Spinal Stabilization: The New Science of Back Pain, 2nd Edition

5 Responses to “ Spinal Stabilization: The New Science of Back Pain, 2nd Edition ”

1. Divechick
   March 6, 2010 at 4:51 am

   This book explains really well the importance of the core middle layer abdominal muscles and how back problems arise and behave.The key to this book is being able to activate the transverse abdominis and the multifidus with pelvic floor muscles. ALL EXERCISES SHOWN IN THIS BOOK ARE BASED ON BEING ABLE TO ACTIVATE THESE MUSCLES before doing any of the subsequent follow on , well illustrated, excellent exercises.

   My gripe is that IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO LEARN THESE EXERCISES FROM THE BOOK ALONE IF YOU HAVE NO ACCESS TO A PHYSIO WHO KNOWS HOW TO TEACH THEM.

   The only tuition given for transverse abd is….

   “Once you have a good ability to activate the pelvic floor begin to pay attention to the TrA muscle. If it activates correctly you’ll feel tension in the muscle under your fingers.”

   But what if it doesn’t activate correctly , – isn’t this what happens with back pain? I thought I would be able to learn HOW TO activate them, not just why I need to.

   The only text that teaches you to train the vital multifidus muscle is:
   
   “Think of drawing the multifidus muscle together towards the centre of your spinal column.”

   I don’t know many people who could activate multifidus by just thinking about it, even if you have a friend poking you in the back.

   I felt I couldn’t get on to the exercises that would make a real difference to my back pain as I never could get to contract my middle muscles or know whether I was contracting them ,or oblique outer muscles or none at all.

   This book would perhaps suit sportspeople who are very self aware and used to feeling individual muscles; more than Mrs Bloggs with back pain and a weak tummy,who if she can’t contract or feel herself contracting her pelvic floor or T-abdominals is stumped at first base.

   I would highly recommend this book for education and for those who ALREADY know how to contract the middle layer as it is clearly written with great photos of an excellent progressive exercise programme.
   Rating: 3 / 5
2. shar
   March 6, 2010 at 7:11 am

   The second edition of `Spinal Stabilization- The New Science of Back Pain’ (a. Rick Jemmett) gives readers a refreshing, at times amazing and yet an easy to read overview of the research and medical world’s best understanding of how our lumbar region works and how this goes south when people have low back pathology. If the book did nothing else, this alone would be `worth the price of admission’. Jemmett’s ability to synthesize the complex but necessary research findings from the various disciplines (anatomy, biomechanics, neurology, epidemiology and pathology) is unusual and as readers we are thankful. His ability to explain this information in a style accessible to the lay person is also commendable and is greatly appreciated.

   Low back pain – while a common malady (most researchers begin their articles by noting that 80% of adults in the western world will experience a nasty bout of back pain at some point in their lives!) – is obviously an uncommonly complex problem as both traditional and non-traditional treatments have been so grossly unsuccessful. On this point the researchers are unified – treatment approaches to back pain such as strengthening exercises, walking, stretching, swimming, acupuncture, yoga, pilates, even surgery – are all highly inconsistent in their effectiveness. In other words, each might be expected to `work’ in only 10 to 15% of cases. Even then, the relief provided by these various approaches is often short lived. Of those 80% of people who will have the big back pain episode, 70 to 75% of them will develop an ongoing, on and off again pattern of low back pain lasting many, many years. Jemmett’s ability to explain the research – research which for the first time offers a reasonable explanation for why all this happens in the first place – is the key ingredient in this wonderful book.

   For any of us with back pain, the first step in getting a real solution must be a real understanding of the problem. I was fortunate enough to read Jemmett’s latest effort, a textbook written for health care professionals. As expected, the textbook goes into far more detail and uses all the big medical words that Jemmett so mercifully avoids in `Spinal Stabilization’. The benefit of the more advanced research review in the textbook is that we can readily see why the concepts discussed in Jemmett’s books are so important. About fifteen years ago, the best low back researchers went off in a new direction, thinking outside the box, and in so doing discovered radically new and far more accurate ideas about low back pain. As Jemmett dryly states in the textbook, `every solution requires a problem’. What he means by this of course is that any true solution requires a complete understanding of the fundamental problem. Traditional approaches, known to work only inconsistently, were not developed with this understanding. The new research now provides this understanding, and not surprisingly, a far more effective solution has followed closely (several clinical trials of these methods have now been completed; the most lengthy study showed that the `Australian method’ as described by Jemmett results in a 900 – 1200% reduction in back pain risk – a degree of improvement unheard of with traditional methods).

   In my experience, the problem in communicating this wonderful news to patients (and readers) is that there are many voices in the low back pain wilderness all claiming to have `the cure’. Patients and readers are understandably baffled by all this noise and seem to have difficulty sorting out the good from the goofy. As a health care professional and academic I can confirm that this new research brings us much closer to a truly useful understanding of why your back hurts and what you should do about it.

   `Spinal Stabilization’ should be required reading for the majority of people with back pain. The message it provides is as unique in its validity as it is clear and understandable. In addition, I would strongly recommend a great new book by David Butler and Lorimer Mosely called `Explain Pain’. For those of you with truly chronic pain, this book is just as revolutionary as is Mr. Jemmett’s.

   Rating: 5 / 5
3. Kyle
   March 6, 2010 at 7:37 am

   This is an important book. I have had back problems since my freshman year when I injured my L5-S1 disc shoveling snow. I never needed surgery, but the episodes of pain gradually became worse and more frequent. By the time I was 36 (last year) I was having four or five, three to four week bouts of pain each year. A physician at Duke recommended this to me and I am stunned by the difference. I was getting used to having more and more pain each year, and with these exercises, the pain is controlled. The doctor said my back problem will require me to keep up the exercises, but so what? I finally have a means to control the pain – he and I are both confident that this will continue to work for me.

   Mr Jemmett’s book is easy to read and well organized. Most important, the book gave me the tools needed to both understand and control my problem. BTW – I noted that there are several books out right now that claim back pain is all stress-related. That seemed a little far fetched to me. The book does touch on this issue but states that while stress can be a factor sometimes, there are real physical changes in the muscles and nervous system that can explain much of the back pain experienced by the average person.

   If you’ve got back pain, check with your doctor to be sure it isn’t something serious (most likely it won’t be). Then get this book – I highly recommend it!
   Rating: 5 / 5
4. Michael J. Shoaf
   March 6, 2010 at 10:14 am

   I cannot overstate what a wonderful job Rick Jemmett has done in writing this book. I have suffered with back pain since 1991 and have spent much time reading/researching information on back pain. This book, more than any other I have found, provides a detailed summary of the latest clinical findings on the causes and treatments for low back pain. The back exercises in the book are done with a swiss ball. If you do not own a swiss ball and have no interest in using one, don’t buy this book. If, on the other hand, you do own a swiss ball, this is the best book available for learning an exercise program.

   Mr. Jemmett does a thorough job of introducing the reader to the concepts of spinal stabilization and then dedicates 40 pages to describing exercises and exercise programs that can be done to stabilize the spine (complete with color photos so you can SEE how to do the exercises). If you can buy only one book on self-treatment of back pain, let this be the one!

   This should be required reading for all physical therapists, chiropractors, orthopedists, and physiatrists!
   Rating: 5 / 5
5. A reader
   March 6, 2010 at 10:51 am

   I started having low back pain ~6 years ago, including several scary bouts of leg numbness. I’ve tried traditional back strengthening exercises, stretching, physical therapy, traction, and chiropractic treatment. My back would eventually feel better, but the pain would always come back. Then I found and read Rick Jemmett’s Spinal Stabilization book 14 months ago. The book does a great job of explaining the causes of low back pain, and contains exercises that target and isolate the abdominal and back muscles that really matter.

   I went to a physical therapist to help me with the exercises from the book, especially the ones that isolate the multifidus. I highly recommend finding a physical therapist with back rehabilitation experience to make sure you learn and are doing the exercises correctly. I did the exercises 4-5 times per week initially, and now do them twice per week. My back feels great and I’ve had very little back pain over the last year. I am extremely active and ride road and mountain bikes, lift weights, and snowboard.

   I also shared the book with my Physician and he is now recommending it to other patients with low back pain. My only criticism is that the book seems repetitive, but it’s really just reinforcing the material and exercises, which have worked for me, and will hopefully work for others with low back pain.
   
   Rating: 5 / 5