“Try clenching your jaw to see the muscles in your neck contract,” says Gopal. Most of us work on computers in this position. Add to that the constant staring at screens and you have a recipe for eye strain and headaches.
“I see a lot more people under 40 with back problems these days than I did five years ago. Life is more stressful,” says Gopal. While most people want a pill to ease their pain, Gopal adds: “You have to strengthen your back yourself. We need to start focusing on prevention rather than medicine as a cure.”
Juicy spines
When we are stressed and tense our muscles, it is most often the trapezius muscle that ends up working over time.
“The trapezius is the muscle at the top of your neck, and you might pay someone to rub it for you because it’s hunched and its muscle fibers get tight and knotted.”
Inhibition of the upper back will have an impact on the rest of the spine.
“You have to think of the spine as moving as one unit,” Gopal says. “Yes, it has different areas, but if one part is too stiff, the other parts have to move more to compensate,” Gopal says.
While the upper back is supposed to be slightly stiffer than the rest of the spine, Gopal says, “We really want the spine to flow like a wave-like type of structure.”
The simple recipe
In the UK, the most common diagnosis is non-specific low back pain.
Once you’ve ruled out anything more sinister, Gopal helps his clients focus on simple exercises that make them feel good, meaning they’ll actually want to do them every day.
“We are conditioned to think that unless you go to the gym three times a week for an hour each time (not including travel and showering), any other exercise is not valid,” says Gopal.
