I am confident that I have identified my topic of research. I am going to research to what extent exercises both mentally and physically can help reduce lower back pain for Equestrian athletes. I am not going to consider those athletes that have structural deviations related to their back such as scoliosis, sciatica, spinal stenosis, spondylolisthesis just to name a few.
My head is still swimming with ideas, how to organize and be specific. I have notes every where. Ideas will surface while I am riding horses, cleaning the barn or house, and driving down the road. I do not want to loose the thoughts so they are written down and hopefully are significant enough to remember later in the writing and construction process.
I think I have a solid start on where I am headed with my action research. The ideas are flowing as expressed earlier in this bog but also others. After discussion with my professor, it seems my ideas are collecting in a category called Mixed Methods for both the Qualitative and Quantitative Research. It also appears that my research questions may fall into what is called triangulation which uses multiple sources of data as explained on pages 56-57 in our text Action Research by Geoffrey Mills.
To this point, my reading research has just focused on the physical exercises and familiarizing myself with back and abdominal anatomy. A thorough understanding of how the muscles work and how they influence one another is of utmost importance to know which exercises will be most beneficial for my students and their progress.
I am struggling to find information about how the back muscles influence the abdominal muscles and visa versa. An example would be, if a rider has underdeveloped abdominal muscles can that cause stress and ultimately lower back pain? Any additional suggestions from my professor or classmates in pinpointing this cause and effect relationship would be most helpful.
I have yet to research the mental exercises and impact on lower back pain. Honestly, this may be an area that may be deleted as my research continues. I do know that mental stress is definitely reflected in both the performance of the horse and rider. I am just not certain that the tension it brings to the body plays a role in lower back pain
Additional resources are always an asset. I am lacking quality journal articles. Most of my research is in books, therefore, it takes me a while to complete each reading. I know my topic is quite unique from others in my class and it is unlikely my classmates would uncover any information related to lower back pain in equestrian athletes. However, any additional resources would be welcome.
3 responses so far ↓
1
bjones28
// May 23, 2008 at 6:51 am
Sara,
I think this is a great topic for you to continue researching. I am sure that finding scholarly articles in your subject is extremely difficult! Unfortunately I do not know the answer to that problem. Maybe you could use interviews from knowledgeable people as literature. Could talking with a back doctor, vet or another horse savvy person give you more information on the muscles and movements of the horse? What about the saddle? Could an interview or questionnaire from a saddle builder be useable? I am also interested in the mental aspect of riding. Personally, I know that horses cause different reactions from different people. I am not an expert but I bet mental thinking has something to do with body posture. The more comfortable you are with something the more relaxed you will be doing it. Overall I believe you have done a great job locating material that will be viable to your research.
Brandi
2
horseeducator
// May 23, 2008 at 10:38 am
Brandi,
Thanks for the ideas. I have read articles about back pain but they do not address pain in relation to the equestrian. I have responses on my blog from chiropractors all the time.
I am still debating the saddle issue. I am afraid my scope will get too large. It is in the back of my mind and I will use it if I have to. By the way my parents used tobe saddle makers so that information could really be easy to locate.
In addition, I do think the mental aspect of riding is a huge factor and is definitely one of my test groups. You will read about it later in a blog but I did a horsemanship clinic and used some of my mental ideas with the kids. It worked, or at least temporarily until the understand the “feel” which is a whole other topic.
3
Sarah Flak
// May 24, 2008 at 8:34 am
Sara-
The first thing that popped into my head when I was reading this is that you should consult with an Occupational Therapist, a Physical Therapist or a Chiropractor. I think you should definitely talk to some of the Chiropractors who already read your blog. I am very interested in your research because I suffer from chronic back pain from lifting kiddos all day. Maybe your findings will motivate me to go to the gym! I think it is a good decision to only look at physical exercises because adding mental exercises would make your project much broader. I am curious as to how you will implement this. Will you have students in different groups undergoing different treatments? Will you have a control group? What kind of data do you plan on collecting in your multi-instrument approach?
I also wanted to let you know that my blog has moved to sflak.blogspot.com. I would love any feedback you have for me!
-Sarah
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