I’ve had pretty chronic lower back pain for the last year or so. I don’t know what started it, but with my riding and everything that I do, it seems to never go away. I’ve tried several things to alleviate it - stretching, yoga, chiropractic treatment, and lately, acupuncture, but even when things seem to help short term, I still get flare ups pretty regularly. My D.O. sent me to see this M.A.T. guy the other day. It was really neat, and I feel pretty good right now. Of course, I haven’t gone riding since then, so we’ll see, but I was wondering if anyone else has tried this? I am going back 2 more times, and am very hopeful!
Sorry no help but I’ll be watching this as a fellow lower back pain sufferer- I empathize with you!! Takes the fun out of EVERYTHING!!
I have lower back pain constantly if I do not stretch daily. I will pull a muscle from something as benign as standing up, turning, flinching, etc. I have found that by taking 5 minutes everyday to stretch my back and legs that I don’t hurt near as bad; nor do I pull muscles like I use to. I was told by another fellow back pain sufferer that one of the most common reasons for pulled muscles in the lower back is too tight of hamstrings, I guess they are all connected.
Every night before I go to bed I will lie on the floor or my bed without a pillow and keep one leg extended straight and bring the other knee to my chest or as close as I can without bringing my upper body off the floor. Hold for 10 seconds and switch legs.
Have you tried Pilates? I’ve had chronic low back pain since my twenties, and regular Pilates exercise along with riding has pretty much taken care of it.
In my forties, if I slacked off my Pilates for any length of time I’d wind up throwing my back out doing simple tasks.
Now that I’m in my fifties I’ve discovered blowing off Pilates for a couple of months results in falling off my horse, which throws my back out for a good week or two.
Not to derail your thread, sorry. Never heard of MAT.
I used to rotate my pelvis out of place. Ouch!:no: I had a physical therapist teach me a muscle activation technique that would set me straight again. It was a life saver for me. That, along with regular stretching and strengthening exercises keep me in an all around pain free mode.
For the poster that commented on hamstrings - tight hamstrings put enormous pressure on your lower back and can definitely lead to lower back pain. Also, your hip flexors extend beyond L4-L5 and if they are tight they can also cause problems. When I really work on my hip flexors my dressage improves because I can really lengthen my thigh down the flap of the saddle:yes:
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I used to rotate my pelvis out of place. Ouch!:no: I had a physical therapist teach me a muscle activation technique that would set me straight again. It was a life saver for me. That, along with regular stretching and strengthening exercises keep me in an all around pain free mode.
For the poster that commented on hamstrings - tight hamstrings put enormous pressure on your lower back and can definitely lead to lower back pain. Also, your hip flexors extend beyond L4-L5 and if they are tight they can also cause problems. When I really work on my hip flexors my dressage improves because I can really lengthen my thigh down the flap of the saddle:yes:[/QUOTE]
I think you have pretty much diagnosed me! I am very tight and stiff in my hips and thus very tight in my back. Last night for the first time I started yoga. WOW talk about a workout. It was difficult to manage stairs last night after a 30 minute session. I am hoping to try and put in a yoga session every other day and walk 30 mins plus light stretching on the off days. Hopefully this will be enough and not too much for my back to handle right off the bat.
OP: I have tried it once and didn’t feel like it did enough to justify continuing. However, several friends who are para-equestrians competing at the international/FEI levels absolutely swear by their MAT guy and see him regularly. They say he really helps them, but it’s debatable how long the results last. One woman, whose disability causes her to walk on her toes, had what she calls a “miracle” with one MAT session: she actually got her heels on the ground, and walked like that for the rest of the evening, which was huge for her. She was back to normal the next morning, and they’ve never been able to repeat that in another session, but that he was able to have such a massive, dramatic result even once was a really big deal.
