Ten Simple Practices for Upgrading Your Spine Health

Many people want to know about the best ways to improve their spine health and back pain.

Although a truly accurate answer depends on every person’s unique needs and way of life, there are many general things that are extremely helpful to all lifestyles.

These tips will help improve your spinal health, how comfortable you feel in your body, how mobile you are, and decrease any back pain you might be experiencing.

Here are ten simple practices for upgrading your spine health.

Stretch every day

One of the most underused practices for decreasing back pain and improving overall flexibility and comfort in the body is stretching.

While most people recognize that stretching is a healthy activity, it’s often practiced incorrectly.

As you stretch, be careful not to bounce into a stretch—this will prevent the muscles from warming up correctly.

Stretch every day

Hold your stretch for at least 30 seconds when you reach your deepest stretch point.

When you practice stretching, increase the amount of time you hold yourself in a stretch.

Maintaining a prolonged, gentle stretch helps to increase your flexibility, build more strength and resilience in your muscles, and improve your overall balance.

Build your muscles with strength training

There is a large variety of different kinds of exercises, all with many different benefits and purposes.

While cardio exercises are effective for increasing endurance, improving heart health, and becoming leaner, strength-building activities are ideal for helping build muscle tone in various areas of your body.

If you’re experiencing significant back pain, there is a good chance that the muscles in your back area could benefit from strengthening.

Back pain can often occur when muscles in the area are weak and support more weight or strain than they should.

To build the important muscles in your back, shoulders, and neck that will help support your posture, practice the following exercises: Deadlifts, pull-ups, rows, pulldowns, and push-ups.

Check your sleeping position

Everyone spends hours every day in a sleeping position, but few people ever stop to analyze what that position looks like!

Many people (particularly side-sleepers) sleep with their heads and neck overly extended in a forward position.

Over days, months, and years, this can misalign the neck and cause significant discomfort and pain during the day, and even upon awakening.

Sleeping on an unsupportive surface or lumpy pillow or mattress can create pain in the back, particularly if the hips, spine, and shoulders are not aligned.

Take a good look at your sleeping position to determine if it facilitates ideal alignment in your neck, spine, shoulders, and hips. If it doesn’t, modify it gradually until it does.

Take breaks to move your body

Whether your primary occupation is active or passive, it’s critical that you take intentional breaks for movement throughout your day.

Even the most movement-based occupations don’t always allow all of your body’s movement to remain limber and comfortable.

With sedentary occupations, the odds are even higher that your body would benefit greatly from a movement break.

Movement breaks can be short and sweet. Only 1 to 2 minutes of concentrated movement every thirty to sixty minutes can be enough to revitalize your circulation, posture, and concentration completely.

As you’re taking your break for movement, be sure to achieve full 360-degree rotation whenever you can in your limbs and joints (without forcing).

Rotate your arms, rotate your torso, and focus on forward and backward movements.

Create an ergonomic workspace

Ergonomics refers to achieving efficiency in movement and during tasks.

A genuinely efficient workspace allows a worker to be physically comfortable while performing their tasks, whether sitting, standing, or moving.

If your job is active and requires you to move around, lift objects, or stand for prolonged periods, ensure that your back is supported, that you have an opportunity to take breaks, and that you are supplied with the proper equipment and protection to perform your duties (including clothing, accessories, and shoes).

If your job is inactive, ensure that you have the opportunity to take breaks for movement, move your backside (and ideally, the height of your desk), keep your computer at the appropriate eye level and that you have the appropriate equipment to prevent redundant movement injuries.

Check the back support of your couch

Many people spend several hours on their sofas each week. Time spent on the couch adds up, and without the right back support, this can lead to pain and weakness in the back muscles.

To ensure that your couch is supporting you properly:

1. Sit on it and mark the alignment of your neck and spine. If your head is pushed forward, or your back is scrunched and shoulders slumped, your couch is likely not delivering proper support.
2. Try putting a pillow behind your low back to ensure that you can sit up straight and comfortably on the sofa, with your feet flat on the floor.
3. If you opt for another seating position, choose one that allows your neck to remain somewhat in line with your spine and shoulders.

Check your driver seat for support

Many people spend hours in traffic each week. If you’re one of them, ensure that your driver’s seat supports your optimal posture.

Sitting in an ideal, upright position means that your head is squarely above your shoulders, your shoulders are aligned with your back, and your back is straight.

If you are slumping in the driver’s seat, or your back is curved or begins to hurt, determine the area of your spine that requires support and place a pillow or a pillow in the area during your next commute.

Utilize a Denneroll device

A Denneroll device is made to help reshape the spine and improve your posture.

Your expert chiropractor prescribes orthotic Denneroll devices to ensure that you get the most out of your chiropractic care.

These instruments are take-home devices used for a specific time each day.

They are intended to increase your in-office visits, making them more effective and increasing the speed you see results.

Denneroll devices are easy to use and can help produce quantifiable, noticeable advancements in posture and reduction in pain.

If you’re looking for neck pain relief, ask your neck and back pain chiropractor about Denneroll devices today.

Wear the correct shoes for your body

Contrary to popular belief, there is no “one size fits all” for shoes for back pain.

Most shoe and foot products that promise relief from back pain are not lasting solutions.

They do not help realign the spinal curvature at the source, where the pain originates.

Still, shoes can make a difference in the way you carry your body and your weight, so you must discover which shoes work the best for your body and postural needs.

Experiment with both “high” and “low” support soles and different shoes for different movements.

Just as you wouldn’t wear the same hiking shoes that you would wear to the office, each shoe is made for a specific objective and function.

If you’re experiencing back pain, steer clear of shoes made exclusively for aesthetic purposes, and look for high-quality shoes intended to be worn and walked in.

Seek chiropractic care regularly

If you’re experiencing back pain or are simply looking to increase your spinal health, look for chiropractic care.

Chiropractic care can help to vastly improve the health of the spine by improving circulation, detoxifying the joints, releasing tension from nearby muscles, and realigning the bones.

Frequently, pain in the back is caused by misalignment. When a joint becomes misaligned, it can interfere with the ability of nearby nerves and muscles to function, causing discomfort and immobility.

Are you looking to upgrade your spinal health in Virginia Beach, VA? Dr. Samantha Coleman of ChiroSolutions Center is standing by to provide you with the most advanced form of chiropractic care available.

Certified in the advanced chiropractic technique called Chiropractic BioPhysics®, Dr. Colman is prepared to conduct a complete assessment of your spine and determine how you can be benefitted by chiropractic care.

If you’re ready to experience all of the benefits that chiropractic care has to offer, book your first appointment today.

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