Category: Newsletter Library

The term “overindulgence” is probably best assessed as a red flag, especially with respect to consistent overconsumption of high-calorie comfort food and desserts during the holiday season. An overall healthier perspective could be described as “indulgence” regarding such calorie intake. Provided that we have maintained healthy lifestyles, especially regarding exercise and nutrition, during the course of the year, indulging a bit during the holiday season will likely not have a negative impact on our long-term health.

During the year, healthy nutrition is obtained by making sure to consume food from all four food groups on a daily basis: fruits, vegetables, grains, and protein. Dairy products represent an optional fifth food group. Consuming foods from all the major food groups provides a broad range of nutrients and a wide variety of phytochemicals. Phytochemicals are macromolecules that furnish protection against the development of many chronic diseases, including cancer, heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, diabetes, and arthritis. Many phytochemicals act like antioxidants and neutralize free radicals in human cells. Others have anti-inflammatory properties and help slow the aging process. Fruits and vegetables rich in phytochemicals include carrots, blueberries, apples, greens such as kale and chard, broccoli, oranges, beets, rutabaga, tomatoes, and sweet potatoes. Importantly, healthy nutrition is fulfilled by eating at least five servings of fresh fruits and vegetables every day.

Calorie consumption is also a critical factor in healthy eating.1 Consuming excess calories on a regular basis will result in these energy sources being stored primarily as fat. The best kinds of food are nutrient-dense, rather than being calorie-dense. Lean meat, fish, whole grains, high-quality dairy products, and fruits and vegetables are all nutrient-dense foods. For example, sprouted grain bread is nutrient-dense while white bread is calorie-dense. It takes a little effort to determine which foods are healthy and which are not, but once you’ve done your homework, it becomes easy to choose the foods that will provide valuable energy and nutrients to you and your family. As a side benefit, beginning a healthy nutrition food plan may result in weight loss and normalization of high cholesterol levels.

In addition to consuming nutritious foods, a second key component of healthy living involves regular vigorous exercise five days a week for at least 30 minutes per session. Such exercises can include yoga, strength training, walking, running, cycling, and swimming. The specific choice of exercise is less important than the consistency. Regular vigorous exercise is strongly correlated with multiple health benefits, including enhancing cardiovascular health and strengthening the immune system.

With healthy lifestyles in place over the long-term, holiday indulgence provided such indulgence is not excessive, represents a blip on the radar. With long-term habits of healthy nutrition and regular vigorous exercise, we and our families are able to tolerate minor deviations from our baseline without suffering ill consequences. In addition, including regular chiropractic care in our long-term healthy lifestyle plan adds the benefits of spinal health and a healthy nerve system, our body’s master system, to assist in supporting our overall long-term health and well-being.

The five senses, that is, the sense of sight, touch, hearing, taste, and smell, provide us with necessary information regarding the world around us.1 These precious capabilities enable us to navigate our environment with seemingly instantaneous feedback with reference to our actions and activities in our immediate surround. The loss of one or more of the five senses requires compensatory enhancements of the remaining senses, the long-term results of which may lead to equivalences in capability and optimized functioning. Regardless of the number of sensory formats to which one has access, it is important to recognize that all individuals need to maintain high levels of health and well-being to derive the greatest benefit from their physiological processes and sensory inputs.

In order for us to comprehend what it is that we are experiencing, our specialized nerve endings, special sense organs, and brain process incoming signals so that we can interpret the information meaningfully. In other words, by processing the information presented by light waves bouncing off a ripe heirloom tomato and hitting our retinas, we’re enabled to experience that we are seeing a dusky red fruit. By processing sound waves emanating from a piano being played at a jazz concert, we’re enabled to experience that we’re listening to “Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue” by Duke Ellington. If we have the skill, our brain’s processing power will even allow us to identify individual notes, such as a progression from high G to E to D sharp and back to E.

The ability of our peripheral and central nerve systems to accurately process inputs from our five senses depends, in large part, on the fidelity of the information transferred from point to point, that is, from the nerve receptors that interface with the environment to various bundles of nerve cells to the highest levels of processing in the cerebral cortex and, finally, to conscious awareness.2 Competing signals such as pain signals can suppress information being carried in other pathways, and in this way information from the five senses may be distorted or lost entirely. The presence of pain and other types of irritation and inflammatory processes in the musculoskeletal system can distort our experience of the world in which we live.

By detecting and correcting misalignments of the spine, regular chiropractic care reduces and removes sources of pain signals that interfere with the accurate transmission of critical information our five senses derive from our environment.3 Thus, regular chiropractic care, based on its direct effect on the functioning of the nerve system, has both short-term and long-term effects on our ability to obtain maximum benefit from the functioning of our five senses. In a word, regular chiropractic care helps us become smarter. Regular chiropractic care enables all of us, children, adults, and seniors, to get more out of our daily experiences and also to obtain increased levels of health and well-being.

1 Doty RL: Measurement of chemosensory function. World J Otorhinolaryngol Head Neck Surg 4(1):11-28, 2018

2 Hotz-Boendermaker S, Marcar VL, Meier ML, et al: Reorganization in Secondary Somatosensory Cortex in Chronic Low Back Pain Patients. Spine (Phila Pa 1976) 41(11):E667-73, 2016

3 Lelic D, Niazi IK, Holt K, et al: Manipulation of Dysfunctional Spinal Joints Affects Sensorimotor Integration in the Prefrontal Cortex: A Brain Source Localization Study. Neural Plast. 2016;2016:3704964. doi: 10.1155/2016/3704964. Epub 2016 Mar 7

Obtaining sufficient restful sleep is an essential requirement for optimal human productivity. Such a practice is a key component of a healthy lifestyle, which includes a nutritious diet, regular vigorous exercise, and a positive mental attitude. How much sleep one needs varies from person to person. Importantly, failure to obtain sufficient restful sleep will negatively impact every aspect of one’s physiological and cognitive capabilities and functioning.1, 2

Sleep itself and the process of sleep have been celebrated throughout the centuries by the world’s greatest poets. In “To Sleep”, John Keats described the “soft embalmer of the still midnight”. “How to Sleep”, by Philip Larkin, described how “minds are wiped calm as sea-leveled sands”. And William Blake, in “Cradle Song”, declared “Sleep sleep beauty bright, Dreaming in the joys of night”. These few examples highlight the inspiration that poets and other artists derive from the marvels of the gift of sleep.

But despite the words of the poets, we generally take sleep for granted, usually erring on the side of getting too little sleep. Many people take pride in and even brag about their seeming ability to get things done and meet all the demands of their day on five or six hours of sleep per night. However, what these “hard-chargers” fail to disclose is their need for four or more cups of coffee every day, their irritability and high blood pressure, and their chronically dysfunctional gastrointestinal system. As with exercise and diet, we may be able to fail to fulfill our body’s requirement for sufficient restful sleep for a certain number of weeks or even months, but the impact of not taking care of ourselves with almost certainly catch up with us in the not-too-distant future.

Sleeping the appropriate amount of hours makes all one’s other activities possible. By metaphorically resetting the biological clock on heart rate, respiration, hormonal function, immune system performance, and digestive functioning, sufficient restful sleep gets us ready for the next day’s round of engagements.3 The basic average sleep requirement of eight hours makes this global biological reset possible. Some people may do well on an average of 7 hours of restful sleep per night. Others require nine hours of sleep to be fully refreshed. Critically, each of us needs to acknowledge our authentic sleep requirement and make sure to obtain that amount of sleep on a regular basis.

Regular chiropractic care assists us in fulfilling our healthy lifestyle activities, including helping us to obtain sufficient restful sleep. By detecting, analyzing, and correcting sources of spinal dysfunction and nerve interference, regular chiropractic care helps ensure optimal functioning of the nerve system, our body’s master system. Regular chiropractic care reduces and removes musculoskeletal causes of nerve irritability and helps provide an environment in which we can go to sleep comfortably and sleep consistently through the night. In this way, regular chiropractic care helps us achieve our healthy lifestyle goals and improve our long-term health and well-being.

1. Hombali A, Seow E, Yuan Q, et al: Prevalence and correlates of sleep disorder symptoms in psychiatric disorders. Psychiatry Res. 2018 Jul 6. pii: S0165-1781(18)30268-3. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2018.07.009.

2. Andersen ML, Araujo P, Frange C, et al: Sleep disturbance and pain: a tale of two common problems. Chest. 2018 Jul 27. pii: S0012-3692(18)31113-9. doi: 10.1016/j.chest.2018.07.019.

3. García-Perdomo HA, Zapata-Copete J, Rojas-Cerón CA: Sleep duration and risk of all-cause mortality: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Epidemiol Psychiatr Sci. 2018 Jul 30:1-11. doi: 10.1017/S2045796018000379.

Summer is a subjectively fleeting season and school days are upon us once again. For children, this bittersweet time marks the completion of a period of relative freedom and the beginning of a new set of responsibilities. For adults, the onset of late summer and early fall signals yet another turn of the wheel of life, reminding us of our mortality on the one hand and of all we have accomplished and have yet to achieve during our time on earth on the other.

For both children and adults, mental wellness is a key component of our successful adaptation to the changing seasons. Such mental well-being is especially important during the time of transition to a new school year. Hopes and expectations are high, and yet the change of scene may be daunting, for both the children and the parents. New teachers, new classmates, new relationships, and new academic challenges directly confront a child’s settled view of the world and the wishes and desires of parents for their child’s ongoing development as a human being and future contributing member of society.

As the child will be spending significant portions of her or his day in the school environment, it is critically important to ensure that healthy lifestyle choices are proactively available.1,2 Healthy lifestyle choices include providing a variety of nutritious foods, including fresh fruits and vegetables, at snack times and at lunch. As well, daily vigorous exercise is a necessary component of all school programs, beginning with the youngest grades and continuing all the way through high school. From a public policy perspective, addressing the social determinants of health (SDOH) will help to foster a rich and rewarding school experience.3 The SDOH include sufficient green space in both the city center and surrounding communities, especially with respect to the inner city. The built environment is a key component of the SDOH, including working street lights, sufficient four-way stop signs, clearly marked pedestrian crossings, and ensuring that school buildings are adhering to all safety codes.

Mental well-being for the entire family is supported by regular chiropractic care. By correcting spinal misalignments and eliminating sources of nerve interference, regular chiropractic care helps our bodies to function at optimal capacity. Regular chiropractic care helps remove the causes of many musculoskeletal aches and pains, headaches, fatigue, irritability, and nervousness. In this way, regular chiropractic care reduces and removes sources of mental stress, and helps our mental and physiological processes to work in unison. The result is improved ability to focus and concentrate, improved creativity, and improved overall mental wellness. Regular chiropractic care helps ensure the health and well-being of all of us, parents and students alike.

1 Hager ER, et al: Implementation of Local Wellness Policies in Schools: Role of School Systems, School Health Councils, and Health Disparities. J Sch Health 86(10):742-750, 2016

2 Profili E, et al: School wellness team best practices to promote wellness policy implementation. Prev Med 101:34-37, 2017

3 Wolfenden L, et al: Strategies for enhancing the implementation of school-based policies or practices targeting risk factors for chronic disease. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2017 Nov 29;11:CD011677. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD011677.pub2. Review. PMID: 29185627

A repetitive motion injury (or overuse injury) involves doing an action over and over again, as with a baseball pitcher throwing a baseball, a tennis player hitting a tennis ball, typing at a computer keyboard, and most notoriously, typing with your thumbs on the tiny keypad of your phone. It may be reasonably asserted that our musculoskeletal systems were not designed for such repeated motion sequences utilizing small muscle groups, but rather for a wide variety of tasks involving bending, lifting, twisting and turning, and walking and running that confronted early human progenitors a million and more years ago.

The repeated movements implicated in overuse injuries cause inflammatory reactions, which affect muscle-tendon units that move bones and ligaments that hold joints together.1 The short-term result may be achy or sharp pain localized to a specific muscle or joint. Longer-term results of repetitive motion injuries include more frequent pain, possibly experienced throughout the day, and more significant structural damage to muscles, tendons, and ligaments. In the case or carpal tunnel syndrome, repetitive use may permanently damage nerve bundles that supply the muscles and other soft tissues of the hand.2

Overall, it would be optimal to avoid repetitive motions altogether, but for almost all of us this is simply not an option. It would certainly be sensible to restrict typing on the keypad of our phones, but limiting typing on a full-size keyboard would conflict with the work environment in which most of us earn our livelihood. Whether we are writers, healthcare professionals, members of a sales team, data analysts, or human resource administrators at government or nonprofit agencies, working at a computer comprises a substantial portion of our work week, and may even extend into one or both days of what used to be known as a “weekend”. Similarly, athletes are not going to stop or limit participation in their sport owing to the possibility of a future repetitive motion injury.

The solution lies in a prevention program that incorporates graduated, comprehensive strength training activities into our regular exercise routines.3 Performing upper and lower body strength training exercises each week trains both large and small muscles groups to adapt to mechanical loads throughout a full range of motion. Beginners start with light weights and gradually increase the number of repetitions and the amount of the weight being lifted. Those who have done strength training in the past may have a shorter learning curve and more quickly re-adapt themselves to this critical and rewarding exercise environment. The key for everyone is to exercise each major muscle group, that is, the chest, back, shoulders, arms, and legs, at least one time per week on a consistent, ongoing basis.

Regular chiropractic care assists all of us in our exercise activities and in achieving our long-term health and wellness goals. By detecting and correcting spinal misalignments and sources of nerve interference, regular chiropractic care enables our bodies to receive and incorporate the full benefits of our healthy lifestyle choices, including healthy nutrition, sufficient restful sleep, and regular vigorous exercise. In this way, regular chiropractic care helps our families and ourselves to live full, healthy lives.

1 Warrender WJ, et al A Seasonal Variation in the Prevalence of Common Orthopaedic Upper Extremity Conditions. J Wrist Surg 7(3):232-236, 2018

2 Inge Petter Kleggetveit IP, Jørum E: Diagnosis of carpal tunnel syndrome Scand J Pain Published Online: 2018-06-12; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/sjpain-2018-0089

3 Pogorzelski J, Nonoperative treatment of five common shoulder injuries: A critical analysis. Obere Extrem 13(2):89-97, 2018; doi: 10.1007/s11678-018-0449-1

Left-Handers Day, celebrated on August 15th, was launched in 1992 by the Left-Handers Club, an organization based in the United Kingdom. Since then, Left-Handers Day has become a worldwide event and social media phenomenon. Around the world, approximately one in ten persons is left-handed. But we live in an overwhelmingly right-handed environment, the most notorious example of which is the traditional schoolroom desk with the writing surface attached to the right side.

Left-handers, familiar since childhood with the necessity of overcoming various mechanical and furniture-related obstacles, may derive comfort from the fact that they are perceived as unique, different, and gifted with more intelligence and creativity than the average individual. Famous left-handers in the arts, sciences, and political arena include Aristotle, Leonardo da Vinci, Friedrich Nietzsche, Michelangelo, Vincent van Gogh, Isaac Newton, Julius Caesar, Barack Obama, H.G. Wells, and Oprah Winfrey.

Being left-handed implies that such a person’s cerebral cortex is “right-brain dominant”, with the assumption that she or he will have additional skills in the areas of music, metaphor, imagination, and cognition of non-verbal information. But being creative requires more than mere aptitude and raw neural network processing power.1 The creation of a work of art or achievement in a field of scientific endeavor, as well as being a leader at any political level, requires discipline and dedication and the willingness to explore and investigate new ideas and new associations.2,3

As with all life skills, talents, and abilities, one’s creativity is assisted immeasurably by ongoing health and wellness. It is certainly possible to succeed at a high level despite chronic illness, but long-term health makes more energy available on a more regular basis to help facilitate the creative process. Long-term well-being is established by the consistent lifestyle choices of good nutrition, regular vigorous exercise, and getting sufficient restful sleep.

Good nutrition is provided on a daily basis by eating foods from the four major food groups, that is, healthy protein, whole grains, fruits, and vegetables, as well as consuming healthy oils and plenty of water each day. Regular vigorous exercise consists of both cardiovascular and strength training routines, done for at least 30 minutes five days a week.

Regular chiropractic care assists all of us, ourselves and our families, to participate fully in these healthful lifestyle activities. As well, regular chiropractic care provides a long-term boost to our creative faculties. By helping to improve the performance of our nerve system, our body’s master system, regular chiropractic care facilitates the flow of information from the brain to the rest of the body and back again. In this way, regular chiropractic care helps ensure open channels of nerve conduction and helps enhance the creative process. As a result, everyone, left-handers and right-handers too, can achieve greater fulfillment of our creative potential and flourishing as human beings.

1Fink A, Benedek M: EEG alpha power and creative ideation. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 44:111-23, 2014

2Wiggins GA: Creativity, information, and consciousness: The information dynamics of thinking. Phys Life Rev 2018 May 7. pii: S1571-0645(18)30059-9. doi: 10.1016/j.plrev.2018.05.001. [Epub ahead of print]

3Allen R, Heaton P: Can shared mechanisms of cultural evolution illuminate the process of creativity within the arts and the sciences. Prog Brain Res 237:61-75, 2018

The American philosopher and naturalist Henry David Thoreau roamed far and wide over the hills and mountains of his native Massachusetts and neighboring New Hampshire. In his masterwork, “Walden,” Thoreau famously stated that we must “reawaken and keep ourselves awake, not by mechanical aids, but by an infinite expectation of the dawn, which does not forsake us even in our soundest sleep.” One of Thoreau’s primary methods for maintaining such wakefulness was to explore the natural world and spend significant time outdoors every day.

Those who live in New England may literally walk in Thoreau’s footsteps, rambling around the countryside in the environs of his native Concord, Massachusetts, and climbing the regional mountains of Wachusett, Greylock, Wantastiquet, Katahdin, and Monadnock. Those of us who live elsewhere may recreate Thoreau’s sense of awe, wonder, and accomplishment by discovering the beauty and grandeur of our own locales, whether they be the desert landscapes of the American southwest, the sweeping vistas of the Canadian heartland, or the dense forests of central Europe. The great thing, as Thoreau knew, is to get outside, walk around, and reacquaint and reintegrate ourselves with our environment and the abundance of life surrounding us.

The exercise we obtain by adhering to Thoreau’s prescriptions provides ongoing vigorous physical activity and contributes substantially to our long-term health and well-being. Such outdoor exercise can be done by anyone, including young children and the oldest of seniors.1,2 Some may want to climb actual hills and mountains, but staying right at sea level will also provide quality exercise that is profoundly beneficial. The key for all of us is to exercise regularly. Exercising five days a week, for at least 30 minutes each day, is optimal and such a program is recommended by federal governments and healthcare organizations. As well, optimal weekly exercise includes both strength training and cardiovascular activities. These two forms of exercise are synergistic in that doing one type of exercise reinforces the benefits of the other. When you engage in both cardiovascular and strength training exercises on a regular basis, you quickly make gains in the areas of strength, endurance, coordination, balance, and flexibility. As well, we may notice that physical fitness enhances our ability to concentrate, be creative, generate new ideas, and get more done.3

Regular chiropractic care is an important component of all our physical fitness and wellness activities and helps ensure that all of our physiological systems are functioning at peak capacity. Regular chiropractic care optimizes our spinal biomechanics and the flow of information through our nerve systems, and helps make sure that all the processes that keep us healthy and well are coordinated and working in harmony. Overall, regular chiropractic care helps us obtain the most from our exercise program and contributes substantially to the health and well-being of our families and ourselves.

1 Soga M, et al: Gardening is beneficial for health: A meta-analysis. Prev Med Res 5:92-99, 2016

2 Jenkins DW, Jenks A: Hiking with Diabetes: Risks and Benefits. J Am Podiatr Med Assoc 107(5):382-392, 2017

3 Schuch FB, et al: Exercise for depression in older adults: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials adjusting for publication bias. Rev Bras Psiquiatr 38(3):247-254, 2016

In a common occurrence, you bend over to pick up the pencil you inadvertently dropped on the floor. Or you bend over to pick up the soap bar that has slipped through your fingers in the shower. Or you bend over to lift a bag of groceries out of your automobile trunk. These are all daily events. But on a certain day, at a certain time, during one of these innocuous activities you suddenly experience a sharp, excruciating, grabbing pain in your lower back. You might be unable to fully straighten up after such an episode, and it might take a week or more for you to recover completely. In the meantime, you have a lot of pain and it seems as if the slightest movement causes substantial discomfort. You may say to yourself that you’ll do anything to avoid a recurrence of such a troublesome injury.

Fortunately, there is a great deal that we all can do to help ensure that our musculoskeletal system, specifically the spine and the associated spinal muscles and ligaments, is well-trained and functioning at high levels. A primary cause of lower back injuries is biomechanical dysfunction, and our preventive and rehabilitative efforts are directed toward restoring efficient and effective spinal and core biomechanics.

Regular vigorous exercise is essential in any program whose goal is to optimize biomechanical function. Ideally, your exercise program includes both strength training and cardiovascular exercise. By engaging in both categories of exercise, you enhance the benefits of each. Training effects include increased heart and lung capacity, slowed heart rate, increased strength and endurance, improved balance, increased mobility and agility, and increased ability to do various types of physical work.

These benefits are enhanced by incorporating dynamic warm-up activities in your exercise routine.1 A dynamic warm-up prepares your body to do vigorous exercise. Activities such as jumping jacks, squats, lunges, gluteus bridge, and the grapevine literally warm-up your muscles and joints and prepare your musculoskeletal system for your exercise session. As well, core exercises such as the plank, leg lifts, leg crossovers, and pushups train your abdominal muscles and back muscles, helping ensure you have a strong “center” from which to initiate all of your exercise activities.2,3

Getting regular chiropractic care helps ensure that you’re obtaining the most benefit from the time and effort you spend exercising. By detecting and correcting spinal misalignments and removing sources of nerve interference, regular chiropractic care helps make sure that your spine is working properly and that your nervous system is free to effectively control and coordinate all your other physiological systems. In this way, regular chiropractic care helps you and everyone in your family exercise at peak capacity and enjoy ongoing health and well-being.

1. Asadi A, et al: The Effects of Plyometric Training on Change-of-Direction Ability: A Meta-Analysis. Int J Sports Physiol Perform 11(5):563-573 2016

2. Hoppes CW, et al: The efficacy of an eight-week core stabilization program on core muscle function and endurance: a randomized trial. Int J Sports Phys Ther 11(4):507-519, 2016

3. Bullo V, et al: The effects of Pilates exercise training on physical fitness and wellbeing in the elderly: A systematic review for future exercise prescription. Prev Med 75:1-11, 2015

In the summertime, everyone’s thoughts turn to the outdoors. We want to get out in the sun and have some fun. Some people do exercise outdoors, such as running, walking, and biking, all year long regardless of the weather.1 For others, summer’s warmer temperatures make activity outside the house or the gym more inviting, and tennis courts, basketball courts, soccer fields, and baseball diamonds become filled with younger and older athletes, all looking to bounce, hit, or kick a ball around with their friends and opponents. Other summer activities include surfing and rollerblading, and although these activities may also be done year round, many people prefer to get their boarding and blading in when temperatures are subjectively more conducive.

Summer sports provide substantial personal satisfaction as well as health and wellness benefits. Any exercise, after all, is good exercise. But exercise needs to be done in context. For example, if you haven’t done any type of exercise since last summer, attempting to play three sets of tennis your first time on the court will likely lead to trouble, specifically, a strained muscle, sprained ligament, or worse. Similarly, trying to run up and down a basketball court or trying to leap to snag a sharp line drive during a baseball game may cause an immediate problem if you are out of condition.

The best course of action is to re-engage in summer sports slowly, a little at a time.2 Even better, of course, is to participate in a consistent program of regular vigorous exercise throughout the year. Federal and healthcare professional guidelines recommend doing at least 30 minutes of vigorous exercise five days a week. Engaging in an ideal program of cardiovascular exercise, strength training, and core exercise on a weekly basis provides a level of fitness that supports all types of summer sports.

Here’s why:

Strength training enables your body to bear heavy loads throughout full ranges of motion of various joint structures such as the ankle, knee, hip, and lower back.

Cardiovascular exercise increases the amount of blood your heart pumps on each beat and trains your lungs to take in more air on each breath.

Core exercises enhance your body’s ability to support loads under suddenly changing three-dimensional forces such as twisting, pivoting, bending, and lifting.3

Regular chiropractic care supports all of your exercise and sporting activities, in addition to strengthening your immune system and optimizing the functioning of your nerve system, your body’s master system. By detecting, analyzing, and correcting spinal misalignments and other sources of nerve irritation, regular chiropractic care helps ensure that you and your family will enjoy a summer filled with enjoyable activities. As well, regular chiropractic care helps ensure long-term health and wellness for you and your family throughout the year.

1Bezerra P, et al: The influence of winter and summer seasons on physical fitness in aged population. Arch Gerontol Geriatr 76:80-84, 2018

2Evans EW, et al: Promoting health and activity in the summer trial: Implementation and outcomes of a pilot study. Prev Med Rep 10:87-92, 2018

3Coulombe BJ, et al: Core Stability Exercise Versus General Exercise for Chronic Low Back Pain. J Athl Train 52(1):71-72, 2017

Wellness Gardens

When time is spent in an office or indoors day in and day out, some can lose that connection to the outside world. And that loss of connection can lead to higher stress levels and more health ailments without even realizing it. But when that the gap between office life and outdoor life is bridged, quality of life – and health – improves.

By adding in simple garden tasks or small DIY home improvement projects to your to-do list outside of work hours, you can go back to reclaiming that connection. It can also help ease stress, keep you active and limber (garden yoga anyone?), and even improve your mood. Who could use a little mood booster?

Stress Relief

When one puts down their smartphones and picks up a spade and some gardening gloves, you not only give your mind a rest, but your body a rest too. Think of how your body reacts and responds when you’re scrolling through updates on your phone or computer? How is your posture? Are you tensed up? By setting the phone down and doing something more soothing – like most gardening tasks – you can effortlessly reduce the tension in your body and work on posture and body awareness.

Exercise

While gardening doesn’t seem like exercise, digging, planting, weeding, and other garden activities take some level of physical exertion. And, over time, stretching and strength can be improved through simple gardening tasks. What’s best about most small DIY home improvement tasks, like gardening, is that you can change your exertion level depending on the needs of your body — it’s a hobby you won’t have to complete give up as your body ages.

Injury Protection and Proper Chiropractic Care

With any level of physical exertion, one should make sure that they are taking the necessary precautions to prevent injuries. The increase in physical exertion through gardening and small projects may not feel like a huge change all at once but being aware of how to avoid injury through resistance training and proper alignment can help in the long run.

Proper chiropractic care, such as regular spinal adjustments, developing muscle balance, ensuring pelvic alignment, etc can help prepare one’s body for any level of physical exertion. That way the stress relieving properties of gardening and home improvement won’t be lost to injury. By educating yourself on the preventative measures one can take through chiropractic care, you can enjoy all of the health benefits of the outdoors!