Mid-Back Rigidity Taxing To Your Health

Tuesday November 30, -0001 comments

As today is 04/15/13 it is timely to present another meaning of the word tax as it relates to your health.In this case we are talking about “taxing” in the context of burdensome, challenging, and arduous.

 Having evaluated human posture for almost 30 years and performing many functional movement analyses on patients, I have learned that mid-back rigidity is far too common and more far-reaching in its effects than most people realize.

 Because your head and neck, shoulders and arms, and lower back all attach to the mid-back, or thoracic spine, trouble in that region can be the root cause of problems almost anywhere in the body.  The movement that isn’t being done by the mid-back area will have to be compensated somewhere else.

The main problem is that we sit a lot, for commuting, work, eating, relaxing and entertainment, often without good back support, which leads to progressive rounding and stiffness of the mid-back.  Also, that rounding compresses the abdominal and chest regions of the body, and their contents, which is not great for the circulation and digestion.

 I’ve made a new Youtube video on this subject that shows the normal shape of the spine, how the spine gets bent out of shape, and some stretches that can help. I really think you will find it worthwhile:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXdP19xB_hE

Enjoy!