Let the blood flow, in the circulation sense

Blood is your life force- it is the transport network that brings oxygen and nutrients throughout the body and carries away waste products that create problems when they accumulate. So what happens when circulation is stunted? Problems naturally occur when normal blood flow is restricted, including: 

• Fatigue; lack of physical or mental energy
• Headache
• Anxiety
• Numbness and tingling or swelling in the extremities

Conditions that cause restriction to blood flow include diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and blood clots. So what can we do to keep the blood flowing as it should? 

Chronic nonspecific back pain is a horrific reality

And its presence in society is growing. Nonspecific low back pain, either acute or chronic, is defined as pain that has no detectable cause. As more people shift into the seats of white-collar office work, back pain is on the rise, peaking now as the second leading cause of workplace disability in the United States. 

Sarcopenia is universal

Risk factors for sarcopenia include age, gender, and level of physical activity.

Everyone on earth is affected by the loss of muscle mass that comes with aging. But it is not the same for everyone, and only you get to decide how severe sarcopenia can really be. Sarcopenia sets in at some point during our thirties, and this beginning stage is perhaps the most crucial. Moderately active people may notice insignificant changes in muscle mass while inactive people may lose as much as 3-5 percent per year! This is a particularly bad precedent to set when you consider that sarcopenia only accelerates as we reach toward our sixties and seventies. 

Today, watch out for when the Comfy Couch Turns Ugly

Your sofa should be a place for relaxation

The world will be watching the Kansas City Chiefs play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers today, and most will be watching from a reclined couch while stuffing their face with carbs. This ritual has become a tradition that hinges on becoming a national holiday in America as the SuperBowl grows in popularity every year. It makes sense too, because from the comfort of your home you can watch others mercilessly pound each other and be glad it is not your spine getting crunched play after play. But believe it or not,  your spine is not entirely same either.

Sitting for long periods of time is hard on your spine

Studies show that sitting loads your spine with up to 3 times as much pressure as standing. What’s more, few sofas offer the support necessary to encourage you to maintain good posture. Most of us end up melting into the couch, which can have serious consequences for your spine if you spend a lot of time watching television or reading. Chances are, you are not going to stop sitting on the couch; instead, you can take proactive steps to relieve the stiffness that besets your back after sitting on the sofa for long periods of time.

Stretches to relieve back tension after a sofa session

• Spinal Twist: Sit up straight in a chair and slowly rotate your torso to one side, grabbing the back of the chair if you can. Only go until you feel a gentle stretch in the shoulder and oblique muscles of the core 
• Spinal Elongation: stand straight up then bend at the waist and hang with your fingers reaching down toward your toes. Don’t go any further than the feeling of a gentle stretch. From here slowly raise back up to a standing-tall position then reach your hands up toward the sky and clasp them together. Hold for 3-5 seconds. 
• Stretch the Neck: clasp your hands on the back of your head and lower your chin toward your chest until you feel a gentle stretch in the neck muscles. 
• Stretch the hamstrings: the hamstrings are paired muscles which get tight and create a pull on the lower back, often resulting in uneven alignment of the spine. Sit on your butt with one leg tucked in criss-cross apple sauce and the other extended. Reach for the foot of the extended leg until you feel a slight stretch in the hamstring. 

These stretches target the hamstrings, lower back, shoulders and neck, all the areas which are prone to tightness after a sofa session. Taking 3 minutes to stretch after an hour of sitting on the sofa can work wonders toward undoing the cycle of tension that eventually leads to back pain.

Please do yourself one more favor today when you get up during the halftime show, walk past the chips and soda and 7 layer dip. See if you can find a carrot to crunch on. And as you hear that crisp cool carrot shatter in your mouth, be glad that is not the spine of your favorite quarterback making the crunching noise on this great American holiday known as Super Bowl Sunday.

Arthrogenic muscle inhibition is common after a joint injury

As you move through the rehabilitation process after a joint injury, it is common to notice dysfunction in the muscles which surround the joint capsule. While there is no actual damage to these muscles, they are often unable to contract fully. This is a purposeful reaction by the body, which aims to prevent further damage to the joint by limiting the degree of movement and muscular contraction that can occur surrounding the injury. However, it is problematic because it further limits range of motion, which is a crucial factor in successful rehabilitation of any joint injury. 

Mobility is important for a healthy life

The health benefits of walking are well known in medicine, but not by everyone else:

• Boosts blood circulation
• Releases pain-killing endorphins
• Strengthens bones
• Strengthens muscles
• Maintains or improves range of motion
• Manages weight

The basic health benefits of a good walk are too many to ignore. On days when you can’t spare a second to make it to the gym, a brisk walk may be the only physical boost your body receives. Yet, far too few of us are getting the daily steps we need to reap such benefits. Here is our guide to getting more steps throughout the day. 

The value of cardio from a chiropractic perspective

The main value of cardio from a chiropractor’s perspective is weight control. Every pound of body weight is adding an additional burden to your spine, which is already battling myriad other factors in its quest to maintain its health and longevity. By maintaining a healthy weight, your vertebrae are able to support the weight of your upper body and allow you to move without incurring pain. 

A further value of cardio for back pain sufferers is that it promotes blood flow, allowing nutrients and oxygen to circulate to every cell in your body, optimizing function and further reducing pain. The last way that cardio aids back pain sufferers is by releasing endorphins, your body’s natural painkillers. Just 30 minutes of vigorous exercise can release a flood of feel-good chemicals into your blood stream. But not all cardio is good for back pain- for example, running can cause repetitive trauma to spinal joints, actually making the problem worse. 

Your heart health is improved by Chiropractic, by as much as taking two blood-pressure drugs at once.

That is the amazing bit of information is coming to us by the prestigious scientific community as reported by Science Daily. You can read the full article here, https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/03/070315161129.htm

 Lowering blood pressure is an important aspect to improving the heart heath in millions of Americans. A quick google will verify that more than half a million Americans will die from heart related illness this year. That is the leading cause of death and beat out cancer, car accidents, and COVID. Your health is our mane concern, and it should be yours too. Luckily the solutions to health living is not a mystery.

In the Study

“Those with high blood pressure and misaligned C-1 were enrolled in the study. Data from the assessment were used by the chiropractor to plan the alignment. Half of the patients received a carefully tailor-made adjustment based on their results. Half received a “sham intervention,” which was designed to be indistinguishable to the patient from an authentic alignment, possible only because of the delicacy of the procedure.“

The Effects

“The authors say the improvement in blood pressure (both systolic and diastolic readings) following the correction of Atlas misalignment is similar to that seen by giving patients two different blood pressure-lowering drugs simultaneously. The reduction in blood pressure continued into the eighth week. There was no significant change in participants’ heart rate.“

The body is a complicated series of process that can not be explained by any one simple catch all treatment, but the same rules of physics apply to all of us. Chiropractic combined with health foods, proper exercise, and evaluations by medical professionals all combine to provide the best path to health. Come by our office and start your health journey today.

Office work does no favors for your fingers

If you spend all day typing and clicking, it is worth considering what is happening to your hands. Every tap represents a micro-trauma that threatens the integrity of the joints in your hand. No wonder so many office workers experience carpal tunnel syndrome, which is caused by the compression of a major nerve in the wrist. Office workers are also at risk for early-onset arthritis. Even ergonomics and proper posture can’t prevent all the damage that is accruing in the small joints and tissues of your fingers and hands. Instead, you have to be proactive about your hand health. Here’s how. 

A stretch that puts a smile on your face…

…and make this chiropractor very happy as well. We use yoga as part of an integrated back care routine- we love movements that combine stretching and strengthening in the same simple pose. Downward-facing dog is one of the most famous yoga poses, and for good reason. It is a gentle and scalable movement- meaning that the more you do it, the more comfortable and effective you become while doing the stretch, and the more your body benefits.