Poor posture is the root cause behind most of the cases of neck pain and headaches that I see patients for in my San Diego Chiropractic Clinic. Slumping over your computer for hours on end stresses all of the joints in your spine, therefore middle back pain and lower back pain are also common results of poor posture. Good posture is just as important to your overall health picture as proper diet, sufficient exercise, regular stretching routines and 7 hours of sleep per night. From a superficial aspect, poor posture is one of the negatives that we often first notice about the way others look, the head forward posture and crumpled mid-waist region are never attractive.
Posture is a key component of good health. Bad posture presents with typical features, head forward position, slumped shoulders / upper back, flattened out lower back and inwardly rotated shoulders. Good posture saves our muscular energy reducing stress and fatigue. The ill effects of poor posture are numerous as are the causes of poor posture. Trauma, depression, failed physical education, poor ergonomic set-ups and a multitude of other scenarios set the stage for postural stress. In my office, most of my patients that I treat for posture related issues sit at a desk hunching over a computer on a daily basis. While a few isolated exposures to posturally stressful positions probably won't hurt you, repeated daily exposures can and usually do cause problems. Below is a more comprehensive list of the known causes of poor posture.
1. Accidents, injuries and falls
2. Poor sleep support (mattress)
3. Excessive weight
4. Visual or emotional difficulties
5. Foot problems or improper shoes
6. Weak muscles, muscle imbalance
7. Careless sitting, standing, sleeping habits
8. Negative self image
9. Occupational stress
10. Poorly designed work space
Bad posture can start a progression of symptoms. To begin with, slumped over postures allow one muscle group to rest while overworking the opposing muscle group. For instance, when poor posture causes our head is translated forward, the muscles in the front of the neck relax while the muscles that run down your neck and into the upper back are overly contracted. This imbalance creates a stretch weakness of the neck muscles causes tightness, spasms, neck pain, upper back pain and headaches. The end result for your muscles is over-worked, weak, painful muscles.
As time progresses, joint stiffness and pain begin putting you at risk for arthritis. Joints subjected to stress follow a predictable course. Postural stress causes irritation of the joints, Irritated joints become inflamed, inflammation causes pain, stiffness and scar tissue formation leading to arthritis. Chiropractic care will release the stiff joints breaking down scar tissue and eliminating pain.
While bad posture and the postural stress that accompanies it often causes discomfort, poor posture remains one of those conditions that most people identify quickly in others but not so easily in themselves. Those who are aware of their poor posture often consider correcting it impossible.
Correcting bad posture is possible but requires a multifaceted approach. Simply becoming aware of poor posture and correcting yourself when you have drifted into a posturally stressful position is not enough, although it is necessary to help break bad habits. Poor posture creates muscular imbalances throughout the body that require targeted stretches and exercises in order to reverse the structural changes that have occurred secondary to prolonged postural stress. This is yet another condition that is treated much easier in younger people or those who have not been subjected to poor posture for prolonged periods of time. That being said, almost everyone that I know spent at least 16 years looking down at their books for several hours each day while in school!
The bottom line is that most everyone can avoid the problems caused by bad posture and you can make improvements at any age. Do you need help correcting the effects of poor posture? We would be happy to help you at my San Diego Chiropractic clinic.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Nutrition and Chiropractic
I have always considered myself a fairly healthy person and one of my goals has been to present myself to the patients of my San Diego Chiropractic Clinic as such. That being said, I do have some health concerns.
To begin with, since I am a chiropractor I will declare that I have my bouts with neck pain, back pain and the occasional headache but for the most part I am pain free. Since college I have suffered from a mild case of office hypertension - meaning that my blood pressure was borderline high but I attribute that to the anxiety I get from taking my blood pressure. Another thing worth mentioning is that some days I would get a little spacey from mild hypoglycemia, but this would only happen on days where my diet suffered from poor planning. Overall, for my age (44) my health compared favorably to most of those in my age group.
One day here about two months ago my assistant Linda told me that she had a representative from Standard Process coming to the office to discuss nutritional products. At the time of this appointment, I really had no expectations of where this would go. I figured that since I exercised and ate right (for the most part) that we would be discussing products for my patients.
By the time the appointment with the Standard Process representative ended both Linda and I had committed to doing a 21 day purification program. It was at this point where I really started looking at my diet. What I found was that vegetables and fruits were a good part of my diet but so were bean rice and cheese burritos, occasional cheeseburgers, potato chips, an occasional soda pop and lots of coffee. All of this stuff would have to go under the guidelines of the purification program.
Basically, the purification program involves taking whole food supplements to stimulate the kidneys, liver and intestines to eliminate toxins, supplementing whey protein for animal protein sources and eliminating all caffeine, dairy and processed foods.
Today is the thirteenth day of our purification program. I am embarrassed to say that even as a doctor with extensive schooling in nutrition that I have been taken back by the dramatic positive changes in my health as a result of this purification program. To begin with, what I thought was office hypertension is gone. Since the third day of this program my blood pressure reading has ranged from a low of 115/74 to a high of 121/80. This reading is accompanied by a calmness that I have rarely if ever felt as an adult. In addition to lower blood pressure, my digestion is significantly better - no more bloating, my blood sugar has been stable and my sleep is much improved.
I attribute these improvements in my health to three simple changes that seem so elementary. Stop putting junk in, eat a clean healthy diet and get the toxins stored in my body out.
I have been asked what I plan to do after the 21 day program is over. At this point, I can't imagine not continuing with a healthy diet and taking whole food supplements. The taste of that BRC burrito or that morning cup of coffee will not be missed in the least.
To begin with, since I am a chiropractor I will declare that I have my bouts with neck pain, back pain and the occasional headache but for the most part I am pain free. Since college I have suffered from a mild case of office hypertension - meaning that my blood pressure was borderline high but I attribute that to the anxiety I get from taking my blood pressure. Another thing worth mentioning is that some days I would get a little spacey from mild hypoglycemia, but this would only happen on days where my diet suffered from poor planning. Overall, for my age (44) my health compared favorably to most of those in my age group.
One day here about two months ago my assistant Linda told me that she had a representative from Standard Process coming to the office to discuss nutritional products. At the time of this appointment, I really had no expectations of where this would go. I figured that since I exercised and ate right (for the most part) that we would be discussing products for my patients.
By the time the appointment with the Standard Process representative ended both Linda and I had committed to doing a 21 day purification program. It was at this point where I really started looking at my diet. What I found was that vegetables and fruits were a good part of my diet but so were bean rice and cheese burritos, occasional cheeseburgers, potato chips, an occasional soda pop and lots of coffee. All of this stuff would have to go under the guidelines of the purification program.
Basically, the purification program involves taking whole food supplements to stimulate the kidneys, liver and intestines to eliminate toxins, supplementing whey protein for animal protein sources and eliminating all caffeine, dairy and processed foods.
Today is the thirteenth day of our purification program. I am embarrassed to say that even as a doctor with extensive schooling in nutrition that I have been taken back by the dramatic positive changes in my health as a result of this purification program. To begin with, what I thought was office hypertension is gone. Since the third day of this program my blood pressure reading has ranged from a low of 115/74 to a high of 121/80. This reading is accompanied by a calmness that I have rarely if ever felt as an adult. In addition to lower blood pressure, my digestion is significantly better - no more bloating, my blood sugar has been stable and my sleep is much improved.
I attribute these improvements in my health to three simple changes that seem so elementary. Stop putting junk in, eat a clean healthy diet and get the toxins stored in my body out.
I have been asked what I plan to do after the 21 day program is over. At this point, I can't imagine not continuing with a healthy diet and taking whole food supplements. The taste of that BRC burrito or that morning cup of coffee will not be missed in the least.
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