Archive for November 2017
Spinal Health: The Gift that Keeps on Giving
What gift could be better than a healthy spine?
If you are looking for a gift for a loved one this holiday season, whether they be old or young, an awareness of spinal health is one of the best gifts you can give. Chances are, anyone over the age of 30 is going to have experienced back pain. A recent study from the Gallup-Palmer College of Chiropractic interviewed more than 6,000 people over the age of 18, and 63% of them acknowledged having experienced back pain bad enough that they sought medical help. Us ailing adults aside, what’s going on with the spines of our youth? As we move rapidly into the future, young spines are under more threat than ever.
Sports-related Sciatica: an All-natural Approach to Healing
Weight lifting and lower back pain go hand in hand
Building muscle is important for just about every sport. But lifting is one of the worst motions for your spine; when you add larger weights into the equation, the risk only increases. A further factor that can aggravate lower back pain is insufficiency in the core muscles which stabilize the spinal segments in the lower back and prevent any slippage of the vertebrae from occurring. If you then lift with poor posture, you are setting yourself up for lower back pain due to nerve compression caused by vertebrae moving out of position.
When the nerve-under-compression in question is the sciatic nerve, serious problems can ensue
As you find in our last blog here, sciatic nerve pain is insidious: it comes in many forms. But there is a simple way you can determine if you may be suffering from sciatic nerve compression using the straight-leg raise. Grab yourself an exercise band, then lay flat on the floor. Using the exercise band around the bottom of your foot, raise your leg, making sure to keep your knee straight. If this causes pain in the lower back, or other sciatica symptoms, give our office in Fremont a call to find out how we can start fighting back against sciatica today.
A You-Specific Plan for Sciatica
Sciatica is a silent killer
And while the root problem is similar in all cases, sciatica is experienced in a variety of ways. For some the pain may be dull, for others it is sharp; some people experience it nearly constantly and others infrequently. But there are certain characteristics that can clearly help you determine whether it is sciatica that has got you down:
- Localized pain in the back, buttocks and hips
- Radiating pain
- Numbness, burning and tingling in the extremities
- Weakness in the legs
- Lost range of motion
Why We Design Treatments Specifically for your Spine
Back pain is a more complex phenomenon than the traditional narrative has led us to believe.
Back pain is so much more than the acute effect of an injury. Conditions such as chronic non-specific lower back pain have shown us that back pain is a complex problem, involving your musculoskeletal health, biomechanical function, and neurological perception of pain. No matter what is causing your back pain, you will agree that it is a bane on your well-being. Extricating yourself from the throes of back pain should therefore be a primary health objective for any adult who wants to live a longer, healthier life.
Reading in Bed Without Hurting Your Back
Reading in bed is the ultimate way to relax
Likewise watching Netflix or other forms of television in bed provide a much needed way to unwind. No one would argue that getting in your comfy clothes and submerging yourself under the covers is one of the best ways to relax. In fact, as practitioners of holistic wellness, we believe that true relaxation is a cornerstone of well being. But it is always worth investigating whether your relaxation is taking a toll on your spine. Unless you put time and effort into perfecting your bed’s ergonomic set up, you could actually be causing damage to your spine as you relax.