Here is a scenario, you have a muscle spasm in your low back and you are leaning towards one side when you walk. What that ultimately does is putting more weight on one knee when you limp.
Now, muscles adapt to new movements fairly quickly. A week of limping may be enough to allow the knee muscles to work differently and puts different pressure onto the knee joint itself. As time goes by long after your back spasm recovers, you may notice that you get the occasional knee soreness and that might be because your joints and muscles are just used to move in the improper way.
Conversely, if you have a history of multiple ankle injuries and the ligaments are weaker, this may affect the way you walk and in turn, affect your pelvic alignment!
Finally, the warmer weather is here, and it’s time to shake off the winter stiffness! As we transition from the colder months into the bright, refreshing days of spring, our bodies need a little extra care to adjust. After spending months in hibernation mode, wrapped in blankets, spending more time indoors, and moving less, many of us feel tense, achy, and a bit sluggish.
Now is the perfect time to take action. Spring represents renewal and fresh starts, and your health should be no exception. Here’s why you should include chiropractic care in your spring wellness routine and how it can help you feel recharged for the season ahead.
Spring brings more opportunities for outdoor activities, whether it’s gardening, hiking, running, or spring cleaning. But if your body isn’t prepared for this sudden increase in physical activity, you might find yourself dealing with discomfort or injury. Chiropractic care ensures your body is in optimal condition before you hit the trails or start moving furniture.
Neck pain or back pain after a minor car accident? Here are some facts: Aside from fractures and serious injuries, it is common for people to injure ligaments, muscles or discs after a minor car collision. This is known as a whiplash injury. Dizziness associated with neck pain and headaches, neck sprain and TMJ (jaw) pain are some of the examples victims noticed creeping up after a MVA collision impact.* Often after a MVA collision associated neck injury, the neck joints can become either lax (“loose”) or compressed.* This causes the surrounding muscles to compensate by tightening up even more leading to additional neck tension and headaches.
What to expect on your visit to a Chiropractor after a motor vehicle accident? On your first visitChiropractors will listen to your full history, go through a range of mobility, muscle and nerve testing to identify the root of the problem and recommend further imaging if necessary. Appropriate treatment is then provided and education on exercises or movements to avoid aggravation.
These are all to facilitate faster healing and prevent long-term effects. It is then important for us to continue to monitor your condition in order to be able to provide appropriate treatment and advise at different stages of your injury!
Do you know of someone suffering from the effects of a car accident? Send them our way and rest assured our qualified Chiropractors will provide them with the most appropriate treatment.
Walz, F. & Muser, M. (1995) Biomechanical Aspects of Cervical Spine Injuries. JSTOR 104(6), 1257-1263.
Bussieres, A., Steward, G., Al-Zoubi, F., et. al. (2016) The Treatment of Neck Pain–Associated Disorders and Whiplash-Associated Disorders: A Clinical Practice Guideline. JMPT 39(8), 523-564.e27
Did you know that at any given moment, an estimated 540 million people suffer from lower back pain globally? Or that four million Australians suffer from back problems every year? It is a concerning statistic and one of epidemic proportions.
Every year, we celebrate World Spine Day to raise awareness of spinal disorders globally and improve access to quality spinal healthcare. This is a call to action for Australians to prioritise their spinal health across all aspects of their daily lives. Whether in the workplace, at home or at school, fostering daily positive spinal habits is critical to supporting the spine at every phase of life.
It is crucial that people of all backgrounds and communities understand the importance of staying mobile, keeping active, regularly stretching and refraining from overloading their spines with excessive weight or strain.
Incorporating regular stretching exercises into your daily routines is an easy and time-efficient way to improve your spinal health immediately! The Straighten Up app offers a fantastic 3-minute exercise program featuring stretches that can help you stay aligned and reduce the risk of spinal issues.
The Melbourne Chiropractor Mill Park provides specialised techniques to help with all types of musculoskeletal problems. With a team of 10+ and expanding to 5 clinics across Melbourne’s North in the last 3 years our chiropractors have seen first hand what it takes to deal with all types of complaints/bodily issues. Our team pride themselves to be able to not only help with symptomatic pain but also long term longevity and postural correction by pointing out areas of postural neglect that can easily lead to a healthier spine!
Our assortment of chiropractors are thankfully not governed by a one size fits all approach meaning that our chiropractors in Mill Park have the ability to treat people from all ages. Specifically Paediatric care and Pregnancy chiropractic care. This is a great specialisation to have especially in the growing area of Mill Park and surrounding suburbs with new families who want to not only achieve better health but also ensure their children are not suffering from common things such as bedwetting, colic and reflux!
All our clinics in the north including Fawkner, Broadmeadows and Westmeadows have experienced chiropractors willing to help also for the time being! The clinics currently offer chiropractic services which also include modalities such as dry needling, cupping, sports taping, trigger point therapy, Stretching and exercise prescription.
Our clinics also accept referrals from GP’s for chiropractic services. If you are given a CDM or EPC plan you are eligible for up to 5 chiropractic visits per year!
What Can You Expect On Your First Visit To Our Clinic?
First Visit or First Treatment at either of our Mill Park or other health clinics includes a case history, posture scan, movement analysis, pain assessment, orthopaedic testing and a full body treatment. Referral for X-ray imaging (if required) is bulk-billed through Medicare.
Our Mill Park Clinic
Our Mill Park Clinic is spacious and easily accessible by car, bus and train. 5 Onsite Parking spots available with wheelchair accessibility! Being in a growth corridor our clinic also caters for surrounding suburbs such as Epping, Wollert, Plenty, Reservoir and Thomastown!
What Can Our Team Do To Help?
Depending on the severity of the injury or area of concern our practitioners in our Broadmeadows, Westmeadows, Fawkner and Mill Park Clinics will treat accordingly to your complaint. Treatments that may be provided but are not limited to include:
Spinal manipulation, Activator Methods, Drop Piece, SOT and other adjustive techniques can help alleviate joints that have restriction such as spinal segments and joints.
PNF/PIR/prescribed stretching – Stretching has shown to reduce pain, improve functionality of the wrist and hand also maintains strength and improves patients in both long and short-term outcomes.
Remedial Massage, Trigger point therapy or use of handheld massager – Have shown to decrease pain/tenderness, enhance both range of motion and quality of life and influence flexibility.
Advice on daily living activities/diet – This enables advice on how to change to make healthy actions into habits and may offer a valuable alternative with potential for long-term impact.
Prescribed exercises – produce more beneficial outcomes in terms of increased strength, improved function and reduced pain scores.
Dry Needling or Cupping to the surrounding musculature to help decrease tension and inflammation around the area of the hand and forearm.
We are noticing more and more older adults seeking chiropractic care. Recent data shows that at 30 June 2020, there were an estimated 4.2 million Australians aged 65 and over! Some of the common symptoms older people suffer from are decreased flexibility, poor balance, numbness and tingling and conditions like degeneration, brittle bones (osteoporosis) and arthritis. This brings us to the discussion on how Chiropractic care can enhance the lives of elderly patients:
Pain relief Back pain is one of the most common conditions elderly people seek treatment for. This is often a result of degeneration or a possible spinal compression fracture. As we age, bone density decreases, which can make one more prone to fractures in the course of everyday tasks. If your spine or joints are not aligned, it places increased pressure on the vertebrae and joints that can potentially increases your risk of a fracture. Gentle spinal manipulation and mobilization can help ease the pain from degeneration by relieving pressure from these joints.
Flexibility and range of motion Inflexibility due to stiff joints or tight muscles can be common with arthritis and degeneration. Helping them maintain flexibility and range of motion in the joints through Chiropractic care will allow them to stay active and independent for longer. This translates into better quality of life!
Quality of Life With confidence and joy to perform daily tasks and hobbies without aches and pains, one will more likely engage better with family and in the community. Thus, improving one’s mental and social wellbeing.
Balance and coordination There are small receptors in the neck that help your brain understand where your arms and legs are functioning in space. As we age, these receptors might not function as efficiently as before. This could lead to more falls, poor balance and coordination or even difficulty walking. Chiropractic care can help improve this communication in the spine and stimulate these receptors better.
Overall health When your spine is properly aligned, it allows the brain to communicate more effectively with all parts of your body decreasing unwanted stress. This allows the nervous system to continue monitoring and repairing the body when needed.
Dealing with burnout is important for mental and physical health. Burnout is a term used for a state of exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress! Some signs to look out for can include:
If this is something you feel like you may be struggling with it is important to have conversations with people you trust or speak to your health practitioner.
Some ways to manage burnout
Prioritize self-care by taking regular breaks throughout the day to recharge. Aim for 7-9 hours of sleep each night and engage in physical activity to boost mood and energy levels.
Set boundaries between work and your personal time to ensure you have downtime.
Develop healthy coping mechanisms such as practicing mindfulness and engaging in hobbies or activities you enjoy and find fulfilling.
Connect with friends and family to share your thoughts and feelings.
Take time to rest. Whether that is a well needed holiday or a short break to disconnect and recharge.
Consider professional help from a therapist or a counsellor to work through your feelings and help develop coping mechanisms.
We all know the cold winter days can be tough on our bodies, so here are a few things we can all do to stay feeling good throughout these months!
Regular exercise can help our bodies a lot! We should aim for 30 minutes of exercise (such as walking, swimming, cycling or anything else you enjoy) 5 days a week!
Adequate sleep aiming for 7-9 hours of quality sleep per night can help us feel rested and ready to take on the day ahead. It can also help to repair and strengthen our immune system.
Stress management practicing mindfulness can help to reduce stress levels. Practicing yoga, breathing exercises or meditation are all great ways things to try.
A balanced diet can help to keep our bodies functioning at their best. It is important to include a variety of fruits and vegetables as well as proteins, grains and healthy fats.
Hydration is important for a strong immune system. Adults should aim from around 2.4 to 3 litres of water per day.
Vitamins can be very beneficial in a multitude of ways. Certain vitamins can be extra beneficial in the colder months of the year such as vitamin D (comes directly from the sun but can also be found in fatty fish, fortified dairy, and eggs) and zinc (found in meat, shellfish, legumes, seeds, and nuts).
Consult your health practitioner for further advice or if you have any questions.
You can also check out our 100’s of previous blogs to understand and better educate yourself in ways that can help you achieve not only a healthier lifestyle but better productivity day to day!
Have you ever thought that as an adult, you have left it to late to improve your posture? That your rounded shoulders and a hunched stance are set in stone and you just have to live with it? There is a good chance you can still stand up taller again. Keeping a good posture is not as hard as you may think. It is often a matter of changing your habits and activities, along with maintaining good mobility and the strengthening of certain groups of muscles.
Why should you change your posture? We are looking at the big picture here.
Our spine has its neutral lordotic and kyphotic curve so that our centre of gravity remains midline and the weight of our head is evenly distributed down the spine. Muscles surrounding the neutral spine then function synergistically to maintain the upright stance and prevent muscles or joints from being overstretched.
However, when our spine begins to change its neutral curve due to poor posture or habits, muscles will also function differently as a result of compensation. This is when one may experience chronic tightness and discomfort in those groups of muscles. Due to the tightness of the muscles at the front of the chest, some people may have trouble taking a deep breath due to the lack of mobility of the rib cage. These postural muscle imbalances may also put people at higher risks of joint sprains and muscles strains due to the excessive stress on the spine.
What can you do now to help with poor posture? Better awareness of your body position is the first step. Being careful of how you are looking down at your mobile phones or computer screens is a good way to start. Look into your sleeping posture too, as lack of support in your mattress or pillow might cause strains overnight. Pay attention to one sided activity in your daily life (eg. Leaning on the arm rest while driving, carrying toddlers on one hip or holding up a phone between your shoulder and ears). Little things like that may gradually become a habit and tension will keep building into the muscles and joints.
Other than that, Chiropractors are excellent in helping posture dysfunction. By restoring movements to the restricted joints in the spine, you are giving your spine the chance to be more upright. With better position of the spine and joints, you are engaging the proper group of muscles during sports or your usual workouts and exercises which can then reduce the risks of injuries. Postural rehab exercises can also help you maintain better posture in a long run.
In today’s digital age, working from home has become the new norm for many professionals. While this shift offers numerous benefits like flexibility and comfort, it can also lead to physical strain, particularly on your spine and overall musculoskeletal system. As a chiropractor, I’ve seen an increase in patients experiencing back pain, neck stiffness, and other discomforts related to working from home. Here are some essential tips to help you maintain your spinal health and overall well-being while working from home.
Ergonomic Work Set Up
An ergonomic workspace is crucial to prevent strain on your body. Ensure your chair supports the natural curve of your spine. Your feet should rest flat on the floor, and your knees should be at a 90-degree angle. Your computer screen should be at eye level to avoid straining your neck.
Mind Your Posture
Maintaining good posture is key. Sit up straight with your shoulders relaxed but not slouched. Keep your back aligned against the chair and avoid leaning forward or hunching over your desk. Regularly check your posture throughout the day. You can remind yourself by putting a colored dot on your hand, each time you see it, you’ll remember to check your posture!
Practice Eye Care
Staring at a computer screen for long hours can strain your eyes. Follow the 20-20-20 rule: every 20 minutes, take a 20-second break and look at something 20 feet away. This practice helps reduce eye strain and maintain good eye health.
Incorporate Movement into Your Day
In addition to regular breaks, incorporate movement into your daily routine. Consider a standing desk or a convertible desk that allows you to alternate between sitting and standing. Short walks, light exercises, or even a few minutes of yoga can help keep your body active and reduce stress.
Stay Hydrated
Drinking plenty of water is essential for maintaining good health and keeping your muscles hydrated and flexible. Dehydration can lead to muscle cramps and increased tension. Keep a water bottle at your desk and sip regularly throughout the day.
Working from home doesn’t have to mean compromising your health. By setting up an ergonomic workspace, maintaining good posture, and incorporating regular breaks and movement into your day, you can prevent discomfort and maintain your spinal health.
In addition, regular chiropractic visits can help ensure your spine stays healthy and can prevent potential issues before they become significant problems!
