Blog
Harnessing the Power of Posture
Postural deficiencies are on the rise
Poor posture is the norm. As more and more jobs are transitioned into office scenarios, more people are spending the working day seated. Many of those people will then spend their post-work hours seated as well, creating a sedentary lifestyle that is devastating for our bodies. Posture is the outward manifestation of this problem- you only need look at someone to see if their posture is suffering. The signs may be slight- or we may be so accustomed to them that we take them as the norm. Things like a belly stuck out, a head stuck forward, or rounded shoulders, are signs that our posture is not up to scratch. So how do we take back the power over our posture? Through awareness and proactivity.
This Spring, Golf Under Par with Chiropractic
Golf is the ultimate test of coordination
Golf is unlike any other sport in terms of mental control and discipline. It is less credited, however, for the physical challenges that it presents. Sure it is low-impact, but our bodies are also being asked to perform a completely unique movement that requires an intense amount of integration between disparate moving parts. It requires fine-tuned coordination between the central nervous and musculoskeletal systems, also known as motor control.
Keep Calm and Play Tennis Better with Chiropractic
The role of tennis in spinal health
Tennis provides a full-body boon; in terms of spinal health, there is a net-positive benefit and it is our job as an office of chiropractic to keep it that way! At Family Chiropractic & Spinal Health Care Center, our goal is to strengthen your spine against the unique challenges that tennis presents, so that you can maintain a high level of performance on the court while preventing injuries inherent in the nature of the sport.
Detecting Spinal Misalignment Before it Causes Problems
The complexity of your spine explained
Your spine consists of bones called the vertebrae, forming a set of curves called the column that houses the spinal canal. This cavity protects the spinal cord, a bundle of nerve fibers which connect almost every part of your body with your brain, forming the central nervous system. Between each vertebrae is an intervertebral disc that provides for shock absorption and articulation between the bones, as well as ligaments which provide an additional layer of strength and support. Each spinal motion segment (adjacent vertebrae, disc and ligaments), is responsible for healthy articulation of the spine. With so many interdependent parts, your spine regularly moves in and out of alignment.
What Your Pillow Says About Your Pain
Your pillow is a make or break factor in neck pain
Is it possible to injury your neck while sleeping? The answer is absolutely yes, and it happens more often than you think. While anyone is liable to sleep in a slightly off-angle and wake up with a stiff neck, it’s a different story when you are sleeping on the wrong pillow. With the wrong pillow, you could be:
- Increasing spinal pressure
- Encouraging or compounding spinal misalignment
- Flattening or accentuating curves in the back
It is hard to quantify how much benefit your neck receives when you have just the right pillow. But we can say, from a chiropractor‘s perspective, that a properly fitting pillow is essential for maintaining spinal alignment and preventing subluxation and spinal degeneration.
Making Time for Your Spine
Is spinal health a priority in your lifestyle?
How lazy are we? Spinal health is a good measuring tool. We are all aware of what a sitting-heavy, movement-lacking lifestyle can do to our spines. Even then, few of us take the initiative to care for our spines seriously until something is wrong: a crick in the neck, a stiff and sore lower back, a painful pinched nerve; these are the wake up signals that prompt us to take action in defense of our spine. But what if you never had to reach that point to begin with? If you are lucky enough to have a pain-free spine right now, don’t take it for granted! Realize how lucky you are, and then realize that it won’t stay that way unless you take proactive measures to keep it in a state of strength and balance.
Text Neck: An Insidious Byproduct of the Tech Age
Smartphones optimize our lives while hurting our spines
Smartphones have become the predominant tool of modern life. While its ability to streamline hundreds of functions into a pocket-sized computer is admirable, it is also causing grief for our spine. The subconscious posture that many of us adopt when using our phones is dangerous when combined with frequent usage. Studies have estimated that teens spend up to 2-4 hours on their phone per day, which may help explain why spinal degeneration is affecting younger demographics more than in the past. Smartphones indulge us instantly and satisfy our ever-curious minds, but it is worth asking if that comes with a price.
Managing Daily Spinal Misalignment
Your spine is misaligned as we speak
This is no hyperbole, but neither is it cause for panic! The spine is not one long rigid bone; if it were, you would scarcely be able to move. In reality, your spine is accentuated by spinal motion segments which, according to their location in the spinal column, are responsible for different kinds of motion. For example, the cervical and lumbar regions provide for stability, while the thoracic vertebrae are designed to facilitate the flexion, extension and rotation of the upper body. Understanding your spine as a mosaic of moving pieces helps explain why it is constantly becoming unaligned and realigned. The problems begin when misalignments create uneven development of the musculature, or contribute to muscle tension and trigger points.
The Merits of Natural Pain Relief
Chronic pain is epidemic
Chronic pain is a brutal reality: it alters lifestyles and puts people at its mercy. People living with chronic pain often complain that they feel the pain is in the driver’s seat of their life. And in the maelstrom of chronic pain, people often feel forced to seek relief from pain medication. The other alternative, it would seem, is to tough it out until the pain subsides a bit. But few people can afford the mental anguish and time that it takes to “grin and bear,” the pain. So we reach for pills, which are effective at masking symptoms but do little to address the underlying cause of the pain.
The Responsible Office Worker Takes Control of Their Own Health
Don’t let repetitive strain injuries be your fate
If you work in an office, take a second to appreciate the amount of time you spend in front of a computer. It simply isn’t natural! And while we can hardly expect to be laboring away in fields the way our ancestors were, we have to understand that sitting is not a natural position for the human spine. It loads the intervertebral discs with more pressure than most other positions, and the burden is magnified by poor posture. What’s more, many of the actions we do while working in an office setting contribute to microtraumas in the joints. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is a great example of repetitive stress trauma that besets many office workers.