The Importance of Good Posture For Your Back and Spine
Your parents were right when they nagged you about the importance of good posture. Poor posture can trigger back pain and may even affect the alignment of your entire body. Learning about the many negative effects of poor posture during National Correct Posture Month in May just might prompt you to make a few positive changes to your posture.
How Poor Posture Affects Your Back
Slouching throws off the alignment of your spine, stressing your muscles and joints while also increasing your risk of back pain. Normally, all the parts of your spine function as a single unit to support your weight. If your back isn't properly aligned, one area may be required to support a greater percentage of your total body weight. Over time, this imbalance can lead to chronic pain in your back.
Poor posture may also play a role in:
Practicing the Perfect Posture
Improving your posture may be a simple way to decrease the aches and pains in your back. Although many of us automatically assume a military posture when prompted to stop slouching, this posture could actually make your back problems worse.
A more natural standing posture is more beneficial for your back. The American Chiropractic Association (ACA) recommends standing with your knees slightly bent and shoulder-width apart with your shoulders pulled back. As you stand, focus on keeping your weight on the balls of your feet while tucking your stomach. (Rounding your back can cause your stomach to protrude.)
Pay attention to the position of your neck too. Many people hold their heads forward or to one side and aren't aware that they're doing this. The ACA recommends that your keep your head level and make sure that your earlobes are over your shoulders.
Your Chiropractor Can Help You Improve Your Posture and Ease Your Pain
Medication isn't the only way to treat back pain. Chiropractic treatment can ease your symptoms without any side effects. South African researchers discovered that the therapy is an effective way to treat postural kyphosis, a condition that causes the upper back to appear rounded due to slouching.
Study participants were divided into three groups. The first group received spinal manipulation therapy only, while the second group received the therapy and also performed strengthening and stretching exercises. (Spinal manipulation uses quick, hands-on thrusts to improve the alignment of your vertebrae.) The third group only participated in the exercises. At the end of the study, the second group had the most dramatic changes in posture.
In addition to offering spinal manipulation and other treatments, your chiropractor can recommend exercises that will strengthen the muscles in your back and abdomen. He or she can also discuss other changes that may improve your posture, such as using ergonomic office furniture, changing your sleeping position, or losing a few extra pounds.
Do you have back pain due to poor posture? Chiropractic treatment can help relieve your pain naturally and improve your posture.
Sources:
PostureMonth.org: Strong Posture Keeps Your Body Looking Good and Moving Well
Harvard Health Publishing: Posture and Back Health
American Chiropractic Association: Maintaining Good Posture
How Your Sleeping Position Can Lead to Back Problems
It's not always easy to narrow down the cause of early morning back pain, particularly if you don't remember doing anything that could trigger the pain. If you haven't fallen, lifted heavy items, or exercised intensely recently, your sleeping position may be to blame for your pain. Focusing on improving your sleeping position during National Better Sleep Month in May just may help ease your back pain.
The Way You Sleep Can Stress Your Back
Your preferred sleeping may be the same one you used when you were five. Back then, you could easily fall asleep in any position and not experience any consequences. Unfortunately, wear and tear in addition to the natural effects of aging can make your back more susceptible to aches and pains if you continue to sleep in certain sleeping positions.
Positions that fail to keep your head, neck, and back properly aligned and supported are more likely to trigger back pain. Stress on your joints, muscles, and ligaments increases if you don't maintain the natural curvature of your back as you sleep.
Exploring Common Sleeping Positions and Their Effects on Your Back
Do you fall asleep in one of these positions? Here's how they may affect your back:
How to Improve Your Sleep and Avoid Back Pain
In addition to sleeping on your back or side, these tips may help you wake up refreshed and pain-free:
Do you suffer from nagging back pain? Your chiropractor offers treatments that can help ease your pain.
Sources:
The Better Sleep Council: Starfish or Freefall? What Your Sleep Position Can Tell You
Consumer Reports: How Long Does a Mattress Last?
A Guide to Scoliosis: Treatment, Symptoms, and Causes
Scoliosis occurs when the spine curves sideways. Although you may associate the condition with teenagers, it can affect adults too. An estimated 7 million people in the United States have scoliosis, according to the National Scoliosis Foundation.
Scoliosis Symptoms
The bony vertebrae that make up your spine normally form a straight line from the bottom of your back to the top of your neck. If you have scoliosis, your spine curves to the side, forming an "S" or "C" shape.
Scoliosis symptoms vary depending on the degree of curvature and may include:
If the curvature progresses, the vertebrae may begin to press on nerves and organs, causing difficulty breathing, heart issues, or constipation. Limited mobility and physical deformity may also occur.
Scoliosis in Children
Scoliosis usually becomes apparent during growth spurts in the pre-teen and teenage years. Fortunately, most children who develop scoliosis only have mild curvatures and may never need treatment. It's not always possible to determine the cause of scoliosis. The condition may be more likely to occur after an injury that affects the spine or if your child has muscular dystrophy or cerebral palsy.
A scoliosis diagnosis can be a surprise to both parents and children. The condition is often detected during annual wellness exams or scoliosis screenings at school.
Your child's doctor may not recommend treatment unless the curve progresses beyond 30 degrees. If your child has been diagnosed with scoliosis, their spine will be X-rayed periodically. One or more of these treatments may be needed if the curvature continues to progress:
Scoliosis in Adults
Scoliosis that begins during childhood can continue to affect you during adulthood. You may experience minor worsening of your curvature as you grow older, which can trigger or worsen back pain, stiffness, and muscle cramps. Numbness in the legs may be a problem if a nerve becomes pinched.
You might develop scoliosis for the first time as an adult if the discs that cushion your spine begin to break down or you develop arthritis or spinal stenosis. Spinal stenosis occurs due to the narrowing of the spinal canal that protects your spinal cord. Adult scoliosis can cause pain or numbness in your back and legs. Some treatment options include chiropractic, physical therapy, and short-term use of braces.
How Chiropractic Treatment Can Help
Chiropractic treatment may help ease scoliosis-related pain in both children and adults. When vertebrae become misaligned, they can press on nerves, causing pain. Muscle tension and spasms may also occur if your spine isn't properly aligned. Regular chiropractic treatments improve spinal alignment and may also decrease inflammation, improve nerve function, and increase flexibility and range of motion.
Twenty-eight adult scoliosis patients saw improvements in disability, pain, and Cobb angle in a study that appeared in the Journal of Chiropractic Medicine in 2011. Cobb angle is used to determine the degree of side-to-side curvature. The patients completed a six-month exercise-based chiropractic program that began after the clinical part of their treatment was over.
Chiropractic treatment offers a simple, natural way to help you manage your scoliosis symptoms.
Sources:
National Scoliosis Foundation: Information and Support
Electrotherapy Offers Natural Pain Relief
Do you struggle to keep your pain under control? Over-the-counter prescription medication relieves symptoms but often causes nausea, dizziness and other side effects that make working, exercising, or taking care of your family difficult. Electrotherapy may offer a better way to manage your pain.
How Does Electrotherapy Work?
Electrotherapy prevents pain signals from reaching your brain by interrupting them with low-voltage electrical impulses. If the signals aren't received by the brain, you don't feel pain. The treatment also triggers the releases of endorphins, your body's natural painkillers.
In addition to providing pain relief, electrotherapy can be used to loosen tight muscles, promote healing, increase muscle tone, reduce swelling, improve range of motion, and strengthen muscles. Although the therapy can be helpful no matter how long you've had pain, it's particularly beneficial if used immediately after an injury.
During treatments, electrical impulses are delivered through adhesive electrodes attached to your skin or a belt worn around your body. Electrodes may be applied directly over the painful area or on a nerve that serves the area.
Electrotherapy treatment isn't usually painful. Many people mention feeling a tingling or pricking sensation when the electrical current is activated. The therapy can reduce pain for as long as 24 hours after a treatment.
Is Electrotherapy Right for Me?
Electrotherapy may be helpful if you have:
Electrotherapy can relieve your pain completely or help you reduce your reliance on painkillers. In a study published in the Western Journal of Emergency Medicine, 100 percent of emergency patients who received the treatment found it helpful in reducing pain when combined with other treatments.
The therapy may not be a good option if you're pregnant, have a heart condition, epilepsy, a pacemaker, defibrillator, infusion pump, or metal implant.
What Types of Electrotherapy Treatments Are Available?
Electrotherapy may be part of your chiropractic treatment plan, in addition to spinal manipulation, massage, soft tissue mobilization, or ultrasound therapy. Your chiropractor might recommend one or more of these types of electrotherapy:
Pain doesn't have to control your life. Electrotherapy and chiropractic treatments can help ease your pain and improve your mobility. Contact us to schedule your appointment.
Sources:
SPINE-health: All About Electrotherapy and Pain Relief, 4/21/17
Medical News Today: What Is a TENS Unit and Does It Work?
Healthline: Transcutaneous Electrical Stimulation Unit
Should You Exercise After an Injury?
When your muscles and joints are sore and strained from an injury, hitting the gym probably doesn't seem like a very good idea. Although full-out workouts could potentially worsen your condition, moderate exercise may be just what you need to speed the healing process.
How You Can Benefit from Exercise
For years, doctors advised patients with injuries to take it easy. Unfortunately, after spending a week or two on the couch, many people found moving difficult. During the recommended period of rest, muscles stiffened and scar tissue grew. Creaky, stiff joints slowed recovery time and made it more difficult to complete everyday tasks.
The truth is that exercise may actually help ease aches and pains while also reducing the length of your recovery.
Exercise helps:
Things to Keep In Mind When Exercising
Check with your chiropractor before you begin exercising after an injury. He or she can advise you when it's safe to start working out again and recommend specific exercises. (If you have a heart condition, ask your cardiologist or family doctor if it's safe for you to exercise.)
Exercise after an injury involves gently working the injured area or keeping other areas of your body mobile and flexible if it's too soon to exercise a sore muscle or joint. If you hurt your ankle, concentrate on upper body exercises for a few days. Once your chiropractor approves, try adding walking, strengthening or low-impact aerobic exercises to your workout regimen.
Weight lifting is an excellent way to strengthen your muscles and help you avoid new injuries, but it should be approached with caution. If you don't decrease your usual weight load, you may worsen your injury. Start with light weights at first, and stop if you experience any pain. Talk to your chiropractor about the best way to begin or re-start a weight training regimen.
When back pain is the problem, exercises that don't strain your back or abdominal muscles or involve twisting can help keep your muscles and joints loose. Swimming, walking or riding a stationary bicycle can elevate your heart rate, improve blood flow, and increase mobility and range of motion. As healing progresses, your chiropractor may recommend exercises that strengthen and tone the muscles in your back and core.
In a study included in a systematic review published in Healthcare, low back pain sufferers who participated in aerobic exercise or strengthening exercises experienced a significant decrease in pain.
Chiropractic Care May Enhance the Effects of Exercise
Exercise is even more helpful when it's combined with chiropractic treatment. During treatments, your chiropractor may realign the vertebrae in your spine with hands-on manipulation. They may also use soft tissue mobilization or massage to loosen tight muscles and tendons.
During a systematic review conducted by the Ontario Protocol for Traffic Injury Management Collaboration, researchers discovered that soft tissue therapy offered an effective way to treat tennis elbow, carpal tunnel syndrome, and plantar fasciitis.
The effects of your treatment will last longer if you perform exercises to stretch and strengthen your muscles. Even minor muscle strains or stiffness can stress your back and alter the alignment of your spine, leading to pain, stiffness, and reduced range of motion.
It's important to exercise every day and only perform the exercises approved by your chiropractor. Don't increase the intensity or duration of your workout without approval. Starting a vigorous workout routine too soon can result in new injuries or worsening of your current injury.
Do you want to reduce your recovery time and learn the best exercises that won't further irritate your injury? Contact our office to schedule an appointment.
Sources:
SPINE Health: Exercise and Chiropractic Therapy, 3/14/13
Ace Fitness: Getting Back to Fitness After an Injury
The Advantages of Long-Term Chiropractic Care
How long has it been since you've seen your chiropractor? Chiropractic visits not only offer relief of chronic or acute (sudden) pain but may also provide long-term health benefits. Making time for regular chiropractic care offers a simple way to protect your health.
Why You Should Consider Long-Term Care
Scheduling regular visits to the chiropractor help prevent pain from returning. Although you'll feel much better after a few weeks or months of chiropractic care, your symptoms could recur if you don't receive periodic spinal adjustments and other treatments. In fact, the American College of Physicians includes spinal manipulation in its guidelines for treating non-radiating low back pain. Regular maintenance appointments keep your spine properly aligned and your muscles and joints flexible.
Long-term care also:
Could long-term chiropractic help you improve your health? Contact us to schedule your next appointment.
Sources:
Palmer College of Chiropractic: Benefits of Chiropractic
Chiropractic Economics: Text Neck Pain, Treatment and Prevention, 10/30/19
What to Expect During Your First Chiropractic Visit
Have you been thinking about making an appointment with a chiropractor due to pain in your back, neck, hip or limbs? Chiropractic treatment offers a natural way to ease pain, reduce insomnia and stress, relieve numbness and tingling, and help you stay healthy. Here's what you can expect during your first appointment.
You'll Spend a Little Time Talking to the Chiropractor
Before your treatment begins, your chiropractor will review the questionnaire you completed and ask you to describe the location, duration, and intensity of your pain and its cause, if known. You'll also discuss your hobbies, lifestyle, and job.
These questions help your chiropractor get to know you and provide valuable information about the lifestyle factors that may have triggered or worsened your symptoms.
Your Chiropractor Will Perform a Thorough Examination
During the exam, your doctor will evaluate the strength and tone of your muscles and also assess your posture, range of motion, flexibility, and level of pain when moving the sore or injured part of your body.
The exam will include vital sign measurements and neurological and orthopedic tests. Your chiropractor may also take a few X-rays to evaluate the health of your spine and joints. In some cases, other tests, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies, may be ordered.
You May Receive an Adjustment During Your First Visit
After your chiropractor reviews your history and the results of your exam, he or she will prepare a treatment plan. Many plans include spinal manipulations, also known as adjustments. Adjustments correct subluxations, which occur when the vertebrae in your spine become misaligned.
Misalignments can cause joint and muscle pain, restrict movement, and press on nerves. Pressure on nerves may trigger pain and even affect the normal functioning of organs. Subluxations can happen due to falls, injuries or poor posture. You may develop them if you spend hours working on a computer, driving a truck or looking at a smartphone or digital screen.
During an adjustment, your chiropractor will ask you to sit or lie on your side, back or stomach. An adjustment only takes a few seconds and involves quick, hands-on thrusts applied to your back or neck to realign the vertebrae. Your chiropractor may also use a small, handheld device to perform adjustments.
Although it may sound as if your bones are cracking during your adjustment, that's not the case. The sound actually occurs when gas in the joints is rapidly released.
Before your chiropractor adjusts your spine, he or she will explain what will happen during the treatment and discuss how the adjustment will improve your symptoms.
Your Chiropractor Many Recommend a Few Other Therapies
In addition to adjustments, your chiropractor may recommend one or more of these therapies:
You'll Discuss Next Steps Before You Leave
Although you'll probably notice that your pain has decreased after your first adjustment, you'll need additional treatments to keep your pain under control and address the underlying issue that caused your symptoms. During the next several weeks, your chiropractor may recommend that you visit a few times every week.
Your treatment schedule will vary depending on the nature of your complaint and the severity of your pain. Your chiropractor may also show you a few exercises that you can do at home between visits to improve your comfort.
Are you tired of living with pain or muscle weakness? Chiropractic treatment can ease your pain without drugs. Contact our office to schedule your first appointment.
Sources:
Spine-Health: What Expect at the First Chiropractic Consultation, 8/1/13
Medline Plus: Chiropractic Care for Back Pain
Spine Universe: Chiropractic Therapies
Preventative Care vs. Reactive Care: How Regular Chiropractic Visits Can Prevent Pain and Health Issues
Do you only visit the chiropractor when your back or neck hurts? Making time for regular visits can help you avoid aches and pains. In fact, preventive care visits offer a simple way to optimize your health.
What's the Difference Between Preventive Care and Reactive Care?
Reactive care focuses on treating acute (sudden) symptoms or illnesses. You receive reactive care when you visit the family doctor for treatment of flu symptoms or a fracture or when you see the chiropractor after your back pain flares up.
Preventive care happens when you have no symptoms. It's intended to prevent illnesses, diseases, and pain from occurring and reduce the risk of a recurrence if you've recently experienced an injury or illness. Preventive care can involve:
How Can Chiropractic Preventive Care Help Me?
Chiropractors use hands-on manipulation and mobilization techniques to improve the alignment of your spine and correct subluxations. Subluxations happen when the vertebrae in your spine move out of their normal positions. Changes in vertebral alignment may be caused by falls, accidents, poor posture, stress, improper lifting technique, poor exercise form or even sitting for many hours.
Subluxations are a common cause of back, neck, and joint pain, but pain isn't the only consequence. Misalignments can cause muscle stiffness and decreased range of motion and flexibility.
Misaligned vertebrae may press on your nerves, triggering pain and interfering with the normal function of the organs and tissues. For example, a subluxation that affects the nerves that serve your digestive system may worsen the symptoms of gastrointestinal diseases and conditions, including gastroesophageal reflux disorder (GERD), inflammatory bowel disease, Crohn's disease, and other ailments.
In a study that appeared in the Annals of Vertebral Subluxation, participants experienced an improvement in their Crohn's disease symptoms after spinal manipulation to treat subluxations in the thoracic (upper spine) and lumbar (lower spine) regions. Researchers theorized that chronic nerve compression caused by subluxations could affect the immune system, interfere with digestion and absorption of liquids and nutrients, and cause other gastrointestinal issues.
In addition to helping you manage the symptoms of chronic conditions, preventive care can:
If you're like most people, you probably wouldn't dream of ignoring the oil service light on your car or skipping HVAC service calls. Those preventive services reduce breakdowns and keep your vehicle and heating and air-conditioning systems running smoothly.
Preventive care offers the same benefits for your body. Making time to see the chiropractor when you feel fine can help you avoid aches, pains, illnesses, and worsening of chronic conditions.
Could you benefit from chiropractic care? Contact us to schedule an appointment.
Sources:
Palmer College of Chiropractic: Benefits of Chiropractic
WebMD: Chiropractic Care for Back Pain
Ease Into Exercise in The New Year With Help from Your Chiropractor
Have you decided that 2020 is the year that you'll finally follow through on your plan to exercise more often? Although regular exercise is essential to your health, you may injure yourself if you suddenly begin a rigorous workout routine. Fortunately, your chiropractor can help you create a safe, effective workout plan that gradually improves your physical fitness.
Improving Your Health and Wellness Is a Personal Process
The ideal fitness plan for your co-worker or brother may not necessarily be the best approach for you. Your fitness level, goals, and physical condition will influence the way you exercise and the type of workout that will be most beneficial.
Involving your chiropractor in the planning stages of your new workout regime can help you avoid painful injuries that may sabotage your plan to improve your fitness. During your appointment with your chiropractor, you'll discuss:
Once you've identified your goals and evaluated your fitness level, you'll be prepared to create a plan that will help you meet your objectives. The best plans include warm-ups, rest days and an exercise schedule that gradually increases the length, duration, and intensity of your workout. If you work out too hard or long, you'll increase your risk of sprains, strains, fractures, inflammation, and overuse injuries.
Regular Chiropractic Care Can Help You Reach Your Fitness Goals
No matter how carefully you exercise, you may experience subluxations, or misalignments in the vertebrae in your spine. These misalignments can increase stress on specific parts of your body and cause pain, stiffness, decreased range of motion, headaches, and balance and posture issues. If your joints or muscles are stiff and tight, you may be more likely to experience an injury when you exercise.
Regular visits to your chiropractor will keep your spine properly aligned and your muscles and joints loose and flexible. During your appointments, your chiropractor can show you exercises that will help strengthen your muscles and discuss the importance of proper technique in preventing injuries. You'll also discuss dietary changes you can make to support your workout goals.
Are you ready to begin a new fitness routine? We'd like to help you create your workout plan. Contact us to schedule an appointment.
Sources:
Harper’s Bazaar: The 12 Mistakes a Chiropractor Wants You to Stop Making in the Gym, 5/16/18
Spine Health: Exercise and Chiropractic Care, 3/14/13
Put Your Health First in the New Year with Chiropractic Care
The new year is the perfect time to reflect on your lifestyle and make a few changes to improve your health. Adding chiropractic treatments to your healthy living regimen can help you avoid illnesses and injuries or manage the symptoms of chronic conditions. More than just a treatment for aches and pains, chiropractic care offers a natural way to stay healthy.
How Chiropractic Care Can Help You
Chiropractors treat subluxations, spinal misalignments that not only cause pain and stiffness but also press on the nerves in your spinal column.
Your nervous system plays an important role in your health. Nerves travel to every part of your body and send and receive signals from your brain and spinal cord. If any part of the nerve signal transmission process is disrupted, bodily systems and functions can be affected.
Fortunately, your chiropractor can help you protect your health with treatments that correct subluxations and relax your muscles and joints. Benefits of chiropractic care include:
Is "improve my health" on your list of New Year's resolutions? Keeping your resolution will be much easier if you make chiropractic care part of your life. Contact us to schedule your appointment.
Sources:
National Heart, Blood and Lung Institute: Sleep Deprivation and Deficiency
UChicago Medicine: Special Chiropractic Adjustment Lowers Blood Pressure Among Hypertensive Patients with Misaligned C-1 Vertebrae, 3/14/07
U.S. News & World Report: Surprise: Chiropractors Can Treat These 5 Conditions, 11/30/15
