Ivy Road Chiropractic
Chiropractic the McTimoney Way.
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Mind Your Back;
‘’For all the happiness mankind can gain is not in pleasure but in rest from pain’’ Cortez
Fact 1: 4 out of 5 people at some time in their lives have a back problem.
Fact 2: Over 30% will have the problem recur.
Apart from effective treatment from a professional therapist what can be done to avoid back problems and prevent them recurring?
fig. 1
fig. 2
Keep moving!
If you are just talking on the telephone, stand up and move a couple of steps forward and backwards.
When you’re reading stand up and walk around.
Take a 15 minute brisk walk at lunchtime.
Do simple stretching exercises at your desk. Above all, avoid sitting continuously for more than an hour.
Your desk layout is also important. Things used most frequently should be within arm’s reach on both sides of you.
Keyboards and Computer Screen
When using a keyboard and mouse the upper arms should not move forward more than 10o from the vertical. The VDU screen should be at arm’s length away. Touch typists should have the top of the screen at eye level with copyholders next to the screen. Check there is no glare or any reflections on the screen. When writing, turn the chair at an angle of 10-15o away from the prop arm. This will straighten the body.
Activate your Vagus Nerve
Our vagus nerve has been getting increasingly more attention as of late…..but why?
Your autonomic nervous system is the branch of your peripheral nervous system which regulates the function of your internal organs like your heart, stomach, glands, smooth and cardiac muscles – all the things you do not consciously control. Your autonomic nervous system has two divisions which serve the same organs but create opposite effects in them: the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. Most of us are dominated by our sympathetic system, so we need to focus on increasing the parasympathetic tone, that's the part of the nervous system that helps us to repair and restore, commonly known as the 'rest and digest' part. This part is largely operated by the vagus nerve, which travels through the body, branching out to many of our internal organs.
These are some tips on how to help this:
1. Cold showers:
When we expose our bodies to something cold – this first causes an increased sympathetic nervous system response but is quickly halted after we acclimatize to the cold. In other words, our parasympathetic nervous system increases –other things we can do include splashing cold water on your face or drinking cold water.
2. Singing, humming and chanting:
Humming, chanting and singing all increase heart rate variability. Heart rate variability is a measure of the balance between the parasympathetic nervous system, which decreases the heart rate and increases the relaxation response via the vagus nerve. Singing produces slow, regular and deep respiration causing a pulsating vagal activity. Singing at the top of your lungs also makes you work the muscles at the back of your throat. All the more reason to sing in the shower, or literally anywhere!
3. Yoga:
Yoga is a parasympathetic activation exercise. Similar to singing, yoga breathing and guided breathing have beneficial effects on switching to our “rest and digest” state..
4. Deep breathing exercises:
Close your eyes and breath in thinking of brining light through your eyes and when you breath out visualise use that light to shine out like head lights.
5. Laughter:
There are countless other ways to increase our vagal tone including – tai chi, massages, specific supplementation, activation of specific muscles, chewing food properly, fasting, light exercise etc. These top 6 practices for vagus nerve stimulation are simple and uncomplicated and can be implemented into your clients (and your own) daily routines.
This is a brief summary of a more indepth article published by Truly Heal. For more detailed info, please go to https://trulyheal.com/vagus-nerve-7-easy-ways-to-access-its-powers/
In The Office.
A banana is a good way to describing most people’s posture at a desk! (fig. 1) Add to this sitting for up to 2 hours at a time, a poor desk layout, the mental pressure of work, reduced oxygen input because of poor posture, and lack of exercise, is it any wonder so many people have spinal problems?
So what can be done?
Fundamentally you need a sitting position where the spine is in the same alignment as when you are standing with good posture (fig. 2).
Sit on an angled forward seat or place a wedge on the seat. Raise the chair until your feet are firmly on the ground with your knees below your hips. This automatically creates good alignment in the lower spine. Hold your arms at a right angle at the elbows with hands flat which will give you the correct desk height.
To raise a desk, put blocks under the legs or use leg raisers. If your chair does not adjust to give back support use a lumbar roll.