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i DESERT PAIN
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interventional spine care
Best Treatment for Back Pain: Build Your Core Strength
Introduction
As an interventional spine specialist, I am commonly asked the same question from my
patients: "How could I have prevented this back pain?" Degenerative disc disease, facet
(low back joints) arthritis, spinal stenosis and sciatic pain are conditions that come with an
aging spine. It is not a question of IF you are going to get one or more of these diseases but
WHEN. Our spines are going to wear out no matter what we do. But, you can prevent or
delay these diseases by taking care of yourself. You can avoid requiring prescription
medications and x-ray guided epidurals by me if you do four things to save your spine:
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Avoid impactful movement
Lose abdominal weight
Maintain good posture
Build core strength
Avoiding Impactful Movement
Jarring ofthe spine is common for the "Weekend Warrior". Activities such as trying back
flips on a snowboard or catching air on your four-wheeler can jar the spine and accelerate
degeneration. Most of my patients don't engage in such strenuous activities. However,
some activities can be too impactful to the spine and cause degeneration. The most healthy
low impact exercise is swimming. My patients that are swimmers have the healthiest
spines. Biking causes little impact to the discs and back joints as well. If you choose to jog,
I prefer that you jog on soft surfaces, as jogging is somewhat impactful to your spine. In
other words, I would prefer that you swim rather than jog, but certainly jog as opposed to
becoming a couch potato! Pickle ball and tennis can be somewhat impactful to the spine as
well, however, if you work your way into these sports slowly, you will have the core
strength required to prevent too much impact during your play.
Losing Abdominal Weight
Losing weight is always easier said than done. Because of the mechanics of our body, belly
weight adds a tremendous amount of strain and pressure to the joints ofthe spine. From
our knowledge of physics and biomechanics, we estimate that one pound of fat on the belly
equates to ten pounds of torque or pressure on the spine and discs. That means that losing
5 pounds of belly fat would decrease the strain to your spine by 50 pounds!
Court Empey M.D.
St. George
• lnterventional Pain Specialist
• Board Certified
1490 East Foremaster Drive, Suite 220
St George, Utah 84790
Tel 435.216.7000 • Fax 435.216.7001
Spencer Wells M.D.
• lnterventional Pain Specialist
• Board Certified
Cortney Bernardo MS, PA-C
Melissa Hinton DNP
Mark Udy PA-C
Mesquite
www.desertpainspecialists.com
840 Pinnacle Court Suite lOA
Mesquite, Nevada 89027
Tel 702.346.5037
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i OESERT PAIN
\ SPECIALISTS
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interventional spine care
Maintaining Good Posture
Poor posture is much more common than good posture, especially when lifting. We tend to
keep our legs straight and completely bend our backs. When pulling weeds, picking up
your grandchild, or retrieving your birdie shot from the cup, you're better off bending your
legs and lifting with your legs while maintaining a good "lumbar curve". Having a good
lumbar curve means to curve your lower back IN not OUT like a scared cat. Or in other
words, a scared cat has a bad lumbar curve.
Building Core Strength
The most important way to prevent spine pain is to have
great core strength. Earlier I mentioned that my swimmers
are my patients that seem to have the best core strength, but
Pilates, pickle ball and even walking can help you have
adequate core strength. Two great exercises that I
recommend are the Bird-Dog and Planks. Bird-Dogs are
done by getting down on all fours (your hands and knees)
and then raising a single arm and the opposite leg up in the
air. Planks are done by getting down in a position similar to
the push up but going down onto your forearms. You can
then roll over to the left and subsequently the right and hold
each position there as well. The goal is to be able to hold both
the Bird-Dog and the Plank position for 90 seconds, but that is
not as easy as it sounds. Do three reps of each of these
exercises twice a day and hold each position for 5 seconds to
start. After a week or so you'll notice that you can go for 10
seconds and slowly work your way up as your core
strengthens.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I'm counseling what every doctor counsels: eat right and exercise. Your
parents were also giving good advice when they told you to sit up straight and eat your
vegetables. Both gave you sound advice to prevent spine problems. Remember to avoid
impact, lose weight, practice good posture and build good core strength. If you do these
four things, you may avoid having to see me as a patient.
Court Empey M.D.
St. George
1490 East Foremaster Drive, Suite 220
St George, Utah 84790
Tel 435.216.7000 • Fax 435.216.7001
• Interventional Pain Specialist
• Board Certified
Spencer Wells M.D.
• Interventional Pain Specialist
• Board Certified
Cortney Bernardo MS, PA-C
Melissa Hinton DNP
Mark Udy PA-C
www.desertpainspecialists.com
Mesquite
840 Pinnacle Court Suite lOA
Mesquite, Nevada 89027
Tel 702.346.5037