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Navigating Postpartum Life with Chiropractic at Your Sie
No woman should go through the postpartum phases alone
The postpartum period is broken up into three phases: the first 6-12 hours; the following 2-6 weeks; and then up to 6 months after that. This period can be fraught with mental turbulence and physical discomfort, much of which stems from the third trimester of pregnancy and the ensuing childbirth. With a newborn baby child in your hands and a new body and life to get used to, it’s no wonder that the majority of women struggle during this time. Over 85% of women report health problems (at least one) during this period. For some unlucky women, these health problems can become chronic, having long-term impacts on mental and physical health.
Keeping Tech Pain Out of Your Life
Tech pain: what is it?
The average American is now said to spend up to 23 hours a week texting, typing, sending e-mails and engaging with social media. An entire day out of the week devoted to screens, keyboards and all the stress that comes with them. Whether it is part of your job, or part of your lifestyle, you may be familiar with the physical pain and discomfort that evolves out of your habits.
- Muscle stiffness and soreness
- Lower back pain
- Gamer’s thumb and sore fingers
- Text neck
- Tension headaches
- Eye strain
…the list just goes on. Because technology is so far from nature, almost all of our interactions with it are going to be unnatural and therefore difficult for our body to manage. We therefore have to be proactive about protecting our bodies against the incursions of tech pain. Here’s how:
Why We Offer Stress Management
Stress wreaks havoc with every system in our body.
From a spinal health standpoint, mental stress causes a tightening of the muscles in the body as part of a natural defense mechanism. This tightening is not problematic if it lasts for a few minutes, but chronic stress causes our bodies to remain in a near-permanent state of tension. When we allow this to happen, our tight muscles will pull our spine out of alignment, leaving the door open to painful conditions that stem from nerve impingement. In effect, it increases the already worrying rate of spinal degeneration that we all undergo with age. If this is not reason enough to do something about your stress levels, read on for more motivation.
Pregnancy Chiropractic: The Webster Technique
Approximately 3-4% of full-term pregnancies are breech
Approaching your delivery date with a baby in breech is a singularly stressful experience. Having gone through the transformative process of pregnancy, it can be a worrying realization that a baby in breech can create serious complications during delivery. Most medical experts agree that the baby should assume the correct, head-down position at about the 34 week mark. Otherwise there are serious ramifications to consider, including:
- Health of the child and mother
- Health of the mother during surgical birth
While the causes of the breech position are many and varied, one of the most common causes is because of problems with pelvic alignment and balance. The Webster technique seeks to address this- read on to find out how.
Helping Our Senior Community Maintain Their Independence
Aging is not kind to our spines
Spinal disorders are among the leading causes of disability in our elderly population. Without a healthy, balanced spine, everything in life is harder- movement is restricted, as is the functioning of the nervous system. When mobility declines, so does our independence; we are physically less able, and this can take a damaging toll on our mental state. Even people who have spent their lives taking care of their spines can face an old age of pain and dysfunction. But chiropractic is helping to change this script- read on to find out how.
Chiropractic for the Commuter
Your daily commute is killing your back
The car is still the main method of commuting for US citizens. And while you’ve got to get to work to earn the money, you could be doing your spine a disservice in the process. It starts with tension, the anxiety of sitting in traffic on your way to work which translates into tight muscles that pull your spine out of alignment and spasm. It then moves to posture, which is poor because there is not a car seat in the world that supports your spine properly. The factors which contribute to your back pain are myriad which means that you need to proactive about preventing your spine from suffering on your daily commute.
Sports Massage for Westwood Athletes
Massage helps you stay on top of your game
Ask any athlete to give you their priorities for down time and it will be recovery every time. Recovery encompasses multiple factors, from nutrition to stretching to muscle regrowth and injury recovery. As Westwood’s musculoskeletal specialists, we have years of experience working with athletes to create individualized plans that help them get the most out of their bodies. Our goal is to keep the body balanced, so that you can maintain a consistently high level of performance and avoid injury. But this is far from easy; let’s take a look at how physical activity strains the body and how massage can help undo this stress.
How Can Stress Cause Chronic Pain?
Chronic pain is an ill-understood beast
Chronic pain is an individualized experience- for some it is born out of acute injury, for others it develops from degenerative conditions or autoimmune disorders. But others suffer seemingly without reason; the fact is that suffering can exist in the absence of any identifiable condition. A growing number of studies show that chronic pain can have psychosomatic implications, that is a state in which pain exists and is worsened by mental factors like stress and anxiety. So how can stress cause physical pain? And what can we do to stop it?
The Benefits of Chiropractic for the Elderly
Chiropractic is the right choice for seniors in Westwood
Back pain statistics tend to look worse when age is added into the mix. As we grow older, lower back pain becomes a more preeminent factor in disability. Simply put, age is bad for the spine- with people living longer each generation, we are literally outliving our spines. At OFW Chiropractic, we have a mission and that is to proactively protect spines of all ages to make old age more comfortable. For seniors, that means making the right lifestyle adjustments and staying as mobile as possible despite any problematic conditions. By taking this all-natural approach to healthcare, we can prevent the typical injuries of the elderly and help you live the happiest, most comfortable life possible.
Hypermobile Joints Demand Stability Through Strength
Hypermobility as a syndrome
With our increasingly sedentary society, we have been become used to the narrative of problems associated with poor range of motion; but what about when the opposite is true? For about 10% of the population, it is: rather than suffering from poor ROM, they have too much. Caused by a condition known as congenital or ligamentous laxity, people with joint hypermobility may be able to extend a given joint far beyond what we would consider normal- this is what people mean when they say they are “double-jointed.” And while hypermobility may be a blessing for, say, a young baseball pitcher, who can take advantage of it, it can also become a curse. Joint hypermobility often coincides with musculoskeletal issues including subluxation and stress fractures. When the pain, discomfort and dysfunction associated with hypermobility becomes chronic, we call it hypermobility syndrome.