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Is an inversion table good for your spine?

March 20, 2019 by Desire Treski Leave a Comment

The idea behind it is to temporarily remove pressure from your disks. This is also what decompression does. It temporarily provides people with pain relief. At some point, it turned into a cure-all for any back pain you might have, however, that is not true.

The reason people have issues with the disks traditionally comes from poor spinal structure. Unless they have had a major accident or something that has changed the shape of their spine. While an inversion table will help for temporary relief of symptoms, it certainly doesn’t fix anything structurally.

An inversion table isn’t necessarily bad for you but it doesn’t solve the problem or the root cause of your pain. An inversion table can become bad if you overuse it.

What happens with inversion or any other type of decompression, is that it stretches your spine and takes the natural cure out of your spine. Muscle change happens at 10 minutes and that’s when we see spine structure change. So when you take a natural curve out of your back and flatten it, that isn’t good. For people who already have a lack of curve in their back, the results are even worse.

If you do decide to use an inversion table only use it for no more than 7-10 minutes a day. Anything more than that may result in a change to your spine. If you do decide to purchase an inversion table make sure it is one that has lumbar support. Look for something that will help maintain the curve in your back.

One of the best times to use an inversion table is after a workout. It can help relieve compression in your spine after a heavy lifting day. However, only use it for a few minutes and no more than 10 minutes. You shouldn’t use an inversion table to manage your pain, that’s an indicator that something more serious is going on.

Also, one thing to note is that an inversion table does not help to align your spine. Only CBP adjustments can do that. It’s the only real way to keep your spine healthy.

So, instead of using an inversion table get your spine checked by a CBP Chiropractor. It is important to get a check-up and find out the reason why your body is bothering you in the first place.

For more information contact Dr. B at [email protected]

Filed Under: Dr. B's Corner Tagged With: Active Family Chiropractic, AFC, Bad Posture, CBP, CBP care, CBP Chiropractic, CBP Chiropractor, Chiropractic BioPhysics, Chiropractic Visits, Decompression, Dr. B, Dr. Bianca, Inversion table, inversions, muscle change, spinal change, Spinal decompression

How do handheld devices contribute to spinal damage?

February 21, 2018 by Desire Treski Leave a Comment

Does the above cartoon look like you when you’re on your hand-held device? The world is advancing at an alarming rate and with it, the technology is getting better and better. As time goes by, we find ourselves more reliant on our hand-held and mobile devices. Although these devices make our lives easier, they also contribute to spinal damage. Is my smartphone or tablet causing spinal damage? The short answer is yes.

How is my handheld device causing spinal damage?

Most hand-held devices are designed to be held in your hand, hence the name. However, they tend to have a little bit of weight to them which over the extended period of use can begin to feel heavy. This forces you to seek support for that arm holding the device, whether it be the arm of a chair or a table, or maybe your leg. This causes you to look down at the device. This puts you in forward head projection and causes your shoulders to round.  Holding this position for any amount of time can lead to a weakness in your posture. Have you ever seen Herbert, the old man from Family Guy when he’s walking with his walker? When you continually hold your device in such a way that it promotes poor spinal posture , you are in danger of ending up like him. 

Think about this. For every degree you tilt your head forward, you are adding a pound of pressure to your spine. The way most people hold their cell phones or tablets can put up to 60 additional pounds of pressure on your spine. The Guardian, a British news publication, provided a fantastic graphic to demonstrate this.

But I need to multi-task!

In this busy world, we all tend to try to do several things at once. We talk on the phone while we’re typing on our laptop or tablet. If you’re not using your speakerphone function or your headphones, which the phone company so generously supplied to you, you may find yourself trying to wedge your phone in between your head and your shoulder in order to continue to work. This action can cause spinal damage as well. When you are constantly putting your neck in a side-bending position, you are causing misalignments (subluxation). This can lead to an imbalance in your muscles and you’ll notice your head will start to constantly tilt and eventually if untreated you could look like the picture below.

Not only is this bad for your health, but it is unsightly.

What are some things I can do to prevent spinal damage from using my hand-held devices?

I know it might be hard but try to limit your use of your devices. If that is not an option, think about using your headphones when answering calls. Also, when texting or viewing social media, make sure that you are holding the phone up so that your neck is in a neutral position not tilted or bent forward. Doing these simple things can minimize neck and back pain as well as promote good spinal posture.

For more information or to talk about exercises, you can do to strengthen your spine email Dr. B at [email protected]

Filed Under: Active Family Chiropractic, PC News and Articles, Dr. B's Corner Tagged With: Active Family Chiropractic, AFC, Bad Posture, Chiropractic, Forward Head Projection, Handheld devices, Head tilt, Smartphones, Spinal Damage, Spinal Damage from Handheld devices, Tablets, Text Neck

Why are my neck and back muscles always tight? Part 1: Bad posture.

January 31, 2018 by Desire Treski Leave a Comment

Have you ever wondered why your neck and back muscles are always tight? Why is it that your lower back aches at the end of the day? There are a number of factors that contribute to this. Bad posture, not exercising enough and bad nutritional choices are only a few. In this 3 part series, we’re going to talk about the biggest contributing factors to neck and back tightness.

Bad Posture

We’ve talked about it before, how you sit, stand and move through space can dictate the function of your muscles. Sitting at a desk for hours at a time is not ideal and sitting slouched over is even worse. Putting your spine in a compromised position can cause discomfort to your lower back and put tension on your spine.

In the workplace (or if you work from home).

Our job may dictate the amount of time we spend sitting. So here are a couple of things you can do to help ease that tension.

  • Invest in an ergonomic chair. If your boss won’t spring for it or you work at home, purchase one yourself. Your health is important. If an ergonomic chair isn’t in your budget, grab a lumbar support. You can find them on Amazon for as low as $20. These are great because they are easily transferable to your office, home and car.
  • Get up and move. Set a timer. Every 20 minutes you should get up and stretch out. Go grab a drink of water or head to the supply closet, whatever you do just move every 20 minutes or so. This will help minimize that stress on your back from sitting and give you a little boost to your metabolism. It will also give you a small jolt of energy. So if you’re feeling sluggish it’s a great way to wake yourself up.
  • Adjust your monitor. The position of your monitor can impact the health of your neck and back. If you spend the majority of the day staring down at your screen, you’re going to develop some severe neck aches and encourage slouching which leads to pain in your back. Raise your monitor so that you’re looking at it straight on. If you use a laptop, invest in a Bluetooth keyboard. There is a whole slew of them for under $20 on Amazon. This will allow you to raise your laptop screen to the appropriate position while allowing you to keep your shoulders relaxed and hands in a good typing position.
  • Keep your shoulders back. When you sit in your office/desk chair, practice keeping your shoulders back. This will prohibit you from slouching and help you develop some nice back muscles.
  • If you have to lift something, lift with your legs. We have all heard it. Lift with your legs, not your back. Comparatively, your legs are infinitely stronger than your back will ever be, so practice good lifting techniques. When lifting, keep your core engaged and back straight. Also, don’t try to be a hero. Have a friend help you lift.

At Home and everywhere else.

All of the above applies at home or anytime you are sitting for long periods of time. You want to make sure that you are positioning yourself so that you won’t have to deal with neck and back aches in the future. Provide support to your lower back while sitting, remember to always lift with your legs and try to keep your head in neutral position. Keeping these things in mind as you go through your day-to-day, as well as regular visits to your chiropractor, will help to minimize neck and back aches.

Have a healthy day!

 

 

 

Filed Under: Dr. B's Corner Tagged With: Adjust your monitor, Back Aches, Backache, Bad Posture, Correct Bad Posture, Ergonomic Chair, Ergonomics, Lumbar Support, Move, Neck Aches, Pain, Pain Management

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