All posts by Alex Newton

Over the counter medication may work as short-term relief for shoulder pain.  However, for long term improvement, consulting a chiropractor is a very effective solution. Chiropractors identify the cause of pain by addressing all the joints, cartilages, connective tissues and nervous system in the area of the pain.

Shoulders are directly connected to the neck and spine, so experiencing pain here can be due to a misalignment in the spine or an injury. Serious injuries to the shoulder could lead to dislocations or stress on the spine and nerves.

One of the treatments for a sore shoulder is to rehabilitate the functions of the body that are restricted. Since the central nervous system is responsible for co-ordinating everything within the body, shoulder pains can often be treated using chiropractic adjustments.

Much modern day shoulder pain has been shown to be the result of bad seated posture.

If you experience long term chronic pain in your shoulder, it is advised to have your posture assessed. Chiropractors can give you advice on how to live comfortably without putting unnecessary pressure on your spine. It can often take just minor adjustments to your posture to make a big difference to your shoulder pain.

Temperatures are changing as the colder seasons approach. Those who suffer with chronic back pain might notice that their condition aggravates as temperatures or seasons change. Although there’s not much scientific evidence to prove a link between chronic pain and humidity, temperature changes and wind speed, weather changes can certainly affect those who suffer with joint pain conditions, especially arthritis and osteoarthritis.

The most commonly accepted reasoning is that with colder temperatures comes lower air pressure, which can cause joint tissues to expand and further worsen joints already prone to swelling and tenderness.

If cold weather worsens your pain, you can take these three simple steps to combat it.

1. Heat Therapy

Including heat therapy in your daily routine can help to reduce stiffness and boost healing through increased blood circulation. Try applying a warm towel or a heating pad to your painful area for about 20 minutes for temporary pain relief. You can also opt for over-the-counter heat wraps.

1. Water Therapy

If you like swimming, try to visit heated indoor pools with hot baths, Jacuzzis and saunas a few times a week for almost instant pain relief.

1. Stay Active

As tempting as it is to lounge on the sofa during winter evenings, it is crucial to keep your spine mobile and stay active. If your pain is too severe to go to the gym, try long walks with hiking poles or a Pilates routine at home.

However, if your pain stops you from leading a normal life, the best option is to visit your doctor and professionally address the root causes of joint and back pain.

With restrictions easing to foreign lands it is likely that you will be planning an overseas holiday at some point. Flying is usually the worst part of any holiday, but for some people, it can be excruciating. If you already suffer from back pain then a long haul flight can make matters a lot worse.

A substantial 88 per cent of people experience increased back or neck pain following a flight, according to a survey by Spine Universe. With limited movement, long periods of time spent sitting down and cramped seating areas, it is hardly surprising that so many people suffer.

However, don’t let flying ruin your holiday. Here are some ways to ease, manage and possibly prevent back pain once you’ve taken to the skies.

Local chiropractor, from in gives us a few examples of how to lessen the pain.

“Firstly, try to get up and move regularly when flying. Sitting for too long in the same position can cause stiffness and pain. Therefore try requesting an aisle seat, from the airline, so you can stand up easily, without constantly disturbing others – especially if it’s during a night time flight. You can also try to do some simple stretches at the back of the plane if possible. If this isn’t possible you can do some stretching in your seat. Neck rolls, rolling your shoulders back and forth or raising your hands as high above your head as possible are good ideas. The most important thing is you keep your body moving every now and then so your muscles don’t spasm and seize up.”

“Before a flight, you should try to pack as light as possible. A small backpack that distributes weight evenly can also help once you’re at the destination. Think twice about packing unnecessary items, do you really need your tablet, extra clothes etc. for a day trip?”

“Finally I would suggest investing in anything that might help to decrease the pain. Lumbar pillows, seat cushions and heating pads are all useful. Test out any new products before your trip, you don’t want to waste your time by taking something that doesn’t work properly. It is also wise to bring a few extra days worth of medication, if you’re on any, in case there are any flight delays or other unexpected circumstances”.

If you’re worried about your back while flying make sure to contact the airline as they are likely to have some advice and be aware of making sure you’re comfortable when you’re on board. Most importantly – make sure to enjoy your holiday.

Many people will easily link smoking to the symptoms of coughing, wheezing and shortness of breath, but how many people who complain of aches and pains in the lower back will think it could be related to lighting up a cigarette?

Smoking can have a range of negative effects on the body, but it is the interruption of the body’s transport system and the supply of fresh blood and nutrients to certain areas that can ultimately cause pains in the lower back region.

If you do smoke, it’s important to be aware of the risks you may be putting your body through; it’s not just the lungs that suffer when you inhale cigarette smoke, but the general health of the whole body.

For those that decide to stop smoking, there are various ways in which you can help the body adjust to a healthier way of life, here are a few tips:

• Drink plenty of water, as it helps to flush nicotine from the body
• Cut down on caffeine by drinking less tea and coffee as caffeine can act as a stimulant and induce nervousness
• Walk briskly for half an hour a day. You’ll be more positive, burn up stress and calories and develop more energy and endurance
• Think positively about what you are doing. Instead of thinking that you are depriving yourself of a cigarette, think of all the good you are doing for your body.

Autumn has arrived, bringing shorter days and less light. This change in the amount of light is a signal to animals, plants and, before the light bulb, people, that seasons are changing. While those most dramatically affected are those in the higher latitudes, many people in the UK are negatively affected by this shift.

Seasonal Affected Disorder (SAD), also known as ‘winter depression’ is a type of a type of depression that comes and goes in a seasonal pattern, with symptoms more severe between September and April. The NHS estimates that SAD affects approximately one in 15 people in the UK during the darker months.

Symptoms of SAD include:

• Lethargy, lack of energy, inability to carry out a normal routine
• Sleep problems, difficulty staying awake during the day, but having disturbed nights sleeps
• Loss of libido, disinterest in physical contact
• Anxiety, inability to cope
• Social problems, irritability, disinterest in seeing people
• Depression, feelings of gloom and despondency for no apparent reason
• Craving for carbohydrates and sweet foods, leading to weight gain

Many people in the UK suffer with SAD, so it’s important to remember that you are not alone.

While light therapy is a popular treatment for SAD, lifestyle factors play a large role too. Getting as much natural sunlight as possible is particularly important, as is managing your stress levels. Exercise is also integral to the treatment of SAD. It has long been known that regular exercise is good for our physical health, but studies also show exercise to be of benefit to our mental wellbeing. Exercise gives you control of your body and is a known mood booster. Your chiropractor can give you a general check to make sure that your bones, joints and muscles are functioning properly and advise on the best exercise solution for you.

Adjusting to this new stuck-at-home lifestyle isn’t always easy. Often our new, relaxed routines include a lot of delicious food, horizontal bingeing, and restricted physical activity, which can quickly negatively affect our bodies. Since all non-urgent medical appointments are on hold, here are some advice on how to fix a few common quarantine head, neck and back pains.

LOWER BACK AND HIPS PAIN

Complaints of lower back pain and hip tightness are on the rise, due to our less than active lives. The lower back is naturally curved inward; when it takes on an unnatural position for an extended amount of time, it can cause fatigue of the muscular tissues, leading to lower back pain. Sitting on a couch or bed working all day or just watching TV for weeks or months will eventually overload the hips, causing them to become tighter and less mobile.

The best ways to release tension and relax those muscles is to move often and take advantage of our daily walk allowance to stretch and release muscle tightness. Yoga is a great way to remove lower back tension; the upward dog pose is perfect in releasing the hips of our weight and giving the lower and upper back a deep stretch.

TECH PAINS

The idea of working from home seemed like a great change, especially for those working in crowded offices. Unfortunately, the reality of working from home can be more challenging than expected. From sharing small apartments to hectic home-schooling days, finding a quiet room equipped to work can be difficult.

Many have been using their couches or chairs as desks, hunching over their computers and neglecting their spinal health. If a desk at a proper height is not available, or a chair with good back support is missing from the house, practice some hip-flexor stretches. Hip-flexor stretches release lower back tension, while regular standing breaks improve overall circulation.

HEADACHES

We look at our phones and technology every day. Still, over the past weeks if not months, the average screen time has increased for almost everybody. The combination of collective stress and anxiety, with increased screen time and a lack of movement has caused many to experience headaches and neck/shoulder tightness. The more our heads strain down to read from a phone or computer screen, the more weight our necks needs to support. This can cause tension-type headaches and neck pain.

To strengthen the neck muscles, stand with your back and head against a wall, tucking in the chin and gently pushing the head back, using the wall for resistance. Hold for three seconds, then release for three seconds. Repeat 15 times.

Try some easy at-home stretches and vary your posture and position every hour. Take advantage of your daily walks to breath in fresh oxygen and get the legs moving. Small but targeted changes to our daily routine can help us stay away from at home muscle pains.

As a society we tend to spend many hours of our day sitting, whether it’s for work, study or just having a relaxed day on the couch. According to the NHS, brits spend an average of 9 hours a day sitting. There is ever-developing proof that a sedentary life with prolonged sitting is damaging the spine and overall mobility. However, what do you do if sitting is a necessity of your day-to-day life and you do not want to suffer from daily back or neck pain? Here are a few tips to improve your workspace and make it spine-friendly.

Be choosey with your chair 

If you need to spend your day sitting, you need a chair that is properly positioned for your spine. The chair should comfortably hug the spine and be flexible, with adjustable height and arm support.

While having the right chair is essential in preventing spine strain, regular breaks to extend your legs and roll out your neck are essential. Get up every hour for a glass of water and while you hydrate, do some standing body stretches.

Stuck staring at a screen? 

Is your neck hurting while you read this? This might be because your screen is not at your eye level. The correct placement of your work screen should be just below or at eye level. This will ensure that your shoulders remain relaxed, your neck is elongated and your head isn’t pulling any neck muscles. Invest in a screen stand for your workspace or make one yourself just by stacking a few books and position the top of the screen at eye level.

The dutiful desk 

We are used to sitting while working, from studying in school to working at a desk as an adult. There is now a new way of approaching deskwork, with standing or adjustable desks. Standing work areas enable us to change our position throughout the day while distributing the weight and pressure on our spine, pelvis, neck and legs.

Standing desks are now widely available and they provide one of the best solutions for maintaining correct posture and reducing back injuries.

With shorter days and colder weather, finding the motivation to stay healthy and fit can be difficult. And that can lay the foundation for a weakened immune system, posing a greater risk of developing illness or injury. No wonder they call it the winter blues! Here are some easy tips on exercise, diet, health and wellness that you can follow during the cold season.

Start a Keto diet

The ketogenic diet (or keto diet, for short) is a low-carb, high-fat diet that offers many health benefits. In fact, over 20 studies[1] show that this type of diet can help you lose weight and improve your health. It involves drastically reducing carbohydrate intake and replacing it with fat. This reduction in carbs puts your body into a metabolic state called ketosis.

When this happens, your body becomes incredibly efficient at burning fat for energy. It also turns fat into ketones in the liver, which can supply energy for the brain. Ketogenic diets can cause massive reductions in blood sugar and insulin levels. This, along with the increased ketones, has numerous health benefits. Ketogenic diets may even have benefits against diabetes, cancer, epilepsy and Alzheimer’s disease.

Add Omega 3 fatty acids

Omega 3 fatty acids are a healthy type of fat that are naturally found in many food types including fish, plant seeds and nuts. Omega 3 fatty acids are great for reducing joint pain and stiffness as they are a natural anti-inflammatory”. Studies[2] have also shown that omega 3 fatty acids help lower levels of depression, which people commonly feel during the shorter, darker days of winter.

Cook with Spices and Spice Related Foods

Onions, garlic, ginger and turmeric are the perfect items to add flavour to your dishes. Not only do they make food taste great, but they’re also shown to help improve immune function. Fresh garlic, ginger and onions are more than flavouring.  Using all three together has a synergistic effect on lowering cholesterol and blood pressure.  Turmeric is a spice traditionally used in Chinese and Indian medicine. This spice helps to combat a number of conditions including inflammation and heart disease, and it also acts as a powerful antioxidant.

Plan your Workouts

If you don’t feel in the mood for fitness, you can do exercises at home. There are plenty of resources online that supply workout videos and exercises. These resources offer a variety of workouts including yoga, strength training, aerobics and other body-weight exercises. But try to stick to a weekly exercise plan so you don’t put off your regular exercise activities. On Sunday night, write down your exercise schedule for the next seven days. Choose your exact workout routines, activities or exercises for each day and how long they will be. Knowing what you’re scheduled to do each day ahead of time makes it easier to stick to.

Head to a Steam Room or a Sauna

If you begin to feel yourself experiencing depression or higher levels of stress after the holiday season, steam rooms and saunas can help. They help tense muscles to relax, which can alleviate feelings of stress. The high temperatures also get you working up a sweat, which is a great way to detoxify your body and your skin.

Frequent Hand Washing and Vitamin C

Frequent hand washing throughout the day and consuming lots of vitamin C are an absolute must in maintaining your health during the winter.

Not only do they help protect your immune system and prevent you from developing flu and colds, they also protect others around you.

Birth is one of the most traumatic experiences a baby can go through. It is not often known, for example, that the baby’s cranial bones move and overlap affording the flexibility required during delivery. Even after a successful delivery, a baby’s spine is still at risk.

However, there are some precautions you can take as a parent to minimize this risk both to your baby and to yourselves. Here are the healthiest positions for you to care for your baby.

Holding baby: your baby should be held close to you with the back of your baby’s head supported with your index finger behind the ear.

Bathing baby: your baby’s head should be supported using your thumb and forefinger while your free hand is used for bathing and supporting your baby in the tub.

Parent/child interaction: throwing your child up and down can actually cause spinal problems due to a lack of support as your child is being bent forward and backwards.

Picking children up: when lifting your child, you should be on your haunches, lift your child while holding them under both arms, and avoid carrying them on one hip. Preferably, your child should be carried in front of you with one leg either side of you.

Papoose type slings and carriers: unfortunately contraptions that allow your child to sit before it is naturally able to can cause major spinal problems. Most of the holding devices keep your baby’s spine in the ‘c’ shape curve it’s born with and do not allow the normal curves in the neck and low back to develop.

Dressing the child: clothing that has a tight collar can put a strain on your child’s spine in the neck and the area between the shoulder blades. Buttons and zips should be used as much as possible.

Feeding: if breast feeding, you should hold the baby at the level of the breast whilst supporting your arm on a pillow, to reduce spinal problems in yourself. You should place the baby so that it faces your breast so that rotation of your baby’s neck is minimized.

Crawling: crawling should be actively encouraged, as a lack of sufficient crawling is responsible for weak spinal architecture.

Emotional stress can also affect your baby. Domestic disharmony and maternal distress is very quickly picked up by the infant and translated into irritability, crying and unsettled behaviour. The negative effect on muscle tone, sleeping and feeding patterns is a major contributor to spinal subluxations.

As parents, bonding should be encouraged immediately for you both. Holding the infant close to your body, maintaining sustained eye contact, smiling and making soothing sounds are all important.

One of the most likely times women will get back pain is during pregnancy and for men and women it is when there is an infant in the house needing to be picked up and carried. Both these times are paradoxically when you would like your back to be functioning at it’s best.

Caring for an infant puts stress on your back. Initially, you may be lifting the 7 to 10 pound baby up to 20-30 times a day. By the time the child is a year old, you are lifting and carrying around 17 pounds. Two years later, you will be lifting a 25 to 30 pound child.

Here are some ways that new mothers, fathers and grandparents can help reduce their risk of injury and back pain.

Safe lifting, the basics: Stand with your feet at least a foot apart, this will give you a stable base of support. Keep your back as straight as possible and bend your knees. Do not stretch your arms out straight to pick up the baby. Bring the baby close to your chest before lifting.

Lift using both arms and your thigh muscles, which are amongst the largest and strongest muscles in the body. To pick up a child from the floor, bend at your knees-not at your waist. Squat down, tighten your stomach muscles and lift with your legs. When carrying and moving a child, pivot with your feet until you are facing your destination then lower the child into the crib or onto the floor by bending at the knees, with a straight back.

Carrying: Hold your child in an upright position, directly against your chest. Carrying a child on one hip creates postural imbalances that can lead to low back pain over time. Consider using a ‘front pack’ to carry the baby when you are walking.

Exercise for women:   Begin exercising again soon after delivery to restore muscle tone to the abdominal and back muscles. While the baby is napping, take 10 minutes to do stretching exercises on the floor each day. This will help restore hip and back flexibility. Try to return to your normal weight within six weeks after giving birth. If you had a Caesarean-section (C-section) delivery, wait six weeks or until you get the permission of your obstetrician before you begin exercising.

Breastfeeding: To avoid upper back pain from breastfeeding, bring the baby to your breast, rather than bending over the baby. While you are nursing, sit in an upright chair rather than a soft couch.