YMCA Healthy Back Book »

If you're troubled by back pain, you're not alone. This problem affects over 70% of all adults at some time in their lives. The suffering can range from a periodic twinge that makes it difficult to perform everyday tasks to excruciating pain that makes it impossible to get out of bed.

Now you can beat the odds and learn how to overcome back problems with the YMCA Healthy Back Book. Developed by the world leader in back care education, this medically sound and easy-to-follow back program will help you

- understand the causes of back pain and various treatment options,
- learn how to exercise to help prevent painful back problems, and
- discover ways to reduce back pain when it occurs.

This book contains the most up-to-date, practical information available from the YMCA—an organization that has helped over 300,000 people find relief from back pain. The book features more than 80 full-color illustrations and a reader-friendly format that makes learning about back care easy.

In chapter 1 of the YMCA Healthy Back Book, you'll learn the warning signs indicating that you need to see a doctor. You'll also learn some common sense first aid tips for treating back pain. Chapter 2 guides you in choosing a practitioner to address your back problems and describes several of the treatment options that are available.

Chapter 3 takes you on a guided tour of the back's anatomy. After you've learned about some of the possible physical causes of back pain, you can take a self-quiz to identify the risk factors that may be causing your pain.

Chapter 4 is the centerpiece of the healthy back program, offering 29 clearly illustrated exercises you can use to improve the health and fitness of your back. The exercises are divided into three levels of intensity, so you can start slowly and work up to a vigorous 20-minute workout. Also included are basic water exercises for those who want to add variety to their workouts and for those who have health conditions that make the other exercises too difficult.

You'll learn the best ways to sit, stand, sleep, drive, and do other everyday tasks in Chapter 5. And in Chapter 6, you'll learn how making lifestyle changes—such as managing your weight and controlling stress—can help ease back pain.

So don't become just another statistic. Read the YMCA Healthy Back Book and learn how you can join the growing group of people who are overcoming back problems and leading active lives again.

Library Journal

Since ``back pain is one of the most costly ailments of working-age adults,'' this book guides the average person through 20 fundamental exercises that assist in reducing and avoiding back pain. Reviewed by a panel of fitness and rehabilitation medicine experts, it suggests stress reduction and weight-control techniques to improve back health and recommends the least stressful ways to perform the daily activities of sitting, standing, sleeping, and driving. A discussion of warning signs indicating the need to seek professional help, risk factors for back pain, and a guided tour of the back's anatomy complete the book. Numerous well-prepared illustrations, large type, and an easy-to-understand writing style contribute to the readability of the book, a major strength. Balanced, thorough, and credible, this is similar in content to Stephen Hochschuler's Back in Shape ( LJ 1/91), but its presentation is more effective. Recommended for public libraries.-- Mary Prottmsman, Medical Lib., Enterprise, Ala.

Chapter 1. First Aid and Pain Relief for Back Attacks
Chapter 2. Medical Help for Your Back
Chapter 3. How Your Back Works and Why It Sometimes Doesn't
Chapter 4. Getting Your Back on Track With Exercise
Chapter 5. Working With Your Back—Not Against It
Chapter 6. A Healthy Lifestyle, A Healthy Back