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ARE PROLONG PERIODS OF SITTING, INJURING YOUR BACK?

Posted in Uncategorized with tags anterior head syndrome, arm pain, back pain, CHIROPRACTIC, compressed disc, compressed nerve, damaged disc, degenerative arthritis, dowager's hump, ergonomics, granny's hump, hand pain, health, hump, leg pain, neck pain, numbness, pinched nerve, posture, sciatica, sitting, spinal structure, structural correction, tingling on March 14, 2014 by chiropracticdouglasville

Long hours of sitting over time can lead to many health conditions; including Arthritis, degenerative changes in the spine and pinched nerves. These lead to many other diseases caused by lack of activity including weight gain, heart disease, stroke, cancer, and diabetes. The diseases usually take years of prolonged sitting to develop, however, in the meantime, warning signals of damage develop such as neck and back pain, headaches, fatigue, problems in the arms and hands, and lack of concentration.

When we sit all day, we place a lot of stress on our spines. Improper sitting to look at the computer screen, phone or TV all day causes our heads to move forward, and our backs to hunch over. The bad position leads to structural shifts in the spine causing the development of ANTERIOR HEAD SYNDROME (AHS).

Did you know that every inch our head moves forward from of our shoulders, 10 extra pounds of stress is placed on our spine? So a person that has an AHS of 3-5 inches is putting 30-50 pounds of extra pressure on their spine. Within 2 weeks of developing AHS our spines start to deteriorate. A deteriorating spine directly affects our nerves, compromising the messages that travel from the brain to the different parts of the body. All communication from the brain to the body happens through the nerves so AHS disrupts total body function.

It is very important, in order to avoid AHS that we practice proper ergonomics especially if we are going to be sitting for long than 30 minute periods.

Proper sitting ergonomics include the following, the head should be straight and NOT in a down position most of the time. The back should be straight or tilted 10-15 degrees. The arms should be at 90 degree angles and the wrist should be slightly flexed. The legs should be either right under the knees or a few inches forward. It is a bad habit to tuck your feet under the chair.

Due to fact that most people have not practiced proper ergonomics, they have already developed structural shifts in their spines. It is the primary purpose of a Structural Chiropractor to locate these structural abnormalities. Once a structural problem has been found, Correctional Chiropractic Care specializes in restoring normal structure and function to the spine and to all the nerves that control the rest of the body. The correction of the underlying problem causes many of the structural abnormalities that sitting all day have caused to be resolved and the entire body functions at an optimal level. When the spine and nervous system are working better, the rest of the body will also work better.

THE RISE OF THE ‘TEXTING’ EPIDEMIC

Posted in Uncategorized with tags adhd, anterior head syndrome, arms, artirithis, back pain, carpal tunnel, children, compressed disc, degeneration, ergonomics, family, forward head posture, hands, health, hump, neck pain, numbness, posture, SCHOOL, SCOLIOSIS, Structural Chiropractic, structural correction, text, texting, texting neck, tingling on September 9, 2013 by chiropracticdouglasville

Everyone is doing it. Look at a crowd and you can easily see several people looking down at their phones and rapidly moving their thumbs. The newest research is indicating that people are texting more than calling each other. The habit of texting is much higher amongst the newer generations but everybody is texting more and more. A person texting is usually sitting with their phone in their lap. The head is bent forward and down while the eyes focus on the phone. The average person will also roll in their hips and sit in a slouched position.

The recent research by Business News Daily reports that we Americans are spending more than 12 hours a week texting. The position of the body and the time spent in that position is creating an epidemic is our society. The epidemic is ANTERIOR HEAD SYNDROME (AHS). A Structural Chiropractors, concerned with the Human spine being in a normal range of alignment, are having to correct AHS more than ever before.

As science and technology are advancing, we are able to determine normal ranges of many things in the body. There is a normal range for Blood pressure, Heart rate, Liver and kidney function etc. The research and years of clinical data has also determined the ideal norm for the spin and a range within which the human body functions at an optimal level. The normal for the spine is completely straight, looking from the front and having three curves when looking from the side. In Anterior head syndrome the person starts to lose the curve in their neck as the head juts forward. The primary condition of AHS has many secondary conditions that start surfacing over time. One secondary condition is bad posture with the head moving forward causing a hump to develop in the upper back region. Other secondary conditions include pain, numbness, tingling in the neck and going down the arm and the hand. Long periods of looking down and texting causes a rapid degeneration and arthritis.

Imagine a bowling ball weighing about the average weight of the human head, about 15 pounds. If you were holding the ball on top of your shoulders you could balance it easily. Now extend your arms out while holding this ball. What happens within seconds is you feel the pressure from the ball in your entire Spine. You would start to feel that way just by holding the bowling ball for few seconds with texting you would be doing it for much longer periods of time. The body would start to misalign itself into an abnormal range. It is obvious why there is huge concern about the time spent texting, the spine and the health of the person who has developed Anterior head syndrome.

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PATCH IT OR FIX IT?

Posted in Uncategorized with tags back pain, carpal tunnel, compressed disc, compressed nerve, damaged disc, neck pain, numbness, pinched nerve, sciatic, sciatic pain, spinal structure, Structural Chiropractic, tingling on July 10, 2013 by chiropracticdouglasville

One of my favorite educational games for our patients is the ‘rubber band’ game.

The way this game works is that I tie a rubber band around your finger. We now wait and see what happens. Within a period of time the skin starts to change its color and the fingers starts hurting. What would happen if we left the rubber band on the finger for the next hour, day month or longer? Of course the finger would keep getting worse and eventually will have irreparable damage.

At this time I ask the patient, from the solutions I give them, which one would you fix the problem with the finger and which solution would just patch it.

One of the solutions might be to exercise the finger. This might make the finger feel better but it does not correct the cause of this particular problem? No

A person can massage their finger to make it feel better. This can offer temporary relief but again in this situation because it does not fix the underlying cause, the finger keeps getting worse.

Another solution is to put some pain relieving cream or medicine on the finger. Does this help temporarily relieve the finger? Yes, but does it fix the problem? No

Finally we can cut the finger off, it might alleviate the symptoms but the person has permanent damage in their body.

The only right answer is to remove the rubber band. This is the only true fix.

A Structural Abnormality in your spine is very similar. Especially because it puts pressure on the nerves just like the rubber band on the finger. Consider looking at what you are doing with this abnormal health condition that you might have. Many people keep patching up their symptoms and not actively pursuing a fix. In my office we see many patients that have been previously trying to patch up the issues they have with their spine, consequentially because the problem is not getting fixed the spinal condition, just like the finger, keeps getting more damaged. What separates me from the traditional doctor is that we look for the underlying cause of the problem and apply Structural Correction to fix it. The correction of the structural abnormality is how we can remove the pressure of the nerve and stop it from coming back.

So, in your daily life are you pursuing a fix or a patch?

THE HUMP ON YOUR BACK

Posted in Uncategorized with tags anterior head syndrome, arm pain, back pain, compressed disc, correction, damaged disc, degenerative arthritis, dowager's hump, family, granny's hump, hand pain, health, hump, neck pain, numbness, posture, Structural Chiropractic on June 28, 2013 by chiropracticdouglasville

It is a sensitive subject with many but it is also very misunderstood. Many have blamed old age on this problem yet we are finding this condition in younger people too. The research is now showing that Dowager’s hump or Granny’s hump is a secondary condition resulting from a primary condition called the Anterior Head Syndrome. There are many documented secondary conditions that are caused by Anterior Head Syndrome (AHS), these include Dowager’s hump, neck, arm and hand pain, headaches, numbness in the arm and hands, nerve impingement Syndrome, muscular tension and spasms, Compressed (degenerated) disc, damaged (degenerated) spine, degenerative arthritis and many more. Although most traditional doctors treat these secondary conditions, our focus at Planet Chiropractic is find the underlying cause or what is the primary condition an correct it.

There are many lifestyle factors (physical, emotional and chemical) that cause the development of Anterior Head Syndrome. A physical trauma like a fall, any type of accidents, sitting or standing in the same position for long periods of time… can cause an abnormal position in the spine and over time that develops into the Anterior Head Syndrome. The use of technology is causing many of us to look down all day either at a computer, phone, games, etc. Being in this abnormal position from prolonged periods will worsen the Anterior Head Syndrome. Emotional stress causes people to go into a protective hunched position and unknowing to themselves they are developing AHS. Even Chemical stress from the air you breath to the environment around you can indirectly cause the development of this structural abnormality. By the time a person noticeably has Anterior Head Syndrome the damage is already there and professional intervention from a Structural Corrective Chiropractor is needed to discover the severity of the structural abnormality and how to properly corrective it.

There is lots of research from the top researchers in the field of human anatomy that have discovered the normal alignment of the spine. There are ranges of normal throughout your body. There is a normal range for body temperature, blood pressure, heart rate… and there is also a normal range for your spine. For the spine to be structurally normal it has to be straight from the front and from the side, a person should have a curve in their neck, mid and low back. The neck curve can be observed from the side, the top of your shoulder and the hole in your ear should be aligned. If the person is suffering from the Anterior Head Syndrome in their spine than their ear would be more forward compared to their shoulders. Overtime as the pressure from the Anterior Head Syndrome increases the body starts to develop muscle in the upper back to support the abnormal pressure. Research shows that for every 1 inch your head moves forward from its normal position equals to fifteen pounds of extra pressure on your upper back. The development of this extra muscle overtime, is what many have observed to be a hump on the person’s back and is many times referred to as ‘granny’s hump’. The development of the Anterior Syndrome is primarily a Structural abnormality and not due to the age of the person.

Anterior Head Syndrome is one of the health problems that our office checks everyone for regularly. Our comprehensive structural examinations helps us measure the amount of Anterior Head Syndrome and allows us to to determine if it is correctable.