A very interesting paper was published in European Spine Journal this month entitled Altered Breathing Patterns in Chronic Low Back Pain Patients.

The research proved that patients with chronic low back pain often experience altered breathing patterns while performing movements involving the core muscles.  This is relevant for anyone who moves and has low back pain!  Let’s define each of the patterns that were considered impaired:

Breath holding:  Pretty self explanatory.

Paradoxical breathing:  Chest wall moves in on inspiration and out on expiration (reverse of the normal movements).

Upper costal breathing:  Upper chest moves with inspiration and expiration while the diaphragm is not properly engaged.

Mixed pattern breathing:  Any of the above patterns mixed together.

The ideal breathing pattern was deemed to be costodiaphragmatic breathing.  This pattern is defined by the ribcage displacing upwards, outwards and forward with outward abdominal movement (which is reversed on expiration).

The core muscles that surround our lumbar (low) spine take on the shape of a cylinder with the diaphragm at the top, the pelvic floor at the bottom, the abdominals at the front and the back muscles bringing up the rear.  If there is a sense of instability in the low back, it is thought that individuals alter their breathing patterns, using their diaphragm to aid in stabilization.  Therefore if you have chronic low back pain, you may be utilizing one of these abnormal breathing patterns to help stabilize your low back (which is not good).

Much research is still needed on this topic, but breathing patterns should be assessed in chronic low back pain patients as they could be perpetuating the problem.

Rousell et al., Altered Breathing Patterns in Chronic Low Back Pain Patients. European Spine Journal. Volume 16, Pages 1066-1020.

Dr. Meschino is not only a doctor of chiropractic and naturopathic medicine; he also has a master’s degree in nutrition; that is ten years of post-graduate studies!  Dr. Meschino is an evidence based doctor, this means that he only practices and teaches what has been proven in research.  The research, whether taught by naturopaths, medical doctors, or biochemistry professors states that essential fatty acids are very important for us.  Learn from Dr. Meschino’s video why essential fatty acids are ESSENTIAL.

What do these three objects have in common?  They can all be used for self myofascial release!

Foam rollers are becoming very popular among athletes.  They are used to help maintain healthy tissue between ART, Graston or other myofascial treatments.

I am constantly educating my patients on ways to keep themselves healthy outside of the clinic.  Rolling is something I often recommend.  When patients cannot afford to buy a foam roller or they don’t have enough space to store one in their home, I suggest a “budget”, space saving, and more environmentally sustainble option.  If you roll a tea towel around an empty wine bottle or rolling pin, the same results can be achieved as with a foam roller.  Yes, the foam roller provides more distance from the ground which makes rolling easier; however, these cylindrical objects can release tissues just as well.  You can modify the intensity of your self-release by the thickness of towel wrapped around the object you choose roll on.

Take home points:

1. Be gentle!!!
2. It shouldn’t hurt more than seven out of ten on a pain scale with ten being the worst pain you have felt.
3. Remember, your tissues need to recover from treatments just as they do from activity.  Therefore, begin gently and increase your time on the roller SLOWLY!
4. Give yourself at least a day inbetween rolling at the beginning.
5. This is great for ITBs, calves, forearms, etc..
6. Check in with your practitioner if you have questions about how to apply this to your body.
7. Remember that if something is tight, it is normally because something is weak, so get checked out by your practitioner to see what exercises need to be incorporated into your regime.
8. If you are rolling heavier parts of your body and are concerned about the wine bottle breaking under you, choose a rolling pin for those body parts instead.
9. HAVE FUN being healthy!

One of my recent articles is featured in the new Squamish Climbing Magazine (on page 30).  In this article, I discuss the importance of our scapular stabilizers in both shoulder injury prevention and rehabilitation.  If you are a climber, a surfer, a tennis player, landscaper, or a parent lifting a child all day long, this article will be beneficial for you.