Policeman's Posture: How kinesiology relieved persistent back pain for a police officer
Lower back pain was making a retired police officer feel old before his time
Do you wake up with a stiff, painful back that takes time and effort to get moving? Perhaps you spend the night trying to find a comfortable sleeping position, only to wake feeling as though your body has aged decades overnight.
For one police officer in his fifties, this had become part of everyday life.
He experienced lower back pain much of the time. He could only sleep comfortably in a slightly twisted position on one side, and getting out of bed in the morning was painful. Every day began with movement and stretching just to get going.
It was making him feel old before his time.
When I looked at his posture, I noticed something immediately. He was putting his weight backwards and predominantly onto one leg, rather than standing evenly on both feet. His torso was also twisted.
He recognised the position straight away. It was a stance he had been trained to adopt as a police officer: non-confrontational enough not to appear threatening, but ready to restrain someone if they suddenly came at him.
His body had learned to be ready for action.
Lower back pain is a common problem for police officers
Research supports the fact that lower back pain is a significant problem among police officers. A systematic literature review published on PubMed Central examined lower back pain among civilian and military police officers.
The review identifies multiple risk factors, including the equipment used in patrol vehicles, the equipment officers wear, physical fitness and mental state. It also highlights the need for interventions tailored to preventing and reducing lower back pain in this population.
Police work places particular demands on the body. For some officers, these demands can contribute to persistent pain that interferes with sleep, movement and everyday life.
But could there be more to the picture than the physical demands alone? What happens when the ways we learn to stand, move and protect ourselves become so ingrained that we continue using them automatically?
This was the question I began to explore with my client.
When a coping mechanism becomes a postural habit
We can develop physical patterns that are entirely appropriate to the circumstances in which we learned them, but which continue long after those circumstances have changed.
For this officer, his stance was an adaptation to the demands of his job, practised over years until it had become automatic.
His body had learned a particular way of standing, distributing weight and holding tension. Despite the discomfort he was experiencing, he believed this pattern was so deeply ingrained that it would never change.
The moment his body let go
I used kinesiology muscle testing to identify the muscles involved in maintaining this established pattern. I then used a combination of techniques, including working with the spine and holding specific points on the head, to help his body release the familiar pattern.
The change was immediate and dramatic. As the tension released, his back visibly flattened out against the treatment couch.
He had told me that his posture represented a lifetime of training and would not shift. He was astonished by how different his body felt.
We hadn't forced him into a new position. We had helped his body find another option.
A new way of standing — and feeling
The change took some getting used to. He needed time to process what had happened and make sense of such a different physical experience.
But other people noticed. Friends and colleagues commented that he seemed taller.
He felt more grounded and at ease in his body. He was sleeping better, and the persistent lower back pain he had described was no longer troubling him in the same way.
His experience illustrates something important: sometimes, the body continues to hold a pattern because it has become familiar, not because it is the only way things can be.
Could your body be holding on to an old pattern?
If years of demanding work have left you with persistent back pain, stiffness or restricted movement, it may be worth looking beyond the painful area itself.
My body-mind approach explores patterns of tension and movement that may be contributing to your discomfort, helping your body discover alternatives to familiar ways of holding itself.
Curious about what your body might be holding on to?]
Get in touch with to find out more or arrange a session.
Sometimes, change begins not by forcing your body to do something different, but by helping it discover that another way is possible.
