Posts by Barton Chiropractic Clinic

Running with the health of your spine in mind 

• Strike the ground with the middle of your foot rather than the heel: this technique, known as mid-foot running, is the most important stride for minimizing the shock factor to spinal joints. 
• Short strides that land directly under the hips also minimize impact and help to keep you upright and balanced.
• Upright posture: slumping forward with the shoulders and craning your neck forward puts the spine out of balance and leaves it vulnerable every time your foot hits the ground. Posture awareness is very important for runners.

This all combines to create a more natural running style that will, in the long run, benefit you greatly. Not only will it prevent injury, but it will also make you a more efficient runner

Keeping the damage in check with regular chiropractic care

No matter how careful you are about your running form, some level of impact is likely to reach your spinal joints. This jarring motion tends to move them out of alignment, creating compression on the nearby nerves which can result in dysfunction and pain. If you are interested in keeping your body in the best shape possible so you can keep running to your heart’s content, give our office a call to schedule an appointment today. 

Exercise snacking is sneaky holiday fitness

We know that every little bit of exercise counts. When it comes to the health of your spine, even a 10-minute walk can make a significant difference in the severity of back pain you experience. That’s because movement is the essence of life- going from zero to any form of exercise helps to relieve muscle tension and get your circulation flowing. This can be an essential lifeline during the holiday season. 

Exercise snacking is a concept developed by fitness trainers catering to busy people. Almost all of us are busier during the holiday season than during the rest of the year. Exercise snacking focuses on reaping the benefits of a full exercise program in smaller increments. The idea is to think small: what can you fit in in a 5, 10, 15, or 30-minute workout? Ideas range from simply walking, to purposeful stretching, bodyweight exercises, and high-intensity interval training. Whatever you choose, it’s going to be better than nothing!

Maintaining your health through the holidays

Don’t let the challenges of the holiday season turn you off from exercise. People who prioritize their health will persevere; exercise snacking is an excellent way to do just that. If you need more ideas on maintaining your health through the holidays, give our office a call to schedule an appointment today. 

How can nurses prevent back pain?

The main problem is with lifting; while most people wouldn’t think it, lifting is one of the main tasks a nurse is called upon to do. Between assisting patients in bed, moving them between table and gurney, and preventing falls, nurses are constantly called on to lift disproportionate amounts of weight at awkward angles. The frequent result is strain to the soft, supportive tissues in the back. And over time, all this damage compounds to cause more serious long-term injury. Here are steps nurses can take to prevent back pain: 

• Lift the way your parents taught you: with your legs, not your back when possible. 
• Wear supportive shoes: you are on your feet all day; shoes minimize the amount of impact your intervertebral discs will have to absorb. 
• Consider switching specializations: if possible, there are certain specializations that demand less in terms of lifting. 
• Find the healthcare provider that utilizes the latest technology, including ceiling lifts that take the necessity for lifting out of your hands.

Nurses can benefit from chiropractic care

It is a shame that health workers are the most at risk for back-pain-related conditions. We want to help nurses keep their backs in good health despite the demands of their job. If you or a nurse you know is suffering from back pain related to their job, give our office a call to schedule an appointment today. 

Shoulder Pain and Chiropractic

If you are unsure about the cause of your pain, give our office a call to schedule an appointment. We direct treatment to the specific cause of your injury to ensure that we are not just treating symptoms. In this way, we give you the best chance of beating pain, restoring range of motion, and preventing pain from recurring. We offer chiropractic treatment to address nerve communication to the shoulders, provide information and instruction on appropriate stretching and exercise, and other therapies to help improve conditions including: 

• Shoulder dislocation
• Bursitis
• Rotator Cuff injuries
• Frozen Shoulder
• Shoulder instability
• Referred pain 
• Arthritis
• Labral tears
• Ligament injury
• and other conditions

Give our office a call to schedule an appointment today!

Flexion distraction is one of the tools we can use to treat back pain

It is a technique that uses a specialized table to elongate the spine while we simultaneously perform a targeted pumping motion that flexes the spine. The goal of flexion-distraction is to:

• Increase space between the discs and reverse intradiscal pressure
• Facilitate the retracting of bulging disc material
• Put a stop to painful impingement on spinal nerves

When it comes to back pain, think conservative care first 

Flexion-distraction is an important tool in our arsenal of all-natural, non-invasive techniques that seek to improve spinal function to help you live a better life. Flexion-distraction helps people suffering with herniated discs, degenerative disc disease, sciatica, spinal stenosis and many other conditions associated with the spine. If you are interested in using chiropractic to help you address your pain head on, give our office a call to schedule an appointment today. 

Addressing atherogenic muscle inhibition

This is a neuromuscular condition in which the joint provides the brain with information by way of sensory nerves and the spinal cord. As the inputs from the joint are changed because of injury, the change in the activity of signaling between joint and brain causes inhibition in the muscles. Therefore, the main problem with atherogenic muscle inhibition is its subsequent effect on the range of movement. Because the muscles cannot activate fully, a common result is muscle wasting and inequality in strength between the two joints.

At our office, we focus on mitigating the symptoms of atherogenic muscle inhibition by improving joint mobility through targeted adjustments. We focus on improving neurological function between muscle and brain to allow for the proper activation and sustained contraction of muscles surrounding the joint, allowing strength to be retained and rehabilitation to go faster. If you are interested in finding out more about how we can contribute to the rehabilitation of your joint injury, give our office a call to schedule an appointment today. 

New college students face unique sleep challenges

Many new college students are going to be adjusting to an elevated schedule of demands on both body and mind when it comes to managing a schedule that balances social commitments and academic responsibilities. When it comes to sleeping, these demands can cause difficulty; the top challenges identified by college students when it comes to sleeping include:

• Getting used to a new environment- noise at night, an unfamiliar (and often uncomfortable) bed.
• Stress: managing work, school and play creates a feedback loop of psychological and physiological stress
• Health problems: exposure to new bugs, seasonal sickness, and even the side effects of medicine 

…and we can add to the list: the body and brain’s chemical adjustment as they get used to increased substance intake. 

Chiropractic can help you find a more restful night’s sleep at college

Utilizing both chiropractic and massage modalities, we can reduce levels of the stress hormone cortisol and enhance the feel-good capabilities of your brain. This helps to stimulate feelings of calm and relaxation that allow you to find both quality and quantity of sleep. If you are interested in sleeping better through your college experience, give our office a call to schedule an appointment today.