Article Aggregator – Chiropractic

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.

Toxicity breeds toxicity, according to a new survey of workplace environments. Odds are good that you’ve been in a hostile work environment. You know how exhausting it can be to deal with snide comments, put downs, sarcasm or passive aggressive behavior that seems to run rampant in some offices.

Even if you have an especially gentle nature, the temptation can be great to start responding like that of toxic peers. In fact, odds are good that you’re doing exactly that, without even realizing it.

The reality is that exposure to such behaviors is extremely draining. It takes a lot out of you, and the more you’re exposed to it, the more likely you are to start incorporating similar behaviors on a subconscious level.

That leads invariably to not only responding to those around you who are behaving in an uncivilized manner, but to tend to lash out at others who haven’t been treating you that way. That, in turn, only makes the problem worse, and this is the mechanism by which incivility spreads throughout an office environment.

It’s made worse in environments where job duties, goals and objectives aren’t clearly defined, as this creates a situation that opens the door for people to start acting on their own self-interest, rather than acting in the best interests of the company.

There are two basic approaches to take when dealing with this kind of incivility. First, confront it when you see it. Call it out. Ask the person behaving in that manner what’s driving it and why they’re doing it. Sometimes, they might not even be aware they’re doing it, and simply bringing it to their attention is enough to make it stop.

Before you call the other person out though, step back a minute. Take a breath. Better yet, take a walk. Give yourself five minutes to cool down so that when you call the other person out, you’re not doing so in exactly the same uncivil manner. Do that consistently, and over time, you can actually start reversing the trend.

Ahhh, touch. Skin to skin contact. It’s so soothing, but that raises an interesting question. Is it mind over matter, or does touch have actual health benefits?

Most people would be quick to write off any potential health benefits, saying that touch, in the form of a massage, for example, is simply a distraction that pulls your mind away from your aches and pains, but it doesn’t actually “do anything.” Interestingly though, all kinds of touch, massage included, have a whole raft of health benefits. Here are some of the findings:

Where newborn babies are concerned, those who were held against their mother’s skin, versus being swaddled in a blanket before being held had lower blood pressure, lower heart rates, and cried 82% less often. Teachers report that children with ADHD who were given massage therapy were more attentive and less disruptive in their classes.

Massage has proven to help ease anxiety. If you’re trying to break a habit like smoking, massage (even self-massage) can help take the edge off the cravings you’ll invariably feel. There’s even been one remarkable study that linked regular massage with improved immune function in women with breast cancer. How fabulous is that? Get a massage, help fight cancer – talk about win-win!

Did you know that one of the services offered by most chiropractic offices is therapeutic massage? It’s true, and that’s just one more reason to consider scheduling an appointment. Almost everyone can benefit from periodic adjustments and the soothing effects of a massage.

Don’t wait until you have a problem to set up your appointment. If you do that, then you’re putting your body through undue stress. Besides, people who get periodic adjustments throughout the year tend to be healthier, happier and lead less pain-filled lives.

It’s common knowledge that exercise is good for you. That’s why doctors and dieticians recommend a sensible combination of both diet and exercise for optimal weight loss. There’s a growing body of knowledge though, that regular exercise has benefits that extend far beyond your body.

Runners have known this for years. The term “runner’s high” describes the sense of euphoria runners invariably get after a certain point. The same basic sense of euphoria can be achieved with most any exercise. It floods your body with endorphins, clears your mind, and makes you better able to act decisively.

Other research has found that simply taking a walk in the woods reduces stress levels.

Stress is driven by the hormone cortisol, which drives your body’s “fight or flight” response. We need this. This is the hormone that gives us a spike of adrenaline if, for example, we’re being chased by a hungry bear.

The problem though, is that in today’s world, not many of us are being chased by hungry bears. Instead, our stress comes from artificial sources. Our jobs. Our hectic schedules and daily lives. This is problematic because it confuses our bodies. We get constantly bombarded with cortisol, which sends our stress levels through the roof, even when there’s no imminent threat.

A walk in nature has been shown to be a natural and effective method of reducing those levels. You just…relax. Unwind. You find yourself more at peace.

All of that to say, absolutely yes. You should exercise for the many health benefits that come with it, but as you do so, understand that you will also be helping your mind. You’ll not only feel better, you’ll think better too, and that’s a key component to overcoming just about any challenge the world might throw at you.