Matthews Chiropractic Center » tips

Careful What You Carry

Matthew Leibman — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 13:05:10 +0000

Photo courtesy of James Jordan

Chiropractors are tasked with correcting posture, realigning spinal segments, and maintaining good spinal motion. Often patients are doing things to upset this delicate balance in their bodies without even knowing. Two common concerns are carrying a wallet in a back pocket and toting a bag over one shoulder (book bag or handbag).

Fat Wallet in Your Back Pocket

If you have read in this space before, you may recall me espousing on the dangers of carrying a thick wallet in your back pocket. Sitting on a fat wallet is one of the easiest ways to unlevel the pelvis. Usually back pockets are situated right under our “sit bones” when we are seated. If you put your hands under your backside while sitting you can feel two prominences (the ischial tuberosities) that bear our weight while we are seated. These bones are part of the pelvis, which forms the foundation for our spine. Putting a book, wood block, or wallet under one side can twist the pelvis and cause the spine to lean away from that side. Imagine the effect of driving a few hours with your bulky, rear stowed wallet in place.

Shoulder Overloaded

While the effect of carrying a thick wallet in your back pocket is more likely to upset the low back, shouldering a bag on one side is more likely to bother the upper back. And, carrying enough weight on one shoulder can strain the low back as well. Holding a heavily laden handbag on one shoulder puts significant stress on the muscles of the shoulder, neck, and upper back as the body tries to maintain the shoulders level and the spine vertical. Prolonged one-sided carrying can overwork and injure muscles that try to maintain this balanced posture.

Avoid Imbalance

Remove unnecessary items from your wallet or purse to thin or lighten.
Store your wallet in a front pocket while sitting.
Carry handbags across the chest and book bags on both shoulders to distribute weight more evenly.
Alternate the shoulder that you carry on regularly.

Following these suggestions should help you to avoid straining muscles and putting the spine in a compromising position. If you should still find yourself dealing with neck, shoulder, or low back pain, come in to Matthews Chiropractic Center to get it checked out. When the body eventually accommodates to a postural change, then you will be carrying around another problem waiting to upset the balance of your good health.

Before You Rake the Fall Leaves

Matthew Leibman — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:38:42 +0000

With temperatures dipping, local trees have sprung to life in shades of yellow, orange, and red, while the cool autumn breeze has strewn the leaves on our lawns. Before you suit up to go out and gather the colorful foliage, I have a few precautions for you to bear in mind.

Playing in the Leaves is Fun, Raking Can Be More than a Chore

Raking leaves is one of those one-sided, repetitive activities that could upset the usual, happy balance in our backs. Muscles in our back fire in unison to maintain our posture and allow us to do work, but toil in a manner that overworks one side, and this could lead to a real stiff back.

First, beware working predominantly on one side of the body, like when raking, digging, loading the dishwasher, placing groceries in your car, or putting a child into a car seat. If you are raking or digging, try to periodically switch the side of your body, where you are working. If you are raking, specifically, alternate between raking front to back and side to side (across your body), to prevent any one group of muscles from fatiguing.
Split loading activities like packing the car’s truck or bagging those colorful leaves into separate squatting and bending movements. Avoiding motions that simultaneously twist and bend the low back can help you steer clear of back pain. Bending and rotating at the same time puts the spine in a position of weakness and increases the chances of injury – this is the mechanism that leads to many disc injuries.
When bending or lifting, bend your knees to lift with your legs. The legs are the strongest muscles in your body and using the legs can save your back.

If you should happen to upset the delicate balance of muscles, joints, ligaments and tendons that allow for all our movements, remember I’m here at Matthews Chiropractic Center to help make everything work better again. And, if just the thought of raking your leaves makes your back ache and pain-free is not your status quo, then chiropractic care could be your remedy.

Careful What You Carry

Low Back First Aid

Matthew Leibman — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 15:01:03 +0000

When taking history from patients who present with new low back pain, I often find that they could have limited the severity of their injury. Especially injuries that have muscle spasm as a major component. Muscle injuries can be very painful, make it difficult to move, and can cause spinal joints to move improperly or become immobile. These are some of the most common injuries that I see in the office. Weekend warriors, do-it-yourselfers, spring cleaners, and those who work in the yard are all at risk.

Pay Attention to What is Causing Your Pain

Muscle injuries can often become worse within 12 to 24 hours, so when we feel some minor pain, pulling, or tightness this could be the signal to back off. If your are working and lifting or move incorrectly and feel a twinge of pain or something pop, then stop and take it easy. Those who soldier on and figure that it will be okay, many times are the same folks who come crawling in wondering what caused their pain.

Treat With Heat Later, Not First

While it initially feels good and often loosens in the short term, using heat (heating pad, hot bath/shower, hot tub) should be avoided within the first 48 hours after an injury to the low back. If your pain is strong and you are having a hard time finding a comfortable position, try to lie on your back (on a firm surface) with your knees bent. Some patients are comfortable lying on a couch with their legs hanging over the arm (bent knee position).

Some basic tips to follow:

Do not use heat
Apply ice for 20mins each hour (paper towel between ice & skin)
Avoid strong or excessive (painful) stretching
Rest in a comfortable position, try to walk slowly periodically
Present to Matthews Chiropractic Center for chiropractic care

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Resolve to Avoid Low Back Pain this Year

Matthew Leibman — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 20:25:05 +0000

As we all know, sitting is a very common activity at work, just like using a computer (a subject for another day), and it is widely accepted that sitting at a desk the whole day can lead to low back pain, soft tissue, and disc injury^[1]^[2]. I’ve assembled a list of things that you can do at your desk to make you feel more comfortable while sitting. There is one MAJOR caveat… most of these suggestions only help you AVOID low back pain. If you are already suffering, you may need to stop reading this and visit Matthews Chiropractic Center. This concept points to an integral part of my care, namely patient education, so that patient’s may take part in prevention of future problems.

4 Tips for Desk Jockey Comfort

1. Maintain Good Posture / Ergonomics

Make sure that your back is supported by your chair^[3], Use a foot rest, Make your hips higher than your knees using a stress wedge or tilt the back of the seat slightly higher than the front, If you recline your backrest also tilt the seat backwards^[4].

2. Postural Breaks / Change Position

Take regular breaks from sitting, Get up to stretch and walk every 30 minutes, Change the height of your chair periodically, Do some work standing, Sit on an exercise ball at your desk.

It’s easy to get lost in your work. Some patients set timers that remind them that they should get up and take a walk. Your best work happens when you are relaxed and feel good. Don’t press on when your body tells you it’s time for a break. Do so and you will be better for it.

3. Core Strengthening / Conditioning

Muscles of the back and core fire constantly to maintain stable, upright/sitting posture. Eventually, these muscles can become tired and that makes the back sore and prone to injury. Therefore, strengthening and stretching muscles of the core and deep muscles of the back can help prevent pain and low back injury.

I would recommend starting with 4 exercises that require no equipment:

Cat-Camel
Curl-up
Side Bridge
Bird Dog

Descriptions of these exercises can be found at the American Council on Exercise website.

4. Chiropractic Care

The dangers of prolonged sitting are well documented. In fact, it has been shown that sitting changes the curvature of the spine and increases pressure in the discs^[5]^[6]. Chiropractic treatment in my office can help combat the muscular pain and spinal fixation that result from maintaining the spine in stressful postures.

A basic rule of thumb is if it hurts, it needs to move. Drink lots of fluids, take breaks, stretch it out, and as a part of a wellness program get chiropractic adjustments.

Do you have a tip or story you’d like to share about fixing the workplace to better suite your back? Please share them with us.

References

Kyphosed seated postures: extending concepts of postural health beyond the office. Pynt J, Mackey MG, Higgs J. J Occup Rehabil. 2008 Mar;18(1):35-45.
The response of the nucleus pulposus of the lumbar intervertebral discs to functionally loaded positions. Alexander LA et al. Spine. 2007 Jun 15;32(14):1508-12.
Effectiveness of a lumbar support continuous passive motion device in the prevention of low back pain during prolonged sitting. Aota Y et al. Spine. 2007 Nov 1;32(23):E674-7.
Lumbar spine curvature during office chair sitting. Lengsfeld M et al. Med Eng Phys. 2000 Nov;22(9):665-9.
Lumbar lordosis. Effects of sitting and standing. Lord MJ et al. Spine. 1997 Nov 1;22(21):2571-4.
Ergonomics of posture–review of various problems of standing and sitting posture. Grandjean E, Hünting W. Appl Ergon. 1977 Sep;8(3):135-40.

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