11 Health and Wellness Benefits of Chiropractic Care
A healthy diet and regular exercise aren't the only factors in health and wellness. Regular visits to your chiropractor help you reduce your risk of illness, ease the pain of chronic conditions, and even lower stress.
Protect and Improve Your Health with Chiropractic
Chiropractic care isn't limited to treatments for back and neck pain. In fact, chiropractic offers an excellent way to maintain your health and avoid conditions and illnesses that can affect the quality of your life. Regular chiropractic care offers these important benefits:
1. Healthier Immune System: Misaligned vertebrae in your spine or neck can press on the nerves that serve the immune system, interfering with the system's ability to fight illness. Spinal manipulation, a common chiropractic treatment, realigns your vertebrae and improves your resistance to diseases and infections.
2. No More Pain: Unlike prescription and over-the-counter pain relievers, chiropractic isn't a temporary fix for pain. Treatments target the source of the problem, eliminating or reducing pain and preventing it from occurring again. Chiropractic offers a simple, effective way to treat pain in any part of the body.
3. Improved Balance: Poor balance can lead to falls and serious injuries. Balance issues are more common in senior citizens but can affect people of any age. Chiropractic treatment enhances the function of nerves involved in balance control, improves gait (walking) problems, and corrects imbalances that can cause misalignments in bones, joints, and muscles. Improving balance with chiropractic care can also help improve your sports performance and reduce your risk of injuries.
4. Natural Headache and Migraine Relief: Do you suffer from frequent tension headaches or migraines? Chiropractic treatments relax tight muscles in your head and neck and keep the vertebrae in your neck properly aligned. Regular treatment can help you reduce the number of days per month you experience headaches.
5. Excellent Posture: If you're like most people, you probably don't think about your posture when you work on your laptop or send a few texts on your phone. Unfortunately, poor posture can strain the muscles and bones in your back, neck, shoulders, and hips, causing pain and headaches. Chiropractic care realigns your joints, improves posture, and corrects imbalances.
6. Fewer Age-Related Aches and Pains: The natural effects of aging can take a toll on your body, causing arthritis, bulging discs, decreased flexibility, poor range of motion, and other problems. Your chiropractor offers a variety of treatments that can help you manage age-related issues.
7. Less Stiffness: Spinal manipulation, spinal mobilization, soft tissue mobilization, massage, and other chiropractic treatments reduce stiffness and inflammation that can make your joints feel tight. Visiting your chiropractor on a regular basis is a simple way to keep your joints and muscles loose and flexible.
8. Better Gastrointestinal Health: Chiropractic treatment offers a natural solution for stomach pain, constipation, diarrhea, heartburn, and gas. Treatment is aimed at relaxing abdominal muscles and easing pressure on the nerves that travel to your stomach and intestines.
9. Lower Blood Pressure: High blood pressure stresses your arteries and your heart, increasing your risk of heart attack, dementia, and heart and kidney disease. Its effect on blood pressure is one of the lesser-known, but very important, benefits of chiropractic care. High blood pressure could be related to an alignment problem in the neck in some cases. Researchers at UChicago Medicine noted spinal manipulation therapy resulted in a significant drop in blood pressure in people who had misaligned vertebrae in their necks.
10. Natural Stress Reduction: Stress may be unavoidable, but it doesn't have to take over your life. Chiropractic treatment loosens tight muscles and triggers the production of endorphins, the hormones that ease pain and improve your mood.
11. An Answer to Your Sleep Problems: It's difficult to fall asleep and stay asleep if you're in pain or feel stressed. Unfortunately, insomnia is a common problem in the U.S. According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, 30 to 35 percent of Americans experience brief periods of insomnia, 15 to 20 percent develop symptoms that last less than three months, and 10 percent develop chronic insomnia. Chiropractic care relieves insomnia naturally, helping you get the sleep you need.
Would you like to enhance your health and wellness with chiropractic care? Contact our office to schedule your appointment.
Sources:
American Academy of Sleep Medicine: Insomnia Awareness Day Facts and Statistics
U.S. News & World Report: Surprise: Chiropractors Can Treat These 5 Conditions, 11/30/15
How a Chiropractor Can Treat Your Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Surgery isn't the only solution if you're suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome, pain, and weakness. Your chiropractor offers several treatments that will ease your symptoms and make it easier to live with the nerve disorder.
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Causes and Symptoms
As many as four to 10 million people in the U.S. have carpal tunnel syndrome, according to the American College of Rheumatology. The disorder occurs when the median nerve that travels from your hand to your wrist becomes compressed. In order to reach your hand, the nerve must pass through a tight pathway, or tunnel, made up of soft tissues and small bones in the wrist.
Carpal tunnel syndrome symptoms can develop if the tunnel narrows due to injuries, arthritis, fluid retention, or inflammation. When the tunnel is too narrow, pressure on the nerve causes a variety of uncomfortable symptoms.
Nerve pressure may also increase if you participate in activities or work that requires repetitive hand motions, such as typing, knitting, or repairing cars. If you frequently use vibrating tools, your risk of developing carpal tunnel syndrome may increase. Women are more likely than men to develop carpal tunnel syndrome, as their carpal tunnels may be smaller.
Symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome may affect your hands and fingers and can travel up your arm. Common symptoms include:
How Chiropractic Treatment Can Improve Your Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Symptoms
Carpal tunnel syndrome symptoms may actually be caused by a neck issue in some cases. In one study, researchers discovered that women who had carpal tunnel syndrome were more likely to have a restricted range of motion in their necks. Restricted movement in the neck was a factor in minimal, mild, moderate, and severe carpal tunnel syndrome, according to the study published in the Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy.
It may be difficult to move your neck easily if the vertebrae in your neck aren't properly aligned. Misaligned vertebrae can also press on nerves, which could trigger inflammation and swelling in and around the carpal tunnel.
Spinal Manipulation
Spinal manipulation, a common chiropractic treatment, improves alignment and may ease carpal tunnel syndrome symptoms. During the treatment, your chiropractor uses quick, hands-on thrusts to realign the vertebrae in your neck and back. Wrist and elbow adjustments may also help decrease pressure on the median nerve.
In a case series published in the Journal of Contemporary Chiropractic, researchers reported that combining spinal manipulation with wrist manipulation offered an effective treatment method for carpal tunnel syndrome symptoms.
Ultrasound Therapy
Ultrasound therapy offers another way to treat your symptoms. Sound waves produced by a small, handheld device penetrate deep into your tissues during your treatment. The waves decrease inflammation, relax soft tissues, improve blood flow, and reduce pain.
Therapeutic Taping
Your doctor may recommend that you tape your wrists or wear wrist supports to improve the alignment of your wrist and decrease pressure on your median nerve. If you tend to sleep with your wrists bent at night, wearing wrist supports can help you break this habit.
Exercises
Your treatment might include exercises that improve nerve movement and help strengthen your hands. Exercises can prevent your condition from worsening and relieve symptoms when they occur.
Massage Therapy
Massage therapy may be part of your chiropractic treatment plan. Massage treatments relax and lengthen muscles from your neck to your hand, reducing pressure on the median nerve. The therapy also eases inflammation and numbness and triggers the release of endorphins, your body's natural painkillers.
Have you been struggling with your carpal tunnel syndrome symptoms? Chiropractic care can help you improve your grip and ease pain, numbness, and weakness. Contact our office to schedule a convenient appointment with the chiropractor.
Sources:
American College of Rheumatology: Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Canadian Chiropractic Association: Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, 12/11/19
American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons: Therapeutic Exercises for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, 10/18
Medline Plus: Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Chiropractic Care for Regaining Your Balance and Coordination
Good balance and coordination can help you avoid falls and improve your sports performance. If you're not making saves during the game or feeling a little unsteady on your feet, chiropractic care may be just what you need to improve your balance and coordination.
How Poor Balance Can Affect Your Life
Information from your eyes, inner ears, muscles, and joints help your brain control your balance. When your balance system is operating normally, you'll be able to walk, stand, or perform more complicated movements easily. If the brain receives conflicting messages from any of these structures, dizziness, poor coordination, or balance problems can occur.
Balance issues are particularly common in older people. More than 25 percent of older people fall every year, resulting in 3 million emergency room visits, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The ability to maintain your balance naturally declines with age but can be affected by arthritis and other joint conditions.
No matter what your age, problems with balance may make it more difficult to walk on uneven terrain, climb stairs safely or stand on a ladder to change a light bulb. If you're an athlete, poor balance could affect your ability to make contact with the ball or stay on your feet when pivoting suddenly. Balance or coordination issues can increase your risk of injury while playing or practicing and prevent you from performing at your optimum level.
Improving Balance with Chiropractic Treatment
Your balance issues may be related to:
Chiropractors use a variety of therapies to improve alignment, balance your muscles and bones, and enhance nerve function. Spinal manipulation, also called a spinal adjustment, improves the alignment of the vertebrae in your back and neck. Once the vertebrae are properly aligned, nerve function, posture, and muscle balance and strength will also improve.
In a study that appeared in the Journal of Chiropractic Medicine, researchers used spinal manipulation to treat patients complaining of neck pain, dizziness, and balance problems. Most of the participants noticed improved balance after treatment and some experienced less dizziness.
Older adults in New Zealand who received 12 weeks of chiropractic care during a research study had improved sensorimotor function after treatment. "Sensorimotor" refers to the combination of systems needed for good balance.
If your problems are due to an injury, chiropractic treatment can help you regain strength and balance more quickly. In addition to providing helpful treatments, your chiropractor can also show you exercises that will help strengthen the muscles that support your joints and offer tips that will help you improve your posture and gait.
Does chiropractic treatment sound like the perfect solution to your balance problems? Contact our office to schedule an appointment.
Sources:
Vestibular Disorders Association: The Human Balance System
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Important Facts About Falls
Will Chiropractic Care Ease Your Joint Pain?
Joint pain is a common complaint for many Americans. Arthritis, sprains, tendinitis, bursitis, Lyme diseases, and other conditions and diseases can cause achy joints and make moving uncomfortable. Chiropractic treatment offers an effective way to soothe your sore joints and improve your mobility.
Why You Should Consider Chiropractic Treatment if You Have Joint Pain
Heat, ice, and over-the-counter pain medications can be helpful if you have mild or occasional joint pain but may be less effective for moderate to severe pain. Prescription medications offer another option but come with side effects that may not make them the best option. When your medication wears off, pain often returns. Even worse, some prescription painkillers can be very addicting.
Chiropractic offers a natural, drug-free way to not only treat your symptoms but also address the cause of your pain. Treating the source of your condition can eliminate or reduce pain and may even prevent it from occurring in the future.
You'll Have Less Pain and Stiffness, Thanks to Chiropractic Care
When the nerves around your joints are irritated, you're bound to experience aches and pains. Irritation may happen if your vertebrae, the bony bones that make up your spine, become misaligned and press on your nerves. Pain may also occur if the muscles, tendons, bones, or bulging spinal discs press against and irritate the nerves.
Correcting misaligned vertebrae with spinal manipulation eases joint pain and also reduces pressure on nerves. Your chiropractor uses quick thrusts to move the vertebrae back into alignment. Once your spine is properly aligned, tight muscles and tendons will loosen and no longer compress the nerves.
Manipulation and other chiropractic treatments reduce pain and stiffness while improving your range of motion. After a visit to the chiropractor, you'll probably find that it's a little easier to move your joints.
Treatments Improve Blood Flow
Your blood supplies oxygen, energy, and nutrients to your body's organs, tissues, and cells. Unfortunately, blood flow may be restricted if you have an injury or chronic condition that causes joint pain. Spinal manipulation, massage, and other treatments improve blood flow, which helps speed healing.
Chiropractic Care Can Help You Manage Arthritis Symptoms
Whether you have osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, or another form of a joint condition, you may find chiropractic treatment beneficial. In addition to reducing pain and stiffness, chiropractic care may also ease muscle spasms and reduce tenderness in the soft tissues around your joints.
In a case study that appeared in the Journal of Chiropractic Medicine, a 70-year-old woman with a history of hip osteoarthritis received 12 weeks of chiropractic care. At the end of the treatment period, she saw improvements in range of motion, gait speed, and balance.
Your Treatment is Geared to Your Condition
Chiropractic care isn't a one-size-fits-all approach to joint pain management. In fact, your treatment plan is designed to specifically address your symptoms and diagnosis.
Chiropractic treatments that can be helpful for joint pain include:
Chiropractic care can make your life much more pleasant if you suffer from joint pain. Contact our office if you'd like to schedule an appointment with the chiropractor.
Sources:
Arthritis Foundation: Chiropractic Care for Arthritis
Men’s Journal: 5 Times You Should See a Chiropractor
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Joint Pain and Arthritis
The Benefits of Walking for Your Back
Do you frequently experience back pain or stiffness? Back pain is a common complaint, particularly among people whose jobs require lifting, sitting, or standing for long periods. Fortunately, taking regular walks may offer a simple way to relieve your pain.
Walking Helps You Avoid Stiffness
Do you feel a little stiff at the end of the workday or after you finish a marathon gaming session? Your muscles and joints are bound to become a little tight when you sit or remain in the same position for hours.
Walking stretches the muscles in your back, hips, and buttocks and also eases tension in your tendons and ligaments. Making time for a daily walk can decrease stiffness and make it easier to bend to pick up a laundry basket or stretch to reach the top shelf.
Your Muscles Will Become Stronger When You Walk
The muscles in your back help support your spine and keep it properly aligned. If your muscles become weak, you're more likely to experience pain, stiffness, and decreased range of motion. Weak muscles may also pull on your spine, causing some of the vertebrae to move out of alignment.
Misalignments, called "subluxations" by chiropractors, are painful and can lead to other issues. Subluxations may affect muscles, tendons, and ligaments, causing these structures to tighten and become less flexible. Walking strengthens your muscles and reduces your risk of developing subluxations.
Circulation Improves When You Walk
Any kind of movement, including walking, improves blood flow throughout your body. Blood carries oxygen to the cells in your body and is essential for the normal function of muscles, tissues, and nerves. Improving circulation may also make it easier for your body to remove toxins that can contribute to back pain.
Walking May Improve Joint and Disc Function
Improving your circulation also benefits the discs in your spine. Rubbery, fluid-filled discs between each vertebra cushion your spine, act as shock absorbers, and help you move easily.
The discs work best when they're full of fluid. Fluid naturally moves in and out of the discs during the day and may decrease depending on your movements. Walking makes it easier for fluid to flow into the discs, which can mean less pain and stiffness for you.
A regular walk can also help ensure that the cartilage at the end of the bones in your back receives a constant supply of oxygen and nutrients.
Adding Walking to Your Daily Exercise Routine Can Relieve Your Pain
If you're in pain, a leisurely walk through the neighborhood may be the last thing you feel like doing. Although moving may not seem like a good idea when you have a backache, a walk may actually ease your pain.
In a study published in the Annals of Rehabilitation Medicine, study participants who walked regularly reported less back pain. Another study explored whether walking worked as well as other methods of reducing back pain. Participants with chronic low back pain were assigned to one of three groups: walking, physical therapy, or group exercises. Those in the walking group improved just as much as the physical therapy and exercise groups, according to the study, which was published in American Family Physician.
Walking, in addition to chiropractic treatment, can help you keep your back flexible and reduce pain. Have you been struggling with back pain? Contact our office to schedule an appointment.
Sources:
American Family Physician: Walking Program Effective for Chronic Low Back Pain, 8/1/15
SPINEHealth: 2 Reasons Why Walking Is Good for Your Lower Back, 9/23/19
Arthritis Foundation: 12 Benefits of Walking
Chiropractic Care Can Relieve the Pain of Sacroiliac Joint Dysfunction
Do you have pain in your lower back and hips due to sacroiliac (SI) joint dysfunction? The condition can make walking, standing, or sitting painful and keep you from doing the things you need to do. Fortunately, chiropractic treatment offers an effective way to manage SI pain.
What Is Sacroiliac Joint Dysfunction?
Your sacroiliac (SI) joints connect your pelvis to the sacrum. The sacrum is a triangular-shaped bone located just below the lowest set of vertebrae in your spine. The pelvis, a bowl-shaped bony structure, contains the bowel, bladder, and reproductive organs.
One SI joint is located on either side of the upper part of the pelvis. Stretchy bands of tissue called ligaments hold the bones of the SI joint together. In addition to supporting the joint, the ligaments also prevent the joint from moving too much.
SI pain occurs when the joint is either too tight or moves too much. Movement issues may misalign the joint and cause inflammation in the tissues that support the joint. Pain can also happen if the cartilage that cushions the ends of the bones wears away due to injuries or the natural effects of aging.
The disorder causes hip or back pain that may only occur on one side. Pain can be dull or sharp and may extend into the groin or legs in some cases. Pain may worsen when you bend or twist, stand, or walk after sitting for a while or climb stairs. You might experience stiffness, limited range of motion, or notice that your leg buckles sometimes when you stand.
What Causes Sacroiliac Joint Dysfunction?
You may be more likely to develop SI pain if:
How Do Chiropractors Treat Sacroiliac Joint Dysfunction?
Chiropractic treatment is aimed at:
Realigning your SI joint is a priority. Your chiropractor may use either of these methods to restore the normal alignment to your joint and reduce pressure and inflammation:
Treatment plans vary depending on the severity of your condition but may include these therapies in addition to spinal manipulation or mobilization:
Don't let sacroiliac joint dysfunction take over your life. Contact our office to schedule your chiropractic appointment.
Sources:
SPINE-health: Chiropractic Procedures for the Sacroiliac Joint
Spine Universe: Chiropractic Treats Sacroiliac Joint Pain and Dysfunction
Medline Plus: Sacroiliac Joint Pain – Aftercare, 11/5/18
Hurt at Work? Chiropractic Treatment Can Help You Recover from Your Injuries
Whether you work in an office, a fishing boat, a manufacturing plant, or another location, you may be injured on the job at one time or another. In fact, 2.8 million people suffered workplace injuries in just one year, according to the 2019 Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses. If you're ever injured on the job, chiropractic care can ease your pain and help you get back to work sooner.
Types of Injuries Your Chiropractor Can Treat
Chiropractors treat a variety of on-the-job injuries, including:
Chiropractic Treatment Eases Pain Practically Anywhere in Your Body
Lifting, turning, holding, pushing, throwing, or carrying objects are the top cause of workplace-related injuries, according to the National Safety Council. These injuries can strain the muscles in your back and neck and move your spine out of its natural alignment. Back and neck injuries may also occur as a result of poor posture. If you spend hours sitting at a desk, driving a truck, or using a digital device, you may be more likely to develop neck or back pain.
Spinal manipulation, a treatment used to correct spinal alignment, can ease your pain. The treatment involves quick, hands-on pressure that moves vertebrae back into alignment.
Once your spine is properly aligned, you'll also notice less tension in your muscles. Manipulation, massage, ultrasound therapy, and other treatments improve the flow of blood to the injured area, which speeds healing. Treatments also decrease inflammation and decrease painful pressure on your nerves.
Sciatica, a condition that occurs when nerves in your lower back become pinched or irritated, can be a problem if you've been hurt at work. The shooting pain travels from your lower back to your buttocks and legs, making it difficult to walk, stand, or even sit. Reducing the pressure on the nerves with chiropractic treatment relieves the pain and reduces nerve inflammation and muscle spasms.
Chiropractic treatment is just as effective at improving carpal tunnel syndrome symptoms, reducing bursitis pain, or loosening knotted muscles. When a workplace injury causes knee or hip pain, chiropractic care offers an excellent solution. Hip or knee manipulations keep joints loose and mobile, reduce inflammation, and restore normal function.
Your Range of Motion Will Improve After Chiropractic Treatment
After an injury, you may notice that you can't move your back, neck, arms, or legs quite as easily as you could before. Range of motion issues can be caused by spinal misalignments, tight muscles, or scar tissue build-up around a joint.
Chiropractic treatment improves the range of motion by realigning your spine and loosening muscles, ligaments, and tendons. Massage and soft tissue mobilization treatments gently break apart scar tissue, relax muscles, and stretch tight tissues.
Chiropractic Offers an All-Natural Way to Treat Pain
Pain medication is certainly effective, but it does have a few troubling drawbacks. It's easy to become addicted to prescription painkillers, particularly if you're taking opioid medications. Fortunately, addiction is much less likely to be a problem if you're under the care of a chiropractor.
In fact, patients who received chiropractic treatment for neck or back pain had 64% lower odds of receiving an opioid prescription, according to a meta-analysis published in the February 2020 issue of Pain Medicine.
Chiropractic treatment can also help you avoid nausea, drowsiness, and other prescription drug side effects. The treatments may make it possible to forgo prescription pain medications completely, or at least reduce the dosage.
Are you suffering from an on-the-job injury? We can ease your pain and help you get back to work. Contact our office today to schedule your appointment.
Sources:
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Employer-Reported Injury and Illnesses, 2019, 11/4/20
Chiropractic Economics: Text Neck Pain, Treatment and Prevention, 10/30/19
Palmer College of Chiropractic: Benefits of Chiropractic
National Safety Council: Top Work-Related Injury Causes
American Chiropractic Association: Neck Pain and Chiropractic
10 Signs That You Need a Chiropractic Adjustment
Do you know when it's time to schedule a chiropractic adjustment? If you have any of these issues, it's a good idea to visit your chiropractor.
1. Pain Anywhere in Your Body
Poor posture, stress, strain, and injuries can lead to a misalignment of the vertebrae that make up your spine. Even minor misalignments of your spine can cause problems that affect the joints, muscles, ligaments, tendons, and nerves in your back, neck, and other areas of the body.
A chiropractic adjustment, also called spinal manipulation, realigns your spine with a quick, hands-on thrusting motion. Adjustments not only improve joint function but also reduce muscle tension responsible for pain and stiffness.
2. Range of Motion Problems
A range of motion problem makes it difficult to fully extend or move your arm, leg, shoulder, hip, back, knee, or other joints. Inflammation, joint injuries, stiffness, and scar tissue may cause mobility problems. Pain may also be a factor. If it hurts too much to move your joint, you may limit its movement to avoid triggering the painful sensations.
Chiropractic therapies treat the source of your pain and improve range of motion issues by improving joint alignment, decreasing inflammation, and increasing blood flow to the restricted joint.
3. A Recent Accident
A chiropractic adjustment can help you recover more quickly from a car accident, fall, or another injury. In adjusting to realigning your vertebrae, chiropractic treatments improve blood flow to the injured area, speeding healing. Treatments also relieve muscle spasms and stiffness and break apart scar tissue before it can restrict your range of motion.
4. Sciatica
Chiropractic care offers a natural way to treat sciatica, an annoying condition that sends pain shooting from your back to one or both of your legs. Sciatica happens when nerves in your back become inflamed and irritated. The problem may occur if a herniated disc or an out-of-alignment vertebra presses on the nerve. Fortunately, your chiropractor can treat sciatica with adjustments, cold therapy, massage, spinal decompression, ultrasound, and electrical nerve stimulation.
5. Headaches
If you've been struggling with tension headaches or migraines, your chiropractor offers drug-free relief for your painful symptoms. Adjustments and other treatments increase blood flow to your head and relax tight muscles.
Chiropractic treatment can improve migraines and headaches that originate from the neck, according to evidence-informed practice recommendations offered by The Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics.
6. Numbness and Tingling
Reduced blood flow or nerve issues may be to blame if you experience numbness and tingling in your hands, feet, legs, arms, or other parts of the body. Adjustments decrease pressure on the nerves and blood vessels, reducing pain and improving blood flow.
7. Gastrointestinal Issues
Your chiropractor doesn't just treat head and neck pain but can also help you manage gastrointestinal complaints, like cramps, heartburn, diarrhea, and gas. Relieving pressure on your nerves with chiropractic adjustments helps your stomach and intestines function normally. Chiropractic care also targets tense abdominal muscles that can make stomach problems worse.
8. Insomnia
It's difficult to sleep if you're in constant pain or are dealing with the unpleasant side effects of pain medications. Chiropractic treatment relieves pain naturally, helping you sleep better. Treatments also prompt your body to release endorphins, hormones that act as natural painkillers.
9. Spondylosis (Arthritis of the Spine)
Stiffness and inflammation in your back or neck may be a problem if you have arthritis, a condition that can be caused by age-related wear and tear. Adjustments improve range of motion and reduce pain, while flexion-distraction therapy decompresses and stretches the vertebrae. Your chiropractor may also recommend massage, traction, spinal manipulation, ultrasound, and other therapies.
10. High Blood Pressure
Chiropractic adjustments may even help you lower your blood pressure. A UChicago Medicine Study discovered that after receiving adjustments, blood pressure declined significantly in people who had misaligned vertebrae in their necks.
Chiropractic adjustments offer a simple way to ease your pain and protect your health. Contact us if you're ready to schedule your next appointment.
Sources:
American Chiropractic Association: Whiplash: More than Standard Neck Pain, 3/15
U.S. News & World Report: Surprise: Chiropractors Can Treat These 5 Conditions, 11/30/15
How to Prevent Back Pain While Working
It's hard to focus on your job when your back hurts. Unfortunately, standing or sitting for hours can stress your back and worsen your aches and pains. These eight tips can help you reduce or prevent job-related back pain.
1. Change Your Position Often
Stress and strain on your back are more likely to occur when you remain in the same position for a long time. Whether you work in construction, drive a truck, or spend the day in an office, changing your position regularly will reduce the strain on your back.
Breaks don't have to be long to be effective. A five-minute standing or stretching break every hour or two will decrease the effects of stress and strain. If you spend most of your shift standing, incorporate a few sitting breaks into your day if possible.
2. Switch to Ergonomic Office Furniture
Ergonomic office furniture reduces stress on your back and improves your sitting posture. Office chairs designed with ergonomic features support the lumbar curve in your lower back and reduce slouching and back strain. Spine-health notes that your chair will be properly adjusted for your height if:
Ergonomic furniture is just as important whether you work in an office, factory, or at home. Your kitchen chair or couch probably don't offer adequate support for your back and may contribute to slouching or posture problems.
3. Practice Safe Lifting Techniques
You're more likely to strain the muscles and ligaments in your back if you don't use proper lifting techniques or lift an item that's too heavy for you to safely handle by yourself. When you lift a box or other heavy objects, crouch down and bend your knees. Bending your knees while lifting makes it easier to use your strong leg muscles and limits strain on your back muscles.
Keep the item close to your chest, and don't twist while you lift. Try picking up a corner of the box before you lift it. If it feels too heavy, ask for help or use machinery to move the item.
4. Wear Supportive Shoes
Your shoes may be a contributing factor in back pain. Your feet support the weight of your body and help keep your spine properly aligned. If your shoes aren't supportive, you'll be much more likely to experience back, hip, or leg pain. Wearing shoes with supportive arches or adding orthotics to your shoes can be helpful. Orthotics are custom-made shoe inserts that support your feet and keep them properly positioned in your shoes.
5. Try Stress Reduction Techniques
Stress can cause back pain or make it worse. In fact, 29 percent of Americans surveyed by Statista said that they thought stress was the source of their back pain. When you're stressed, the muscles in your back, shoulder, and neck become tense, which can lead to pain and headaches. Meditation can be helpful, but participating in any activity you enjoy may lower your stress level.
6. Lose Weight
If you're above your ideal weight, losing a few pounds will reduce stress on your back and your joints. In addition to straining your back muscles, being overweight or obese increases your risk of degenerative disk disease and arthritis in your spine.
7. Stop Smoking
Smoking can cause faster deterioration of the discs between the vertebrae in your spine, reduce blood flow to the ligaments and muscles in your back, and slow healing if you injure your back. In a U.S. study published in Cureus in 2016, 36.9 percent of current smokers reported back pain compared to just 23.5 percent of people who had never smoked.
8. Visit Your Chiropractor
Regular visits to your chiropractor will reduce the effects of stress and strain on your back. Back pain often occurs when the vertebrae in your back become misaligned. Misalignments stress joints, muscles, ligaments, and tendons, and can press on nerves causing increased pain. Spinal manipulations, commonly called adjustments, realign the spine, easing pain. Massage, traction, ultrasound therapy, and other chiropractic treatments may also be part of your treatment plan.
Work doesn't have to be a painful experience. We offer the treatments you need to relieve your back pain naturally. Call our office to schedule your chiropractic appointment.
Sources:
Cureus: Association Between Smoking and Back Pain in a Cross-Section of Adult Americans, 9/16
Mayo Clinic: Back Pain at Work: Preventing Pain and Injury, 5/22/19
Spine-health: Choosing the Right Ergonomic Office Chair, 7/2/04
OrthoInfo: Preventing Back Pain at Work and at Home
Statista: Back Pain in the U.S. - Statistics & Facts, 11/21/19
What's Causing Your Back Pain?
Nearly everyone has back pain from time to time. In fact, 60 to 70 percent of people living in industrialized countries have experienced low back pain, according to World Health Organization estimates. Back pain can occur for many reasons, including these common causes.
Herniated Disc
Flexible discs located between the vertebra in your spine help hold your spine together and act as shock absorbers when you move. A herniated disc occurs when the gel-like center of the disc protrudes through the tough, outer coating. The bulging disc can press against nerves in your spine, triggering back pain. Wear and tear due to aging is a common cause of herniated discs, but they can also occur as a result of an injury.
Spinal Stenosis
Wear and tear may also cause spinal stenosis, a condition that occurs when the spine narrows and presses on nerves. In addition to back pain, spinal stenosis can also cause numbness, tingling or weakness in your arm, leg, foot, or hand.
Spondylosis
Arthritis can affect any bone in your body, including those in your back. When arthritis occurs in the spine, it's called spondylosis.
