The Road to Stretching

When I was younger, I rarely stretched. When I was 22, my lower back began to hurt (strained back) from mountain biking. I went to physical therapy. The treatment - strengthening and stretching. When I was 24 my knee began to hurt (IT Band Syndrome) from training for a marathon. I went to physical therapy. The treatment - strengthening and stretching. When I was 25 my feet and knees began to hurt (IT Band Syndrome) from hiking the Appalachian Trail. I went to physical therapy. The treatment - strengthening and stretching. When I was 29 my back, hips, and knees (locked sacrum, misaligned spine) began to hurt from playing beach volleyball. I went to physical therapy. The treatment - strengthening and stretching. The causes and locations of pain were different. The treatments were the same. But the treatments were temporary and not cures.

My last physical therapy began in August of 2009, after suffering for over a month with back, hip, and knee pain (from beach volleyball). I knew that tight muscles were one of the main contributors. I told my physical therapist that I wanted to focus on stretching. After his evaluation he prescribed a treatment of 10 minutes of stretching followed by 50 of strengthening. It was the roughly the same treatment I had received for nearly every other injury. It no longer made sense to me. I thought that I should have been stretching for 50 minutes and strengthening for 10. I went to physical therapy for three months without relief. I stopped going.

I now believe I was stuck in a cycle of injury throughout my entire active life. I exercised until tight muscles promoted injury. Once injured, I went to physical therapy. Inside and outside of physical therapy, I mostly strengthened (which tightens muscles further) and minimally stretched. My flexibility did not change. Zero increased flexibility led to frustration. Frustration led to a stop in stretching. A stop in stretching led to more injuries. More injuries led to more physical therapy. More physical therapy led to more emphasis on strengthening (tightening of muscles), thus ensuring the completed cycle.

I suspected stretching as a missing link in my continued health after my second IT band injury. At the time, I asked my physical therapist how to properly stretch my IT band. His response - "there aren't any good stretches". I took him at his word. He was the professional, after all. But the more I experienced, the more I learned that most people (especially professionals) are limited by their own experience.

To test my theories, I have taken matters into my own hands. In January, I began doing yoga...

Yosemite and Hookworms - In Real Time

Just got back from a trip to Yosemite. The drive there - nearly unbearable. My back - in agony. My stomach - fragile. The weather - cold and rainy. The scenery - inspiring.

Day one, I woke up nauseated. Ingrid and I hiked around the valley floor. We saw few people but incredible views - waterfalls, rivers, massive granite cliffs, meadows, birds, and deer. By mile eight, my back was nearly in spasm. We rested, stretched, then went to dinner at the Yosemite Lodge. The Yosemite Lodge has a fairly extensive gluten-free menu (a condensed version of their normal menu). The food - overrated. My Caesar salad was extraordinarily average and my ribeye was tough and poorly seasoned. I went back to the tent nauseated. More stretching, in bed by 8.

Day two, I woke up nauseated. We hiked up the mist and John Muir trail. Our goal - Nevada Falls. We made it to Clark's Point, some 2 miles from Nevada on account of my back. In the valley we went to the Ahwahnee Dining room for lunch. This was supposed to be an amazing restaurant. I had fried calamari and a club sandwich. Both had too much bread and were poorly seasoned. The club sandwich was like eating lard. The price - exorbitant. I went back to the tent nauseated.

On our way home today, my back remained in agony. I remained nauseated. However, an interesting segment on NPR (This American Life) caught my ear. The piece was about parasites. After discussing the effects that some parasites have on insects and fish, the piece switched to an interesting segment on the potentially beneficial relationship between hookworms and autoimmune diseases (Celiac Disease, Allergies, Asthma, Crone's Disease, etc.) in humans.

I could not do justice to the NPR piece, so please click here to hear the fascinating piece.

Abdomen Pain - In Real Time

I now see an Osteopath on a regular basis. Osteopaths are medical doctors who are trained to diagnose and cure ailments according to the "inter-relationship of the body's nerves, muscles, bones and organs"*. This type of medicine is generally more hands-on and holistic that traditional western medicine.

During the visits, my doctor and I talk about my long- and short-term health issues as my doctor manipulates my body. In my last visit, we talked about my attempt at a raw foods diet and how horrible I felt after starting to eat nuts and large amounts of citrus. I told my doctor that I was suspicious of of the nuts and citrus causing my abdomen pain and twitching eye, but that I was unsure. I told him that the abdomen pain only decreased while not sitting in my chair at work and while doing yoga. He suggested that my abdomen pain might be related to my back issues.

It has been over three weeks since I stopped eating nuts and over a week since I stopped eating citrus. I still have abdomen pain and eye twitches; but I have been charting them with my continuing back/hip pain and tightness. As of now, it looks promising that the abdomen pain is related to my back/hip issues.

In addition to doing yoga, I have started (painfully) deep stretching of my hips and pelvis. We shall see...

*http://www.osteopathic.org/index.cfm?PageID=ost_main