5 Chiropractor Tips For Taking Care Of Your Spine
As a kid, you were probably often told to ‘sit up straight’ or ‘stop slouching.’ While it can be annoying, it’s one of the best pieces of advice to ensure your overall health, mainly by ensuring a healthy spine.
The spine is considered the foundational support of your entire body. With its S-shaped curve, the spine helps balance the pelvis, lower back, chest, and neck to keep a good alignment of the legs, trunk, and head. It supports you in maintaining an upright posture and allows freedom of movement. In fact, every move you make engages your spine.
Unfortunately, most people fail to give their spine the care it needs. The good news is that it’s never too late to straighten up and achieve a healthier back. As a good start, you can consult or seek the guidance of a chiropractic Bentonville AR specialist or other clinics in your area.
Furthermore, here are chiropractic tips for taking care of your spine:
1. Invest In Your Bed
In terms of taking care of your spine and ensuring proper posture, most people would instantly think about standing or sitting correctly. However, it should also be applied when you’re sleeping. After all, you’ll lie on your bed for the same time as sitting and standing. So, ensuring proper posture and spine alignment only makes sense when you sleep.
To start, you need to consider your mattress. The right mattress can do wonders in maintaining a healthy back and reducing back pain. Choosing the right firmness can hold the natural shape of your spine and ensure a healthy sleeping posture.
Then, you also need to choose the right pillow. The best pillow for you will depend on your sleeping position. Generally, side-sleepers will need a thicker pillow that fills the space between your head and the mattress. You’ll also need a second pillow between your knees to prevent your spine from arching on one side and remove stress from your hips and lower back.
If you often sleep on your back, you’ll need a pillow that fills the space between your neck and the mattress. It should support your head, neck, and the natural curves of your shoulder. Lastly, a small, flat pillow should help keep your head level even if you lie on your stomach. Most stomach sleepers prefer sleeping without a pillow, which is often recommended since it helps reduce strain.
2. Create An Ergonomic Workstation
Most people spend most of their time at their office desks. Unfortunately, most workstations aren’t designed for a healthy spine posture. So, take the initiative to set up an ergonomic workstation, especially if you’re working from home.
A good chair should be adjustable, allowing the right height for spine alignment and posture. Keeping your keyboard close to your body and directly in front of you can also help. In addition, it’s best to position the monitor in front of you at eye level and just above the keyboard. This helps avoid slouching forward or straining your neck.
3. Don’t Sit Too Long
It’s easy to forget about the time, especially if you have a lot of tasks to do at work. However, even the most ergonomic workstation becomes useless if you forget to stand up and move around.
Experts revealed that sitting for a long time can aggravate your lower back and neck. It’s recommended that you shouldn’t sit too long if you can help it. For the ultimate ergonomic workstation, you can get a special desk that can be height-adjusted, allowing you to stand while you work every few minutes.
If that’s not an option, you can set the alarm to stand up and walk or stretch at least once an hour. Taking a break from your computer screen helps move your spine, prevents eye strain, and refreshes the memory.
4. Avoid Text Neck
Next to an improper sitting posture, a text neck is another way you strain your spine. Text neck is when you tilt your head down to stare at your phone. Over time, the strain on your spine can add up and cause pains in your back and shoulders.
If you need to use your phone or tablet, lift the gadget and move it away from your eyes. As much as possible, avoid bending down your head since it stretches and strains the spine. You can also consider getting a phone holder that allows you to prop your device so you don’t have to look down at them.
So, if you notice that you’ve not looked up in a while, put down your phone and take a minute to stretch your neck. This helps work your neck muscles and helps the spine re-adjust and relax.
5. Strengthen Your Core
Aside from getting dreamy six-pack abs, core strengthening exercises do wonders for your spine health. Strengthening the core abdominal muscles can help support the spine and reduce the intensity and frequency of chronic back pain issues. Yoga and Pilates are options you can try to strengthen your core muscles.
Takeaway
Taking care of your spine allows you to enjoy a healthier back and reduce the risks of developing chronic pain. Following the above tips and developing good habits may take some work and patience. However, it’s well work to make you feel and look better with excellent posture.
