by

Dennis Denlinger

A New

Back Health Solution

Published byDennis DenlingerSacramento, CA

U.S.A.

This Book:A New Back Health Solution

Chapter One

Copyright © 2003 by Dennis DenlingerALL RIGHTS RESERVED

The data about how the back works was first published in Muscle ’N Bone: A User’s Handbook for his Human Body

by Dennis DenlingerCopyright 1980 by Dennis Denlinger

All Rights ReservedSome material taken from A New Foot Health Solution by Dennis Denlinger and

Muscle N' Bone by Dennis Denlinger all rights to which are owned by Dennis Denlinger.Some drawings taken from a 1901 edition of Gray's Anatomy which is now in public domain.

Published by:Dennis DenlingerP.O. Box 60431

Sacramento, CA 95860-0431916/488-9643

dennis@footarch.comwww.FootArch.com

www.NeckBackFootPain.comPlease visit our website for current individual, bookstore and bulk purchasing options.

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronicor mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrievalsystem, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Some drawings in this book are from the 1901 Editon of Gray's Anatomy and are in the publicdomain.

Introduction

From about the time I was about 12years old until I was 40 years old I wasexperiencing terrible headaches. Thesituation became so bad that in 1980 Iwas unable to work due to the head-aches. Over the years medical doctorshad tried CAT scans and x-rays butcouldn't find anything physically wrong.They thought it was all “in my head,”meaning I was imagining the headaches.If it hadn't been for chiropractors, Iwould have been out of commissionmany years earlier. It could have equallyhave been a Osteopathic Doctor, as theyalso adjust bones as well as administerdrugs.

Then, one day when it all seemedhopeless, a chiropractor showed me adrawing in an anatomy book. The draw-ing showed the muscles and bones in theneck. My immediate reaction was, “Youmean Those are There?!! WOW!! I’mnot using those muscles at all!” Myengineering training in ArchitectureSchool care to the fore. I immediatelyrecognized what I now call the neckspring muscles were suppossed to doAND that mine were not doing whatthey should be doing.

Within a couple weeks I got thosemuscles to working and, although theterrible headaches were still there,noticed a nice improvement. I thenbought a copy of “Gray’s Anatomy,” thefirst year medical student’s “bible.”

I studied the muscles in the neck. Thechiropractor had told me that my topvertebra was twisting out of place, so Ilooked in that area and spotted a shortmuscle in the neck connecting the topvertebra to the skull. By applying theengineering principles I had learned inschool, I recognized that the top vertebrawas twisting in such a way that thespinal cord (the main nerve pathwaybetween the brain and the body) wasbeing “sissored.” between the top verte-bra and the skull. WOW! That couldvery well explain the headaches.

In addition, I recognized that one littlemuscle could pull that top vertebra backinto place. To test this theory out, I usedmy fingers to feel for the “prongs”sticking out to the sides of the topvertebra. I felt the “prong” on one sideof the neck, but not on the other. Next Itraced that short muscle on the skin. Ifound that when I contracted the muscle

(or muscles?) under that place, that Icould feel the “prong” move into place.It felt like there was a bit less pressurein the area of the neck. In a minute ortwo the muscle was totally exhaustedand would no longer keep the bone inthat place.

The next day I tried using that muscleagain and once again the “prong” movedinto place, indicating that the top verte-bra bone was where it should be. How-ever, once again in a couple minutes themuscle became exhausted and gave up.

That went on day after day and withina couple weeks I could keep that muscleworking all of ten minutes a day. Thenthe other shoe dropped. The area startedto wake up. Whenever that muscle wasnot working, the headaches becameabsolutely unbearable!!!

Have you ever sat reading with yourhead supported on your bent wrist for along, long time? As long as the wriststays bent everything is okay. But, whenit is time to get up and do somethingelse and the wrist starts to move, thewrist complains terribly with lots ofpain. A similar thing was happening tomy spinal cord (the main nerves) as thepressure was being taken off.

It took another two months to get thatlittle muscle strong enough to hold thetop vertebra in place ten hours a day.Wonder of wonders, the headaches wereabout half as bad as they had been! So, Istarted looking for other muscles to fix.

I found over fifteen muscles whichwere not working when they should orwere working when they shouldn’t. Onewas even paralyzed and I got that work-

ing. Along the way I discovered variousengineering principles being applied tothe body, One was that when one sys-tem is off line, another system can bepushed to take over, but neither job isdone so well and various problemsoccur. More details on this idea will bepresented in later in this book or inforthcoming books.

One thing I recognized was that thespring action of the spine was of greatestimportance. So, I proceeded to get thoseworking in my own body. The upperback was similar to the neck, so it wentwell.

However, the lower back just didn’thave a spring muscle! I looked andlooked. Finally, after three months ofsearching, the fact jumped out at me. Itoperated on a different engineeringprinciple! It operated like a suspensionbridge turned on end! Once I had thatconcept, within two weeks I had mylower back spring working.

Over the years I found that I did nothave both sides of all the spring musclesworking, which gave problems. It is abasic engineering principle of the bodythat both sides have to work the same.Also, I found that sometimes the entirelength of a spring muscle wasn’t work-ing which also gave problems. I gotthose fixed.

“Gray’s Anatomy” was the referencebook I continually studied to learnwhere the muscles and the bones werelocated. I am very much indebted to Dr.Henry Gray, Fellow of the Royal Col-lege of Surgeons who wrote the originalbook and his successors who updatedand refined his work.

I applied my knowledge of engineer-ing to the data in “Gray’s Anatomy” todevelop the discovery I was making. Itturned out that there were structuralproblems throughout my own bodyforcing me to develop the completetheory. I applied the principles to myown body first and found they worked.

Once I knew the theory, I lookedaround me and noticed that other peoplewere not using their muscles correctly.My personal experience and knowledgeof this new theory led me to believe thatthey could very well be experincingsimilar pain. In fact, their pains could becoming from not understanding theengineering principles and therefore notapplying them correctly.

So, I wrote a book about it entitled“Muscle ’N Bone: A User’s Handbookfor His Human Body.” The book wasbased on the discovery, but simplifiedand made digestibale for the averageperson who knows little or nothingabout how his or her body works.

That book is now out of print. I havestarted a project to make all the datareadily available to all. The first work-book in the series is “A New FootHealth Solution.” Now there is thisworkbook about the back and neckspring. There will be other books aboutthe remaining muscle-bone systems andhow to get them to working. The waybones are held tight in joints will beexplained. The way improper use of the

arm can lead to “tennis elbow” will begone over and made correctable. Therewill be a workbook, similar to this, forpregnant women and how to relieve thelower back and hip pain they experienceas the baby grows in their belly. Someof that data will come from this book.There will be a book where all thismaterial is brought together in a text-book rather than workbook format.In addition, there will be DVDs coveringthe material. All these will be for thelayman.

Eventually there will be a professionallevel book going over basic structuralengineering theory and how to apply itto the body so complex problems whichprior books do not address can be ana-lyzed and resolved by health care profes-sionals.

Along with this should also comeclinical studies by professional research-ers which are reported in professionalpeer review journals. Plus, there willneed to be trainers to help people whohave difficulty learning and developingthe corrrect habits from books and DVDsas well as professionals to help thosewho have problems which cannot behandled by simple training. If you wishto help with all these projects, pleasecontact me with information of what youcan contribute. I would greatly appreciatesuch assistance.

Meanwhile, make good use of thisworkbook and may you live long.

A New Back Health Solution6

Do you want a new back healthsolution? Do you want a solution thathas your back working the way it ismade to work?

Okay, I’ll tell what I know.No school has ever taught the new

back health solution for back or neckpain as taught in this book. The newknowledge and skill presented in thisbook was recently developed by theauthor.

The new back health solution you willget in this book deals with the right wayto use the back. It was developed usingbasic engineering principles which havebeen made easy to understand. Thediscovery shows how and why pain canhappen in the neck and back when thespine is not used correctly. That pain is awarning that something could break ifnothing is changed. People have relievedpain by using this solution.

This new back health solution forback and neck pain and is not high tech.It is something many could possibly dopretty much on their own. Maybe youcan benefit, too.

If you know what to look for you canwalk down the street and see many back

Chapter 1 An Overview

and neck problems. People just like youoften have this problem even thoughtheir back and neck do not hurt at themoment. In fact, they may neverhurt...or they could start to hurt justwhen you can least afford to haveanother problem.

By doing nothing about the solutionto the problem now, when things aregoing well, an injury could occur whenthe back is highly stressed.

Why learn the solution now, even ifthere is no pain? Not to be ridiculous,but you might look outside and see yourtwo-year-old toddler about to toddle intoa busy street. You start running. Youdon't just run, but you RUN. Suddenlythere is a new pain in your back. Thatnew pain slows you down. It could bethe stuff of nightmares. Okay, you don'thave children and never will. Mostlikely there is something else equallyimportant to you.

Whether your neck or back hurts atthis moment or not, now is the time foryou to learn the new back healthsolution for yourself. You never knowwhen you might need it.

Dennis Denlinger 21

What kind of pain will the new backhealth solution relieve?

Not arthritis. Not bone spurs. Notsunburn. Not cancer growths. Notbroken bones. Not accidental damage tosoft tissue. Yes: scoliosis, herniated disc,certain neck and back pains and saggybelly. These all have a possible solutionin common which is taught in this book.

The new back health solution canrelieve the pain of over-stretchedligaments. Remember ligaments?Ligaments are the tough material whichholds bones together at the joints. Youcan see a ligament next time you eat achicken leg. As an example, it is thetough, gristly stuff holding the thighbone to the drumstick bone.

Your ligaments do an important job.They are the backup to your muscles.When your muscles are not working,such as when you sleep, your ligamentskeep your bones together at the joints.Without your ligaments you could wakeup with your big toe tickling yourtongue or your top rib behind your knee.

The ligaments are a backup for whenyour muscles are not working, or notworking correctly.

Imagine your body is a machine. Aswith any good machine, when thebackup to an important system is calledinto action, there are loud bells orflashing red lights to let the operatorknow something is wrong.

Your car has a system like this. Yourcar's brakes are made in two sections:the front brakes and the rear brakes. Ifsomething fails in your front brakes,

your rear brakes will still stop your carsafely. At the same time a red light willappear on the instrument panel and aloud bell may ring. Perhaps, in moreexpensive models, a sweet voice will tellyou to have your brakes checked.

In your body, pain takes the place ofloud bells and flashing red lights. Pain isyour warning that something needs to befixed. That is when you really need thenew back heath solution.

When your muscles are not workingright and ligaments in your back or neckare over-stretched, they will hurt. Thepainful sensation is your warning thatsomething is wrong which you need tofix.

There are other places ligaments canhurt. For instance, relaxing the armmuscles, letting the hand flop andpressing the back of the hand like in thedrawing can cause pain in the wristligaments.

The muscles in your neck and backare voluntary. That means you can directthem to work or not work. If you are notdirecting them, they may possibly workincorrectly or not work at all. If you donot know how your muscles shouldoperate to move or shape a certain part

This ligamentcan hurt

A New Back Health Solution8

of your back, it may not operatecorrectly. This could stretch ligaments,causing pain.

The main thing about the solution toback health is the correct use of the backand neck springs. When the springs areoperating correctly many other pains andproblems can disappear. More on thislater.

Yes, just like our cars, we should havehad an instruction book in the glovecompartment of our bodies. It shouldhave been there when we took delivery.I can’t do anything about giving yourbody a glove compartment, but here isthe instruction book which tells how tooperate your back springs correctly.Perhaps with it you will be able torelieve yourself of some pain now or inthe future.

No, I won’t bore you with the detailof every little muscle. If you haveproblems like that, you need more thanthis book. Many people to whom I havetold the simple things in this book havebeen able to get their back and necksprings working correctly. Once youknow how to use the main muscles andone or two other things, the othermuscles usually just fall into line. I doknow more and I will put it into athorough textbook someday for thoseunusual special cases.

How difficult is this to do? There isno way to tell before you do it. It tookme two weeks to get my neck springworking correctly. I know one very able

gentleman who could not get his to workat all.

Most people are somewhere inbetween. Many have only taken a coupleweeks. Some may never get it corrected.Who knows why? Could be they arelazy. Sometimes a severe injury to thespine can make correction impossible.

Why has this solution not beendiscovered before? How did I, havingnever attended a medical school,discover this solution? Why didn’t amuch brighter and more highly qualifiedperson make this discovery? I’ll try toanswer.

Part of the solution was necessity. Ihad bad headaches which were notgetting any better. I simply had to get asolution. That gave me the incentive tokeep going until I solved the problem.

Another more important part of thesolution was a certain type of trainingwhich I had that most medicalspecialists never get. The specialtraining I had was in the field ofengineering. I had studied structuralengineering as part of earning a degreein architecture. The basic principles thatapply to holding up a building alsoapply to the human body.

Probably the most important reason Idiscovered the secret was I took adifferent look at the human body thanmost researchers do. I looked at it as aliving organism which I - or you -control. I did not look at it as somethingthe doctor controls or fixes.

Dennis Denlinger 23

The doctor looks at the body assomething she has to fix for her patient.In that viewpoint, when she seessomething wrong, she thinks she has todo all the work to make it right.Actually, often it is more up to thepatient to control the voluntary musclesto fix the problem.

There is something else happeninghere. The doctor, not understanding andnot being educated in engineering,thinks the healthy spine should normallybe curved when looked at from the side.That is, the neck curves to the front, theupper back curves to the rear and thelower back again curves to the front.

Actually, from an engineeringviewpoint, when standing or sitting thespine should be held nearly straight so itcan be ready at any time go into thecurve to absorb shocks. These curves aremade straight by what I call the “backspring muscles.” Also, when the back iscurved, the ligaments on the outside ofthe curve stretch, and may hurt as awarning that it isn’t being used right.

So, when the doctor looks at the soreback, he doesn't even see where thepotential problem can occur. He thinkssomething which can give big problemsis perfectly normal.

The difference is I looked at how theback actually works. I looked at whatthe muscles are supposed to do when thebody is up and walking or running. I sawwhat the muscles are supposed to do andmade them do it. After all, I can movemy leg by making muscles operate. I can“make a muscle” to show off thestrength in my arm. I can make my jaw

muscles operate to open and close mymouth to eat. In the same way I canmake my back spring work by using theback spring muscles - if I know how.

I took the viewpoint that I, rather thanthe doctor, have to control the body.This does not mean doctors areunneeded. For instance, I could not setmy own broken bone. For that I wouldneed a doctor. However, for certainthings such as relieving back or neckpain caused by improper use of the backspring muscles, the doctor cannot do it.The operator of the body has to do it. Allthe doctor can do is guide or teach.

That concept just is not in the typicaldoctor training. In fact, doctors arewarned that often patients just do notfollow his instructions regarding thetaking of medication. The poor doctor isthus taught that patients cannot do it forthemselves and that he has to do it allfor them.

Another thing the doctor does is givepain relief medicine (drugs) which ineffect cuts the nerve...or he just goes inand cuts the nerve with a knife.

What if you did that in your car. Let'ssay you are out on a lonely back road atnight. The low-oil light on yourinstrument panel lights up. That light isannoying you. You do not want to see it.So, you tape a piece of paper over thered light. Drats, the light still glowsthrough the paper.

The next thing you do is stop yourcar, get the wire cutters from the glovecompartment, step out of the car, lift thehood and cut the wire to that pesky red

A New Back Health Solution10

low-oil warning light. Then you drivehappily down the road. Two miles lateryour engine freezes up and stops. Thereyou are on a lonely back road with abroken car. Does that make sense? Bythe same token, does pain-reliefmedicine at those times make sense?

Also, the doctor may do surgerywhich, in some cases could make theback unable to curve correctly everagain.

Something else different about me isthat architecture school taught me howto solve problems and recognizesolutions. I looked at a drawing of themuscles in the neck. Something clicked.The light bulb went on in my mind. Ihad a bright idea. I noticed that a certaingroup of muscles have the job of makingthe neck operate as a spring. I observedimmediately that those muscles in myown neck were not doing that job.

So, I tested the concept and found thatindeed those muscles can and shouldhold the neck nearly straight. When Imade those muscles do their job myneck felt better. Immediately I obtaineda copy of Gray’s Anatomy, the doctor’sbible, to learn more about what musclesare in the neck and back. This started meon a major research project.

My research revealed that the entirespine should be held nearly straight bythe muscles rather than allowed to curvewhen normally sitting, standing, walkingor running. I found that the spine is madeto go into a curve in the act of absorbingmechanical shocks. I found that I couldtrain those muscles to do their job rightand when they did, my pain went away.

The following is some of what Idiscovered. Additional results of myresearch is available in other books.

There are several systems of muscleswhich straighten the curve in the spine.One set handles the neck, another sethandles the upper back and yet anotherset handles the lower back. These domuch the same job as the springs andshock absorbers in your car.

There are also cushion-like padsbetween each of the vertebra bones inthe back called discs. These discs domuch the same job as the seat cushionsin your car. Imagine driving your cardown the street sitting on an old-fashioned straight back wooden chair.That is what your body would feel likewalking down the street without thediscs.

The first set of spine muscles we willtake a look at are in the neck. The spinein the area of the neck curves to thefront. Notice that the spine in the area ofthe upper back curves to the rear and inthe area of the lower back once again

VertebraBone

Disc

Dennis Denlinger 25

curves to the front. We will take a closerlook at the upper and lower back later.

To get a better idea of how the neckworks, we will make a model using ourhand. To start with, make a fist, pointthe index finger and aim it down at thetable where you are sitting. Lower yourhand so the point of your index finger istouching the table.

Bend the index finger slightly as inthe above drawing. Let your fist be likeyour head with the back of your handbeing like your face. Let your indexfinger be like your neck.

Then push your hand down whiletrying to keep your finger straight - butlet it bend as in the drawing below. Feelhow the index finger acts like a spring.This is how the neck should work as aspring to protect the head from shocks.

The next set of drawings show whathappens to the spine when it is keptstraight and then allowed to bend toabsorb shocks.

A New Back Health Solution12

If you relax your index finger totallyand keep pushing, the ligaments on theback of the finger may hurt as in thedrawing below.

This is what may happen if the neckspring muscles are allowed to relax. Thespine in the upper back and lower backoperates as a spring in much the samemanner as the neck, but with differentmuscles.

This can be seen in the followingdrawing of the spine in the lower backfrom Gray's Anatomy (1901 edition):.

In later chapters you will be shownhow the spine muscles are to be used tomake the spine act as a spring.

Allowing the spine to curve opens thedoor for another set of problemsaffecting the discs. Being softer materialthan the bones, the discs cannot carry somuch weight per square inch. To get theidea, think of hitting a wall with yourfist. Then, think of using the same force,hit the wall with your pointed indexfinger. The fist has much more areatouching the wall than the index finger,and thus can withstand much moreforce.

We'll now do an experiment to get anidea what happens with the discs. Forthis you will need some help from afriend. First, have your friend make twofists and push the ends together asthough the flat part of the fists werehitting each other.

Think of the fists as two vertebrabones in your spine. Then slide your

StretchedLigamentsMay Hurt

StretchedLigaments

Dennis Denlinger 27

flat, open hand between the two fists.Think of your flat hand as the discbetween the two vertebra bones in yourspine.

Have your friend push the fiststogether so you can feel some pressureon your hand.

Next, have your friend rock the fistsso just the points of knuckles, not theflat part, touch your hand while keepingon pushing the fists together with thesame force. Feel how much morepressure is on your hand now.

The same thing happens in the spine.When the spine is curved the edges ofthe vertebra bones meet rather than theflat surfaces. You can see that in thisdrawing of the lower spine from Gray'sAnatomy:

Just like with your friend's knuckleson your hand, when the edges of thevertebra bones press against the disc fortoo long, it can hurt and could

eventually even swell up or break ashappens with a herniated disc - alsocalled a ruptured or slipped disc. Youcan see what a herniated disc does in thefollowing drawing:

When the flat of the vertebra bonespresses on the disc there is less pressureand less possibility of breaking the disc.

ExtraPressure

HerniatedDisc PressesAgainstNerve

VertebraBone

Nerve

Disc

A New Back Health Solution14

Many people go to gyms to exereciseseveral times a week just to have tightabdominal (belly) muscles. Wouldn’tthey be happy to learn that when theyuse their lower back spring musclescorrectly, their abdominal muscles willautomatically be tight.

Be aware that some people make funof those who have excellent posture. Ihave one friend with a well developedbody who slouched on purpose so hewouldn’t be mistaken for a “jock,” orathletic star. In his school such peoplewere considered stuck up.

Another friend, a weight lifter witharms the size of watermelons, alsoslouched on purpose. People would callhim “flex” because they thought he wasshowing off his muscular build bykeeping straight posture. In fact, allgood posture does is prevent possiblephysical problems.

I first discovered how to use the backspring in 1980. However, headaches andback pain were not the only pains mybody had back then. Over the years,starting with the shoulders in 1975, Imade additional discoveries about how

other muscles in the human body work.With those discoveries I also got rid ofsevere pains in my shoulders, chest andfeet by training my muscles to workcorrectly.

My first book on the subject waswritten in 1980 and published in 1982. Itwas titled Muscle ’N Bone: A User'sHandbook for the Human Body and firstcopyrighted in 1980. The information onhow the springs in the spine work wasfirst released to the public in thatvolume. There is a book I wrote entitled“A New Foot Health Solution” of howthe foot arch works which can beobtained in many locations. It hasinformation about foot pain, plantarfasciitis, heel spurs, Achilles tendonitis,flat feet and shin splints. Look for futurebooks revealing more detaileddiscoveries I have made on the correctoperation of other muscle systems in thehuman body.

For now, help for the shock absorbingin the back and for foot and shin splintspain is available here in workbook formin two books. I hope they are of benefitto you. Enjoy!

Dennis Denlinger 29