Benefits of Chiropractic Care
One of the main causes of pain and disease in the human body can be traced to improper alignment of the vertebrae in your spinal column. This is called a subluxation. Through carefully applied pressure, massage, and manual manipulation of the vertebrae and joints, pressure and irritation on the nerves is relieved and joint mobility is restored, allowing your body to return to its natural state of balance, called homeostasis. Put another way, when the bones in your spine are allowed to go back to their proper positions, the nerve energy can resume its normal flow and your body's natural healing processes can function properly.
In general, proper chiropractic treatment of your body's lumbar, or lower back, region, involves very little risk, and the rewards can be significant.
Chiropractic manipulations can be especially helpful in relieving pain for facet joint injuries, osteoarthritis, and sacroiliac joint dysfunction, because such conditions respond well to mobilization. Moreover, scores of patients with chronic headaches, sinus problems, high blood pressure, ear infections, leg pain, arthritis, and many other illnesses have reported significant relief after chiropractic therapy.
Increasingly over the past few decades, the medical community has come to accept and recognize chiropractic care as a valid form of treatment for a variety of neuro-musculoskeletal conditions, and as a conservative treatment option for patients with lower back pain. Moreover, many medical doctors recognize a chiropractic diagnosis and accept it as the first line of treatment for functional disorders of the entire musculoskeletal system.
Studies by leading medical journals in recent years have confirmed the benefits of chiropractic care:
- A 1993 report by the Ontario Ministry of Health concluded that chiropractic care was the most effective treatment for lower back pain. The agency also recommended that chiropractic care be fully integrated in the Canadian government's health care system.
- In 1994, the federal Agency for Health Care Policy and Research published its Clinical Practice Guidelines, which asserted that spinal manipulation was effective in reducing pain and speeding recovery among patients with acute low back symptoms without radiculopathy.
- A 1996 New England Journal of Medicine study of outcomes and costs for acute low back pain found that patients treated by chiropractors were significantly more satisfied than those who saw primary care, orthopedic or managed care practitioners.
- A 1996 study in the journal Spine echoed that study, and found that patients who sought chiropractic care were more likely to feel that treatment was helpful, more likely to be satisfied with their care, and less likely to seek care from another provider for the same condition, compared to those who sought care from medical doctors.
- In 2001, the Center for Clinical Health Policy Research at Duke University concluded in a study that spinal manipulation resulted in almost immediate improvement for cervicogenic headaches, or those that originate in the neck, and had significantly fewer side effects and longer-lasting relief of tension-type headache than a commonly prescribed medication.
Ergonomics is part science, part art. It involves choosing and working with devices that minimize or even eliminate undue strain on our joints and muscles. For those of us who work in an office (or a home office), we're confronted with many opportunities to work in conditions that place our spinal cord, muscles, and other structures at risk for prolonged injury. Over time, these kinds of situations can lead to permanent injury to our wrists, elbows, knees, shoulders, and backs, not to mention our eyes.
Sitting in a slouched-over or slouched-down position in a chair can overstretch the spinal ligaments and strain the spinal discs. Straining toward a computer screen for long periods of time can strain the joints and muscles in our necks. And operating a computer mouse with an angled wrist can lead to devastating and painful injuries to the bones and ligaments in our wrists and hands.
Here are some tips for setting up a healthy working arrangement:
- Avoid having to twist or turn your head to view documents while typing at your computer. Place them in a viewing stand or document holder as close to your monitor as possible.
- Ensure that your computer equipment is placed on stable surface that won't tilt or wobble.
- Ensure that your monitor is at a comfortable viewing distance. The rule of thumb is about one arm's length away.
- Ensure that your work surface is a suitable distance from the floor. A good rule of thumb is 28 to 30 inches above the floor.
- Even if you own a laptop, consider investing in an external computer monitor. Reason? Most laptop screens force you head to tilt downward, creating undue pressure on your neck and spine. Also consider buying an external keyboard that allows you the flexibility of positioning the keyboard at a comfortable distance from the screen and your chair.
- Your chair should allow you to sit with your back at approximately a 100-degree angle, not perpendicular or 90 degrees. Ideally, your mouse and mouse pad should be slightly higher than your keyboard—about 1 to 2 inches. Invest in a comfortable chair that is height adjustable with a lumbar (lower back) support.
- Keyboard trays that tilt negatively, that is, down and away from your hands, provide for good wrist posture.
- When you have your hand placed on the computer mouse, make sure that your arms are relaxed and close to your body. Ensure that your wrist is level with your hand. This is a neutral or natural position for your wrist.
- Practice good posture while sitting for extended periods of time. There should be two inches between the front edge of the seat and the back of your legs.
Here are some additional tips:
- Rest your feet on the floor with your knees and hips bent 90 degrees.
- Maintain the arch in your lower back. (A lumbar roll, a small, inexpensive padded pillow-like device, can be used to help ensure this.)
- Ensure that your hips are touching the back of the chair. Lift up and out your breastbone. Occasionally push your shoulder blades in toward each other. (This helps push out your breastbone and keeps your rib cage a safe distance from your hips. It also improves your breathing while sitting.)
- Make sure your chin is level.
- Stand up, walk around and take frequent breaks from prolonged periods of sitting.
- Ensure adequate lighting, but don't blind yourself with excessive light. This can cause eyestrain as much as low lighting. Work in an area that has excellent ventilation that allows for frequent exchanges of your room air with fresh outside air.
- Take frequent breaks.
- Rest your eyes every 15 minutes and do simple exercises such as looking away from a computer screen and focusing on something a good distance away. This gives your eye muscles a chance to relax.
- Blink your eyes in fairly rapid succession to lubricate them.
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Simple stretching exercises can include:
- Clenching hands into fists and moving them in 10 circles inward and 10 circles outward.
- Placing hands in a praying position and squeezing them together for 10 seconds and then pointing them downward and squeezing them together for 10 seconds. Spreading fingers apart and then closing them one by one.
- Standing and wrapping arms around the body and turning all the way to the left and then all the way to the right.
So-called "ergonomic" products such as braces and gloves, gel-filled wrist supports may provide you with additional comfort, but don't be fooled into thinking these devices will compensate for things such as bad posture while working at a desk or in front of a computer.
Additional ergonomics tips for children
Provide a safe and comfortable desk and/or computing environment for your children.
Here are some tips: