We know you’re likely planning a big Super Bowl soiree for the big game this coming weekend. Luckily, you won’t have to step foot on the gridiron and risk doing damage to your back and spine, like every football player who decides to take part in the sport in fact does.

The Heart Wants What it Wants, But Your Back Needs TLC, Too

It is in the spirit of sport that Barton Chiropractic Clinic would like to go over some of the most risky athletic endeavors when it comes to back and spine health. Of course we would never tell someone they can or can’t do something. But we can, however, strongly urge against it. So, the next time you find yourself with the prospect of taking part in one of these sports, maybe you will think twice, or, at the very least, take strong precautions to ensure your safety and the safety of others. That can mean doing a stretch routine to get your body ready before the contest, or it can also mean playing by the rules and looking out for your teammates and your opponents as well.

Common Sports that Make Your Back Cringe

Football — Sorry to say it, but what some call “the sport of kings” is understandably a serious risk to your spine. You might see dramatizations of quarterbacks losing the ability to walk after getting hit in the big game — Varsity Blues, and Friday Night Lights (the series) come to mind. There are cowboy collars available that can provide support and protection for your neck, but there really isn’t anything that protects your spine.

Rodeo — Rodeo riding is just bad for your entire body. Check out this study to take a look at the aftermath of a rodeo career. As if it’s not enough that you’re going to get thrown from the bull,  you also could get trampled or gored. Nobody wants that.

Cheerleading — Believe it or not, cheerleaders need to watch out for the well-being of their spine. That might mean the gal at the top of the pyramid who could fall and injure herself, or the male cheerleader holding her up, suffering from a bulging disc.

Hockey — Hockey is one of the most brutal sports out there. Refs let these guys fight each other for entertainment; it doesn’t get much hard-core than that. Getting hit on the open ice, or getting checked against the boards can have serious adverse effects on your back and spine.

So be careful out there, folks. And be extra careful this Super Bowl weekend. Barton Chiropractic Clinic would like to issue a word of caution to be safe and drive safe over the weekend and always. If you’re experiencing back or spine pain, contact us right away.

(3 Engaging Ways to Exercise Your Body’s Stabilizer Muscles)

If you’ve heard fitness gurus talk long enough, chances are the word “core” will come up. Said fitness gurus tend to recommend that you “engage” your core in the gym or in your select extracurricular activities — that also happen to be healthy exercise (hopefully you have at least one) — in order for your body to reach its full potential.

What Does Your Core Include?

Your core includes the traverse abdominis (also referred to as your TVA), erector spinae, obliques, and your lower lats). In normal people terms, your core has to do with your back, hips, pelvis, and lower abdomen. If you’re not into doing burpees, squat, and trunk rotations at a sweaty, smelly gym, then we’d like to give you some options that suit your lifestyle. If you do enjoy the gym, Active.com has some ideas for you, of course. Otherwise, here are a few outdoorsy activities that will keep your mind engaged while you work your body.

Lifts Your Core will Thank Your For

1. Paddle Boarding — this is a fun summertime activity that will definitely burn fat at the same time (which is also healthy for your back). Take a friend or a date for a memorable time, take in scenic fews, just make time to stretch before and after.
2. Skiing or snowboarding — try cross country for an extra beneficial workout. Even downhill skiing is a great way to engage your hips and legs. It’s also a great way to tone your stomach and activate your body’s stability muscles. Again, it’s vital to stretch before and after skiing or snowboarding. Make sure you practice perfect form as well.
3. Outdoor circuit training — outdoor hollow rocks, side plank hip raises, butterfly sit-ups, and outdoor mountain climbers are all great ways to engage your core, work up a sweat, and you don’t have to worry about those pesky monthly gym fees.

So no you don’t have that handy excuse of not knowing any fun ways to get your core involved in your fitness activities. As we advance in age, it’s more and more important to take care of our bodies through exercise and routine maintenance. If something gets pulled out of place during your fitness routine, be sure to call Barton Chiropractic Clinic today. It happens to the best of us.

Exercises and Activities that Put the Most Pressure on Your Back and Body

Record numbers of us are packing into the gym this month, some due to New Year’s Resolutions, some due to wanting to get a head start on that beach body before the summer months saunter in. At any rate, people will be hitting it hard in the gym and in their extracurricular fitness activities, and we just wanted to issue a word of caution to our patients and readership. Barton Chiropractic Clinic believes in providing excellent chiropractic care for a variety of patients from all walks of life, but we also believe in patient education and preventive medicine, which sometimes is something as simple as knowing the difference between a positive activity for your back and a risky one.

Stay Away from These Lifts at the Gym

Here are some exercises you might want to think twice about doing in the gym, especially if you’ve recently experienced a back injury or are living with any degree of back pain:

• Straight-legged Deadlift — we don’t really know many folks who actually relish performing this workout, so it’s usually a pretty easy compromise. This is a lift that requires perfect form. Some like it because of its old-school, blue collar appeal, but how many of those old powerlifters do you see having active lives in their advanced years? If you perform this lift wrong, you risk rounding out your spine, making it do all the heavy lifting.
• Behind-the-Neck Lat Pulldowns — we really don’t like this lift. It’s actually considered poor form in this day and age to go behind the back. You’re not Magic Johnson in the gym, so don’t try to be. Bringing the bar behind the neck puts pressure on your shoulders, so much so that you risk tearing your rotator cuff. There’s a simple solution here. Just pull down the bar in front of your body, down to your nose or thereabouts.
• Torso Twists — these might seem like an awesome idea, and you might feel the burn in your obliques, but your spine is going through a ton of stress. You might end up causing nerve damage with this lift. Instead, opt for side plank oblique crunches.

Take Care of Your Back with Barton Chiropractic Clinic

If you’ve been hitting it hard in the gym and your back isn’t holding up the way you’d like, schedule your consultation with Dr. Barton today. We have the personnel, the expertise, and provide the compassionate care you need to get back on your feet and into the game.

When people think of the chiropractor, they usually associate it with those of middle and more advanced age. But the truth is, many children require chiropractic care as well. In numerous cases chiropractic care is an essential part of a child’s wellness plan in an overall sense. As a matter of fact, 17% of chiropractic patients are under the age of 18, as reported by the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners.

Given that each year in the US 38 million children play organized athletics, it’s easy to understand that kids might need to see a chiropractor just due to injury alone. This competitive athletics enthusiasm results in 3.5 million medical visits annually. It’s not just up to your kid, either. 52% of coaches questioned in a survey conducted by SafeKids.org said that there is an acceptable amount of hard contact. 1 in 3 kids surveyed in the same study said that they would continue to play hurt, despite being injured. Injuries aren’t limited to game time, either — 62% of injuries happen while your child is at practice.

Why Pursue Chiropractic Care?

Even if your child isn’t experiencing symptoms related to their back or spine, chiropractic care could relieve or vastly improve symptoms associated with ADD/ADHD, colic, torticollis, ear infections, chronic bed wetting, allergies, gastrointestinal problems, asthma, seizures, and more, according to the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association.

These problems can amount to:

• Pain / Discomfort
• Anxiety
• Decreased Mental Clarity
• Lack of Sleep / Insomnia
• Immune / Digestive System Dysfunction

Your Body is Complicated, No Matter Your Age

Doesn’t matter if you’re five or fifty five, your nervous system is complicated. Your brain, spinal cord, and nerves are all inextricably linked. Misalignments (also called Subluxations) in the spine can cause miscommunication from brain to body.

Don’t wait for your child to experience an injury. Even small traumas like bumps and bruises can accumulate, resulting in pain and discomfort, which can affect school performance and overall well-being. Think of us as a family practice here at Barton Chiropractic Clinic. We treat back and spine problems for you and your loved ones in Homewood, IL, providing quality chiropractic care from infancy to advanced age.

It’s the new year, which means New Year’s Resolutions galore. You might have found evidence of this at the gym, where foot traffic will be the most congested it will get all year. That means newbies hogging the machines, half marathons being ran on the treadmill, and everything in between to make things extra inconvenient.

But persistence is key. It’s unfortunate that many times we get caught up on weight because of aesthetic reasons, which is what drives us to change. How we look plays a big role into why we start rigorous diets and training programs to shed unwanted pounds. Many of us don’t think about the overall health benefits we glean from losing excess fat; we only think about how good we’re going to look in a bathing suit. But losing weight sends wellness reverberations throughout your entire body and mind.

Do it for Your Back

SpineUniverse.com offers up some great ideas for losing weight for the sake of your back. Having a protruding belly can cause undo stress on your back due to carrying excess weight around. Try carrying around a 10 pound weight with you all day; you’ll quickly find that it gets heavy, and it starts to put pressure on certain areas of your body more than others — your back and spine, for instance.

Think of being overweight as being in a jam-packed car. Think of all that pressure being put on the struts and shock absorbers of the automobile. That’s exactly what’s happening to your intervertebral discs. This can accentuate spinal curvature and increase injury risk.

Exercise with Your Back in Mind

Certain exercises and working in a yoga practice a few days a week can actually help you manage and alleviate your back pain in addition to helping you lose weight. Finding a workout buddy will also help motivate you to get to class on time and on schedule, too.

We hope some of this advice helps. If you have back pain in 2018 that persists in the face of losing weight, exercise, and diet change, then schedule a consultation with Barton Chiropractic Clinic today and we’ll put you on the path to lasting recovery.