Tag Archive for: neck

admin-lc

How Can I Avoid Back Pain This Spring?

/in /by

Winter is gone, spring is here!, the time for new life, flowers blooming, the smell of fresh-cut grass and for those unlucky few… time for back pain, unless you listen close!

The main activities we find that cause back pain at this time of year are Gardening, Spring cleaning and DIY. You know the usual chores, “the garden is overgrown and needs a good looking after”, “the gutters are full up with leaves left from last autumn”, “the attic, shed and garage all need a good sort out”. Classic situations that can lead to back pain, in this post I am going to give you some really helpful tips to help you prevent injury.

Tip 1.- Be sensible and know your limits! I am sorry to sound like a nag but this is definitely one for those of you that have suffered from previous episodes of back pain or have had previous operations that may limit your ability. Start any job by first thinking ‘is it really worth causing all that pain and potential loss of earnings for the sake of doing something a much fitter, possibly more experienced and capable person could do?’. Remember, assess the job that needs doing and make a sensible decision about it, it is your body, look after it, ask yourself, ‘is it capable?’ and ‘is it really worth the risk?’

Tip 2.- Co-Contraction. Sounds funny doesn’t it?, don’t worry, its sooo simple! and sooo effective! Co-contraction is simply tucking in or contracting the lower part of you belly by just 10-20%, your belly button should tuck in a little when you do this. Holding this contraction will cause a belt of support around your waist and spine, its like those belts weight lifters use but its built-in!, great hey?. Hold this whenever you are attempting to bend over or pick up anything (i.e lifting boxes, mowing the lawn, using the vacuum cleaner, climbing a ladder, pretty much all the time if you can!). It is great, the best part is, that if you keep doing this for 2 weeks constantly it becomes automatic. So what I tell my patients is “co-contract, co-contract, co-contract!!”, the more you think about using it now, the less you will have to in the future.

Tip 3.- Bend from your hips, not from your back! I know, I know, someone has told you something similar already but its time to mop up the nonsense and explain exactly how and why everyone needs to do this. If you need to lean forward (i.e mowing grass or working at a workbench) or bend down (picking up a box or some leaves) then use your hips and knees to lean forward or get lower and keep your back as straight as possible, remember to co-contract!! :D . You have been blessed with hips and knees, so use them!, your back is not designed to lift loads while flexed, your hips and knees are. Another way you can get lower is opening up your stance so your legs are further apart and then bend from your hips. Also, try keeping your head up once you have a good grip as this helps you keep your back straight. Look at you body, have you ever wondered why your bum is so big? (sorry to those offended :-P  ), it is designed to keep your top half upright and help you and your hips in lifting weight. Bending from the hips will take off a huge amount of strain from your back which will lead to an increase in back support and decrease the risk of getting back pain.

One last piece of advice, your spine is weakest when it is flexed and rotated, so please, remember not to bend and twist your back this spring! enjoy the sun everybody.

I hope this has helped you understand a bit more about your body and Chiropractic, If you have any questions on this topic send me an e-mail at danny@longlevenschiro.com  To view more of my blogs visit www.chirobeans.wordpress.com

If you live in Gloucester or surrounding areas and are interested my Chiropractic services and what I can do to help you, then book an appointment to see Danny at the Longlevens Chiropractic and Sports Injury Clinic on 01452 309372

admin-lc

Why Do I Need to Use Ice?

/in , , , , , , /by

Its amazing… amazing how many times I have asked patients during our first meeting and consultation if they have iced their injury before coming in to see me. The answer 90% of the time is, “I haven’t” or “I have been using heat but not ice”. In mine and a lot of others opinions, Icing is by far and away the best thing you can do to get yourself back on the road to recovery as fast as possible in the early stages of a muscle or joint injury. Here in this post I explain why…

Probably your whole life you have been told if you have burned or bruised yourself that “you need to put ice or ice cold water on it to stop the swelling”. Well the same rule applies for your muscles and skeleton, this includes your spine by the way!, they all respond to ice in the same way as if you bruise your arm. Let’s take back pain for example, a similar thing is occurring with an episode of back pain that occurs with a bruise. Something in your back has been damaged as a result of weakness or poor function and the body is reacting by trying to protect itself using inflammation. The same as if you had bumped and subsequently bruised yourself.

Inflammation has 5 components; pain, heat, redness, swelling and loss of function. All five are reduced as a result of icing. Ok, now think about what I have just told you and consider this: If you just bruised your arm, would you put heat on it to try to make it better while it is still sore and hurting? (oh dear god, please say no…) Remember the 5 components of inflammation??, that’s right, heat was one of them!, therefore you would be encouraging inflammation if you used it, not good. This again also applies to your back, if your back is in pain it is usually due to inflammation, so don’t use heat!. The only time I recommend the use of heat is during a warm up before performing strenuous exercise and certainly not for someone in pain. Once a person is out of pain and functioning correctly I only encourage heat in the form of giving your muscles a good rub to make them more pliable if you know they are noticeably tight.

Right, now I want you to apply what I have just told you to your day-to-day life. If you had just suffered an episode of back pain, would you now consider it a good idea to have a hot bath?? or a hot shower??, or go in the hot jacuzzi down at you leisure club??. I hope you can see what I am saying here (and no, I am not saying don’t wash, that wouldn’t help any of us!). What I am trying to say is that you may be applying heat to your back pain without realising it, by performing day-to-day activities like those I just mentioned. What I would like you to consider when in an episode of back pain is turning down the temperature. When you have a shower or bath, reduce the temperature a bit (not too much!) and make sure you ice your back straight after for 10-15 minutes or find a cooler alternative to cleaning yourself, like using wash towels.

To conclude, wrap up some ice cubes in a damp cloth or wrap an ice pack in damp paper towels or a cloth and apply to the problem area. Perform 10-15 minutes of icing every 2 hours, five times a day or as close to that as possible. This is the perfect routine to help get yourself through the early stages of injury. I would also recommend seeing your Chiropractor or other manual therapist as there are some instances where the pain may in fact not be coming from the parts of the body you suspect. In which case your Chiropractor or other manual therapist will help you identify the correct place to apply your ice pack whilst also providing treatment, information, advice and guidance to aid the healing process and help prevent it happening again!.

When to use ice: Acute sprains and strains, Acute inflammatory processes: arthritis, bursitis, tendonitis myositis, and neuritis, Acute trauma, Acute and chronic muscle spasm.

When not to use ice: Cold hypersensitivity (test a small non-painful area first if worried), a vasospastic disorder (Vasospastic disorders are conditions in which the vessels of the extremities do not dilate properly.), Systemic complications, Raynaud’s Phenomenon or Certain malignancies (seek advice). Do not apply if you are a weakened individual; Old age, Infancy, Cachexic. Or if you have severe varicose veins, myocardial weakness or high blood pressure.

I hope this has helped you understand a bit more about your body and Chiropractic, If you have any questions on this topic send me an e-mail at danny@longlevenschiro.com

If you live in Gloucester or surrounding areas and are interested my Chiropractic services and what I can do to help you, then book an appointment to see Danny at the Longlevens Chiropractic and Sports Injury Clinic on 01452 309372

http://chirobeans.wordpress.com/2012/02/23/why-is-icing-my-back-so-important/

admin-lc

Headaches

/in /by

There are many different types and sub-types of headaches, Chiropractors are trained to diagnose which kind of headache you are experiencing and treat it depending on the type as well as help you manage it effectively at home.

Call us
Directions