Posts by Dr. David Basco
Using Yoga for Spinal Decompression
No matter who you are…
…your spine undergoes a whole lot of compression on a daily basis. Whether you stand or sit for a living, whether you consider your posture excellent or poor; all of this is immaterial because gravity never stops pushing down upon us! Therefore the onus is upon us to do everything we can to mitigate the constant compression by lengthening our spines. This process, known as spinal elongation, is essential for providing embattled spinal discs, vertebrae and facet joints with the relief they need to heal. Read on to find out how yoga supports decompression.
Shoulder Mobility Makes the Pain Go Away
A pain in the shoulders…
Tension in the upper back, shoulders and neck are ubiquitous in the American adult population. Our lifestyles, from working, commuting and couchsurfing, are conducive to systemic tension in this region that includes the upper spine. It is likely that all the tension in these muscles is also causing some degree of spinal dysfunction; the alarming thing is that pain is likely the last symptom to emerge. That’s why so many of us are able to go along with our lives for years, ignoring all the tension we know is in our shoulders and upper back, until one day it all comes down on our head. Instead of waiting for this inevitable tipping point, we like to think that a bit of daily maintenance can prevent it from ever happening at all.
Don’t Overlook the Power of Posture
Posture is, quite possibly, the single most overlooked method for influencing health on a daily basis
It is something that we are performing all the time, whether we like it or not. That means that if you ignore posture, and let your body slip into poor postural habits, your body will suffer. Your muscles will train themselves into positions that support poor posture, and subsequently pull your spine out of alignment. Ignoring posture therefore propels you along the road toward back pain and vertebral degeneration. Let’s perform a simple test to determine whether you rest with good posture.
Chiropractic for Cervicogenic Headaches
A lesser-known, but nonetheless potent form of headaches
The cervicogenic headache receives a smaller portion of the spotlight than migraines or tension headaches, which are thought to affect up to one out of every six adults in the United States. The American Migraine Foundation defines a cervicogenic headache as a secondary headache- that is, caused by another condition. In this case, the headache’s source is derived from a disorder in the cervical spinal segment, where there is a complex relationship between spinal bones, spinal nerves, intervertebral discs and soft tissues. Let’s dive a little deepr into the causes of cervicogenic headaches.
The Power of Cervical Traction
What is cervical traction?
Traction is a natural modality that affords your spine the opportunity to decompress at whatever level tension is accumulating. With cervical traction, we focus on releasing tension from neck muscles and alleviating the pinched nerves which cause so much stiffness and pain. At our office in Alameda, we use specialized tables to gently stretch the spine and provide a targeted decompressive effect. But you can reproduce a similar effect on a daily basis- if you find that you consistently leave work with a sore, stiff neck, then cervical traction should be the first thing you do when you get home.
Muscular and Fascial Tension Go Hand in Hand
What’s all the buzz over this freaky word Fascia?
Have you ever wondered what keeps all your organs and muscles in place? Well, that’s the fascia- a thin layer of densely wound connective tissue, mostly collagen, that surrounds, stabilizes and connects every organ, muscle and structure in your body. It allows for the articulation of all the different moving parts in your body by reducing friction and preventing them from simply sliding into each other. The fascia has recently come into the spotlight as an area of focus for the medical community because of its role in systemic tension. The truth is, we can’t live without the fascia, but it causes problems and pain for many of us.
The Almighty Fetal Position
Sleeping fetal feels right
No matter some estimates say that as many as 40% of adults in America prefer this position for sleeping each night. At least they aren’t sleeping on their stomachs- which most experts agree is the worst sleep position for the spine. On the flip side, sleeping on your back is recommended by most back care experts, including our office at Bay Area Spine Care Office. Chances are, no matter what anyone tells you, you are going to select the sleep position that feels the most comfortable, even if that happens to be on the stomach. But it is possible to train yourself into preferring a different position- it just takes a spark of awareness and a flame of discipline. So here’s the spark:
The Importance of Lengthening Your Spine
A road map of spinal compression
It happens like this: when we were born, the downward force of gravity began working on our spines; as we grew older, our spines naturally became less resilient; we became less active and started working more and the strength, stability and support for our spines became less; we began to sit more and never gave posture a passing thought. One day, we wake up and realize that our back has been aching since, “I don‘t know when.” This is the typical story for many a person who suffers from chronic back pain- the forces of compression are winning out against your poor, weak intervertebral discs. So what can we do to start fighting back? Focus on spinal decompression.
Turn Up the Comfort During Your Pregnancy
A successful pregnancy is one that puts the comfort of the mother first
That’s because the more comfortable the mother, the greater her uterine function, and the more space there is for healthy development of the child. In this sense, we have to redefine our parameters of comfort and change the troped conversation that has prospective mothers worrying about the back pain, headaches and nausea that are deemed an integral part of pregnancy. Chiropractic is helping to flip the script when it comes to pregnancy by prioritizing the comfort and wellbeing of mother and child. Numerous studies have pointed to the following benefits of chiropractic during pregnancy:
- Maintains spinal alignment and balances an unstable pelvis
- Mitigates nerve interference and allows for optimal uterine function
- Controls symptoms of nausea
- Relieves joint pain throughout the body, especially in the lower back where tenderness tends to accumulate
- Allows for sufficient space for the baby to develop
The end result is a pregnancy that accounts for the mother’s changing body, helping her to feel less discomfort and allowing for healthy in-utero development of the baby.
A Nightly Action Plan for Sore, Stiff Necks
Nothing is worse than leaving work with a stiff, sore neck
It is rubbing salt in the wound of a hard day‘s work. That hard day’s work is so conducive to neck pain: whether you sit for a living or have a more labor intensive job, the neck still has to support the weight of your head. The average adults head weighs 10-13 pounds, and this weight is increased exponentially with poor posture. Unless we are proactive about caring for our necks, the actions we pursue after work are likely going to reinforce the stiffness.