Have you been diagnosed with a pinched nerve? Or maybe you have pain in your arm, neck, and shoulder and wonder if it’s stemming from your neck?
A pinched nerve in your neck is can cause pain all the way down your arm. In medical terms, we call it “cervical radiculopathy.” But no matter what you call it, it’s painful. If you’ve got neck and arm pain and you’ve tried changing your pillow, stretching, and a massage but it’s still not going away, then it may be a pinched nerve.
There are many possible causes for a pinched nerve in neck but the reason is the same. Some piece of the nerve is compressed or “pinched.” The nerve then sends the brain distress signals and you can feel throbbing pain, burning, or weakness in your neck, shoulder, and down your arm.
Causes Related to a Pinched Nerve in Neck
The culprits are usually muscles, tendons, or discs. When one of these swells (muscles or tendons) or shifts (all three), it hurts.
For example, when it comes to the neck, a herniated disc in the spinal column could be the source of the problem. Or disc degeneration. Or a swollen tendon. The only way to know is with an x-ray or other device.
From there, we can make a diagnosis and treatment plan.
Now you may wonder what causes a herniated disc, etc. Sometimes it’s related to an injury. If you had a bad accident, that can cause nerve compression. A pinched nerve can also come from repetitive motion or consistently bad posture.
Of course, there can be other factors.
3 Risk Factors for a Pinched Nerve
According to the Mayo Clinic, there are several risk factors. These are three common ones.
Rheumatoid Arthritis – This body inflammation can compress nerves.
Pregnancy – Accompanying bloating and weight gain can cause swelling and put pressure on nerves.
Diabetes – Chronically high sugar levels can damage nerves.
Pinched Nerve Treatment
Of course, anyone who is in pain most wants to know how you can find pain relief.
In some cases, a little rest will take of matters. Some find the pain goes away on its own. For others, though, you’ll find pain relief from hot and cold compresses, gentle yoga, massage therapy, and chiropractic treatments.
If the source of your pain comes from long hours at the computer, then you’ll want to readjust your posture. Raise or lower your computer screen, switch desk chairs. An ergonomic work area will improve your posture and can reduce your nerve compression.
But a herniated disc or a degenerated disc are different. Most will find relief with regular massage and chiropractic treatments.
As you’re able to, simple therapeutic exercises like rolling your rolling your back/shoulder on a golf or tennis ball can help. You can either lie on the floor or stand against the wall and put the ball behind you using the building to support. Then, move your body against the ball so it moves it around. This can give you a gentle or more intense massage in the painful area.
Building strength can also help. But first, you need to find out if you do have a pinched nerve in neck and create a treatment plan. If you’re Doylestown, Pa. come see us at McQuaite Chiropractic. We take most insurance.
Let me guess, you suffer with chronic back pain? You’ve also heard that if you could reduce inflammation, you may have less back pain.
Is that right?
Great!
Yes, your food choices can help reduce inflammation
That means you’ve probably heard the reports of the dangers of inflammation. That left unchecked it can lead to rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease and more.
You also probably know that inflammation can cause that throbbing pain in your lower back.
Which means, it makes sense that reducing chronic inflammation would be a good thing and help reduce your back pain.
And you’d like to do it without drugs.
After all, you probably know that frequent use of over the counter pain meds can cause all manner of other problems including gastrointestinal bleeding. And prescription pain killers, well, the problems with those are all over the news.
So, what are you to do?
How can you reduce inflammation and have less back pain? And manage it without popping pills?
Glad you asked.
As an experienced back doctor aka a chiropractor, I have some ideas for you. Some involve diet and lifestyle changes while others include wellness treatments like massage therapy and chiropractic care.
Sure, it may be a little harder than popping a pill but in the long run it’s healthier. Besides, don’t you want to be as healthy as possible?
5 Ways to Reduce Inflammation
As you probably know, everything you do affects something else. If you eat a steady diet of junk food and your exercise consists of walking from your driveway to your door, then you’re likely to gain weight. No surprise there.
But what you might not know is how closely linked healthy habits are to reduced inflammation. Here are five lifestyle choices proven to reduce inflammation.
1- Eat Healthy – You didn’t think I would recommend a diet of fried food and high carbs did you? Sorry. Those can make inflammation worse, cause you to put on weight and generally head towards disease. Instead; think fruits and veggies, lean chicken, and wild caught salmon. These are the types of foods that will help you feel your best.
2- Exercise – Walking, yoga, or crossfit will all benefit you. Some research says as little as 20 minutes a day of exercise can reduce your inflammation. (Source) As you know, exercise also reduces stress and weight gain both of which are excellent benefits.
In too much pain to exercise? If you’re near Doylestown, Pa., come in for a consultation so we can see what’s really going on and get you to feeling better.
3– Chiropractic Treatments – Why does chiropractic care reduce inflammation? Because studies show regular adjustments can reduce your bodies’ production of a certain type of protein called cytokines. These proteins can cause inflammation so by reducing them, viola, your pain can be reduced. Some say chiropractic care can be as effective as NSAIDS.
Caveat: Everyone’s body and back pain is different so therefore your treatment plan is personalized based on your medical history.
4- Massage Therapy – Loosening tense muscles and ligaments not only feels soothing but it can also reduce inflammation and pain in your body. It’s also good to combine massage therapy with chiropractic adjustments because when your body is less tense, you’re usually more receptive to chiropractic adjustments and they can “last” longer.
As you can see, there are multiple ways to reduce inflammation. And reducing inflammation can help your body relax and relaxation will help reduce back pain.
5- Acupuncture – This ancient medical practice involves using small needles placed in strategic places on your body. If you’ve never experienced it, it can sound a little odd but some patients have had tremendous success with it for everything from back pain to cold relief.
As you can see, each of these contribute towards your goal of living a healthy lifestyle. You don’t have to be extreme to reap the benefits either. Eating healthy food and light exercise will go along way towards keeping you healthy.
Want to feel unstoppable? Stand up, throw your shoulders back and your chest out, raise your head proudly and hold your hands in fists by your sides. This is the “superhero” pose– so called because every superhero movie seems to show the heroes in this stance.
When you improve your posture you’ll feel better
It’s a powerful way of standing.
It says, “I’m here and I’m ready.”
If you haven’t already, go ahead and try it!
Feel better?
Ok. When the occasion doesn’t call for standing like a superhero – it’d be a little odd in the grocery line for instance – you can also try theAmerican Chiropractic Association’s guide to great posture.
Why Better Posture Improves Your Mood
One reason your posture affects your mood is that sitting slumped over restricts oxygen flow into the brain. Studies show that even those diagnosed with depression will feel better if they sit up taller. You feel more energetic when you improve your posture too. Plus, lousy posture takes a toll on your joints.
And while it’s no secret that sitting slumped over can make you feel tired and irritable, but you may not have realized, it can also contribute to back, neck, and wrist pain and even carpal tunnel syndrome.
8 Ways You Can Improve Your Posture and Reduce Pain While at the Computer
Besides boosting your mood and giving you more energy, improving your posture can also reduce pain. Yes, you’ll alleviate stiffness from long periods of working at the computer but also, better posture can help with chronic pain too. Here are 8 ways to feel your best.
1- Get a Good Chair – There are dozens of high-quality chairs on the market. Some of them are even known as “gamer’s chairs.” I probably don’t have to say any more about those! Such a chair has lots of padding but also supports your lower back to help it stay in proper alignment.
2- Check your Computer Screen – When your computer screen is at eye level, your neck can stay aligned with your spine which means it won’t be jutting out and putting additional pressure on your neck. You can find out more about setting up an ergonomic desk here.
3-Standing Desks – You can buy those battery powered ones or construct your own. Even shoe racks or plastic boxes can offer enough height to boost your screen to the right height. But make sure you stand with good posture. Well-cushioned shoes help protect your back and joints; especially if you’re on a hard surface.
4- Exercises – If you’ve ever pressed your back against a wall and squatted down in “chair pose,” then you know what it feels like to press your shoulders back. You can do this several times a day to counteract the effects of the forward slump. Your chiropractor can give you additional exercises that can help your specific condition.
5- Don’t Give Yourself Text Neck – Bending over your phone is apt to cause something we chiropractors call “text neck.” Like your computer screen, you’ll put less pressure on your neck if you keep your phone screen at eye level. It might feel funny to hold your screen up in the air, but your neck will feel better.
6- Chiropractic Adjustments – Regular chiropractic treatments help your body stay healthy and they can reduce chronic pain. You may be familiar with chiropractic adjustments as a quick, calculated thrust to a specific area of your body with the goal to realign the joints and tendons. I evaluate every patient, review their medical history and x-ray, and base the treatment accordingly.
7 – Massage Therapy – A good massage relaxes your muscles. Relaxing your muscles reduces pain caused by poor posture. Cramped and tight muscles hold tension. Massage will loosen them so you can stand taller.
8- Practice – Most of us don’t think about our posture much. But if you start noticing it, you might be surprised at how often you find yourself slouching – even a little. But noticing it and correcting it is half the battle when it comes to improving your posture.
In summary, bad posture contributes to feeling tired, sluggish, and even depressed. It can also cause pain in your neck, back, and wrists. Making adjustments such as improving your computer set up and recognizing when you’re slouched over can help you maintain better posture. Regular chiropractic treatments can help you maintain and improve your posture by helping your body shift and remain aligned.
If you or a loved one suffer from sciatica, then you’re familiar with the sudden flare-ups and debilitating pain. It’s common too. In fact, an article from Harvard Medical School says, “As many as 40% of people will get it during their life, and it becomes more frequent as you age.”
Sciatica is also often misunderstood. Many times it’s lumped in generically with other back pain even though it’s not the same thing. However, since sciatic pain is often in the lower back, its sometimes treated as degenerative disc disease or other common back pain causes.
In this article, we’ll look at the typical causes and symptoms of sciatica along with some treatment options including chiropractic therapy for sciatica.
Common Causes and Symptoms of Sciatica
You’re probably familiar with the sciatic nerve. It’s the longest nerve in the body which means it is easily irritated. The sciatic nerve runs from the top of your spine to your feet. These are common causes:
Muscle spasms
Lumbar spinal stenosis – the lumbar is the lower part of the back and spinal stenosis is when it narrows more than it should.
Spondylolisthesis – when discs stack onto another
Even pregnancy
It often strikes people who are overweight and sedentary, but not always. I’ve known young yoga teachers to suffer from sciatica. Overall, it’s generally caused by nerve compression.
The Symptoms of Sciatica
Just as the causes are varied, so are the symptoms and it’s very individual. You might feel:
Tingling in the legs
Numbness
Throbbing pain
For some, it’s a mild annoyance while for others, it’s debilitating. It can last for years, come and go without notice, or disappear after a period of acute pain.
It’s important to be checked by a medical professional. That way you’ll be treating the right issue. As a chiropractor, we conduct a thorough physical and medical history including an x-ray right in our Doylestown, PA office.
We’ll prescribe a treatment plan once we’ve assessed that it is sciatica.
Can Chiropractic Therapy for Sciatica Help?
As you may know, many people find their sciatic pain will go away on its own – sometimes within a few hours. But for others, it can drag on and keep reappearing.
Fortunately, many patients find sciatic pain relief through chiropractic care. The entire purpose of chiropractic care is to offer an effective natural solution for our patients.
We also recommend hot and cold therapy to reduce inflammation and spinal adjustments.
Other natural pain relief treatment options include:
Ultrasound – this warm heat is gentle and goes deep into the tissues to help muscles relax.
TENS machine– (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation) – We use this in our Doylestown office to help relieve pain. You’re hooked up to a machine that sends electrical currents throughout your body—concentrating on the painful area. It can be as gentle as you like or more like a deep tissue massage. However, it’s up to you.
There are smaller home units available too.
Chiropractic massage – A good massage therapist can help loosen muscles and improve blood flow throughout your body. Improved blood flow can reduce inflammation which will relieve the pain.
Low impact exercise – Walking, gentle yoga, daily back stretches, swimming, and other low impact exercises will improve your mobility while also improving blood flow. They also strengthen the back muscles which help support the lumbar spine.
As you can see, there are many ways chiropractic therapy can help sciatica. If you’re suffering from sciatic pain or any back pain, give us a call or come in. We’d like to help you feel better!
Chiropractors have long been known as “back doctors.” Yet, they offer so much more. Studies show chiropractic care benefits asthma, ADD, neck pain, shoulder pain, carpal tunnel, scoliosis, and more.
The reason is because chiropractors are the “doctors of the spine” and it turns out that spinal health affects everything else.
Take chronic neck pain for example.
In chiropractic terms, the neck is also called the cervical spine.
If you reach around your head and touch the base of your skull, that’s where it starts. If you continue running your fingers down the back of your neck, you’ll feel the knobby vertebrae.
These vertebrae support your head and allow it to turn left and right, up and down. However, while the flexibility of your neck makes it easy to look over your shoulder and merge on the highway, for example, this flexibility also puts the neck at risk.
You know what it feels like to wake up with a “crick” in your neck. Usually, that type of pain will disappear after a few hours. However, other types of neck pain aren’t as easily solved.
Chronic neck pain is common after accidents, aging, diseases, and bad posture.
Imagine, if you’re in a car accident. Often, the impact forces your head forward and then it “whips” back. That’s where the term “whiplash” comes from and it can be super painful. The reason is that such a force can injure the muscles, joints, discs, ligaments, and even the roots of the nerves.
Even simply getting older can lead to degenerative problems like spinal stenosis, osteoarthritis, and degenerative disc disease.
Then there are the stresses of everyday life which can cause you to tighten your neck muscles.
Poor posture which can push your neck forward and cause your head to stay jutted out. That puts pressure on your neck and spine.
As you can see, there are many causes for chronic neck pain. But what can you do about it?
3 Treatments for Chronic Neck Pain:
There are many ways to treat chronic neck pain including massage therapy, acupuncture, and chiropractic care. Your medical professional will likely recommend a specific treatment plan but let’s see how these can help.
Massage Therapy – The massage therapist will work on manipulating the muscles in your neck to loosen them. Depending on the extent of your neck pain, you may feel immediate relief or it may take additional sessions. Many people find massage therapy combined with chiropractic care offers long-lasting pain relief because the neck muscles are able to relax which improves the chiropractic treatment.
Acupuncture – This ancient Chinese practice uses tiny needles to place in strategic points throughout your body. These locations – or acupuncture points – are message centers in the body and when triggered, they can improve blood flow in the body which helps reduce pain.
Chiropractic Care – The neck or “cervical spine” is at the top of the spine and the whole point of chiropractic treatments is to take care of the spine. Which means it makes sense that chiropractic adjustments can reduce chronic neck pain. According to the American Chiropractic Association, multiple studies have found more than half the study participants have found relief for neck pain with chiropractic care.
Now that you know these three all-natural pain relief treatment options for chronic neck pain, which will you try? If you’re located near Doylestown, Pa., we invite you for a free consultation.
Most people think of chiropractic care as back pain relief (and they’re right!) Yet, there are many other benefits of going to a place like Discover Chiropractic too.
Over the years, studies have found that chiropractic care is an effective form of all-natural pain relief. It even improves the functioning of your entire central nervous system.
What’s the role of the central nervous system? It’s responsible for keeping your entire body in tip-top shape. Imagine the central nervous system like a busy highway flowing with traffic. As long as everything goes smoothly, the cars get where they’re going. But if there’s an accident, it slows things down.
It’s not so different in your body. There, when the central nervous system is functioning well, the messages get where they’re going easily too. But if there’s a problem, your internal communication might send a wrong message or a block a message and that can result in pain, stress, or even ADHD.
All due to miscommunication.
Here are 6 Ways Chiropractic Care Can Help Beyond Back Pain
You may be surprised to discover that chiropractic treatments can relieve headache pain and even boost your immune system and so much more. Yet ongoing research supports the benefits of chiro care for all types of health reasons. Here are six.
TMJ – If you frequently have jaw pain, you may have TMJ. The temporomandibular joint is one of the most complex joints in the body. Your chiropractic treatment for TMJ/TMD will realign your neck and shoulders to reduce pressure on certain tissues and help your jaw to stay in working order.
Headaches – If you suffer from chronic headaches, chiropractic care can help. There are plenty of reasons why you might have headaches including; long hours at the computer, stress, processed foods, alcohol or not sleeping well. It’s also common that your head, neck, and spine are out of alignment with one another and that contributes to headache pain.
A 2001 report out of Duke University Evidence-Based Practice Center found the type of spinal manipulation practiced in chiropractic care resulted in almost immediate relief in the type headaches that started in the neck. That’s because the chiropractic treatment realigned the spinal column, including the neck so it took the pressure off nerve endings. It helped other types of headaches too. In fact, many participants experienced fewer headaches with regular chiropractic care.
Allergies –Allergies are recognized as your body’s overactive response to environmental elements. In fact, they’re like a panic response in your body due to miscommunication. A depressed immune system may be to blame.Chiropractic care relieves stress on your body and over the past 30 years, doctors have found a positive connection between chiropractic treatments and a strong immune system. In many cases, it can alleviate seasonal and other types of allergy suffering.
ADHD – If you have a hyperactive child and you might be surprised to find that chiropractic care can help. According to a study in Explore, children aged 9-13 diagnosed with ADHD, experienced relief with regular chiropractic care. The best part of this study is that these young children were able to not use psychotropic drugs on their developing brains.
Boosts Your Immune System – When your body is functioning well, your body is better able to fight off germs. As you probably realize, the body is interconnected. The nervous system and immune system each of their roles and they’re related in keeping your body healthy. Chiropractic care improves your body’s ability to function by keeping it aligned and keeping everything flowing smoothly.You can find out more information about how chiropractic care boosts immunity here.
Improve Rheumatoid Arthritis Pain – Inflammation is the source of most pain and rheumatoid arthritis is no exception. Chiropractic care can help relieve this pain by reducing inflammation in your body. It can also improve your mobility. Find out more about chiropractic care and rheumatoid arthritis.
There are you are 6 ways chiropractic care relieves more than low back pain. Chiropractic care helps your central nervous system stay in touch with your entire body. It’s also an all-natural remedy without mind-clouding drugs or painful surgeries with a long recovery period.
Why not try it today?
Here in our Doylestown, Pa. office, here’s what you can expect on your first visit.
It connects your lower body to your upper body via the spinal column, tissue, tendons, and miles of nerves. There’s a place for everything though it’s not hard for parts of your body to shift and sometimes get out of place.
Take a pinched nerve in your lower back for instance.
Why Do Nerves Get Pinched?
When a nerve is pinched is often because a bone, tendon, or other matter has shifted out of place and is pressing on the nerve.
According to The Mayo Clinic, “A pinched nerve occurs when too much pressure is applied to a nerve by surrounding tissues, such as bones, cartilage, muscles or tendons. This pressure disrupts the nerve’s function, causing pain, tingling, numbness or weakness.”
Sometimes a pinched nerve in the lower back is related to a herniated disc. Arthritis, a fall or injury, or other health matters can pinch a nerve.
What Are the Symptoms of a Pinched Nerve in the Lower Back?
No matter the cause of the pinched nerve in your lower back, it’s due to compression of the last five vertebrae. You may feel sharp pain, tingling, numbness, and weakness in your lower back all the way to your feet.
How is a Pinched Nerve Diagnosed?
A physical exam with your doctor will help determine if a pinched nerve is the cause of your lower back pain. Do you have a reduced range of motion? Are you experiencing balance problems?
Here at your Doylestown chiropractor, we’ll ask about your medical history. We’ll also conduct an x-ray to see what’s going on in your lower back. Nerves get pinched for many reasons. Our goal is to determine the source of your pain. That way, we can recommend treatment options and help you find relief.
Find Pinched Nerve Pain Relief
There are many ways you can find pinched nerve relief like these.
Gentle Yoga Stretches – If you’re not a yogi, try a beginner class or one that’s called Gentle Yoga or Yin Yoga. These classes typically use props like blankets and blocks to support your body. A skilled teacher will help you find postures that reduce the pressure on your nerve and lower back so that you can find relief.
Acupuncture – Traditional Chinese Medicine uses an ancient system called “meridians” to locate points on your body where tiny needles can be inserted. The needles stimulate a healing response in your body.
Massage Therapy – A skilled massage therapist will work deep into your tissues to help them loosen. Combined with chiropractic adjustments, massage can help your body benefit even more from chiropractic treatment. Why? Because while chiro helps your bones and tendons go back to their rightful places while massage helps them stay there.
Chiropractic Treatment – A chiropractic adjustment may be your quickest solution to pain relief. For many people, a few spinal manipulations will provide near-instant relief which is great for short term pain relief. We’ll craft a treatment plan for your long-term healing.
Of course, there’s no “one and done” solution for a pinched nerve in the lower back. Any treatment will require multiple applications for longer-term pain relief and you may find a combination of things works the best. If you’re in pain and in the Doylestown, PA area, come see us. We’d love to help.
“My back went out” or “I threw my back out” are odd expressions but the pain is anything but odd.
That sharp, stabbing back pain can bring you to your knees. Perhaps the only thing worse than the throbbing pain is not knowing when it might happen. It can strike at any time whether you’re doing physical activity like gardening or playing golf or simply bending over to feed the cat.
You might wonder how you can treat “having your back go out” until you can get medical treatment and how you can prevent it.
But first, what’s happening when your back “goes out”?
What’s happened one or more of the vertebrae has shifted position. If you can imagine the length of the spine and then imagine 1 or more of the vertebrae shifting out of its normal position and maybe even being stuck, then you have an inkling of what causes the pain.
Imagine your vertebrae like a stuck drawer in a dresser. You may jiggle it but it doesn’t come lose and fit back into its regular slot. In a way, that’s what’s happened with your back.
You can protect your back by maintaining spinal flexibility and strengthening your core muscles.
What Do When Your Back “Goes Out”
From back spasms to disc injury, there’s a lot going on when you have back pain. Your chiropractor can help reduce your back pain but what if happens late at night or you’re not able to get in to see your doctor right away?
Here’s how you can treat your back pain until you can get to the doctor.
Lie on the floor – Chances are, you’ll be horizontal immediately, but lying on a hard surface like the floor will be more helpful than the comfortable mattress. Turn over on your stomach if you can and let your arms rest naturally at your sides. You can use a small towel to cushion your face if necessary. Breathe deeply and try to let muscles relax.
Use Ice – Ice packs will help bring down any swelling.
Take anti-inflammatories – Aleve and other such other the counter drugs can also reduce any inflammation.
How to Protect Your Back
A healthy back is far less likely to “go out” on you and if you don’t have pre-existing back injuries, you’re in luck because these tips will help you keep it healthy. If you do have pre-existing back injuries, these can still help.
1- Maintain a healthy weight – Extra weight, especially around your middle, can contribute to back pain because your body isn’t built for it.
2- Get Regular Exercise – Not only does this help maintain healthy weight but it also helps keep your back flexible.
Yoga is great for spinal health but even simple stretches will help. Be sure to stretch before gardening, golf, or other physical activity. Toe touches, knee raises, and side stretches are all helpful. Just take it slow if and don’t blast through them.
3- See the chiropractor – Your chiropractor “unsticks” your vertebrae and get it back into its proper “slot” in your back giving you a lot of relief. For the best results, follow your customized treatment plan.
4- Get a massage – Massage can also help relieve back pain by soothing the muscles that surround the vertebrae. In fact, regular massage combined with chiropractic treatments can be very helpful.
If you have a history of chronic back pain, and your back “goes out” frequently, call us. We’re in Doylestown, Pa. We’ll do an x-ray and see what’s going on in there and create a treatment plan based on your needs. You don’t have to live in pain.
Avid golfers know the game is having a moment of bad press when it comes to back pain and spinal injuries.
But why?
Golfers have long dealt with spinal problems, rotated cuff injuries, and a host of other hazards. Is there really a greater risk these days or is it simply a way to grab headlines?
Turns out, there’s a growing concern that the game has changed putting more golfers as risk.
Here’s why.
Instead of those long, languid drives of golf greats like Jack Nicklaus, the new emphasis on strength and downswings can lead to an increased number of back injuries. A recent study in Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine, found that today’s “x-factor” swing contributes to additional strain on the spine.
Executed regularly by players like Tiger Woods, this “power” drive uses minimal hip movement and instead focuses on a big rotation in the shoulders. According to the study, the doctors say it twists the lumbar spine in a way that puts additional force on the spinal disc.
It’s not only the twisting that concerns the authors of this study from the Barrow Neurological Institute; they say the powerful downswing also causes concern because it puts stress on the spinal disc.
If you practice this swing, you may have felt it. The minimal hip turn that results in the powerful thwack of the ball also “crunches” your lumbar spine.
To achieve the necessary strength, many professional golfers take up weight training and even dabble in military style training.
The evidence is mounting that younger and younger professionals are having disc problems. For example, Tiger Woods has had more back surgeries you can count and some are blaming the shorter, tighter, harder swing.
Now you’re probably thinking, “I’m a weekend golfer. I’m not devoting my life to the sport, is this really applicable to me?”
Fair question. However, gauge your playing (and your body.) Do you have back pain after golfing? Have you ever experienced shooting pain on the golf course?
If your answer these questions is yes, it doesn’t really matter what your swing is like (at least, not as it compares to being pain-free.)
What matters is feeling better so you can play this Spring and Summer.
How to Protect Your Back While Golfing
There are a few ways you protect your back and continue to play golf for many years to come.
Warm up before and after your game. Do some light stretches to loosen up your muscles including rotations. It’s tough on your body to go from cold muscles straight into exercise.
Practice regular conditioning exercises in the gym. Maintaining flexibility is an important element of preventing injury. Here’s a list of the 10 best exercises for golfers.
Get regular chiropractic care. As you know, golf is one-sided. The repetitive nature of the game puts pressure on your spine, yes. It can also cause tendons and discs to move out of place which can be painful.Regular chiropractic care can help prevent back pain and spinal injuries by keeping your body in good working order.
Remember the old song about the ankle bone being connected to the leg bone?
That’s a perfect example of how the body is connected. One bone leads to another, the nervous system carries blood and oxygen through the body and if you’re in pain, a back adjustment may help. The reason is that a back adjustment, also called spinal manipulation, helps your entire body move better.
Let’s face it, years of sitting and standing take their toll on your body. Habits like bad posture, carrying heavy items, and repetitive actions like spending hours at the computer can cause parts of your body to throb in pain. Sound familiar?
If you visit a chiropractor, they’ll check your posture and leg length. After all, it’s not uncommon to find that your legs are slightly uneven which means your hips are also uneven. This unevenness is slight. It’s not visible to the naked eye, but it does affect your posture, bone structure, and can lead to pain. A back adjustment can help re-align your body and alleviate pain.
According to Harvard Medical School, “Chiropractic is a system of therapy focused on the structure of the body, particularly the spine. Chiropractors manipulate the body’s alignment to relieve pain and improve function and to help the body heal itself.”
Aah…natural pain relief and improved range of movement. Doesn’t that sound like a good thing? Chiropractors Aren’t Just For Back Pain
Imagine you spend hours hunched over a computer. At the end of the day, you probably feel tightness and stiffness in your shoulders, upper back, and neck. You might even feel some throbbing pain in your dominant hand and wrist. These are classic symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome that yes, can be helped by a back adjustment. Why? Because adjusting your spine re-aligns your entire body. Then, if you have a good ergonomic setup, you’ll feel better.
With chiropractic care, you can also find natural pain relief from sciatica, scoliosis, and even things like knee and ankle pain.
How Back Adjustments Work
Some people think of chiropractors as “bone crackers” and feel anxious about succumbing to such a technique. In reality, there are multiple ways you can experience a back adjustment. For example, your chiropractor can adjust the table (and you.) They can also use handheld devices designed for back adjustments.
If you feel anxious or concerned, just let us know and we’ll talk you through it. If needed we’ll use a different technique. About that “bone cracking” concept, it’s actually not cracking at all but rather the sound of nitrogen gas escaping between your joints when pressure is put on them for an adjustment. It’s safe. Plus, many people feel immediate relief.
Another benefit of including back adjustments in your healthcare plan is that it’s a natural pain relief technique. Chiropractic care helps your body heal itself. There are no pills, injections, or surgery required. If you’re in Doylestown, Pa and you’d like to speak with a chiropractor about the possibility of a back adjustment and how it can relieve your pain, please call us for a free consultation.
There are many possible causes for a pinched nerve in neck but the reason is the same. Some piece of the nerve is compressed or “pinched.” The nerve then sends the brain distress signals and you can feel throbbing pain, burning, or weakness in your neck, shoulder, and down your arm.
