Day 4 of the 30 Day Walk Away from Neck Pain, Back Pain, and Sciatica

The Bad Back Guy, Rest, and Strategies for Beginning an Exercise Program

The Huffington Post ran an article today entitled Overtreated: Pain in the back widely overtreated. I think there is an echo in here because I have been saying that for over a year here and elsewhere online…as has almost every expert I can think of from the federal government to the Mayo Clinic.

So, what is going on? If everyone is aware of this, why are so many people getting too much pain medication, undergoing too many expensive procedures, including surgeries, and so few people being more aggressive about spreading the word?

Because back pain is a multi-billion dollar a year industry!

Here are some questions for you:

What would happen if everyone found out that herniated discs usually resolve themselves, at least as far as the pain goes, in a year or so?

What would happen if people found out the failure rate for certain types of back surgeries is 85-90%?

What would happen if people knew up front how seriously addictive certain pain medications are?

I could go on but the answer should, by now, be clear…it’s about the bucks!

Imagine if people were told to take a walk for 20 minutes every night for 90 days? Heck, for 30 days?

No boat payment for the surgeon this month!

Am I being facetious? Perhaps. But just a bit!

The fact is, most neck pain, back pain, and sciatica resolves itself in a matter of days or weeks.

If you want to recover sooner, get active!

So, start walking with us today! It is Day 4 of the 30 day Walk Away from Neck Pain, Back Pain, and Sciatica…but for you it can be the first day of the rest of your life. It can be a pain free life if you simply get active and follow a few simple strategies.

Imagine reclaiming your life and living neck, back, and sciatic nerve pain free!

It is not only possible, it is probable! But it takes a decision and a first step!

If you live in Northern Ohio and would like me to work with you personally? Or if you live some distance away and would like to consult with me, once you have been cleared my your medical practitioner?

Contact me anytime!

Professor John P. J. Zajaros, Sr., The Bad Back Guy
216-712-7004 (office)
440-821-7018 (mobile)
excellencepaidforward@gmail.com (personal email address)

The 30 Day Neck Pain, Back Pain, and Sciatica Relief Challenge: Walking and Pain Relief Part II

As you begin to plan your neck pain, back pain, and sciatica treatment relief program, whether as part of the 30 day challenge or simply as a way to overcome acute and/or chronic pain, stretching and exercise will come into the picture almost at once.

Stretching and low-impact exercises are generally the pain relief strategies most medical practitioners start you out on. This is mainly because these medically supervised pain relief strategies are conducted in a controlled environment, one they have you visit in order to undergo some sort of physical and/or exercise therapy, sometimes one in the same.

However, if you are beyond the physical therapy stage, either because your insurance has run out or because you have given up on traditional medicine (actually quite common with chronic pain sufferers), you can still walk out your front door and have access to one of the best exercise strategies for your neck pain, back pain, and/or sciatica; and that’s walking!

Walking is a great overall exercise, offering aerobic benefit, core muscle development, and overall muscle tone and strengthening!

The combination of benefits offered by walking, including real and lasting neck pain, back pain, and sciatica relief, if instituted and integrated properly, will have a spill-over effect into virtually every area of your life.

The video below addresses some of the finer points you need to know as you begin a walking program designed for neck pain, back pain, and sciatica relief.

As noted in the previous video, your shoes and socks are crucial, along with basic foot care. There is an article and a video on footwear and care of the feet, focusing on some of the issues you may face when beginning your neck pain, back pain, and sciatica relief program, as well. In addition to footwear, the surface you walk on is crucial and if you must walk on concrete, as many in urban and suburban areas must, then footwear becomes all the more important.

I hope this video helps, I put it in as an add-on because this is such an important topic.

If you have any questions at all, please don’t hesitate to contact me, I am always available for people suffering from neck pain, back pain, and sciatica because I know where you have been. If you have any other questions or concerns, you may find the answers in articles at:

Ultimate Neck Pain, Back Pain & Sciatica Relief Strategies

Or follow along and join in The 30 Day Neck Pain, Back Pain, and Sciatica Relief Challenge by reviewing the videos here on this blog!

John

Professor John P. J. Zajaros, Sr., The Bad Back Guy
216-712-6526
866-835-2913 (toll free)
Skype: johnzajaros1
johnz@ultimatebadbackstrategies.com

PS, If you are ready to begin your neck pain, back pain, and sciatica treatment and relief program, I recommend you click this link and begin today! I will help you along for the first 30 days and be available to you 24/7 via email and Skype IM for any questions or concerns you may have.

Walking is said to be one of the best overall exercises you can do. I would extend that by stating that walking is the best neck pain, back pain, and sciatica relief exercise you can do. Not only is walking great for leg strength, it helps improve core muscle strength and aerobic fitness, as well.

Walking allows you to start slow and build each and every day until you have acheived real and lasting neck pain, back pain, and sciatica relief.

Walking, if only to the end of the driveway or to the end of the block and back is an excellent way to begin introducing activity back into a sedentary lifestyle. Often, when plagued by chronic pain, particularly spine-related neck, back or sciatic nerve pain, we cease all activity; and this is normal! We tend to avoid things that cause us pain. However, inactivity actually exacerbates pain. So, unbeknownst to us, we actually end up making the problem worse.

Walking helps to develop overall muscle tone, obviously improving leg muscle strength and tone but it also helps with core muscle strength. The core muscles, particularly the lower back, abdominal and oblique muscles, are central to the issue of back pain relief. The more we do to develop the core muscles, the more relief we achieve.

The muscles of the neck are also affected my a sedentary lifestyle, the many small muscles of the neck are equally responsive to activity and develop strength and tone quickly with increased activity.

Aerobic fitness has a spill-over effect, meaning the more fit you are, the more energy you have, the better your attitude becomes, the more you are able to do. The more you are able to do, the more neck pain, back pain, and sciatica relief you will be able to achieve through walking and other forms of physical activity. One activity builds upon the next until you have real and lasting neck pain, back pain, and sciatica relief.

Ultimately, it takes the first step. That’s it! Beginning with a decision, followed by the first step, and building one day upon the next until you are a new and different person.

I can tell you from experience, and you will see first hand when you watch the video for Day 8 of The 30 Day Neck Pain, Back Pain, and Sciatica Relief Challenge that taking the first step will lead to an amazing new future, one you can’t possibly comprehend at present but one that will lead you to real and lasting neck pain, back pain, and sciatica relief.

Check out additional articles on neck pain, back pain, and sciatica at my other blog!

John

John Zajaros, The Bad Back Guy
216-712-6526
Skype: johnzajaros1
johnz@ultimatebadbackstrategies.com
TheBadBackGuy@gmail.com

PS, Begin a new and exciting neck pain, back pain, and sciatica free life today! Just click this link for real and lasting pain relief!

Whether you are just stumbling upon this for the first time or you have been with us all along, this is a wrap up of the first 7 days of The 30 Day Neck Pain, Back Pain, and Sciatica Relief Challenge.

The Tools to Succeed on Your Journey Towards Neck Pain, Back Pain, and Sciatica Relief

The video below includes everything you need to know and do to begin your journey to a neck pain, back pain, and sciatica free life. If you take the first steps as outlined here, and then continue to follow for the next 3 weeks, and beyond, you will be on your way to real and lasting neck pain, back pain, and sciatica relief. It all begins with a decision and builds from there.

CANI! Will Be Your Best Strategy

As Tony Robbins calls it, CANI! Constant and never ending improvement!

In this case, it means building one day on the day before until neck pain, back pain, and/or sciatica is a thing of the past. Every day things will get a bit easier, your journey full of anticipation, expectation, and excitement. The fact is, if you are like me, you had almost given up on ever living a pain free life again. Once you accept that it is not only possible but probable…heck, it’s guaranteed…you begin to get excited, you begin to look forward to life again, and you will once again believe there is a life full of promise and joy just waiting for you!

Life can be amazing again and you do not have to endure neck pain, back pain, and/or sciatica any longer. Just make a decision, take the first step, click this link, and I will be along there with you…if that is your wish.

A Cautionary Note!

Be careful! Along with your new-found enthusiasm comes a tendency to want too much, too soon. That is a trap! If you do too much too quickly, you may actually derail your entire neck pain, back pain, and/or sciatica relief program. It’s like going out the the very first day running and trying to run the Boston Marathon…it can’t be done. And, it may end up doing more damage than good. So, take it easy, take it slow, build one day upon the one before, and before you know it you will have a new and exciting neck pain, back pain, and/or sciatica free life!

Join us and take back your life! You will never be sorry you made the decision to take the first step. Just take the first step, it won’t be easy…but it will be amazing!

I guarantee it!

John

Professor John P. J. Zajaros, Sr., The Bad Back Guy
216-712-6526
Skype: johnzajaros1
johnz@ultimatebadbackstrategies.co

PS, Just click this link and begin your journey to a neck pain, back pain, and sciatica free life!

PPS, Enjoy the video…I liked the music!

As you begin your neck pain, back pain, and sciatica relief program, it is important to chronicle everything, from your picture as you begin to how you feel on a daily basis. The combination of a personal assessment and daily journaling will help you note problem areas, areas of concern, as well as assist in tracking your progress over a period of days, weeks, months, and even years. The more accurate the record, the more encouraging the data!

Beginning a Neck Pain, Back Pain, and Sciatica Relief Program

Beginning a neck pain, back pain, and/or sciatica program is never easy. However, it can be very staisfying and rewarding. The secret to a successful neck pain, back pain, and/or sciatica relief program is to take things one step at a time and journal everything. A journal will not only allow you to track your progress, it will also help you to target problem areas and deal with them before they short circuit your overall pain relief program.

Journaling and Your Neck Pain, Back Pain, and Sciatica Relief Program

Journaling can take many shapes and forms, from an online journal to a bound, diary-type journal. In either case, use the journal daily, add to it often, and keep it religiously.

As you begin to stretch, exercise, and walk, you will find plenty to write about, ideas and sensations will flow. The best way I have found to record the myriad of ideas, impressions, and sensations (pain, pleasure, etc) you will have, particularly as you begin your neck pain, back pain, and sciatica relief program, is by either using a small, digital, hand-held recording device or by simply writing them out, using an inexpensive 3 x 5 spiral notebook you can carry in your pocket.

Digital Recording and Your Daily Walking Program

The digital recording device can be purchased for approximately $20…or you can go all-out and get one with all the bells and whistles for as much as $100. The nice thing about spending a little more now is that you can often find recorders that are small, hand-held, and very versatile. You can also use the better devices to download your recordings directly to your hard drive and, in some instances, use voice recognition software to immediately transcribe your audio, saving tons of time and effort.

The Notepad Method of Note Taking: Old Reliable

The notepad method, and I have used both, is also quite nice for those on a budget; and, for those of you like me who like to have a written record for future reference…just in case the nice, shiny, modern computer should decide to crash! That’s what they have back-ups for, right? Interestingly, I have also discovered a certain something that goes on in the brain when you write something down, so maybe I am old fashioned but I still like the notepads.

Both Methods of Data Collections Work for Your Ideas and Impressions

However, as noted above, I use both and they both have their benefits…neither having any real drawbacks. In either instance, you will end up with a wealth of material for your neck pain, back pain, and/or sciatica relief journal and an array of great ideas to inprove other areas of your life as well. The choice is yours, the most important thing to do something, and be consistent about it.

The Personal Assessment: The Real Foundation of Your Neck Pain, Back Pain, and Sciatica Relief Program

In addition to your recordings, digital or written, you should also do a thorough personal assessment before beginning your neck pain, back pain, and/or sciatica relief stretching, walking, and exercise program. The personal assessment is broken down into two components, one being visual and the other, full body measurements.

The Visual Assessment

The visual portion of the personal assessment is done in a bathing suit or underwear, having someone photograph you from the front, back, and both sides. Additionally, photos should be taken waist up and full length. It is also a great idea to use a short video of yourself when you begin, also in bathing attire or underwear. The idea is to get a baseline, a series of photos, images to use for comparison along the way.

Measurements: The Tale of the Tape and Neck Pain, Back Pain, and Sciatica Relief Program Results

Along with the photographs, you also need to measure your body from neck to ankles. The measurements are particularly important, as they will provide you with another baseline series of measures, one that is completely objective. As you become more active, particularly if you begin walking as part of your neck pain, back pain, and/or sciatica relief strategy, the tape will tell the story, as will the pictures. The tape is a much better gauge of your progress than the scale, for a number of reasons, some I get into in the video below, others I will touch on in future videos.

CANI! Constant and Never Ending Improvement…Real and Lasting Pain Relief!

Overall, the success of your neck pain, back pain, and/or sciatica relief program depends on constant and never ending improvement, what Tony Robbins calls CANI! I have integrated CANI! into my overall health and wellness plan, to include my neck pain, back pain, and sciatica relief strategy, with tremendous results and you can too.

The Importance of Journaling and the Personal Assessment: The Basis of Success

I can’t overstate the importance of journaling, combined with an accurate personal assessment, to include a visual assessment and measurements. To succeed, accurate and timely records need to be kept, not only as a gauge for tracking your progress but as a source of inspiration. You will see results quickly, particularly if it has been some time since you have been active. Accurate and visual records will enhance your results and your overall sense of accomplishment, thus ensuring you stay on the path to neck pain, back pain, and sciatica relief.

John

Professor John P. J. Zajaros, Sr., The Bad Back Guy
216-712-6526
Skype: johnzajaros1
johnz@ultimatebadbackstrategies.com

PS, For the best overall program for neck pain, back pain, and sciatica relief…including a super personal assessment to get you started. These are the strategies that changed my life, they can give you back yours!

The Neck Pain, Back Pain, and Sciatica Relief 30 Day Challenge: Information Update

Over the past 3 months I have learned a lot about video and one of the problems I have is that I have people watching these videos at many different sites. Some of the sites do not accept longer videos and laeger files. Consequently, not everyone sees all the videos on a day-to-day basis.

Therefore, I will make sure all of the videos are made available, along with a detailed synopsis, which will include extra facts and insights I can’t possibly put in the video, here, daily!

So, each day I will add the video, a synopsis, and links to related resources that may be of value to you as you begin to stretch, walk, and exercise during this 30 Day Challenge, and beyond.

I will also make sure all the videos are available on YouTube. YouTube allows for videos up to 10 minutes long and a larger file size than any of the other sites. So, if for some reason you can’t find the update here or you want to refer back to a video from some time ago, you may do so at YouTube or, quite possibly at one of the other video sites, like Viddler, Break, or one of my other blogs:

Ultimate Neck Pain, Back Pain & Sciatica Relief Strategies

I hope this helps!

The next video may be a bit longer, so it may only be available on a few video sites. I thought this might help those of you who wish to follow and apply the neck pain, back pain, and sciatica treatment and relief strategies on a daily basis throughout the 30 Day Challenge!

John

Professor John P. J. Zajaros, Sr., The Bad Back Guy
216-712-6526 (call me anytime)
Skype: johnzajaros1
johnz@ultimatebadbackstrategies.com

PS, Don’t forget the ultimate neck pain, back pain, and sciatica treatment and relief program is a click away!

Cell phones?! For neck pain, back pain, and/or sciatica treatment and relief? Yes, cell phones!

If you are just starting out with the Neck Pain, Back Pain, and Sciatica Treatment and Relief Strategies 30 Day Challenge, or if you have been with me for months now, chances are you are beginning to walk short distances, perhaps for the first time in years.

Incredibly, I have been getting phone calls, emails, Skype instant messages and voicemails from people all over the world telling me they are walking and/or exercising to overcome their chronic pain. This is so exciting because it means people all over the world are getting a second chance at life…a neck pain, back pain, and/or sciatica free life!

How amazing is that!?

As we continue over the next 30 days, 26 now, I will be offering suggestions and strategies for lasting neck pain, back pain, and/or sciatica relief.

The first step I took on my own journey, my own pain relief strategy, was to begin walking. Frankly, I couldn’t do much else.

So here’s what I did:

1) I got up every day, a challenge in and of itself, particularly at first.

2) I pulled on my sweatsuit and had my wife help me put on my socks and my slippers…at first I didn’t even use shoes because I wasn’t going very far and shoes were hard to get on my feet because I couldn’t tie my shoes (I couldn’t bend over), and because my feet were so swollen most of the time, for a variety of reasons.

3) I then had my wife help me walk to the end of the driveway and back up to the house. That was it at first, it was all I could do!

4) After I recovered, iced my back, and waited for the pain to abate…I showered.

5) As I began to feel a bit better I would do it more than once a day. But at first, once a day was all I could handle.

That was it! That’s how I started my personal journey back. And now I walk 5-8 miles a night with TuffGuy! It all started with my wife helping me up and down the driveway, at a time when I couldn’t even put on shoes.

If you have started a stretching, walking, and exercise program, you have started what may be a magnificant journey, a way back from the kind of life that is full of limitations, to an amazing life full of possibilities! If you have taken the first steps, I applaud you!

If you are considering just how to begin?

Just do it!

Yeah, I know, I hate cliches too but this one works.

Anyway, if you have just stumbled on this site, please join us. If you started on day one or way back in June, keep going…your life will be transformed. And so will you!

So, we are in Day 4 of the Neck Pain, Back Pain, and Sciatica Treatment and Relief Strategies 30 Day Challenge; and, if you have started a walking program, a cell phone is absolutely crucial.

First, let me say this, I hate cell phones!

I do not own one! My wife, daughters, son, son-in law, heck practically everyone I know has a cell phone and they can’t live without them. I use one when I have to, for emergencies and to protect myself from the possibility of being stranded miles from home and no way to call for help. You see, no matter how far along you are in your walking program, there is always a chance something could happen, and you need to protect yourself…so a cell phone is necessary.

Make sure when you begin your neck pain, back pain, and/or sciatica relief walking program you have a cell phone, and also make sure you carry water with you.

I also carry a notepad with me, always. Not only is a notepad important for jotting down the little aches and pains you may have along the way but it is also quite useful for ideas. You see, when the endorphins start pumping, the ideas begin to flow. Endorphins are the body’s very own version of pain medication, natural opiods, and the endorphins not only help with your neck pain, back pain, and/or sciatica, they also help you feel really great and I have discovered that some of my best ideas often flow from walking with TuffGuy at night.

Some of my best ideas have come during walks, ideas of all kinds…business, personal stuff, you name it.

We will get into what to do with the observations and ideas you write down in future blog posts, articles, and videos but for now just make sure you note things as they happen and keep them in a journal, they will be invaluable to you not only now but as you progress.

Additionally, no matter how good you feel during your walks, always remember one thing…you have to make it back!

Also, do not spend yourself the first day, you have to make sure you can go again tomorrow, so don’t overdo it! If you start out too aggressively, and it is entirely possible that some of you will. You will pay for it tomorrow if you do! If the day after is too painful, you may not want to continue, so start gradually and build incrementally, one step upon another, and so on.

No one loses 100 pounds in a week, no one creates 6 pack abs overnight, and absolutely no one gets relief from neck pain, back pain, and/or sciatica in one day.

Be patient, be consistent, build gradually, and before long you will be walking, stretching, and working out daily and loving it…a new person! In order to overcome your pain and achieve real and lasting relief, you need to build in a constant and never ending fashion. If you do so, neck pain, back pain, and sciatica will be in the past and whether or not you use a cell phone will be a luxury and not a necessity.

For now? The cell phone must be part of your emergency kit. Never leave home without it!

John

Professor John P. J. Zajaros, Sr., The Bad Back Guy
216-712-6526 (call me at home!)
Skype: johnzajaros1
johnz@ultimatebadbackstrategies.com

PS, If you haven’t already checked it out and started the program I recommend for neck pain, back pain, and/or sciatica relief…in any of its manifestations…click this link and check it out! The first 30 days are free and it will change your life! Just imagine being pain free forever!

Imagine a little over a year ago being in so much pain you spent 2 of every 4 weeks out of every month in the hospital, from December of 2004 until April of 2008, several years lost forever due to chronic pain and depression.

Depressed and suffering from chronic neck pain, back pain, and sciatica, I rarely ventured out of the house. In fact, I left the house just once or twice a month, and then only to go to the doctor’s office for appointments or to go to the hospital to be admitted. That was my life, consumed by pain for years with no resolution, no relief, and no effective neck pain, back pain or sciatic nerve pain treatment offered…no hope, no future in sight. Or so I thought!

Failed back surgery syndrome or more simply the phrase “failed back,” degenerative disc disease, arachnoiditis, scar tissue, and several other conditions were diagnosed and depression was an obvious result, a black hole many chronic pain sufferers endure daily and for months, if not years, at a time.

So, when you see the video here, keep in mind that this is a year or so later. I have been reborn, there is no other way to describe it! It started with a decision, the first steps were the most difficult, and the most painful. But what was the alternative? A life of neck, back, and sciatic nerve pain and depression? There had to be a better way!

I found it and you can too! A life free of chronic pain, no more neck pain, back pain or sciatica…ever again!

It is up to you because there is a way out, there is a way to beat your pain, to find real and lasting pain relief, and it doesn’t have to include surgery.

Go to what I feel is the best self-help treatment around, one I wholeheartedly endorse, and one that can change your life forever! I have a new life and you can too!

http://TheBadBackGuy.net

Begin a neck pain, back pain, and sciatica relief program that can change your life, forever.

Go to:

Ultimate Neck Pain, Back Pain, and Sciatica Relief Strategies for more articles and information on pain relief for various “bad back” conditions.

Follow the 30 Day Neck Pain, Back Pain, and Sciatica Relief Challenge!

Join us!

Professor John P. J. Zajaros, Sr., The Bad Back Guy
216-712-6526
Skype: johnzajaros1
johnz@ultimatebadbackstrategies.com

I began the video below a few times before settling on this one. I begin the one below by talking about neck pain, back pain, and sciatica, and how important shoes and socks are, and then I get off the track towards the end of the video because it is so important you know why I am doing this, and for you to know that it is OK to contact me if you have an issue with anything I suggest, any sort of feedback at all is OK as you begin your neck pain, back pain, and/or sciatica relief and treatment exercise program. I sincerely mean it when I say we will do this together!

So far we have talked about the basis for The 30 Day Neck Pain, Back Pain, and Sciatica Relief Challenge and how to begin. We have discussed why it is important to keep your feet healthy and how to do so. Let me reiterate, make sure your feet are clean and dry before, during, and after your walk and/or exercise routine, particularly when starting out. Watch for swollen ankles and blisters, attend to them immediately, as they will derail your program faster than anything.

As you begin your neck pain, back pain, and/or sciatica relief program, the proper shoes and socks are crucial. The first step to real and lasting pain relief is to make sure you have the right equipment, and in this case that means the right shoes and socks. If you do not have the proper foundation, if you begin to have problems with your feet early in your exercise program. Once again, problems with your feet will stop everything before you ever get going.

Make sure you have the proper shoes, don’t go cheap on the shoes, you will end up payin