is simple and do-able for most people. All one needs to do is.........do it.
hofffazio ~ Did you have to pay something before you started getting the videos or has your cost always been $50 each time??? That's not bad! Jill
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