At some point in your life you have probably experienced back pain of some nature. Back pain is the second most common reason for visits to the doctor’s office and recently the number one reason for missed work. Most cases of back pain are mechanical and can be alleviated with a chiropractic adjustment.

Dealing With Back Pain

The back is a complicated structure of bones, joints, ligaments*, and muscles. You can sprain ligaments*, strain muscles, rupture disks*, and irritate joints, all of which can lead to back pain. While sports injuries or accidents can cause back pain, sometimes the simplest of movements, like picking up a pencil from the floor, can have painful results. In addition, arthritis, poor posture, obesity, and stress can cause or complicate back pain.

Back injuries are a part of everyday life, and the body is quite good at dealing with these often "pulled" muscles. These very minor injuries usually heal within 1 or 2 days. Some pain, however, continues.

Common reasons may include stress, mood changes, bad diet, lack of exercise and even the fear of further injury that may prevent you from being active. In addition, sometimes a painful injury or disease changes the way the pain signals are sent through your body, and, even after the problem has gone away or is inactive, the pain signals are still being sent. Chiropractic adjustments would assist in restoring proper communication by relieving irritation or choking of nerves caused by misalignment of the spinal joints.

What Can You Do to Prevent Long-Term Back Pain?

In addition to any other measure a chiropractic adjustment will give you relief. Together we can also work on reversing negative conditions to actually improve the condition, rather than just relieve it. Your pain will often result from mechanical problems that I can address. Many of my patients with relatively long-lasting or recurring back pain feel improvement shortly after starting chiropractic treatment.

Chiropractic spinal manipulation is a safe and effective treatment. So there is no reason to put it off and live with the pain. Early treatment can help prevent degeneration and arthritis.

How Can You Prevent Back Pain?

1. Don’t lift by bending over. Instead, bend your hips and knees and then squat to pick up the object. Keep your back straight, and hold the object close to your body.
2. Don’t twist your body while lifting.
3. Push, rather than pull, when you must move heavy objects.
4. If you must sit for long periods, take frequent breaks and stretch.
5. Wear flat shoes or shoes with low heels.
6. Exercise regularly. An inactive lifestyle contributes to lower-back pain.

How to Get That Body Working the Way You Need It To!

So you need some of the basics to get your metabolism working with you. Well, let’s go over some basic information on metabolism.

Every time you swallow a bite of sandwich or sip a protein drink, your body works hard to process the nutrients you’ve eaten. Long after the dishes are cleared and the food is digested, the nutrients you’ve taken in become the building blocks and fuel needed by your body. Your body gets the energy it needs from food through a process called metabolism.

What Is Metabolism and What Is Its Function?

Metabolism is a collection of chemical reactions that takes place in the body’s cells. Metabolism converts the fuel in the food you eat into the energy needed to power everything you do, from moving to growing. Specific proteins in the your body control the chemical reactions of metabolism, and each chemical reaction is coordinated with other body functions. In fact, thousands of metabolic reactions happen at the same time – all regulated by the body – to keep your cells healthy and working.

Here’s an example of how the process of metabolism works in your body – and it begins with plants. First, a green plant takes in energy from sunlight. The plant uses this energy and a molecule called cholorophyll (which gives plants their green color) to build sugars from water and carbon dioxide. This process is called photosynthesis.

When you eat plants, or animals which have eaten plants you body takes in this energy (in the form of sugar), along with other vital cell-building chemicals. Your body’s next step is to break the sugar down so that the energy released can be distributed to, and used as fuel by, the body’s cells.

In this way, the process of metabolism is really a balancing act involving two kinds of activities that go on at the same time – the building up of your body tissues and energy stores and the breaking down of your body tissues and energy stores to generate more fuel for your body functions.

SUSTAINABLE METABOLISM METHODS:

So how can you help your body metabolize food?

1. Eating foods high in sugars, refined carbohydrates and starch are only useful for short bursts of energy. In the long run these foods run your body down. Try eating a chicken salad for lunch instead of a sandwich, avoid bread and pasta and eat more vegetables and protein foods such as eggs, meat, yogurt, etc.
2. If you feel hungry when you cut down on the sugars and starches try increasing your water intake. Drinking 8 glasses of water a day will help you sleep better and help your body function better. Drinking water helps you eat less if you are overeating. (It is optimum to NOT drink with the meal but to rather drink the water separately.)
3. Try a basic enzyme product to help your digestion. An example of a good enzyme supplement is included in the next article.
4. Get regular exercise. If you think you don’t have time maybe try walking to lunch instead of driving. Try taking the stairs instead of the elevator. Try eating lunch at a place slightly further from work than usual and walk there briskly.
5. And last but not least, keep your nerve flow and communication to vital organs in your digestion system functioning by getting a chiropractic adjustment. Subluxation, the irritation or choking of nerves at the spinal joint due to misalignment, can cause vital messages between your nervous system and organs to be inhibited and cause digestive failures. I recommend a monthly adjustment to keep your nervous system functioning and in communication.

understanding your spine

When your body was formed, a genetic blueprint was created that determined the color of your eyes and millions of other details about your body. To control and organize your body’s growth, the nervous system, consisting of your brain, spinal cord, and all the nerves of your body were the first tissues formed. Your nervous system controls the function of every cell, tissue, organ and system of your body.

Your brain is protected by your skull. The vulnerable and vital communication pathway of your spinal cord is covered by the 24 moving bones (vertebra) of your spinal column. Pairs of nerve roots branch off from between each spinal joint to service the organs and tissues of your body. Because of the way your spine is designed, improper motion or position of spinal bones irritate or choke delicate nerves, interfering with the function of the tissues they control. Doctors call this subluxation. (< L sub ‘under’ + L luxare, < luxus ‘dislocated’)

Subluxation can be caused by trauma to the spine at birth, car accidents, poor diet, long periods of sitting, exercising, sitting at the computer with your neck forward, and many other daily activities which cause the bones that cover your spinal joint to lose their normal position and motion.

why do regular chiropractic adjustments improve my general health?

Without a normal nerve supply, affected organs and tissues are more susceptible to disease, often producing the symptoms of pain and ill health.

That’s why you don’t just need an adjustment “when your back hurts”. Regular adjustments keep your entire body healthier and functioning in a higher condition. Even when not ill or in pain, a monthly adjustment keeps your body healthier and more cooperative with your demands.