Take Charge Of Your Health!

Most health problems can be avoided. Many of the problems we deal with every day didn’t have to be there at all, if we were willing to take a good hard look at ourselves and decide to be healthy.

The first question is, do you think your body wants to be healthy or do you think you have to medicate it into being “healthy?” An easy example is if you get a cut on your skin. You know that the bandage doesn’t heal the cut, your body does. It just knows that it needs to heal that area and it gets to work. If you are a healthy person, the cut will likely heal much faster than if you are unhealthy.

I see this in my practice every day. I’m a chiropractor and we work with aligning the spine to improve the patient’s health. In order for the spine to stay in its proper position, the muscles will need to work with us. The health of the muscles will determine how fast the patient gets results.

Too many people are in pain, come in and get treatment, just to find that the results take much longer than they thought they would. Then I see patients in moderately good health that bounce back much faster than expected. The patient that consistently makes more healthy choices will get better faster than the patient that doesn’t. Period.

So how do you avoid most health problems and stay healthy? There’s not a lot of mystery to it, believe me. I’ve tried, probably just like you, to find any other new possible way to get healthy other than what has been tried and true.

1. Eat right – What does this mean? Fruits and vegetables, you know, all the stuff you don’t want to eat. If you look at your health as just the results of what you’ve been doing so far, this will help in your motivation. Eliminating one bad food at a time and replacing it with something healthy will go a long way. Maybe no more sodas, instead you’ll be drinking water. Replacing green tea for coffee, or reducing your sugar intake.

Continue to make these better choices and eventually you’ll see a big difference in how you feel. Many conditions are the result of long term diet issues. If you eat poorly, you don’t give your body any materials to maintain your health.

2. Exercise – Don’t start your new exercise program by opening up your front door and running 10 miles. Find some ways to build momentum in your exercise program. Take a walk, go play catch with your child (or even your dog), or get a bike and start doing laps around your block. Find a way to get started and go from there.

Exercise will improve the tone of your muscles, make you stronger, and most importantly, will help you deal with stress. Stress is a huge factor in your health.

It all sounds to easy, right? It’s not easy. Staying consistent with these elements of your goal to get healthy will yield plenty of benefits, just figure out your best way of sticking with it. I’ve found that adding in (or taking out) one thing at a time will make all the difference. You won’t lose fifty pounds in six weeks, but whatever you do lose will stay gone. Over the long-term, that’s what will make all the difference in your health. Take charge of your health!

What's the best workstation set up?

Work station setup

Many times when I do see patients after they have suffered acute neck or back pain, one of the main reasons they are in distress is due to their work stations set up or ergonomics. Our spinal columns or backs were never designed to stay in one position for prolonged time periods never mind 12 or 16 hours at a stretch. Having poor work station set up, increases the amount of stress exponentially on our neck, shoulders, wrists and lower back.

The most common posture people with neck pain present with, is forward head posture. As the head goes forward in relation to the shoulders there is an increased load placed on the neck and upper back. Some studies say that for every inch forward our head is this places an additional strain of 35% on the neck and upper back. If the average head weights 10lbs this is adding an extra 3.5 lbs of stress over a 10hr day. Forward head posture with computer use almost go hand in hand. It is extremely important to make sure the your computer screen is eye level and if most of your information is usually on the bottom half of your screen raise the screen up close to eye level.

Wrist pain is also a common complaint with computer use. The angle between your bicep and forearms should be greater than 90 degrees somewhere between 100 to 110 degrees. A lot of times people believe the angle of the key board should be 90 degrees and this angle causes increased stress on the top of shoulders and wrists. This 90 degree position places undue strain on the muscles, tendons and nerves of the wrist (carpel tunnel). The shoulder muscles will start to tighten due to the increased stain and this transfer’s muscle tension into the neck and the base of the skull. Proper keyboard position is essential in preventing repetitive stress injuries.

Proper chair support is also important for the upper and lower back. Having a chair with good lumbar support will help your entire spinal column. The area just above your belt should have firm but comfortable support to the lumbar spine. There are a lot of fancy lumbar supports out there, but sometimes just a simple lumbar roll seems to work the best. The base of the spine, the lumbar region, supports the entire upper body and accordingly is under constant stress. Only sitting on the edge of your seat, places additional strain on your lower back, sitting all the way back deep into the seat will help save your lower spine. Having an adjustable seat angle will also reduce strain on the lower back. Changing the angle of the seat angle throughout the day will vary the stress on the lower back. Proper work station set up is a essential key in the prevention of neck, wrist and back pain.

Poor posture combined with incorrect ergonomics will place additional stress on the spine and related structures. Spinal strain will and can lead to spinal misalignments causing additional stress and irritation to our nervous system affecting the body’s ability to heal or recover. Chiropractic helps restore normal spinal motion and alignment which reduces stress and irritation to the spinal nerves and supporting muscles.