Nearly any article I come across for improving back pain will invariably recommend the cat/cow exercise (a repeated arching and rounding of the spine). This is a thoughtless, rather than thoughtful addition to a sequence for back pain. Anyone providing recommendations to total strangers should only include harmless exercise with consideration of what potential serious issues can be creating back pain. While some people searching the internet for back pain relief may have no damage in their spine whatsoever, many have serious issues for which cat/cow is contraindicated and harmful such as: disc herniation; spinal stenosis; spondylolisthesis; or scoliosis. Cat/cow would aggravate and worsen each of these conditions. Moreover, when a spine is in enough distress that someone is searching for relief, often in the form of back spasms or the feeling of a pulled muscle, that spine will respond much better to stability work performed in neutral spine alignment rather than excessive motion. In fact, most likely the reason an otherwise healthy spine would be in distress, would be because of lack of awareness of neutral spine alignment as they were performing some task, exercise, or just sitting or standing in misalignment. A muscle in spasm is asking to return to its normal resting length rather than being stretched. The takeaway here is that it is much better and useful to teach neutral spine work rather than repeatedly and mindlessly including cat/cow not knowing what brought the reader to you. If you would like to learn neutral spine work, contact me at SarasotaScoliosis.com. Jane DoCampo is certified by the International Association of Yoga Therapists and is a NASM corrective exercise specialist specializing in scoliosis, herniation, and pelvic floor dysfunction.

Causes of back pain and the solution for back pain