Lessons From the Bear

So there I was, watching The Great Adventures of Winnie the Pooh at 4 years of age, and he bends over to touch his toes and the stitching in his back bursts undone. “Silly old bear,” I think, “it must be because he’s so stuffed with fluff.” Then after 21 years of school, it hit me as I was watching that same movie with my 4-year-old.  Isn’t it amazing how in the circle of our lives our perspective can so greatly change? Here is why so many people get injured: repetitive bending at the spine, especially early in the morning. It’s in all the research and textbooks and classes on spine biomechanics.  He didn’t get hurt because he’s silly, old, a bear, or stuffed with fluff. It’s because he moved improperly.

The discs in your spine that allow for the appropriate flexibility you need, have a gel in the middle.  While you were sleeping, your discs fill with fluid and during the day some of the fluid gets pumped out. This is good because the fluid feeds your spine the nutrients it needs to stay alive.  However, this makes the morning a risky time for injury because forward bending too much too early in the day creates even more than normal pressure in your disc and the gel tries to push out in the back where there is the least resistance to the movement.

A noticeable injury doesn’t always happen all at once; little by little, that daily routine and repetition of this poor movement create little bits of damage that don’t quickly heal until at some point, there is injury and it is noticed! Don’t get me wrong, bending forward for this has been an activity done for thousands of years across the world, it isn’t the problem.  The problem is that this mandatory and normal movement is added to our unbalanced lifestyle where we compensate and move joints we shouldn’t do.  This is to accomplish movements we naturally want to do but don’t have the strength for (motor control, stability) or the flexibility (mobility) in the correct parts of our body that our ancestors had. The answer? Power through it with lots of weight lifting and repetition?  Hit it with a hammer? Please don’t!  The answer is to learn again how to move correctly.  For best results, come see your favorite chiropractor near Sandy UT for your functional assessment of useful movement.  But if you don’t have that luxury available, the following may help.

Keep an inward and sturdy low back curve (Neutral/lordotic curve), stick your butt out and up, bend at your hips (thigh to pelvis area), not your back.  Build your core with endurance exercises like planks and side bridges, learn how to breathe with your belly as you did as a baby, and strengthen your pelvic floor.

Unlike a stuffed bear, it’s harder for you to stitch yourself back together and go about your honey-loving day.  We are made of more than stuff and fluff, but there are still things we can learn from this classic bear. That’s why I’m here as a chiropractor.  I saw Pooh Bear doing moving to injury, and I can see it in other people.  You just enjoy the movie.

Take time to take care, Dr. Wooten, D.C.