Spine and Health

Category: Posture Issues

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How to be a Healthier More Attractive YOU!

Have you ever noticed that the people who catch your eye tend to be standing taller than the rest?

Poor posture affects the ability of the body to function. Just like stepping on a hose and lessening or stopping the flow of water, having a vertebra out of alignment we can see the same effect on the spinal nerves. In diminishing the flow of information through your body you are affecting the ability of it to function!

How do vertebrae become misaligned? There are chemical, emotional and physical stressors that can cause misalignment and they all result in a change in your posture, which ultimately affect your health.

How does health affect your appearance?

People who have health problems,are in pain, and/or lack self confidence tend to have hunched posture.

Take notice, next time you go out, of the posture of the walkers by. What did you observe? Those who stand taller with their heads directly above their shoulders seem happier, more confident and secure within themselves don’t they?

Now it’s your turn – Stand in front of a mirror and look at yourself in your natural posture. Now stand up straight! See the difference?

It’s true that we are attracted to happy, healthy people and you can have that too!

Your ideal posture will:

–       make you stand taller

–       stretch out your abdominal muscles and make you appear slimmer

–       bring your shoulders back and push your chest out

–       improve your proprioception (innate knowledge of the placement of your body) making your movements smoother, easier and less clumsy

–       improve your ability to breath by opening out your rib cage

–       improve your clarity of thoughts

–       reduce your stress / improve our ability to deal with stressful situations

 

So how can you have your ideal posture, improve your health and subsequently be one of those people who “stands taller than the rest” !?

goodposture-chiropractor-northsydney-crowsnest-confident.

How can we help?

The Spine and Health chiro’s in Crows Nest and  North Sydney are trained in pain and posture.  Chiropractic care aims are realigning your spine to aid you in being the best you can be. The chiro’s will conduct a digital postural analysis and create an individual plan of action for you should they feel chiropractic care can help you and your posture.

 

Crows Nest                 Ph 9460 8459

North Sydney              Ph 9955 8055

 

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The Dangers of The Dreaded Schoolbag!

When was the last time you picked up your child’s backpack? It is astonishing just how heavy they are!

How much attention do you pay to the way your child carries their backpack? One shoulder? Hanging around their bottom? Why isn’t it cool to wear your backpack up high and held firmly against your back?
A recent study has provided some figures/percentages based on body weight versus maximum weight that one’s back should be able to handle without causing postural problems or pain. See chart at the end of the article.

Backpacks are a real problem for kids of today. It is causing current pain and long-term postural issues and chronic pain. Problems are related to the weight that is being supported by the spine and the knock on effect it has on the surrounding muscles. So what can we do about it?

• Ensure that the backpack has thick straps that are evenly spaced apart
(Thin straps can dig in to your child’s shoulders and effect nerve and blood flow)
• Avoid one shoulder bags
• Position the backpack up high over the strong mid-back muscles, keeping the weight close to your child’s centre-of-mass and ensuring maximum support. High and tightly positioned on the body.
• If you’re in the market for a new bag, get one that has a waist clip so that if your child has to have the occasional heavy bag day that they have extra support through their pelvis – note that this has it’s own problems (just shifting the problem) so is not recommended on a regular basis.
• Buy a bag that has wheels! Why carry the bag at all!
• Do they really need to be taking all of those books to school? Be organised and know in advance what you will need for certain. Lighten the load if you can!
• Organise the items so that the heaviest items are closest to the back.
• See your local chiropractor! They are experts in posture and can help you to realign your spine to better deal with the weight, minimize pain and long term effects (2).

Why does this all matter? Your child’s spine houses their spinal cord and thus directly effects nerve flow throughout their bodies. If a heavy weight is continuously held in an unfavourable manner it will activate muscles that are not usually firing. These activated muscles will pull at your vertebrae and hold them in an unnatural position, which in turn causes more stress on the body.
There is a connection between posture and personality! Your child’s backpack could be doing more damage than you think!

The Spine and Health chiropractors in Crows Nest and North Sydney, are experts in pain and posture. Take the time to examine your school-kid’s backpack and the way they carry it. And take the time to bring them in for a thorough spinal examination. If your child has a problem our chiropractors will be able to come up with an action plan to undo as much of the damage as possible and ways to ensure it doesn’t progress any further. It may effect them in ways you never dreamt! AND we have NEW Family Care Rates!

To enable your child to reach their potential please give us a call today on:

Crows Nest Ph 02 9460 8459

North Sydney Ph 02 9955 8055

Person’s Weight (kg)Maximum Backpack Weight (Kg)
272
27-324.5
457
568
689
90+11*

*No-one should carry more than 11kg .

Another standard rule is never to carry a bag that is more than 10% of your body weight.

 

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Posture, Personality and Pain

Have you ever noticed that the more confident, attractive, exuberant people seem to stand taller than the rest? A recent study done with a sample of French-Canadians found that introverts were more likely to have poor posture and a lower pain threshold (1).

The study, that was conducted this year (2012), found that there is a mind-body relationship: “the body shapes itself into different postures depending on the underlying mental and emotional state” (2). Thus there is a direct relationship between people who are extroverts and the upright kyphosis-lordosis posture. Equally it indicates that those people who are introverted have flat backs and sway backs. “Introverts appeared to have one of the largest reactions to psychosocial stress, demonstrating increases in normalized compression and lateral shear.” (3)

Charles Schultz was obviously on to something when he created the Peanuts cartoon: “When you’re depressed it makes a lot of difference to how you stand” – Charlie Brown. How does poor posture affect the rest of your body? Each segment of your spine has a centre of mass, and collectively they also have a centre of mass. There is an ideal posture whereby no body part is under unnecessary stress or strain. The moment a segment is out of alignment, the centre of mass of your body is displaced and compensatory actions are enabled to maintain your upright position. This means that your muscles and neurological system are put under undue stress and strain. Your neurological system of course is also in control of your state of mind and thus by displacing your ideal centre of mass you also displace your stable mind (4).

The Canadian study states that, “Complications with posture and back pain are projected to become a widespread medical and socio-economic issue across the globe, with more than 70% of the population predicted to be engrossed in the problem ”(1). So what can you do to have an ideal mind-body balance and save yourself from becoming a statistic? See your chiropractor!

“Chiropractic is the science of locating problems in the spine, the art of reducing their impact to the nervous system, and a philosophy of natural health care based on your inborn potential to be healthy” (4).

The Spine and Heath Chiropractors in North Sydney and Crows Nest are experts at diagnosing, analyzing and treating posture and spinal problems and pain.
Expert postural correction starts with an initial consultation with one of our chiropractors where they take a full history and analyze you as a whole. They will do a digital posture scan so you can see exactly how you stand and the effect that it is having on the rest of your body. If deemed necessary, the chiropractor may have an x-ray taken to have a closer look at the positioning of your spine and then discuss with you the best action plan for the correction of any issue you may have. If you require treatment we here at Spine and Health use the Advanced Biostuctural Correction (ABC™) technique, which aims at “unlocking” the areas of tension you have developed over the years.

Your body is a powerful instrument that has the power to correct itself should there be nothing stopping the communication pathways. This specialized technique will improve your posture, open the communication pathways, and enable your body to self-correct.

To look better, move better, and feel better come and visit us today.

Spine and Health:
 North Sydney Ph 9955 8055
 Crows Nest Ph 9460 8459