Author: kelly

If you suffer from chronic back pain, driving is probably something you try to minimize, if not avoid altogether. It’s just not comfortable.

Sometimes, though, you can’t avoid it. It’s just something you’ve got to do. Fortunately, there are a few simple things you can do to help minimize the pain that is so often associated with the simple act of driving. While the tips below certainly can’t be seen as a cure-all or a magic bullet, they’ll go a long way toward reducing your pain.

First, posture matters. When sitting behind the wheel, you want to adjust your seat such that your knees are at least slightly above your hips. Doing this will help take pressure off of your lower back, which will reduce the pain and discomfort.

Second, and this also has to do with posture, don’t recline the seat too much. You want it reclined some, but only just enough so that you can grip the steering wheel comfortably. More than that, and your sitting position is awkward, which will, in short order, increase your pain level.

Third, let’s talk about your wallet. Whenever possible, you should avoid sitting on your wallet, because it will cause you to sit unevenly, increasing pressure on your spin, and adding to your pain and discomfort. This is true when sitting behind the wheel as well. If nothing else, just place your wallet on the seat next to you when driving.

Fourth, consider lumbar support. This makes a huge difference. If your vehicle comes with lumbar support built into the seats, by all means use it. If it does not, then use a pillow or a folded towel at the small of your back. Use something to give you more support.

Finally, if you have to drive for an extended period, be sure to stop at frequent intervals to take stretch breaks, and be sure to move and keep your limbs and joints loosened up.

Taken together, these strategies will make a big difference in your pain levels, and at least make driving bearable.

Joints sometimes pop, all by themselves. This is something that happens to literally everyone. The most common type of joint popping, by far, is the kind you tend to do yourself. Namely, “cracking your knuckles.”

In the 1970’s, what appeared to be definitive research was published that indicated the popping sound you hear when your joints pop comes from bubbles popping. Fluid built up in your joints gets suddenly released and makes the popping sound.

Unfortunately, it now appears that this is not the case. It turns out that the opposite is true, as demonstrated by new research out of the University of Alberta. Lead researcher Greg Kawchuk describes it this way:

“It’s a little bit like forming a vacuum…As the joint surfaces suddenly separate, there is no more fluid available to fill the increasing joint volume, so a cavity is created and that event is what is associated with the sound.”

What’s more interesting is the fact that this theory of what causes the popping sound was originally proposed in the 1940s, but was rejected in preference for the research published three decades later. However, it appears that now we have a firm, definitive answer.

There’s more to be said on the topic, however. Another common myth is that cracking your knuckles can cause arthritis. This is actually not the case. To date, there has never been a research study that offered conclusive evidence, or even a correlation between knuckle cracking and the development of arthritis.

This is not to say that it’s a good idea. There have been scattered, but well-documented cases of chronic knuckle cracking causing an overextension of the ligaments of the hand, and there’s at least one documented case of a teenaged girl who developed knuckle pads, which are firm nodules that can form over certain joints, including the joints in your fingers.

And now you know!

If you suffer from chronic pain, especially back pain, then you’re probably already a little unsteady on your feet. A fall of any sort can quickly make matters worse, and make the pain you’re already feeling almost unbearable. Anything you can do to minimize your chances of falling, then, is a win. Below, you’ll find some simple tips and tricks you can adopt right now that will help you reduce your risk of falling, and by extension, help make sure you don’t make the pain you already have even worse.

• Your shoes – First and foremost, you should be wearing them. Socks or stockings can be slippery, and slippery is a recipe for disaster. Further, when you wear shoes, rubber soles are best, because they offer more grip.

• A flashlight – Keep several handy, including one by your bedside. An alternate approach would be to install a number of night lights around the house. The goal here is simple. If you can see where you’re going, you’re less likely to fall.

• Improve your balance – This is as easy as taking the time to practice. Close your eyes. Stand on one leg for a slow ten count, maintaining your balance the whole time. Then switch to the other leg. Over time, this will help improve your balance markedly, and minimize your chances of falling.

• Use helpers – Use canes, walkers and the like. There’s certainly no shame in using them, and it’s a whole lot better than the alternative.

• More on shoes – This one should be obvious, but it bears mentioning anyway. More support is better, so stay away from flip flops and high heels.

• In the wintertime, be sure to walk on the grass if sidewalks are slick. If you must walk on the sidewalk, use rock salt or kitty litter on your walkways.

• Certain medications can cause or increase dizziness, which can increase your risk of falling. Be sure to take a moment to steady yourself when standing up before proceeding to walk.

Again, none of these things will reduce your chances of falling to zero, but taken together, they will do a lot to minimize your risks.

When you suffer from chronic pain, you’re eager to latch onto just about anything that might help to lessen its impact on your daily life. One of the first things that most people reach for is sleep. Could it be that easy? Could simply changing the position you sleep in really have a big impact on your pain levels?

Actually, yes. It can definitely make a difference. There are four basic sleeping positions. We’ll cover each one below, along with their pros and cons. Pick the one that addresses the specific problem you’re dealing with.

Stomach – The biggest reason that people sleep on their stomachs is to prevent snoring, and it’s true. If you have sleep apnea, stomach sleeping is the best way to reduce, if not outright eliminate snoring. Unfortunately, it comes with a major drawback. It puts tremendous pressure on your spine, because your body just isn’t designed to sleep that way. No other sleeping position contributes more to back pain than stomach sleeping. If pain is your major issue, avoid this one.

Fetal – Sleeping in the fetal position is recommended for pregnant women. If you’re pregnant, this may, in fact, be about the only position you can sleep in comfortably. As with stomach sleeping, sleeping in the fetal position will do a lot to minimize snoring, but that’s about the only benefit it provides. Sleeping in that position causes you to spend most of the night with your spine in a highly compressed position, which can lead to adaptations of your muscles and ligaments, contributing to pain in your hips, neck and back. Not recommended in most cases.

Side Sleeping – A bit of a compromise, halfway between sleeping in the fetal position and sleeping on your back. Side sleeping is especially good for minimizing the symptoms of acid reflux, and has some benefits if the major pain you’re feeling is centered in your spine itself, because side sleeping helps keep your spine in a neutral position. It also provides some benefit if you snore, as you’re less likely to in this position.
Unfortunately, side sleeping may cause nerve compression in your shoulders and neck, so if your pain is centered in these areas, then side sleeping isn’t going to help you.

Back – Sleeping on your back is, overall, the best position for sleeping if you suffer from back, shoulder or neck pain. It helps keep your spine properly aligned all night, and offers the biggest reduction in pain levels. Unfortunately, sleeping on your back is also more likely to make you snore, so if you have sleep apnea, or other sleeping conditions, this may not be optimal, despite the benefits to your back and spine.

So which one is the best? Ultimately, that depends on what problem you’re trying to solve. There’s no simple answer here, but stomach sleeping is categorically the worst. The rest is at least somewhat subjective.

If you have arthritis or joint problems, you’ve probably noticed it yourself. The pain tends to increase when the weather turns colder. Does that mean wintertime is the cause, or is it something else?

Actually, the science on this point is mixed. There have been some studies that point to a definitive link, while others find little to no direct relation between the two. The truth, then, is probably somewhere in between.

As almost anyone who has ever had to deal with arthritis or chronic joint pain can attest to, the cold weather certainly seems to make these types of aches and pains more common. But what’s really going on here? There are lots of different theories. Some of them seem pretty far-fetched, while others have an air of plausibility to them.

Take, for instance, the idea that changes in barometric pressure make joint pain worse. The idea here is that when it gets cold, barometric pressure drops. The atmosphere exerts less pressure, which lets joints expand, increasing pain.

Now, there’s some truth to this, and if you lived on top of some of the highest mountains in the world, you’d certainly feel it in your joints. That, however, isn’t true for most people, and at lower elevations, the change in pressure is so slight that it’s doubtful this has any real impact.

On the other hand, your body does react to cold weather. It goes into conservation mode. It tries to preserve as much heat as it can, and there is some scientific evidence to suggest that this heat preservation strategy can cause some of your nerve endings to misbehave and send more intense pain signals more often.

The most likely explanation, though, is simply this: When it gets cold out, our natural instinct is to bundle up, stay warm and not move around as much. The not moving around is what really gets people with joint pain in trouble. The longer you’re still, the stiffer those joints get, and when you finally do move, you’ll feel it.

The lesson here is simple. When the weather turns cold, keep moving! That’s the best way to minimize joint pain, no matter the weather.

Virtually everyone in the country will, at some point in their lives, suffer from back pain. It’s one of the most common ailments in medicine, and there are a staggering number of things that can cause it. Broadly speaking though, the various causes of back pain, yours included, fall into three basic categories.
They are:

Degenerated Discs
Think of the discs between the vertebrae in your spine as shock absorbers. They perform the same basic function for your body that shock absorbers perform for your car.

Unfortunately, just like the shock absorbers on your car, your discs can wear out. They can degenerate over time, and when they do, pain is the inevitable result.

Herniated Discs
Herniated discs can either occur suddenly, during a period of intense exertion, or they can develop slowly over time. Basically, visualize the discs in your spine to be a bit like a jelly donut, but with a really rugged, tough exterior.

If that rugged exterior develops a crack, some of the “jelly” inside the disc could leak through the crack, creating a bulge. This misshapen disc puts pressure on nerves, which causes pain. It can also irritate other nerves nearby, which can lead to weakness, numbness, or persistent tingling in your arms and/or legs. Fortunately, in most cases, herniated discs can be treated without surgery.

Muscular Problems
These are far and away the most common cause of back pain. If you strain or overuse your muscles, they’re going to cramp on you, and that includes the muscles in your back. These kinds of problems will often go away on their own over time, as with any muscle cramp and related pain, but of course, there are things you can do to help speed the healing process along.

In all three cases, chiropractic care can help you manage the pain, and put you on the fast track to feeling better and permanently fixing the problem, whatever the specific cause.

Almost everyone knows how great a professional massage feels, but did you know that it has potential health benefits too? That makes it a win-win. Not only can you give yourself a periodic treat in the form of a soothing massage to help rub your troubles away, but depending on your physical condition, you may actually be able to use massage therapy to treat a variety of ailments.

If you suffer from anxiety, for example, there’s a growing body of evidence that shows a clear correlation between massage therapy and a reduction in anxiety attacks. It’s also especially good therapy for people with conditions like fibromyalgia.

Of course, most people think of massage therapy as being helpful if you suffer from a sports injury, or general soft tissue injuries or strains, and there’s no doubt that it is beneficial in those instances, but massage will cure a lot more of what ails you than just these things. Here are a few other things you can treat with regular massage therapy, and some of these may surprise you:

• Chronic headaches
• Insomnia (especially insomnia related to, or caused by, stress)
• Paresthesias
• Nerve pain
• Joint pain
• Myofascial pain syndrome
• Some digestive disorders

Massage therapy is increasingly becoming a vital part of alternative medicine, and its many benefits are backed by solid science. Beyond simply being a means of pampering yourself when you go to the day spa, regularly performed massage therapy can help keep you healthy and feeling years younger than you are.

Obviously, no matter what the benefits of this type of therapy, it can never take the place of regular medical care, but as a supplement to that care, it is a superb addition to your monthly health and wellness regimen, and is highly recommended for most everyone.

Have you ever had a strange “pins and needles” sensation in your legs? Many people have. It’s a fairly commonly occurring phenomenon. You might be surprised to know, however, that in many cases, the problem doesn’t have anything to do with your legs.

These kinds of pins and needles sensations are distinctly different from the muscle pain, quivers and spasms you feel after a period of overexertion. You’ve almost certainly experienced that sensation as well, and you understand the difference.

In those cases, you feel the pain beginning a few hours (sometimes sooner) after a period of especially intense exertion. That sensation is caused by overusing your leg muscles, and it tends to be short-lived. Give your body a bit of time to rest and recover, and those cramps fade away in time.

That tingling sensation, however, doesn’t behave like that. It may come and go, but it tends to be a periodic, chronic condition, and it points to another potentially more serious problem.

There are a number of things that could be causing that type of tingling sensation, including pinched or damaged nerves, a herniated lumbar disc, poor circulation or conditions like spinal stenosis, which is caused by a narrowing of the spine and results in compression of the spinal cord and the nerves associated with it.

Whatever the root cause of those tingles, your chiropractor can help you get to the bottom of it, and by addressing the root cause, in time, you can be rid of the sensation for good. The important thing here, though, is to take action. That tingling sensation is your body’s way of telling you that something is wrong. If left unattended, it could blossom into a much larger, much more painful problem that requires surgery to correct.

The bottom line is that if you’re feeling those strange tingling sensations, do something about it. Start with a phone call to your chiropractor and set up an appointment to get to the bottom of it sooner, rather than later.

If you suffer from depression, or know someone who does, then you understand how awful it can be. It’s more than just “having the blues.” It’s a deep, pervasive sense of loss or sadness that doesn’t appear to have a fix.

Fortunately, there are things you can do to alleviate, and eventually rid yourself of depression, and you probably know several possible treatments already. One thing you may not have known, however, is that chiropractic care can help alleviate depression.

That seems strange to most people, because on the surface of it, depression and chiropractic care don’t seem to have anything in common. A closer look, however, reveals a strong connection.

Every feeling in your body is controlled by nerves. When your central nervous system is out of whack, you feel bad in general. When nerves get irritated, you get numbness and pain.

By keeping your body’s central nervous system in good working order, which is a large part of what a chiropractor does, you remove many of the conditions necessary for depression to take root and thrive in.
In addition to periodic chiropractic adjustments as a means of warding off depression, you should strongly consider a periodic therapeutic massage.

Massage therapy has a number of well-documented benefits. Sure, it feels great, and that by itself is certainly reason enough to treat yourself to one now and again. Beyond that, there’s a growing body of evidence that suggests a regular therapeutic massage can help with everything from depression to anxiety, and even help you get rid of certain digestive disorders!

The bottom line here is simple: If you’re suffering from depression, there are a number of things you can do about it. One of those is therapeutic massage. You don’t have to live with the feeling. You can take action, and in doing so, take control of and ultimately banish your depression.