Posts by OConnor
Sarcopenia Does Not Have to Define Your Life as a Senior
Why we should take the loss of muscle mass seriously
At some point in our thirties, we begin to lose muscle mass slowly but steadily. This process begins to accelerate as we reach seniority, between the ages of 65 and 75. Along the way, the rate of loss is affected by how active you are: in the beginning, muscle loss may be negligible for active people; for non-active people it can be as much as 3-5% each year. Losing muscle poses a threat to your well-being in the following ways:
- Contributes to frailty
- Makes us less able
- Increases vulnerability to injury
- Reduces our activity levels
Sciatica in Westwood
Sciatica is widespread in Westwood
Sciatica is a widespread condition that is experienced in wildly different ways by those affected. One person may experience burning, sharp and prickly pain while another may feel only a dull aching; one person may feel it only intermittently while the other has symptoms constantly. Other characteristics of sciatica include:
- Feelings of numbness in the extremities
- Radiating pain
- Lost range of motion
Sciatica is a symptom
Of nerve compression to be precise. The sciatic nerve is the longest and largest spinal nerve in the human body, which means that when it is put under pressure, the ripple effect can be enormous. As we age, our spines are more likely to move out of alignment. This may not cause you any problems until it starts to impinge on the sciatic nerve; we implore you not to let it reach this point. Chiropractic is as much about prevention as it is about reactively treating pain. Maintaining spinal alignment But if you are already in the grips of sciatic nerve pain, read on to find out how we go about treating it.
Treating sciatica in Westwood
Restoring spinal alignment is the quickest way to start pushing back against sciatica. By returning the misaligned vertebral bodies to a state of balance, we alleviate compression from the nerves, immediately making a difference in your pain. We then focus on strengthening and stretching that muscles that matter to keep your spine aligned; in this way, we prevent sciatica from recurring. If you are interested in treating your sciatic nerve pain in a natural and efficient manner, give our office in Westwood a call to schedule an appointment today.
Successfully Treating Back Pain Begins with an Informed Decision
Too many traditional treatments are falling short when it comes to treating back pain
That is because so many of these treatments fail to address the complexity of the back pain phenomenon. Back pain is not simply the acute effect of an injury; it is a more interconnected biological experience that takes into account your biomechanical being, musculoskeletal health and neurochemistry. What’s more, so much of our health industry is focused on treating back pain reactively as time and again it is proven that the best way to treat back pain is through prevention.
Improving Your Spinal Health Through Awareness
The first step for improving spinal health is awareness
Awareness that this is the one and only spine you will get; awareness that every movement you make has an impact, for better or worse, on your spine. We often only become aware of our spine when our backs are in pain- this is indicative of a wider scale mentality in the health industry in America. Rather than focusing on prevention, we wait for pain, injury or illness to strike before we recognize something is wrong. At OFW Chiropractic, we want to flip this script and help you take charge of your spinal health today.
Working Causes Tension in the Neck: Here’s How to Release It
A stiff neck is a workplace distraction
Unfortunately, many of the tasks we perform while on the job directly contribute to stiffness in the neck. Few of us have the discipline to keep good posture for eight hours per day; even fewer of us have office equipment that supports good postural habits. Inevitably, we find our heads creeping forward and our shoulders scrunching together; we find ourselves answering the last e-mails of the day with tired brains and stiff necks. This stiff neck syndrome is a natural result of our postural shortcomings: as we let our heads creep forward toward the screen, the downward pressure to our vertebrae is magnified and the supporting muscles in the neck are strained as they try to stabilize the head in its new position.
Workplace Ergonomics: In Support of Neutral Posture
Striving for neutral posture
Neutral posture is defined as a position in which the body is aligned and spinal pressure is minimized. There are different versions of neutral posture depending on whether you are sitting, standing or sleeping, but the principals remain the same: maintaining the natural curvature of your spine, keeping the head balanced atop the spine and minimizing the stress applied to spinal joints, muscles and bones.
Pillow Talk: Supporting your Spine to Sleep Better
Not all sleep is equal
Sleep should be a time of rest and rejuvenation but, for many people sleeping in subpar settings, it can actually be a time that contributes to a cycle of stress and back pain. Comfort of body and mind are what let us fall asleep; comfort influences feelings of calmness, which lead to feelings of relaxation, in which your body is able to reduce energy expenditure and focus on resting. Sleeping on an old mattress with ill-fitting pillows hardly sets the tone for such a scenario. So let’s truly define comfort as the combination of a physical state of being and state of mind in which you are able to sleep restfully and protect the health of your spine. Changing the way you use your pillows is a key way to influence a healthier sleep life.
Mobilization is Gentle Therapy for the Spine
Stiff spinal joints limit range of motion and cause pain
Whether it’s due to the chronic inflammation involved in arthritis, acute injury, or tight muscles surrounding the joint capsules, a stiff and sore spinal joint is sure to throw a wrench in your best laid plans. And that wrench often hurts- the stiffness itself is a precautionary measure telling your body not to move this particular region excessively in order to avoid reaching a breaking point. The cruel irony is that motion actually facilitates healing so, in order to reduce stiffness and pain, we need to focus on improving range of motion. How do we do that? Spinal mobilization.
Support Your Spine By Resetting your Posture
Your spine consists of four primary curves
The cervical curve at the top of your spine consists of 7 vertebrae in a concave shape; the thoracic consists of 12 vertebrae in a convex shape; the lumbar 5 of the largest vertebrae in the spine forming a concave shape; and finally the sacral curve, consisting of 5 fused vertebrae and a convex shape. These curves link together to form the S-shape of your spine, enabling it to compress and expand in order to perform shock absorbing and movement duties. The essential shape of your spine is important for staying upright and preventing pain, but there are many forces working against you. Over time, the compressive nature of gravity, along with other factors, conspires to alter the curvature of your spine.
How Painkillers Hamper Athletic Performance
Is it acute injury or normal aches and pains related to exercise?
This is the question all athletes should ask themselves before they reach for the painkillers. Non-steroidal, anti-inflammatory drugs, NSAIDs for short, such as advil and ibuprofen, are ubiquitous in the athletic world because they offer pain relief for many of the aches and pains that are part and parcel of working out. They provide this pain relief by blocking the body’s production of prostaglandins, which are partly responsible for the body’s perception of pain. However, there are also good prostaglandins, like the ones that protect your stomach lining. Painkillers interfere with athletic performance by:
- Limiting hypertrophy and preventing the efficient recovery of muscles and connective tissue
- Contributing to overuse syndrome by tricking your body into ignoring pain
- Interfering with protein synthesis
- Inhibits nutrient absorption