Osteoporosis and Bone health part 2 – This article focuses on other lifestyle factors and the role they play in bone health for youth.

Bone Health and Youth.

Our last blog spoke of the importance of nutrition to maximise Bone Health and help prevent Osteoporosis or Metabolic bone disease. Today we will outline other factors such as lifestyle and activity, especially for youth.

Building bones in early life.

For optimal Bone Health, the most crucial time to lay down the foundations of our bones is in the years before we reach our mid-twenties. As outlined by the International Osteoporosis foundation “Approximately half of our bone mass is accumulated during adolescence.” Our genetics will determine up to 80% of the variability in individuals peak bone mass. Factors such as nutritional intake and physical activity will help develop optimal bone strength.

Calcium and protein-rich nutrition boost bone development.

Getting adequate calcium and protein especially between 9 – 18 years old will help reach adequate Bone Health.

The peak age for bone building for girls in 12.5 years and boys is 14 years.

Getting enough of the sunshine vitamin.

Due to an increasingly indoor lifestyle, young people often will not get adequate amounts of vitamin D. Parents can help children maintain a healthy level of this key vitamin. This is done by ensuring children spend more time outdoors playing and being physical, rather than inside on screens. The recommended daily dose of Vit D is 800-1000IU daily.

According to the Institute of Medicine (IOM)USA, the recommended daily intake of key nutrients is as follows:

1 – 3 years

700mg calcium and 13g of protein

4 – 8 years

1000mg calcium and 19g of protein

9 – 13 years

1300mg calcium and 34g of protein

14 – 18 years

1300mg calcium and 46g of protein for girls and 52g of protein for boys

Exercise and lifestyle matter.

Physical activity is most important for youth to enhance bone density as young people who exercise regularly show a significant increase in bone mass. However physical activity and diet work hand in hand for people of all ages to enhance bone development.

All information from this information article was sourced from the International Osteoporosis Foundation. You can find more details on the below link. If you have questions about your child’s bone health please contact your local general practitioner or chiropractor for more information.

http://www.iofbonehealth.org/

November 22, 2018

What Causes Tension Headaches?

Tension Headaches, what causes them?

Tension headaches, are the most common types of headaches, affecting almost everyone at some point in life. With pain and tightness ranging from the neck, back, eyes and muscle groups in the face, the symptoms from a tension headache can vary from mild to severe.
On average, tension headache lasts between four to six hours, however, if severe can last for a few days. If you notice a tension headache for more than 6 hours, please visit your practitioner. A tension headache usually produces bilateral pain that is uniformly distributed on both sides of the head. A person with a tension headache often feels that his head is constantly under pressure as if it is being squeezed. Although these types of headaches usually do not interfere with one’s life, they can be quite debilitating.
Below, we will check out the major causes of tension headaches.

Causes of tension headaches.

• High-level stress

Tension headaches can be triggered by mental, emotional and physical stress. Today, the most common sources of stress typically come from the workplace, education, family, relationship, and financial problems. A tension headache can also be stimulated by isolated stressful situations or stress accumulation. Getting stressed regularly can build up to cause chronic tension headaches.

• Sleep Habits

If you sleep in a bad position, your back muscles will tighten, causing tension in the spine that can also cause headaches as well as neck pain. If you feel a slight headache after your night’s sleep, you might want to know if it is the back or neck that causes this pain.

• Inappropriate sitting position

Though different things may lead to tension headaches, most patients do one common thing: incorrect sitting posture while sitting at a desk or in a car. If you unconsciously contract the muscles of your neck due to inappropriate sitting habits, it may cause tension headaches. At Spine & Health, we can educate you on the best sitting posture with our Sitting, Sleeping workshop.

• Eye strain

Eye strain is as a result of stressing the eye muscles to get better focus. The eyes consist of many small muscles that help them move and lengthen or shorten the lenses. If the small eye muscles are working too hard, this situation can cause eye strain. Eye strain can ultimately lead to a tension headache. To prevent tension headaches caused by eye strain, you need to know how to avoid or reduce eye strain.
If you notice the symptoms of persistent tension headache, then you should consider visiting your healthcare practitioner.

Chiropractic may be the solution to help elevate your tension headaches.

If you would like to consult one of our chiropractors in North Sydney or Crows Nest you can make an appointment by calling 9460 8459 or 9955 8055.

September 18, 2018

Are We Sitting Too Much ?

This article addresses the question “are we sitting too much?”

It is a great insight into how much time we spend sedentary throughout the day. Chances are you are reading this post while sitting! If this is you, know that you’re not alone. The Chiropractic Association of Australia (CAA) have recently looked into this issue and discovered that we spend a majority of time in our day sitting!

How long do we spend sitting?

The video featured above provides an analysis of how long the average office worker spends sitting throughout their day. Here are the statistics:

On average, 429 mins sleeping

81 mins commuting

97 mins sitting without a computer

337 mins sitting at a computer (that’s 5.5 hours)

71 mins sitting at their home computer

115 mins of personal use on their home computer

102 mins for other leisure activities sitting at a desk

132 mins on their couch usually watching television (2.25 hours)
That leaves only 73 mins on an average working day for standing, walking and exercising!
The CAA says “that is a fact worth making a stand about” it sure is!!

We are not designed to be sitting for extended periods of time. Yet it is still a common feature of many work environments that we are sitting too much!

How to minimise the effects of sitting too much.

It is not all doom and gloom as there are some things you can do which will help minimise the negative effects of sitting.

These include:

1. Setting up your workstation ergonomically. Here is a website with information on the best way to sit at a computer.

2. Take frequent breaks from sitting. Now, we know this may not be the simplest task when you are busy at work, but there are tools that can help! We recommend using the “Straighten up” App which notifies you to get up and move regularly!

3. Regularly seeing your local Chiropractor.

For more information you can visit www.sitright.com.au this is an initiative of the Chiropractors’ Association of Australia.

This article was written and sourced from:

https://chiropractors.asn.au/resources/health-initiatives/sit-right-2

https://chiropractors.asn.au/images/stories/videos/SitRight.mp4

http://www.ergonomics.com.au/pages/400_useful_info/420_how_to_sit.htm

https://chiropractors.asn.au/straighten-up-app

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