[Michael]

Okay,

Good article in some parts. Problem is that it leaves both the worker and the employer in a position to end up with lost work time even with following the protocols that they set out. My other problem is theft of images and information from professional sources without giving credit to them (I own copies of the books and have used the information to teach athletes, business’ and the general public on how to avoid injury and also how to  rehab the body after injury.

Biggest issue to avoid back injury is proper posture not only in lifting and moving under load but day to day moving sitting and standing. The biggest contributor to low back injury is weak abdominal muscles. These are what maintains the proper positional rotation of the pelvis which in turns helps maintain the proper arch of the Lumbar spine. Another postural issue that worsen the issue is head forward posture (ears in front of the shoulders).

Wearing a weight belt while not under load is also a big no no as it causes the muscles that should be supporting your back and abdomen to relax and let the belt take up the load. This weakens them for being able to take the load up when they need to and during normal daily living. The paper correct in the twisting under load is a big no no as is bending at the waist (do the math for the lever force and it gets scary). There are some rather good resources for stretching, but most stretching is currently being question in sports as it might not be as good as we have thought it to be over the years. Resistive stretching IS showing to be helpful as it not only helps prepare local muscle groups for loading but also the entire chain that group is associated with.

Now more then a few of you are probably wondering how I know all this and why I am working with Solid Surface IF I do know all this.

I am a Doctor of Chiropractic by degree, I am a registered Osteomyologist in the UK (fancy name for manual medicine practitioner). I have over 8yrs of practice. I was all but exam for olympic level sports medicine and have work with many different levels of athletes. Cancer sucks, I am enjoying what life is opening to me and rebuilding my body as I can (in the process of treating the cancer they damaged the parathyroids as well and of the anterior lymph glands I only have the right side).

As far as the physician side of me goes I am one of those that believe in teaching folks to be able to take care of themselves as best as possible and do those things that will give them the least pain and most function as possible.

I hope the above information is helpful and helps someone avoid some of the serious injuries I have had to deal with over the years.

Michael

[Jeff Handley]

Hi Michael,

Thanks for weighing in. MIA is pretty careful about copyrights. The first photo is a royalty free stock image photo and the stretching guide was provided to MIA by a member company that serves on the safety committee. All other images and video segments, are property of the MIA.

[Michael]

Jeff,

The reason I said that is some of the images are straight out of Books by Bob Anderson Stretching (illustrated by his wife Jean). If he is working with you, then you have a very good voice in your group. If not I would check the “stock” images as I have found some of my work listed as stock images and had to notify the website that they where using my work without permission. All except one was okay with that, and either took it down or asked permission (which I gave, for me on some images it is not about the money).

Like I said good article in many areas. The big issue is getting folks to use their body and safety equipment properly. Which having worked as a consultant on work site safety in Italy, I understand that it is not as easy as folks from the health and safety boards try to make it seem.

Keep up the good work.

Michael

[Tom M]

Michael,
Thank you for the input. That was very valuable bit of info.

[Author]

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