Case history: where flexion was the key
Mark is a 41-year-old municipal judge in Oregon. For two months, he had intermittent pain in the lower back and buttocks. He knew of no reason for this. His pain was worse when he rose to stand and when he walked. He felt better lying on his back. Ibuprofen had brought him some relief.
His lumbar lordosis was below normal and he had poor posture in sitting and standing. He had a major loss of range of motion in lumbar extension.
Mark did well with the extension exercises, particularly Back Exercise 3, Extension in Lying. These exercises relaxed his acute pain in three days. Through these movements, the pain in his buttocks disappeared and all pain was centralized in the middle of his lower back. The pain that remained was minor.
Once Mark was out of acute pain, flexion exercises allowed him to fully rid himself of symptoms. He benefitted from both Back Exercise 5, Flexion in Lying, and Back Exercise 6, Flexion in Sitting. Within a few days, the flexion exercises left him pain-free.
