head Archives - Family Health Advocacy

What The Neck? Are You Short-Circuiting?

July 22, 2020August 16, 2019 by Jo-Anne Richardson, RHN

Have you ever thought about how how much you strain your neck throughout the day?

You look down to:

Text
Reply to your email
Check Facebook
Send a tweet
Type on your keyboard
Read
Speak with your children

…And the list goes on and on! This can potentially add up to several hours each day that your neck is tilted forward and/or down.

Why Does This Matter?

Your neck is the connection between your brain and the rest of your body. The messages your brain needs to send must travel through your nervous system which is encased by the bones of your spine. Therefore, if the spinal bones in your neck are continually forced into a forward (or looking down) position, it puts a great deal of pressure on your nervous system.

This interference causes “electrical problems”. Whereby, the information that needs to flow freely in the nervous system can no longer do so. It can cause a “short-circuiting” effect in your body. This is where certain areas of your body develop illnesses or issues because they are lacking all of the information they need to function at 100%.

Additionally, these misalignments can lead to Forward Head Posture. This is a serious condition that must be addressed by a chiropractor. The doctor must work on bringing the carriage of the head back into alignment with your neck and shoulders.

What Is The Proper Alignment For Your Neck?

If we look at you from the side, your ears should be centered on your shoulders. This gives your cervical spine (your neck) the correct curve to allow your nervous system to function properly. Free of any misalignments.

However, if your ears are lining up closer to (or surpassing) the front of your shoulders, your neck is no longer in proper alignment. This means you are experiencing a significant loss of curve in your neck. Therefore aren’t able to allow the messages to travel properly within your nervous system.

This is a very serious problem, because even a loss of curve by 1 degree puts significant pressure on your nervous system, never mind the potential for a couple of inches.

Misalignment can actually develop into a loss of curve, or even a reversed cervical curve and can put immense strain on your health.

This Condition Can Lead To Experiencing:

Migraines
Breathing problems
Heart disease
Various nose, throat and ear problems
Learning difficulties
Emotional problems

This is such a critical area of your spine that must be free of misalignments to allow your body to express real health.

Have you noticed this problem in your spouse or your children? It is especially worrisome for children to have reversed cervical spines, as it can compound into many problems throughout their lives. And as we all know, when problems are left unaddressed, they tend to get worse, not better.

As we are spending more and more time on our devices and computers, the unnatural strain we are putting on our necks becomes even more prominent.

Click here to read, ” Is Today’s Technology Destroying Your Health?”

What Is The Solution?

Find a chiropractor in your area that can help you to express optimal health. Follow the care plan laid out for returning the proper curve to your spine. Especially in children as the rate of complete correction can be quite high, as they are growing and developing quickly.

Jo-Anne Richardson, RHN

Jo-Anne Richardson has almost a decade of experience managing a chiropractic office and educating patients on how chiropractic can allow your body to express optimal health. She is a Registered Holistic Nutritionist and holds a Degree in Communications. She loves to experiment with raw vegan recipes, loves to salsa dance, travel and learn new holistic health information to share tips with everyone who visits the office.

How many pounds of pressure did your newborn withstand at birth?

July 22, 2020May 2, 2017 by Jo-Anne Richardson, RHN

Congratulations! You’ve just given birth and now you have a beautiful baby to cherish.

Let’s think for a moment about your personal birth story and how your baby arrived in the world.

how many hours were you in labour?
was your baby born at home, in the hospital, or at a birthing centre?
were there interventions involved?
was your baby in some way pulled or suctioned from you?

In many birth situations, the baby is often forced out of the mother. This puts an immense amount of pressure on the head and neck of your baby.

Imagine your 8 pound baby potentially experiencing anywhere from 60 to 120 pounds of pressure (tractional force) to its head and spine.

If we use 100 pounds of pressure for the ease of math, 100 pounds divided by an 8lb baby is 12.5 times his/her weight.

Now, what would happen if you pulled a 180 pound man across the floor by his neck at 12.5 times his weight? That is 2250 pounds of tractional force, by which he would most likely be killed instantly.

It takes only 120 pounds of pressure (or less) to sever a baby’s spinal cord, and doctors often apply nearly that amount pulling the baby free in delivery.

The spinal cord is the most important part of every body, without its function, you could not survive even one second.

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The spinal cord houses the central nervous system, which controls every single aspect of the function, development and healing of the body.

And when we realize the amount of trauma that your baby (and you!) have just gone through to have him/her arrive in the world, we can see the connections with lasting side effects of a potentially now-misaligned spine, called subluxations.

There are many symptoms that can indicate that your baby has a misaligned spine, but sometimes there are no symptoms. A partial list of symptoms can include:

strained breastfeeding (baby can’t turn his/her head one way or the other)
unable to latch on
colic
sleeping problems
reflux
vomiting

Now that we understand the lasting side effects associated with birth, we must take a moment to consider how we can help your baby to grow and develop.

The first step is to identify if your baby has subluxations present in his/her spine. The only way to do this is have him/her examined by a doctor of chiropractic.

Chiropractors are trained to identify and correct subluxations to allow your baby’s spine to return to the correct alignment and allow optimal health to be expressed.

To correct a subluxation, the chiropractor performs an adjustment – with very light touch – to shift the bones back into the correct alignment. Don’t worry, it’s nothing like you imagine from the movies. The amount of pressure that a chiropractor uses to adjust a newborn is the amount of pressure that you would use to touch your eye with your pinky finger.

Having a spine in the correct alignment sets your baby up for optimal development and a great start to their health.

Just in time to become a toddler – where he/she will fall 2000 times learning how to walk. So keeping up with baby’s adjustment schedule through childhood will maintain a healthy spine for his/her growth and development.

You can see where I’m going with this. Life-long chiropractic care is essential at every stage of life to maximize your family’s health.

So be sure that you also have your spine checked by your chiropractor to be sure that your spine is in the correct alignment after the trauma of giving birth as well.

With Sources From: The Effect of Subluxation at Birth

Jo-Anne Richardson, RHN

Exercises to Help Improve Your Posture

July 22, 2020February 15, 2017 by Jo-Anne Richardson, RHN

Virtually everything we do requires us to hunch forward – typing, cooking, driving, etc. When we slouch, our chest muscles shorten, our back muscles weaken, and our abdominal muscles grow slack. This muscle shortening is a cause of a wide range of uncomfortable symptoms. Fortunately, however, being mindful of our posture can prevent back pain, help us feel better, and even assist in projecting more confidence.

We hear a lot about “core” strength, but what exactly is the core? Put simply, it is the series of abdominal and lower back muscles that connect to your spine and pelvis. These muscles are involved in virtually every movement we perform, but like any other muscle group they can become unbalanced from lack of consistent use. Imbalances in strength and use can cause them to grow fatigued, get overstressed, and wither over time.

In order to improve posture, we must strengthen our core muscles through consistent, periodic training, without overdoing it. Finding routines which use resistant bands or dumbbells can be a great way to improve strength and flexibility but it’s important to realize the differences between resistance bands and dumbbells before incorporating them into your fitness routine.

Having the right routine to strengthen your core will assist in reversing the feeling of “tight” muscles, strengthen little-used muscles that have atrophied through lack of use, and keep consistently-used muscles from growing fatigued.

Try the following simple exercises on alternating days with one day off in-between. You may feel a bit sore on the first few days, but being consistent with this quick and easy routine will improve your posture and fortify your core and back muscles.

Core Exercises:

Lying Leg Raises

Lie down on your back with your legs straight. Put your hands by your sides or under your glutes with palms facing down (to support the lower back). Press your lower back to the floor as you lift your legs off the ground until they make a 90-degree angle from the floor. Slowly lower your legs back down towards the ground.

Curl Up/Crunches

Lie down on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the ground. Put your hands across your chest or pointing forward by your sides. Keep your lower back pressed to the floor, slowly roll your head, shoulders, and upper back off the ground. With control, slowly roll back down.

Plank

Start with your elbows on the ground with palms facing down and fingers facing forward. Make sure that your shoulders are right above your elbows, and they are away from your ears (no shrugging). Your toes should be tucked under towards your shins. Keep your core tight and leg rigid. Try squeezing your thigh and glute muscles. Hold in this position for as long as you’re comfortable. You should not be feeling your lower back.

Back-Focused Exercises:

Superman:

Lie down on your stomach with your arms out overhead and your legs straight behind you. Lift your arms and legs off the ground simultaneously as you contract your back and glute muscles. Keep the motion slow and controlled. Your neck, head, and spine should be aligned. Slowly lower your arms and legs back down on the ground.

Shoulder Blade Pinch:

Stand or sit with your shoulders back, down, and relaxed. Squeeze your shoulder blades together as you open up your chest. Hold the pinch for 10 seconds.

Cobra Back Extension:

Lie on your stomach with your hands by your shoulders. Straighten your arms as you contract your back muscles in a back bend. Hold this pose for a second before slowly lowering back down.

Trainer’s Tips:

Pull ab muscles in and up toward your spine – try not to use your hips to move your lower core.
Use slow, controlled movements—don’t jerk your body through the movement.
Breathe evenly throughout the movement—don’t hold your breath.
Stop doing any activity that causes pain or makes pain worse!

Blog by Guest Author: Sally Leung – a fitness coach, certified personal trainer, fitness instructor, and nutrition and wellness specialist who is committed to helping others live their healthiest lives. She is also the host of Get Fit, Get Strong on Rogers TV and the creator of her signature program – The Bikini Body Method. Sally believes in sustainable changes, and she is passionate about helping everyone discover how to permanently improve their lives. For workout ideas, fitness tips, and recipes, check out her website www.SallyLeungFitness.com and follow her on social media: www.Facebook.com/SallyLeungFitness and www.Instagram.com/SallyLeungFitness

Jo-Anne Richardson, RHN