By: Erin Ritterbusch, MS CPT
Welcome to 23 Disc! We are a company providing a non-invasive solution for low back pain designed to give you an individualized program. 23 Disc is heavily based on quality science and research and we have put together this program to bring you the best of each type of therapy to create a one stop shop to find out what is causing your pain and give you the tools needed to work towards removing that pain.
It is not uncommon to go to your doctor to complain of lower back pain and receive a very general, non-specific answer to your problem. They may say, for example, to try yoga- which is all well and good but there are some poses in yoga that those with low back problems should absolutely avoid. If your pain is severe enough, they may even suggest that you try back surgery. Wait! This decision should be your last resort and after you have exhausted all options. It is also a decision that may have more risk than reward at the end of the day, which are not the odds you want when going through a serious procedure.
Rather than putting all your eggs in one basket with one type of therapy solution that may end up not working. You need to explore other options.
What is multimodal therapy? This term essentially means the optimization of combining different types of therapies and presenting them together as one type of intervention. 23 Disc has combined the best mix of cognitive, behavioral, occupational, and physical therapies as well as meditation, based specifically on what has worked according to numerous research studies. Our goal is to give our customers the best of the best all in one place.
Another reason 23 Disc is unique is because of our emphasis on education. We want to make sure you understand why you are doing something or how and why it works and give you the science and research to back it up. If you don’t know why you’re doing something, then why do it? Comprehending the reasoning behind doing a certain exercise a particular way or moving in a certain way to complete a daily task will help with your technique and you are more likely to stick with it when you know the WHY.
Besides our emphasis on daily movements and being able to perform those in the most safe and effective way, exercise is another important component to working that abdominal support. You can find out more about the abdominal armor in the first video you watch after joining our program. 23 Disc provides different levels of exercise videos as well as a PDF full of exercises we recommend avoiding. The videos focus around 3 main exercises, based on the research done by prominent professor of spine biomechanics, Dr. Stuart McGill. Our goal is to provide an effective workout that is both time efficient and attainable for people of different levels of ability. Why do these exercises work? It basically all comes down to one major misconception many people make when it comes to your core, including many personal trainers- that strengthening by doing multiple forceful reps or adding extra weight is what is going to protect your lower back when in fact, it’s endurance.
Endurance vs. Strength. Endurance refers to time under tension and being able to sustain that for a longer period of time while strength is exerting a maximum force in a short amount of time. While generally you do use both in your daily life, when it comes to your core and protecting your lower back, endurance is what comes out on top. This is because throughout your day, you need that endurance to ensure that when your core is engaged, it will be able to protect you for the entirety of the daily movements you are performing.
23 Disc also focuses heavily on exercises that keep your spine neutral and straight to avoid any unwanted pressure on your spine. Having a flexible spine is something many people may view as a good thing when in fact, it’s quite the opposite. This idea is coupled with feel good stretches that end up causing more damage and providing only temporary relief. Spine stiffness should be what you are after- this rigidity is what protects you and keeping a neutral and straight spine and only bending it when necessary will help the healing process and prevent further injury.
Ultimately, 23 Disc was created to give low back pain sufferers the answers that they have been looking for, and to be a guide through finding the source of your pain and helping along the journey to try and eliminate that pain. Back pain is no joke, to which I can personally attest to. Sometimes it feels like there is no hope, and that it’s just something you’ll have to deal with for the rest of your life. But it doesn’t have to be that way! We at 23 Disc are here to help and guide you and to find a solution that works specifically for you and is something that you are going to be willing to continually do. Preventing back pain is an ongoing practice and is all about consistency and eventually it will be part of your everyday life and you won’t even have to think about it!
