Here at Insight Medicine we commonly see people who have injuries their spine with sprains or herniated disks. While Osteopathic treatment can certainly help treat these conditions, an important part of the recovery process is being careful and aware with your movements.

The human spine has three planes of motion, extension/flexion, side bending, and rotation. By combining these three axis of motion, we can create the complex movements that our spine allows. However, if we combine these movements in unsafe ways, such as when lifting a heavy object, we can injure ourselves. To avoid hurting our spine, or to recover from an existing back injury, it is important to know the three planes of motion so we can move our spine in a safe, healthy way.

1. Extension/ Flexion

Perhaps the most obvious way to move the spine, extension and flexion is simply bending the spine forward or backwards, for example, to pick up and object at our feet.

2. Left and Right Sidebending

A less common way to move our spine is called sidebending. This is when we move our head towards one of our shoulders, or bend our body sideways.

3. Rotation (twisting)

The final plane of motion, twisting, is the motion we do when we keep our feet planted on the front and turn back to look behind our body.

The key to recover from a back injury is to avoid combining the three planes of motion.

A common example where this occurs is when someone is unloading a dishwasher. They might start by bending down to grab the dishes from the bottom rack. Then, as they stand up, they twist to reach the correct spot in the cupboard. In this example we are combining extension with rotation, an easy way to aggravate a sprain or herniated disk.

Instead, bend down and grab the dishes (flexion). Stand back up and place the dishes on the counter (neutral spine). Then position yourself in front of the cabinet and place the dishes where they need to go while maintaining a neutral spine.