Posts by Dr. David Basco
Where Did My Posture Go? And How to Find it Again
90% of posture is awareness
Look at it this way: we all know to sit up straight, to avoid slouching and slumping, to keep our shoulders back and our heads up. But our bodies are fickle creatures and, from a young age, posture becomes a subconscious struggle. When we are young, our spines are more resilient and we are generally more active. The real problems begin when we get that first office job and are faced with hours per day in front of a computer screen. Our bodies mold to our jobs, and our lifestyles, and unless we take good care to be proactive about posture, it will get the best of us.
Sports Injuries are Surprisingly Preventable
It’s been said that every setback leaves behind a path to make your comeback
But what if we could avoid that setback in the first place? As athletes push their bodies to new extremes, they leave themselves vulnerable to a host of injuries which threaten to derail their momentum. Our job as an office of chiropractic is to keep the chance of such an injury as low as possible. At our office in Alameda, we have helped hundreds of athletes from the whole spectrum of sports to specialize and strengthen their bodies against the risk factors of their chosen sport. We do this by identifying and correcting the underlying causes of injury which lurk in all of our bodies.
Chiropractic Starts Your Child’s Spinal Health on the Right Path
Back into the womb: spinal development reimagined
Unwind all the layers of pain and stiffness that have accumulated through the years and imagine a time when you were free to run unencumbered by the burdens of back pain. As a child, you can perform a seemingly unlimited range of motions with little potential for pain; naturally, the majority of us take such a blessing for granted. Without the guidance and discipline of our parents to keep us proactive about our spinal health, we reach adulthood without the awareness we need to take care of our spines. Our spines begin to degenerate, however slowly, and we are ill-equipped to deal with the pain and dysfunction that sets in. So let’s imagine this system differently: through the eyes of your child.
Become a Better Tennis Player with Chiropractic
Tennis is one of the best sports for improving physical fitness with a low risk for injury
That being said, some studies estimate that up to 65% of players will still suffer some form of injury in a given year. These injuries are primarily due to repetitive trauma: because you perform the same motions over and over, certain parts of your body receive more stress than others. And while local injuries are bound to occur, this repetitive trauma can also have systemic repercussions; the repetitive movements involved in tennis can cause muscular imbalances and misalignment in the spine. At Bay Area Spine Care Office, we focus on repetitive injury prevention and body balance to help tennis players feel their best on the court.
The Posture Game: Protecting your Spine During the Information Age
Does your posture change with the times?
At Bay Area Spine Care Office, we argue that posture is more important than ever. With more people transitioning into white collar jobs, and more entertainment options shifting onto screens, the importance of posture has taken on a new significance. There is no disputing that as a whole, Americans are more sedentary than ever; we live in an age that is conducive to inactivity. And while 21st century lifestyles remain brutal for the spine, it is awareness that is the make or break factor. You have the power to take control of your posture and use it to establish a culture of spinal health and wellbeing in your own life.
Spinal Disorders are Fitness Disorders
When back pain interferes with fitness
While your spinal joints might not be what they were when you were young, you don’t have to accept back pain as a foregone fitness conclusion. But the solution is certainly not to ignore it! Far too many people choose to just grin and bear workout-related back pain. From taking anti-inflammatories, to religiously using ice and heat, they will go to lengths to ease the pain, but never question the true source of their pain. Lack of alignment in the spine is a signal contributor to fitness-related back pain. The spinal and postural disorders which develop as a result of poor alignment can influence your workout by causing pain and altering the biomechanical way in which you exercise.
Become a Better Golfer with Chiropractic
Chiropractic understands the unique biomechanical demands of golf
Many people write off the sport of golf as a fitness nonentity. In reality, it is a much more involved sport than it seems, as it provides a completely unique mix of movements that presents both benefits and challenges for your spine. From a physical perspective, golf is a sport of twists and turns, bends and bobs, all of which provide gentle conditioning for the moving parts of the body. Depending on the type of player you are, it is also a sport in which you carry a heavy bag on and off for long distances. It is no wonder there is a high incidence of back pain in the golf community- read on to find out about the challenges facing golfers and how we help at Bay Area Spine Care Office.
Increasing Productivity the Natural Way
What does “crunch time,” mean for your spine?
The first thing that goes out the window when we put our nose to the grindstone is awareness of our spinal health. Our posture goes to pieces; tension begins to accumulate in our muscles; in the end, all that matters is meeting the deadline. We may reach the deadline, but what did we sacrifice in the process? Walking away from work, reeling with muscle spasms and neck pain, we ask ourselves: is there a better way of going about this? The answer is yes, and it starts with the simple concept of comfort.
Tight Hip Flexors Wreak Havoc with your Posture
Sit-heavy lifestyles result in weak glutes and tight hip flexors
Among the myriad ill-effects of sitting too much, weak glutes and tight hip flexors are two linked factors that cause the problems you feel first. We often treat people whose spinal health is compromised at its very base; weak glutes and tight hip flexors harm spinal health in the following ways:
- Compromise spinal stability and contribute to pelvic misalignment
- Increase the pressure on the lower back by weakening the spine’s supportive network of muscles.
- Contributes to muscular imbalance which can pull the spine out of alignment
- Make maintaining good posture difficult, if not impossible.
The Many Problems Caused by Pinched Nerves
The insidious nature of pinched nerves
Pinched nerve is a blanket term that refers to many types of radiculopathy, the scientific term for irritation or injury of a nerve that causes feelings of pain, numbness, tingling and weakness. Radiculopathy occurs near the root of the nerve, where it exits from the spinal cord. When muscles, bones, cartilage or tendons impinge upon the nerve, pain and dysfunction is a likely outcome. A further facet of radiculopathic pain is that it radiates; it can be felt in other parts of the body than its origin.