Woman can lift 100 kg in weight training but still has lower back pain; Dr. Lu Yen-chang, Chinese Medicine Physician, addresses it through acupuncture, manual adjustments, and breathing instruction
A woman nearing forty, who is also a company executive, has long suffered from lower back pain. To alleviate her symptoms, she actively engaged in weight training, hoping to strengthen her core muscles. However, despite being able to deadlift 100 kg, her back pain worsened instead of improving. The pain intensified to the point of affecting her daily life, requiring her to work standing up, relying on painkillers daily, and even taking sleeping pills to fall asleep, resulting in extremely poor sleep quality.
Upon diagnosis by the Yuan Rung Hospital Chinese Medicine Department it was found that her lower back pain was the result of multiple superimposed factors. The primary reason was chronic sleep deprivation, sleeping only 4 to 5 hours daily, leading to excessive tension in the Liver and Heart meridians related to the lower back area, making muscle relaxation difficult. Secondly, the patient habitually used shallow chest breathing and failed to effectively utilize diaphragmatic breathing to stabilize her core during weight training, causing excessive pressure on her lumbar spine. Finally, the examination also revealed a structural imbalance with relative rotation between her thoracic spine and pelvis, which was also one of the contributing factors to the exacerbated pain.
In response to the above diagnosis, an integrated treatment strategy was adopted. Initially, acupuncture and manual therapy were used to relax tense meridians and correct structural imbalances. Concurrently, he specifically instructed the patient to practice diaphragmatic breathing, deepening her breath to the Dantian to create stable intra-abdominal pressure, thereby reducing the burden on her lumbar spine. Furthermore, the physician strongly advised the patient to adjust her routine to ensure at least seven hours of sufficient sleep each night, allowing her body to fully recover.
After one month of comprehensive treatment, the female executive's right hip and lower back pain significantly improved; she not only stopped using painkillers and sleeping pills but also became able to work while sitting. Even more encouragingly, she returned to the gym and, with correct breathing and posture, increased her deadlift performance to 120 kg, significantly improving her quality of life. This case also demonstrates that when addressing lower back pain, in addition to strength training, it is crucial to focus on the overall balance of sleep, breathing, and body structure.
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