Archive for March 2021

For most people, chiropractic comes to mind only after an injury

This is a shame because chiropractic might have prevented that very same injury. While obviously, this is not a 100% guarantee, a body under regular chiropractic maintenance is more resistant to injury and quicker to recover after an injury occurs. Depending on your level of activity (or inactivity!) you can benefit from the preventative healthcare that chiropractic offers.

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A well-aligned body is more resilient to injuries

A tried and true analogy uses the maintenance of a car as an example: regular oil checks and maintenance ensure that your car keeps running longer and doesn’t let you down when you need it most. The human body is a machine that requires regular maintenance in a similar way; circulation and range of motion are important for ensuring that every cell in your body receives the oxygen and nutrients it needs to prosper. Furthermore, your muscles and tendons both crave use to enhance their elasticity. You can even see your pets stretching all day long as they lounge around between naps. It can be a bad sign if you aren’t moving more than your cat!

Chiropractic is preventative healthcare

Spinal adjustments and hands-on attention to the muscles allow your body to work its best. By correcting spinal misalignment, we facilitate smoother functioning of the nervous system which allows your body to protect itself from injury and to heal itself more effectively. If you are interested in finding out more about how chiropractic keeps your body working its best, give our office a call to schedule an appointment today. 

Cycling doesn’t have to cause you pain!

For many people, cycling begins when you are a kid cycling around the neighborhood, and for many people it will remain that way, less of a means of transportation and more of a fun way to spend a few hours. But for people who take it as an athletic pursuit, biking down mountainous trails or across miles of open road, cycling takes on a more integral role in their health routine. And that goes both ways: yes it builds muscle and cardiovascular health, but it is also fraught with challenges to the body. 

What are the key dangers facing cyclists from a chiropractor’s perspective?

Injuries that cyclists will incur are chiefly due to the repetitive nature of the sport. Below you will find some of the top dangers facing cyclists besides injuries related to crashing!

• Overuse injuries: shock is absorbed through the hands and wrists and filters through to the shoulders; shock is also absorbed by the knees and all this jolting can impact your spine for the worse. 
• Poor posture while biking: hunched over the handlebars is not a good look- and it is not good for you either! Your arms should share some of the weight, but not all of the burden. Make sure you consult with a cycling professional to determine and maintain good posture while cycling. 
• An ill-fitting bike: a properly fitted bike will help you maintain good posture and mitigate shock and overuse injuries. 

Cyclists benefit from chiropractic care

Chiropractic care is an important part of wellness no matter what you choose for sport. Chiropractic adjustment and regular attention to the muscles of the back can help to mitigate the pain inflicted on bikers, especially in the neck and shoulder region. If you are interested in feeling less pain, or preventing pain from interfering with your enjoyment of cycling, give our office a call to schedule an appointment today. 

Starting an exercise plan may hurt at first

But keeping the upside in mind can help you overcome the roadblock of beginning. And once you get going, it only becomes easier- like a flywheel, your exercise routine will develop a momentum of its own, and the going will get easier. We believe that exercise is a cornerstone of wellness; in fact, exercise underpins everything we do during a chiropractic appointment. It strengthens the muscles that support the spine, improves core stability, maintains a range of motion, and improves circulation. And while the scientific community is still at a loss as to exactly how exercise creates the benefits that it does, the jury is unanimous in agreeing that exercising 150 minutes per week should be an essential health objective for all adults. 

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We can make starting an exercise plan less painful

So when was the last time you hit that 150 minutes per-week goal for exercise? Does the thought of getting up and starting give you the slightest pang of anxiety? If the thought of getting in shape seems like an insurmountable task, we want to help you get motivated and start moving. We start with what is at stake: the health of your body in the here and now, and its longevity for the future. As the foundation for your upper body, this is the only spine you get. Keeping it in a state of balance, with a strong set of surrounding muscles, is the best possible thing you can do to preserve it for the future. 

How we help you start exercising

We begin by evaluating your musculoskeletal health and providing adjustments to restore spinal alignment and balance. The spinal adjustment has been shown to exhibit a domino effect on our musculoskeletal health including:

• Relieving painful nerve impingement
• Improving range of motion
• Improving circulation

This sets you off on the right foot to start exercising. From here, we can show you simple but effective body-weight exercises for improving the core stabilizers, a set of muscles that provide support for the lower spine. These muscles are the best ally your spine has in its fight against pain and degeneration. One last area of focus is balancing muscles that become over and underworked due to poor biomechanics and posture. We help you affect a wholesale improvement of your biomechanical awareness and postural habits. 

Getting in shape to exercise starts with chiropractic

At our Chiropractic office, we are not short on incentives when it comes to exercise. We want to help you get motivated- give our office a call to schedule an appointment today. 

Let the blood flow, in the circulation sense

Blood is your life force- it is the transport network that brings oxygen and nutrients throughout the body and carries away waste products that create problems when they accumulate. So what happens when circulation is stunted? Problems naturally occur when normal blood flow is restricted, including: 

• Fatigue; lack of physical or mental energy
• Headache
• Anxiety
• Numbness and tingling or swelling in the extremities

Conditions that cause restriction to blood flow include diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and blood clots. So what can we do to keep the blood flowing as it should? 

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Mapping your circulation

Think of your brain and how every millisecond of the day it is controlling and coordinating the function of the human body. If you starved this vital organ of its input, how could you expect it to work well? Well, the main input for the brain is oxygen! In fact, while it only accounts for 2% of body mass, the brain consumes up to 20% of the oxygen that enters the bloodstream. Part of the reason for this is that even when you are completely idle or sleeping, the brain is still completely active. Lack of sufficient oxygen to the brain is associated with poor memory, dizziness, fatigue, headache, and other more serious conditions. 

Chiropractic for enhancing circulation

Circulation and chiropractic go hand in hand. Because we utilize hands-on modalities to improve health, a boost in circulation is a natural outcome. Chiropractic adjustment frees up nerve pathways and attention to muscles through massage and trigger-point therapy stimulates the body to let the blood flow, increasing circulation to areas that are in need. If you are interested in finding out more about how chiropractic can help improve circulation, give our office a call to schedule an appointment today.