Taking Care of your Back this Holiday Season

Balancing chronic back pain with the cheer of the holiday season…

…can be a difficult task. December is a month of additional stress for the spine. At Family Chiropractic and Spinal Health Care Center, we have identified a number of risk factors which are unique to the holiday season:

• Normal routine is thrown out the window: juggling christmas engagements can cause stress which then causes muscle tension.
• Booze and inflammatory ingredients abound: our normal dieting patterns also suffer during the holidays, when we drink more alcohol and eat more inflammatory ingredients such as sugar and saturated fat.
• More lifting: we tend to perform more lifting activities during the holidays. From lifting younger relatives, to cutting and hauling the Christmas tree, your spinal balance is threatened by an increase in bending and lifting activities.
• Exercise levels go down: there can be simply no time to fit in your regular exercise activities.

These are just a few to get you started- we are sure you can identify more ways that the holidays put your spine under threat. A heightened sense of awareness will help you navigate the perils of the holiday season so that you can enjoy the holiday cheer without hurting your back too much.

Holiday season back pain goals

Awareness is the first step and action is the second. Once you have identified your particular risk factors, be proactive in preventing them! Here are a few ideas for battling back pain that correspond to each bullet point above:

• Keep stress down: choose tea instead of sugary, inflammatory coffee drinks; try to carve out just 10 minutes a day to practice deep breathing and relaxation techniques.
• Watch what you consume: chances are you don’t need all those sweets! There are delicious alternatives to traditional Christmas treats which utilize anti-inflammatory ingredients.
• Always be aware of using proper lifting technique. If you suffer with lower back pain, don’t be afraid to ask for a helping hand when lifting even lighter weight objects that require you to bend down,
• Find sneaky ways to exercise: “exercise snacking,” refers to getting the exercise you need in smaller doses- even 10 minutes can be enough to get your heart rate up.

How we help during the holiday season

At our office in Passaic, we want to help you find spinal balance this holiday season. It is one of the most important gifts you can give yourself and your loved ones no matter the time of year. We use natural modalities to restore spinal alignment, alleviate nerve impingement and muscle tension and improve range of motion. The end result is less pain and more mobility, allowing you to do what you love most during the holidays. From our family to yours, happy holidays Ramsey!