11 Ways to Indulge Your Spine

Let’s face it, most of us don’t take very good care of our spines. This lack of care can lead to physical discomfort and make us susceptible to future injuries and complications.

Do your spine—and your overall health—a favor and take the time to treat your spine to a few of these 11 indulgences:

1. Make exercise a lifestyle

Exercise is essential when it comes to maintaining a healthy spine—and it can also aid in the rehabilitation of your injured spine.

See Low-Impact Aerobic Exercise

You don’t need to be an expert in physical fitness to indulge your spine with regular exercise. A simple exercise program that focuses on stretching and strengthening the back, hamstrings, and abdominal muscles can go a long way toward distributing nutrients into your spinal discs and soft tissues, accelerating your healing process, and keeping your discs, muscles, ligaments, and joints healthy.

2. Engage your mind

If you suffer from chronic pain or discomfort associated with your spine, take the time to engage in mindful meditation every day. While no single treatment option works for everyone, studies have shown that mediation is an effective tool for fighting chronic back pain.

See How Yoga Helps the Back

A daily mediation requires only a dark, quiet room and 15 minutes of your time. There is no right or wrong way to meditate, but you might try focusing on a pleasant, relaxing place—such as the beach—where you feel carefree and comfortable.

See 11 Chronic Pain Control Techniques

3. Reevaluate your sitting posture

Your spine has a series of natural curves, and if your typical sitting posture does not support these natural curves you may damage your sensitive spinal nerves.

See Posture to Straighten Your Back

If you have a job that involves a lot of sitting, take time to make sure your office chair and desk are ergonomically aligned to support your spine. Additionally, consider working at a stand up desk or sitting on an exercise ball for a portion of the day. Last but not least, it’s a good idea to stretch and walk around every half hour.

See Ergonomics of the Office and Workplace: An Overview

4. Go for a walk to help support your spine 

The benefits of walking are plentiful, including strengthening the core muscles that keep your body upright, nourishing spinal structures with necessary nutrients, improving flexibility, and strengthening your bone structure.

See Techniques for Effective Exercise Walking

If you're in pain, be sure to get clearance from your doctor before starting any new walking program. Often, a doctor's recommendation will be for you to walk as much as can be tolerated. If you are new to walking, or if you're dealing with pain, start out with several short walks each day rather than a single long walk. Additionally, consider walking in a pool to minimize the pressure on your spine if your pain is severe.

See Guidelines for Buying Walking Shoes

5. Soothe your pain with heat therapy

Applying heat to the muscles around your spine increases blood flow, which in turn brings healing nutrients to your muscles. Heat therapy can also reduce pain associated with the muscles and joints around your spine—and it may relieve your muscle spasms.

See Benefits of Heat Therapy for Lower Back Pain

There are many options for the local application of heat therapy. You can try heating pads, heat wraps that adhere to your lower back and deliver a low level of heat over several hours, warm gel packs, hot water bottles, or a warm bath. Heat therapy is largely a matter of personal preference, so you may need to try a few options to see what works best for you.

See How to Apply Heat Therapy

6. Match your pillow to your sleeping position

When you lie down to sleep, you want a pillow that supports the natural curve of your neck. This means that people who prefer different sleeping positions will need different kinds of pillows.

See Best Pillows for Different Sleeping Positions

For example, if you sleep on your side you typically will need a thicker pillow to ensure your neck and head are positioned in the middle of your shoulders. Your height and the width of your shoulders will help determine the kind of pillow you ought to buy—so if you’re petite you will need a slimmer pillow than if you’re broad-shouldered.

See Pillow Support and Comfort

7. Choose your food wisely

Your daily diet plays an important role in maintaining the health of your spine. Try limiting your diet mostly to foods you would find in nature—vegetables, fruits, meats, whole grains, and legumes. Eventually try to eliminate processed foods entirely, and make sure to limit unhealthy sweets to an occasional treat.

See Lifestyle and Diet Tips for Healthy Bones

Additionally, eating foods that are high in calcium and other nutrients and vitamins can help prevent spinal problems like osteoporosis and osteoarthritis. Finally, maintaining a proper weight through exercise and a healthy diet can reduce pressure on the spine and minimize back pain.

See A Healthy Weight for a Healthy Back

8. Exercise in the water

Exercising in a pool reduces the downward stress of gravity as the buoyancy of water helps to support your spine, thus reducing the risk of injury or pain during certain exercises. In addition, the viscosity of water provides gentle resistance by means of friction.

Water therapy programs are usually taught in warm water, and many people find the warmth soothing on their joints.

See Water Therapy Exercise Program

9. Treat yourself to massage therapy

Studies show that massage therapy is an effective treatment for some types of back pain. Massages offer several potential benefits, including improving blood circulation for the recovery of sore muscles, restoring spinal range of motion, helping with insomnia, and upping your endorphin levels—the body's natural chemicals that boost your feel-good emotions.

See Massage Therapy Considerations for Lower Back Pain

10. Resolve to quit smoking

Smoking increases your likelihood of developing degenerative spinal disorders and back pain. The reason for this is that smoking damages the vascular structures of your spinal discs and joints.

Watch Quitting Smoking: A Must for People with Back Pain Video

Quitting is difficult, but there are many products, support groups, and strategies that have worked for thousands of people.

See Ways to Quit Smoking

11. Lift correctly

Improperly lifting heavy items can put your lower back muscles in abnormal positions that may lead to painful muscle strains. Additionally, improper lifting may cause your spinal joints to lock or your spinal discs to rupture.

See Bodybuilding, Weightlifting and Back Pain

Correct lifting involves more than just incorporating your knees. It’s best to keep your chest forward and lead with the hips rather than the shoulders.

Do you practice the right lifting techniques?

You may not be able to indulge in all 11 of the above suggestions, but pick 1 or 2 of the above ideas for indulging your spine that you can easily incorporate into your daily life. Over time, even small changes to your daily routine will add up to provide meaningful and sustained pain relief.

Watch: 3 Simple Ways to Indulge Your Spine 

Learn more:

Exercise and Back Pain

Pain Management for Chronic Back Pain

Call ABChiropractic Family & Wellness, in St. Charles, Missouri 63303 at 636-916-0660 to discuss how our Fast Pain Relief and Wellness Center can help you achieve your goals and eliminate pain.

4 Tips for a Healthy, Active Spring and Summer

The warmer seasons bring more chances to get outdoors and ramp up physical activity. After the winter chill is finally gone for good, it’s nice take advantage of the more healthful opportunities offered by the warmer weather. The trick is to not overdo it. Getting your body used to
a more active lifestyle takes some conditioning and common sense. Keep these four tips in mind as you head out the door.

1. Use heat therapy to soothe muscles before and after exercise.  Most people know that a heating pad or warm bath after a workout or slight injury can make a significant difference in terms of pain reduction and comfort. What is not so well known is that heat can play a preventative role, too. Heat application prior to activity loosens the soft tissues to decrease stiffness and increase flexibility. After a workout, muscles and joints are potentially dehydrated and not as stable as when they have been resting.  Applying a heating pad or wrap for 10 minutes or so after strenuous activity increases the flow of oxygen and nutrients to the muscles, helping to heal damaged tissue and return muscles to their normal state without seizing up.

2. Stretch to release stiff joints and prevent injury. Similar to heat therapy, a stretching session of five minutes both before and after physical activity can help to loosen tight muscles and prevent injury. The quadriceps and hamstrings in your thighs are generally the largest muscles of the body and deserve special attention. That means stretching the back, front, and inner and outer thigh. It may seem a bit much, but you can’t really move without them so it’s worth the effort, particularly because they play a key supporting role for your back. Concentrate on these muscles first, and then work up through the back, arms, and neck, and then down through the calf and ankle.
   
   
3. Don’t shortchange your sleep.  It can be difficult to adjust to the longer days of spring and summer.  Sleep deprivation and insomnia are major causes of on-the-job injury, as well as other health problems. How can you get the shut-eye you need? Your body responds to routine on both conscious and unconscious levels, so going to bed at the same time and only using the bedroom at nighttime can help switch your mindset into ‘sleep mode’. In addition, caffeine is widely known for its stimulating effect, which can interfere with deep sleep, so most doctors recommend eliminating caffeinated drinks after lunch. 
   
   
   
   

   4. Move away from your desk, couch, car or gardening stool. It’s all too easy to focus on a task only to look up and realize that you have been in essentially the same position for two hours. Sitting too long in one position slows down blood flow to both appendages and your brain, so move them. Use your cell phone or watch to set a reminder to move every 20 to 30 minutes. Get up and walk around the house or office, or fold a load of laundry, or take out the trash. It doesn’t matter what you do, really, only that you change position and use the major limbs in a different way. 
   
   Call ABChiropractic Family & Wellness at 636-916-0660 to schedule your appointment today.  We are conveniently located in St. Charles, MO 63303.  
   

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

The carpal tunnel is created by the wrist bones on the bottom and a ligament over the top. The median nerve runs through the tunnel along with the flexor tendons to the wrist. Pressure within the tunnel can compromise the nerve and lead to carpal tunnel syndrome.

Symptoms of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

The hallmark of carpal tunnel syndrome is numbness in the thumb, index and middle finger. Additional symptoms can include:

• Numbness that is worse at night
• Weakness in the thumb muscles of the hand (in severe cases).

The condition is more common in pregnant women, middle age women, and people with jobs that include daily repetitive hand motions.

Diagnosis and Treatment of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Nerve Conduction Study Video

The condition is diagnosed by a nerve conduction study, an electrical study that measures the length of time that it takes for a signal to cross the carpal tunnel. A delay is indicative of carpal tunnel syndrome.

See Diagnosing Cervical Radiculopathy vs. Other Causes of Hand Pain

Initial treatment usually consists of NSAIDs and wrist splints (especially for use at night). If the symptoms persist, cortisone injections can be tried.

If conservative (nonoperative) measures fail, or there is evidence of nerve damage (such as weak thumb muscles or profound numbness), then the carpal tunnel can be released by surgically incising the ligament to give the nerve root more room. This procedure is a commonly performed surgery and is considered very reliable.

Call 636-916-0660 to schedule an appointment with Dr Mario Awwad in St. Charles Missouri 63303 to see if chiropractic care can help.  Dr. Awwad has helped thousands with not only carpal tunnel, but many other health conditions.  ABChiropractic Family & Wellness is conveniently located in St. Charles MO, between highway 70 and 94.

Practical Tips to Lighten School Backpacks

Carrying too much weight can lead to back pain and spasms, shoulder and neck pain,and posture issues for children.

Recommendations vary on how much weight in a backpack is too much, but the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons says it shouldn’t be more than 20% of your child’s weight. The ideal weight is no more than 10%. For a 60-pound child, 10% of body weight works out to 6 pounds, while 20% would be 12 pounds. You can test the weight on your bathroom scale.

Here's what you need to know to help your children lighten up their backpacks:

Buy the right backpack

Start with shopping for a lightweight, well-designed backpack. These are some things to look for

• Skip the leather. Backpack materials can add to the weight, so look for the most lightweight, but durable, options. Online retailers such as Lands End and outdoor-oriented retailers often have a good selection.
• Get the smallest size possible. You want everything important to fit, but extra space in a backpack may encourage your young pack rat to stuff unneeded items into the backpack, adding to the weight.
• Look for compartments. Compartments also may reduce clutter. An outside mesh pocket for a water bottle makes it less likely your child will have a forgotten—and heavy—water bottle in the bottom of the backpack.
• Pack a separate lunchbox. A heavy lunchbox can add to the weight. Consider having your child carry the lunchbox separately rather than packing it into the backpack.
• For band instruments or laptops, kids may find it more comfortable to use a separate bag or a case with a handle.

Rolling backpacks may seem like an obvious solution, but check with your kids’ school before picking one out. Some schools ban rolling backpacks because they can be a tripping hazard in crowded hallways, and they can be hard to use on stairs and when navigating the school bus. Also, your child’s locker may not be big enough to fit a rolling backpack. Another drawback in some areas? The wheels don’t roll well in snow.

Be creative to reduce backpack weight

A new school year can be a fresh start. These ideas may help your family brainstorm ways to ease back strain from a heavy backpack this year:

• Talk with your child about ways to cut back on what’s carried. Kids can get in the habit of keeping all their books in the backpack all the time, whether they need them or not.
• Check out online resources. Chapters can often be downloaded to an iPad or Kindle so the textbook isn’t needed each night.
See How to Avoid Text Neck Overuse Syndrome
• Copy or scan chapters of the textbook at the beginning of the semester and keep the copies at home, eliminating the need to carry the textbook home most nights.
• Buy a used copy of a heavy textbook to keep at home, allowing your child to avoid carrying it back and forth. Often, textbooks are available at a low price through Amazon.com or home-schooling websites.
• Rather than bring a full bottle of water to school, bring a half-full or empty bottle and fill it up at school. Kids don’t always think about how heavy water is.
• Clean out the backpack often. Some kids are worse than others, but if your child is on the messy side, unneeded papers and other odds and ends can add considerable weight.
• Remind your kids to keep some books in their lockers, if possible, rather than carry everything throughout the day.
• If a heavy band instrument is causing problems for your child, find out if there is a spare instrument your child could keep at home, or consider buying a used instrument or renting one to keep at home.

School policies may unintentionally contribute to heavy backpacks. Locker space has shrunk over the years, and some schools have done away with lockers entirely for security or other reasons, forcing students to carry everything with them. Even in schools with lockers, there may not be enough time between classes for your children to retrieve books from the locker.

As a parent, you can advocate with teachers and school administrators for greater awareness of problems linked to heavy backpacks. Some simple changes might include replacing hardcover books with paperbacks and ending requirements that your children buy bulky 2½- and 3-inch binders.

Some schools provide duplicate textbooks for everyone, eliminating the need to tote books back and forth.

If your child struggles to put on the backpack, it’s probably too heavy. Other signs of trouble include red marks on the shoulders, a tendency to lean forward with the pack, worsening posture overall, and headaches or aches in the neck, shoulders, or back.

Call ABChiropractic Family & Wellness today at 636-916-0660.  We are your St. Charles Fast Pain Relief Center.  We offer chiropractic care for all ages.  We specialize not only in pain relief, but also posture correction!

The ABCs of Good Posture

As a Chiropractor, I can tell you that your posture is essential to your health. Good posture helps reduce back and neck pain, minimizes your chances of needing spine surgery, and enables you to live an active lifestyle.

But how can you learn to practice good posture? It’s as simple as ABC.

Experience good posture

Spine specialists use the term sagittal balance to describe a patient's spinal alignment or posture. The best way to learn good sagittal balance is to experience what it feels like. 

Here are the ABCs that I teach my patients to help them experience the feeling of good posture: 

Step A

• Begin standing up with your hands by your thighs—slowly arch your lower back and elongate your stomach muscles. 
• Gently pull your belly button towards your spine. 

In this position you should feel your lower back muscles, upper torso, and shoulders aligning over your heels.

Step B

• Rotate your shoulders outward so that your thumbs are pointing away from your body. 
• At the same time, draw your shoulder blades together. 

Adding this step should allow you to feel the muscles between your shoulder blades.

Step C

• With your neck muscles relaxed, look up until your ears line up over your shoulders. 
• During this step it’s vital that you relax your jaw and breathe through your mouth and nose. 

After step C, you should feel your elongated stomach and lower back muscles, the strong muscles between your shoulder blades, and your supporting neck muscles. 

This is the feeling of good posture.

Identify poor posture habits 

On top of experiencing good posture, you can protect your spine by identifying your poor posture habits. Here are some of the posture issues I see at my practice: 

• In today's world of smart phones and iPads, from a young age we spend countless hours staring down at devices with our necks flexed forward and shoulders slumped. This practice is so widespread that it has led to an epidemic of back and neck pain, or “text neck,” amongst children and teenagers. 
• As we grow older, we enter the workforce and spend untold hours—with few breaks—sitting at our desk while staring at a computer. This unfortunate habit deconditions our postural muscles and stiffens our spines. 
• Towards retirement, the cumulative effect of decades of poor posture may result in postural kyphosis, or a permanent flexed-forward posture. A flexed-forward posture comprises quality of life by limiting function, inhibiting balance, and increasing the risk for spinal fractures and chronic back pain.

Make posture a good habit 

You can quickly improve your posture by practicing the ABCs several times a day. If you feel that you need more personalized instruction and strengthening exercises, a physical therapist can evaluate your posture and provide you with additional instruction. 

Remember that good posture can’t prevent all health problems. If you experience severe back/neck pain or numbness in your arms/legs consult with a spine specialist—these may be symptoms of spinal stenosis or another condition.

Take a break right now and practice your ABCs. Good posture can go a long way towards keeping your spine happy and healthy for a lifetime.

Call our office at ABChiropractic Family & Wellness, 636-916-0660, to schedule your appointment to see how Dr. Mario Awwad can help you improve your posture and reduce or eliminate pain.  We are conveniently located in St. Charles, MO, 63303.  

3 Little-Known Tips for Sleeping with Sciatica

Sciatica symptoms don’t take time off to accommodate your sleep schedule. The burning sensation in your calf or throbbing pain in your foot can jolt you awake at any hour—if you’re lucky enough to fall asleep.

To help you find relief—and regain control of your sleep schedule—here are 3 little-known tips for sleeping with sciatica:

1. Elevate your knees

Your sciatica flares up when 1 of the 5 sciatic nerve roots in your lower back is compressed or irritated. Sleeping with your knees elevated may alleviate your symptoms by minimizing the pressure your lumbar discs place on your nerve roots.

Watch Video: What Is Your Sciatic Nerve and Why Does It Hurt So Much?

Interested? Here’s how to do it:

• Lie flat on your back—keep your heels and buttocks in contact with the bed and bend your knees slightly towards the ceiling.
• Slide a pillow between your bed and your knees for support. Slowly add additional pillows until you find a comfortable knee position.
• Don’t despair if you don’t find relief after a few days; no single sleep position works for everyone. Keep experimenting and you may find that a different position minimizes your sciatic pain and allows you to sleep through the night.

2. Enjoy a bath before bed

A warm bath can help you sleep by encouraging the release of pain-fighting endorphins and relaxing the muscles around your sciatic nerve roots.

• Some people with sciatica find it’s easiest to fall asleep immediately after a bath, while others like to read a book or knit after a soak. There is no right or wrong way—but as part of practicing good sleep hygiene try to follow the same schedule every night.
• The temperature of your water should be warm and pleasant, not hot. Hot water can make it difficult to fall asleep by raising your body temperature.
• If a nightly soak isn’t for you, there are plenty of other heat therapy options. Try applying a hot water bottle to your lower back/buttock or consider sleeping with an adhesive back wrap that provides continuous, low-level heat.

3. Consider ditching your mattress

Some people find that sleeping on the floor relieves their sciatica symptoms—though experts disagree over the potential merits and drawbacks.

Here are a few pointers if you want to give it a try:

• For sanitary reasons, avoid sleeping directly on the floor, instead try a yoga mat or large beach towel.
• Don’t give up after one night—you may struggle to adjust to the firmness of the ground. Give it a week, and if your symptoms remain unchanged—or you still can’t sleep because you miss your mattress—retire your yoga mat or towel.
• You might find that sleeping on a firm surface alleviates your sciatic pain, but, for a variety of reasons, you may not like sleeping on the floor. If this is the case, consider purchasing a firm mattress or removing the box spring from under your bed.

I hope all of the above advice will help you find relief from your sciatica symptoms and enjoy a more restful night’s sleep.  Call ABChiropractic Family & Wellness in St. Charles MO at 636-916-0660 to schedule your first life changing appointment.  Dr. Mario Awwad specializes in Sciatica and Low back pain.  

The Latest Cause of Neck Pain: Pokémon Go

The popular smartphone game Pokémon Go has people—young people, in particular—spending hours looking at their phone, which is putting them at risk for neck pain. Learn what you can do to prevent neck problems from playing Pokémon Go. 

Pokémon Go is everywhere—this smartphone game is so popular that people are pouring out onto the streets and into their neighborhoods for hours on end while trying to "catch 'em all."

The game is being lauded for its health benefits as players spend hours and walk miles in search of Pokémon to capture. 

But if you’re looking down at your phone the whole time you’re playing, you’re putting your health at risk in other ways. Specifically, you may be at risk for text neck.

What is text neck?

Text neck is posture in which the neck is bent forward and down as someone looks at their handheld phone or device. If this posture is held for an extended amount of time, it can strain the muscles, tendons, and ligaments in the neck, causing pain and stiffness.

More alarmingly, chronic text neck may lead to premature degeneration in the cervical spine, bone spurs, and muscle deformity. This is especially alarming for young people’s spines. Their spines are still growing and developing, and experts aren’t sure what impact this can have over the course of years or decades.

How to play Pokémon Go injury-free

If you or someone you love is playing Pokémon Go a lot, these tips can help prevent text neck and the problems it can cause:

• Hold your phone at a higher angle.
  
  The higher you can hold it while playing, the less strain you’re putting on your neck.
• Take breaks.
  
  After you catch a Pokémon, take a short break to put the phone down and arch your neck and shoulders back. If you’re at a Pokéstop or Gym, take a break every 15 to 20 minutes. 
• Stretch your neck.
  
  Tuck your chin down, then slowly raise it upward. Then swivel your head over one shoulder, then the other.
  In addition to text neck, Pokémon Go players are in danger of tripping and falling by walking while looking their phones. Don’t get so wrapped up in the game that you’re not watching where you’re going, especially on busy streets or sidewalks. 
  Finally, seriously hard-core players may be putting themselves at risk for shin splints if they’re walking much more than usual. Check out this article about recognizing and treating shin splints on our sister site Sports-health.
  Call ABChiropractic Family & Wellness today at 636-916-0660.  We are located in St Charles, MO (63303), conveniently off of highway 70 and 94.  We will be glad to schedule an appointment to discuss your health concerns.