I thought I’d share a little insight, story, and general advice regarding injuries, pain, and finding someone who can help you. The most common types of emails I get inquire about how to fix a physical problem and what postures to do, or not to do.

Answers to these types of questions via email, never having met the person, are extremely difficult. There is not always one general answer that covers a certain type of pain or injury. We should of course try to individualize as much as possible.

I recently got an email from a student/friend (L.B.) regarding his back pain. It was originally thought to be a kidney stone but turned out to be herniated (prolapsed) discs at the base of the spine specifically at L4-L5 and L5-S1. These are some of the most common discs to run into trouble.

L.B. asked if it would be helpful to have some Osteopathy to help move the disc back into place. He also asked what I thought about acupuncture treatments for this type of problem.

The assumption here is that the disc moves out of place, which is a common misnomer, mostly coming from terms like slipped disc. Discs do not slide in and out of place, they are held in place quite well. Of course, portions of them may get compressed and therefore sticks out further in one direction or another, hence the term, herniated or bulging disc.

Now to the advice…

All treatments and modalities have their place. They all view and approach the body in different ways. It is difficult sometimes to discern what type of treatment would be best at a particular moment. It also depends on the type of relationship you have with the practitioner giving the treatment.

Personally, I have a regular primary care physician, a Neuromuscular Therapist (specific, corrective massage therapy treatments), a chiropractor, and an acupuncturist I could call on as well. The perspective I take is that these practitioners actually work for me. They are tools that I have at my disposal to use when most appropriate. The doctor, I use for a yearly physical, blood work and emergencies. The neuromuscular therapist for more musculoskeletal pain, the chiropractor to help make sure there aren’t any impingements on the nerves. Finally for conditional type problems, like, being unable to sleep, regular indigestion etc… I would go see the acupuncturist.

Try to have relationships with different types of people before some problem may arise. Knowing what they’re good at and what they’re not good at before the problem arises helps you decide how you want to try and work with the problem. If the problem arises and you’ve never gone to a particular type of therapy, you won’t know what to expect and be less open and receptive to what’s happening. Where if you have a relationship with that person, you might be willing to give them more of your trust, creating a more positive space for healing to happen. Belief, trust and expectancy are also important keys to getting well.

Also keep in mind that consistency of treatment is extremely important regardless of what type it is. For some reason we have a tendency toward expecting that we could see someone just one time and that would be enough to fix our problem. That’s rarely the case. It’s almost like expecting to do an asana perfectly the first time, you have to work on it over a period of time to understand it and let it do its work on you.

As for L.B., a critical acute stage of back pain may be the worst time to go see the Osteopath. He’d probably be less trusting at the moment of acute pain (he mentioned that he has had some pain from past adjustments) and potentially end up in more pain. Perhaps when his back was feeling better would be the right time to go see the Osteopath and make sure the skeletal system was in good alignment, and nerves weren’t being compressed.

Acupuncture seemed much less invasive to him and he wanted confirmation that it would help and be appropriate. One could easily argue that in an acute phase of any injury, the least invasive is sometimes the best place to start.

In terms of which asanas to do or not do, I don’t give advice about that via email or phone. I would only give advice regarding yoga postures if I were able to see and assess someone first.

Hey, L.B., if you’re out there reading this, how’s you’re back going? What did you do and did it help?