The Autonomic Nervous System and Neural Therapy as a regulation tool

[Gaby]

Today and yesterday I had to go to work : the pain came back, but I must say that the moment of respite I had means that the method is working for me, at least in part. Should I wait, should I have more sessions, should I have more rest? I don't know yet, we'll see what the future holds.

I think you'll see some changes for weeks to come and/or you'll get organized at a new level. Perhaps exercises or other physical therapies might yield better results. After a month or so, you can have another session and/or new things or tension points could be searched. We'll see.

What is interesting is that you had an appendectomy scar that even though is old, it does relate with back pains:

If one lifts up the bedsheet with two fingers just an inch or so, there will be wrinkles running all across the sheet to the periphery of the sheet, displacing the edge of the sheet sightly. Therefore, the scar of an appendectomy can tug on the fascia of the abdominal muscles which have continuity with the muscles of the back and the ligaments of the sacroiliac joints.

 

[nicklebleu]

In my experience the main culprit for lower back pain is the QL muscle (quadratus lumborum). I suffer from this form of lower back pain on a regular basis, often without any specific trigger, too. One thing I noticed in my case is that if I don't do any exercise for about a week or two, the pain comes back (that doesn’t seem to be the case with you). Kettle bells work best for me.

Once I get the back pain it is usually an arduous way back, with a mixture of exercises and using a ball to massage the sore spot.

The exercise is quite weird and explained here. It pretty much gives instant pain release and trains up your QL.

The technique with the ball is explained here. I simply put the ball where it hurts most and massage the muscle along its muscle fibers. Initially it works only for a relatively short time and you have to repeat it frequently, but the intervals get longer over time until you are back to normal. I always have one of those in my travel bag (when we were still allowed to travel!).

Hope that helps

 

[mrtn]

In my experience the main culprit for lower back pain is the QL muscle (quadratus lumborum). I suffer from this form of lower back pain on a regular basis, often without any specific trigger, too.

I had this for years and had the impression it gets worse the more grains and baked goods I eat, but rice as well. When worse, it would draw into the outer side of the upper leg, making it painful to walk. When I went nearly carnivore / zero carb it disappeared completely. I observed it coming back slightly only when I had buns/bread to regularly over a couple of days and is fixed again in a day by cutting these out again.

 

[sebbe]

In my experience the main culprit for lower back pain is the QL muscle (quadratus lumborum). I suffer from this form of lower back pain on a regular basis, often without any specific trigger, too. One thing I noticed in my case is that if I don't do any exercise for about a week or two, the pain comes back (that doesn’t seem to be the case with you). Kettle bells work best for me.

Once I get the back pain it is usually an arduous way back, with a mixture of exercises and using a ball to massage the sore spot.

The exercise is quite weird and explained here. It pretty much gives instant pain release and trains up your QL.

The technique with the ball is explained here. I simply put the ball where it hurts most and massage the muscle along its muscle fibers. Initially it works only for a relatively short time and you have to repeat it frequently, but the intervals get longer over time until you are back to normal. I always have one of those in my travel bag (when we were still allowed to travel!).

Yes, the Quadratus Lumborum seems to be frequently involved in back pain. However, it is difficult to know whether it is the direct cause of a problem, or whether, being for example the "weakest link", it is the one that "gives way" first, thus generating pain signals.

The technique of the tennis or golf ball or the petanque piglet works for the superficial muscles of the back. But the complexity of the layout of the back muscles, superimposed in layers, makes it difficult to "access" them in this way.

In the book I quoted above, they mention that it is possible to access the deep muscles of the back, from the front, i.e. from the abdomen, more exactly. I confirm this, since it is possible to access, with prudence and patience (be careful with the arteries) the Psoas, the Iliacus and the Quadratus Lumborum. This method is much more efficient than the ball technique, precisely for these muscles.

By the way, palpation of the psoas, although painful on some points, remains manageable. By massaging the trigger points, the relief is efficient and fast in general. For the Quadratus Lumborum, it's different. It is much more difficult to access, you have to be really relaxed, and ideally, have a slightly empty colon. In my case, the pain, on palpation, is sharp, acute and almost looks like a burn.

I had this for years and had the impression it gets worse the more grains and baked goods I eat, but rice as well. When worse, it would draw into the outer side of the upper leg, making it painful to walk. When I went nearly carnivore / zero carb it disappeared completely. I observed it coming back slightly only when I had buns/bread to regularly over a couple of days and is fixed again in a day by cutting these out again.

Yes, there's no doubt that foods that cause inflammation can make back pain worse, and with a proper diet, you can reduce the pain.

Thank you very much for your feedback.

 

[Gabriela]

Thank you for this information Gaby, I got curious and had my first Neural Therapy session yesterday. I consulted for IBS and bowel pain.

Even though I was scared, the process is not painful, the hours after it were (in my case). I had such a pain in the throat last night I barely swallowed dinner. Today is better, also for my back. He worked on my lower back, throat and belly.

 

[KTC]

Yes, the Quadratus Lumborum seems to be frequently involved in back pain. However, it is difficult to know whether it is the direct cause of a problem, or whether, being for example the "weakest link", it is the one that "gives way" first, thus generating pain signals.

The technique of the tennis or golf ball or the petanque piglet works for the superficial muscles of the back. But the complexity of the layout of the back muscles, superimposed in layers, makes it difficult to "access" them in this way.

In the book I quoted above, they mention that it is possible to access the deep muscles of the back, from the front, i.e. from the abdomen, more exactly. I confirm this, since it is possible to access, with prudence and patience (be careful with the arteries) the Psoas, the Iliacus and the Quadratus Lumborum. This method is much more efficient than the ball technique, precisely for these muscles.

By the way, palpation of the psoas, although painful on some points, remains manageable. By massaging the trigger points, the relief is efficient and fast in general. For the Quadratus Lumborum, it's different. It is much more difficult to access, you have to be really relaxed, and ideally, have a slightly empty colon. In my case, the pain, on palpation, is sharp, acute and almost looks like a burn.



Yes, there's no doubt that foods that cause inflammation can make back pain worse, and with a proper diet, you can reduce the pain.

Thank you very much for your feedback.

Agreed the QL if tight is most often being over used because the antagonists are not doing their job. QL then acts as a stabilizer and mover and simply gets fatigued doing too much work. I do a series of movements with my clients to release and activate the deep core including psoas, transverse abs, multifidi and pelvic floor which will then allow the QL to lay off and work in conjunction with this group of muscles.

It is important not to palpate the psoas too much as it will react and continue to tighten. The psoas is an emotional responder to outside stress and is regarded as the fight or flight muscle. Acting as a shelf to the organs, the psoas will flare up in response to stress and is best released with subtle movements rather than palpation. There is a fascinating woman, Liz Koch who has studied the psoas for over 30 years and teaches somatic movement work. I've done a few of her courses and intergrate her work with my Pilates for chronic pain with great success.

Transverse abs and multifidi also lose their intuitive nature when pain is present and need to be reactivated in a way that QL are not driving the movement ie passive activation followed by dynamic activation.

I'm very interested in this Neural Therapy @Gaby and wonder if it may be similar to a guy in Australia called Ken Ware who teaches neuro physics therapy. I've done the first part of his online learning but of course COVID prevented me from travelling his school to finish off.

I'm always looking for therapies I can use with my clients in conjunction with Pilates based movement therapy. Thanks for bringing up the topic