How Does Sleep Help Your Back?

Good rest lessens the likelihood of muscle aches and a host of other problems. It lets your body regenerate many important functions that play a role in pain relief. Here are just a few:

• Allows the spine to decompress and recover from the demands of your day
• Produces beneficial hormones and chemicals to reduce inflammation
• Restores connections in the brain that improve nervous system function

The Cycle of Poor Sleep and Back Pain

Patients often complain that they wake up with lower back pain. Back pain interferes with falling and staying asleep, preventing the restorative benefits of a full night of sleep. Being sleep-deprived makes the pain worse. When you’re tossing and turning, it’s hard to find a comfortable position, and you’re even more aware of pain.

People may turn to pain medication, which unfortunately works against them by disrupting sleep.

Lack of sleep leads to a variety of problems that can increase pain, including:

• Reducing levels of growth hormone that heal the body
• Increasing sensitivity to pain
• Raising levels of inflammation
• Worsening depression
• Feeling more stress, which tightens muscles and increases pain

Tips for a Good Night’s Rest

Practice good posture during sleep. Your spine needs good posture to remain in proper alignment, avoid muscle strain and promote nighttime healing. How do you achieve good posture in bed? Here are some suggestions:

• Use a good-quality mattress that’s not too hard or soft. Test mattresses carefully when shopping. Replace your mattress at least every 10 years.
• Sleep on your side or back rather than on your stomach. Stomach sleeping places extra strain on your spine. To reduce pressure on the spine, put a pillow under your knees (for back sleeping) or between knees (for side sleeping).

Set a regular bedtime. Aim for 7-8 hours of sleep. Avoid the stimulating blue light from electronics before bed.

Stretch your muscles gently before bed.

Avoid stress. Relaxation techniques and meditation are helpful.

Maintain a healthy lifestyle. Avoid processed foods, sugar, alcohol, and of course, caffeine before bed. Daily exercise improves flexibility to help you avoid muscle stiffness in bed.

Chiropractic Care and Better Sleep

Chiropractic adjustments align the spine and promote better circulation, mobility, strength, and flexibility. This brings about the healing of joints, muscles, and tissues that relieves pain.

Your chiropractor’s care helps to alleviate your back pain naturally, without drugs or invasive procedures. Good sleep habits help to maintain your spine’s proper alignment.

Remember that it pays to take care of your spine every day…including during that 1/3 of your life you spend under the covers.

Schedule Your Free Consultation at our Broken Arrow Office

We’re here to help you at Eastern Oklahoma Chiropractic.  Give us a call at 918-940-4630.

The post How Sleep Affects Your Spine–and Vice Versa first appeared on Chiropractor Broken Arrow.

What Causes Scoliosis?

If you have scoliosis, your spine, rather than being straight, becomes abnormally curved in an ‘S’ or ‘C’ shape.

Scoliosis is most often diagnosed in children and adolescents. As a child grows, the curve may become worse. Fortunately, most cases of scoliosis are mild, needing minimal treatment, and affect girls and boys equally. However, girls are more likely than boys to suffer from more rare, severe types of progressive scoliosis that lead to health problems.

Scoliosis is usually considered idiopathic, meaning that there’s no known cause.  Other causes include:

• Birth defects impacting the spine
• Spinal infections or injuries
• Neuromuscular disorders like muscular dystrophy or cerebral palsy
• Previous surgeries

Adults Can Develop Scoliosis, Too

Although most cases are discovered between ages 10 and 15, sometimes people aren’t diagnosed until adulthood.

More commonly, adults develop a type called degenerative scoliosis. Normal wear and tear, arthritis and osteoporosis can cause joints and spinal discs to degenerate, making the spine weaker. This causes it to move out of normal alignment. Adults often suffer more mobility problems and discomfort from scoliosis than younger people.

Common Symptoms of Scoliosis

Getting early treatment is important. Many schools screen children for scoliosis, and often the signs are visible to others.  Parents should check their children for irregularities such as:

• A hip that’s higher than the other
• A protruding shoulder blade
• Shoulders or rib cage that look uneven
• A waist that looks lopsided
• A crooked spine that can be seen when the affected person bends forward

A spinal curve that becomes severe can cause serious health problems, such as pain, limited mobility, and breathing problems from reduced lung capacity. Treatments for advanced scoliosis include braces and sometimes surgery. However, even mild cases need to be monitored to keep track of changes in the curve as the child grows.

Chiropractic Care as Part of Your Scoliosis Treatment Plan

Adults and children with scoliosis, whether mild or severe, benefit from chiropractic treatments as part of their care program.

As an expert in spinal care, your chiropractor diagnoses scoliosis and provides therapies that complement your other medical care in important ways.  They’ll advise you on the best ways to move, and provide exercises to strengthen joints. Chiropractic treatments help to improve mobility, core strength, nervous system function, and posture, as well as relieve muscle tension and pain.

Chiropractic care for scoliosis has the advantage of being drug-free and noninvasive as it helps you or your child to relieve symptoms and move forward with a healthy life.

Contact Our Broken Arrow Office to Schedule Your Free Consultation

For safe, natural help to build a healthy spine and body, give Eastern Oklahoma Chiropractic a call today at 918-940-4630.

The post How Does a Chiropractor Help to Treat Scoliosis? first appeared on Chiropractor Broken Arrow.

With travel, though, often comes extra strain on backs and necks. We advise our patients at Eastern Oklahoma Chiropractic that good travel habits, along with keeping the spine in healthy alignment with regular chiropractic care, are the ticket to a pain-free trip.

How Travel Stresses Your Back and Neck

Experts estimate that up to 80% of people eventually suffer from back pain. Hours of travel spent sitting in cars, planes, and trains, plus handling heavy suitcases, make back pain even more likely. Prolonged sitting keeps your spine in a restricted posture. This places increased stress on spinal discs, muscles, and joints and causes leg swelling and joint stiffness.

Traveling is also stressful and tiring, putting you more at risk for muscle and joint strain.

Fortunately, there’s a lot you can do to prevent discomfort on your next trip.

Tips for Protecting Your Back While Traveling

Movement is your key to improving circulation to the spine and minimizing tension in your lower back and hips. 

Exercise in your seat. Car and plane passengers can perform gentle neck and leg stretch. A good one for the neck: tilt your ear toward your shoulder. Hold for 15-30 seconds. 

On car trips: 

Make frequent stops. Take a break at least every one to three hours so you can walk around.

Support your back. If your seat doesn’t have built-in lumbar support, bring a travel pillow or place a rolled-up towel behind your lower back. 

If you’re the driver: adjust the steering wheel to avoid leaning forward. Use cruise control, so your legs aren’t fixed in one position for the whole drive.

For airplane travel:

Pack light and use wheeled luggage. When lifting bags, bend at the knees and avoid twisting movements. 

Keep your body evenly balanced in the airport security line, with weight on both feet. Backpacks should remain on your back or on the floor, not on one shoulder.

Walk around the gate area. While waiting for your flight to be called, stay on your feet—don’t sit before you have to! 

Request an aisle seat to get up for a stroll every hour or two easily. 

Bring a neck pillow to avoid neck strain while napping.

Sit with good posture and feet flat on the floor. Don’t cross your legs–this can reduce blood flow to legs and cause stiffness in muscles.

Chiropractic Care Prepares You for Travel

A spine out of alignment is more vulnerable to injury caused by travel stresses on the body. Chiropractic adjustments manipulate your spine to improve mobility and stability.

Regular visits to your chiropractor for adjustments, rehabilitative exercises, massage therapy, and other treatments help you head into your journey with a strong spine.

Contact Eastern Oklahoma Chiropractic Today to Schedule Your Complimentary Consultation

Our friendly team in Broken Arrow is here to help. Give us a call at 918-940-4630. 

The post How to Keep Your Back in Good Shape While Traveling first appeared on Chiropractor Broken Arrow.

We all have freedom to make choices about our health habits, and the decisions can sometimes be overwhelming.  Looking at research results can help you make the most beneficial choices. One choice that pays off is maintaining a healthy spine. This care improves quality of life and your ability to withstand injuries or illnesses, as well as occasional lapses in good lifestyle habits.

Eastern Oklahoma Chiropractic provides spinal and wellness care that helps you achieve balance in your spine and in living your best life.

Chiropractic Care’s Role in a Healthy and Balanced Lifestyle

Chiropractic care works hand-in-hand with your healthiest habits, sharing the same goals as tried-and-true best practices, such as:

Getting regular exercise. Moving every day reduces stress, helps you fight off illness, reduces pain, and improves mobility.

Eating well. Veggies, fruits, lean proteins, and whole grains boost your immune system, keep weight down, and improve energy. A well-aligned spine and healthy nervous system add value by helping your body process all those nutritious foods you’re eating.

Keeping your body pain-free with chiropractic adjustments. Chronic pain takes a huge toll on quality of life, slowing down your ability to exercise, think clearly, and avoid depression. With pain relief, many patients report that their overall health improves.

A healthy spine can enhance your nervous system function, relieve joint swelling, increase flexibility and strength, improve focus, and bring many other health benefits.

Chiropractic Maintenance Produces Lasting Improvement, Research Shows

A study of patients with chronic lower back pain explored the effectiveness of spinal manipulation therapy, with and without follow-up maintenance care.

Researchers divided patients into three groups:

• The placebo group receiving 12 sham spinal treatments during a one-month period
• The second group getting 12 authentic spinal adjustments in one month
• The third group also receiving 12 real chiropractic adjustments during that month, plus maintenance treatments every other week for the next nine months

The results showed that patients in the second and third groups, who got real spinal therapy, achieved lower disability and pain levels than those in the placebo group.

Best outcome: At a 10-month follow-up, only the third group that had been receiving maintenance care showed lasting improvements in their pain and disability levels.

The results were clear: single chiropractic treatments are effective; however, people who received chiropractic maintenance therapies had the best long-term improvements.

A Healthy Spine Improves Quality of Life

Once your spine is aligned, regular care helps to keep it working properly. Daily activities cause tension that can gradually shift vertebrae out of alignment. Picking up children, sleeping in the wrong position, sitting at a desk (or being on your feet) most of the day—these are just a few of the things that can throw alignment off.

Chiropractic care is conservative, preventive health care, focusing on wellness for body and mind and the balance you need to live your life to its fullest.

Contact Eastern Oklahoma Chiropractic for Your Complimentary Visit

To schedule your appointment at our Broken Arrow office, give us a call today at 918-940-4630.

The post Regular Chiropractic Care Keeps Your Body in a Healthy Balance first appeared on Chiropractor Broken Arrow.

Research shows the health of a spinal joint directly connects to the organ’s alignment and mobility. Decreased spinal joint mobility accelerates the degenerative process and diminishes the joint’s strength and functional capability. The biggest challenge of spinal joint degeneration comes from the permanency attached to the process. Spinal joint degeneration cannot be reversed and continues to worsen if not addressed appropriately. Chiropractors stop the degenerative process by improving alignment and mobility in specific joints through Chiropractic adjustments.

A study completed in 2010 helped to confirm the damaging effects of hypo (decreased) mobility in the spine. When spinal joints lost appropriate mobility for at least eight weeks, scar tissue adhesions formed within the joint. Joint scar tissue adhesions make up the early stage of degeneration. Chiropractic adjustments reduce adhesion formation in an offending joint by inducing motion into the spinal segment. An absence of joint movement produces long-lasting adhesion formation which eventually turns into one of the most prevalent and degenerative conditions known as osteoarthritis.

Osteoarthritis of the spine torments large numbers of people with one of the most significant causes of persistent pain and disability in the world today. Osteoarthritis has become so common that many assume degeneration simple exists as part of the normal aging process. The plague of osteoarthritis advances quickly and often deforms and disables spinal function. Up to fifty percent of individuals experience arthritic back pain at some point in their lives. Back pain represents a common plague on health, yet limited information and solutions await people suffering from the development of lumbar spine degeneration. The projected number of older adults with arthritis or other chronic musculoskeletal joint symptoms is expected to nearly double from 21.4 million in 2005 to 41.1 million by 2030 in the U.S.

The progression of persistent pain and disability due to osteoarthritis also appear to dramatically increase in the coming years. The most commonly accepted solution in the current health care model involves the use of dangerous opioids. Conventional allopathic medicine carries little information or solutions to help reduce the progression of this disease process. Chiropractic represents one of the only true solutions which address the cause of the problem. Focusing on the maintenance of the mechanical workings of the spine serves as the most effective approach to preventing degenerative wear and tear of the human spine. Normalizing car axle alignment produces a great metaphor to describe the value of Chiropractic adjustments for improving the degenerative process. People certainly take an avid interest in ensuring their vehicle’s performance and value do not unnecessarily deteriorate. A person’s spine and long-term health deserve so much more than a replaceable vehicle. Chiropractic works.

The post Spinal Health and Car Alignment: Reduced Degeneration Occurs Through Spinal Adjustments first appeared on Chiropractor Broken Arrow.

Over 80% of people experience low back pain at some point in their life. Total costs relating to low back pain estimate at greater than $100 billion annually. Two-thirds of that $100 billion comes from decreased wages and productivity in the workplace. Back pain disrupts life, work, and overall performance. Chiropractic care can reduce medical cost overall.

How prevalent is back pain?

25% of the U.S. population between the ages of 18 to 44 experience back pain. 20% of Americans in that same demographic also experience headaches on a regular basis. The direct costs tied to back and neck pain escalated over the previous twenty years. Back problems account for tens of billions in lost wages every year. These statistics speak to the importance of Chiropractic for every working American.

Back pain results in missed work

A medical study conducted in 2011 evaluated the effectiveness of three different solutions intended to help patients suffering with low back pain in the workplace. The study tracked 894 cases and evaluated the long-term effectiveness of each solution. Chiropractors, medical doctors, and physical therapists represented three different care providers tasked with relieving low back pain. Each practitioner provided their unique care based on specific patient findings and needs. The results determined that Chiropractic patients accrued less expensive medical services and a shorter initial period of disability than cases treated by the other providers. Chiropractic patients also experienced fewer surgeries and used fewer opiate drugs.

The findings support Chiropractic care as costing less while producing greater results. An additional outcome showed that even when a Chiropractic patient experienced a relapse of back pain, the occurrence took place an average of 29 days later than subjects treated by a physical therapist or medical doctor.

Chiropractic for the win!!

Study results clearly dictate that Chiropractic represents the first and best option for anyone with low back pain. Patients who begin Chiropractic care for low back pain usually experience improvement in overall health and function. The reasoning traces to the spines intimate connection with the brain and central nervous system. An adjustment influences countless aspects of health and performance from blood pressure to organ function. Chiropractic began changing lives for the better nearly 125 years ago. People of all ages share testimonies which speak to the power of regular Chiropractic adjustments. Better heart function, improved immunity, enhanced breathing and digestion, and miraculous changes in reproductive health represent a few of the many areas of restoration empowered by Chiropractic. On the job or at home with the family, Chiropractic works.

The post Chiropractic Proven to Reduce Medical Cost, Disability, and Frequency of Missed Work first appeared on Chiropractor Broken Arrow.

Research shows that a loss of neck curvature increases the likelihood of a disc herniation. A study also showed that appropriate correction and restoration to the neck curve produced lower rates and degrees of disc problems. Chiropractic care offers the least invasive and most effective way to increase neck mobility, alignment, and restoration of good neck curvature.

Forward head posture represents one of the most significant reasons for a decrease in proper neck curvature

Sitting, texting, repetitive computer work, sedentary lifestyles, motor vehicle accidents, and other physical traumas serve as the primary culprits of forward head posture. Each of these conditions reduce neck curve, leaving the spine weaker and more vulnerable to stress. The trauma also increases pressure on the pads (discs) between each vertebra.

Discs operate similar to shocks on a car

They absorb the pressure of daily wear and tear. Discs are made of cartilage, water, and a gel-like substance in the center for added protection. As alignment of the spine becomes altered, the gel-like nucleus in the middle of the disc becomes slightly displaced. This forces pressure on the side of the disc and stresses the cartilage. Consistent adversity produces tears in the cartilage and forces the gel-like substance to slightly protrude or bulge through the side of the disc resulting in a disc herniation. Herniations come in a variety of sizes. Smaller herniations tend to be referred to as more of a bulge than a herniation. Yet every herniation leaves the spine weakened and extremely vulnerable to stress and pressure.

Reduced neck curve equals increased disc herniations

New research shows that altered spinal alignment, particularly reduced neck curvature, decreases disc height and increases rates of disc herniations. The generative process often occurs with no pain. Chiropractors and other spine specialists use expert testing and technology to check for disc space abnormalities or other problems before pain arrives. A proactive approach proves vital to long term functionality. Spinal alignment plays a vital role in the health, durability, and longevity of the spine. Chiropractors promote the importance of spinal correction and restoration without drugs or surgery.

Chiropractic to the rescue!!

Chiropractors comprise the only natural health providers who focus specifically on detecting and correcting spinal movement, alignment, and nervous system function. Regular chiropractic care helps improve spinal alignment and ensures better curvature, resulting in greater strength, durability, increased disc space, and less risk of disc bulges and herniations. The long-term benefit cannot be measured. Every person deserves a healthy spine and future.

The post Patients with Reduced Neck Curve Experience an Increased Frequency of Disc Herniation first appeared on Chiropractor Broken Arrow.

The bones and joints of the spine exist to move while protecting the spinal cord. Regular spinal adjustments reduce the slow, steady degenerative changes which occur in the spine with age. Movement helps create a strong, well-functioning relationship within a joint. The spine consists of close to 40% of the joints found in the entire body. Chiropractic care ensures that every joint is aligned and moving optimally.

Specific nerve firing triggers into the brain and central nervous system when a spinal vertebra loses normal positioning and mobility. The body responds by experiencing stress in areas of the body specific to the parts of the spine being affected. The spinal joint becomes compromised while the brain experiences neurological interference and deficit. Research shows that degenerative changes begin occurring within hours and days of a vertebra losing the ability to move properly.

A direct relationship exists between immobile joints and escalated wear. A study which used animals as subjects recorded an increase in scar tissue around areas of immobility in the spine. The scar tissue created adhesions that reduced mobility even further. The deterioration eventually reached a period of time when bony changes began to take form. The onset of irreversible damage due to immobility occurred in as little as four to eight weeks. Appropriate assessment and regular movement proved critical to avoiding the degenerative process.

Chiropractic adjustments help reduce degeneration and improve mobility by creating motion in fixated bones of the spine (called subluxations). Regular adjustments and movement in these subluxations re-establish mobility and gently breaking up adhesions. Every individual maintains a unique threshold for adhesion formation and permanent degenerative change. The study highlights the need for regular assessment of spinal joints to address any fixated vertebra.

Subluxations and immobility in the spine lasting longer than four to eight weeks run a higher risk of permanent degenerative change. Implementing a health care plan that involves regular Chiropractic adjustments ensure the long-term health of the spine and body. Waiting for pain and discomfort to form in joints tends to signal advanced stages which cannot be fully restored. Chiropractors recommend proactive care of the spine and nervous system to ensure long term health, mobility, and quality of life for the whole family.

The post Adjustments Improve Mobility and Minimize the Degenerative Process first appeared on Chiropractor Broken Arrow.

Low-impact accidents cause early aging, degeneration, and wear and tear in the spine. Seemingly benign accidents occur at very low speeds or impact. Many symptom-filled people express surprise at the amount of degeneration and wear and tear present in their spine. Most determine that they cannot recall an isolated event severe enough to cause long-term damage. Yet research shows that even low-impact motor vehicle accidents still produce significant negative changes in the spine which include disc degeneration, bulges, and protrusions. Each of these conditions contributes to pain and discomfort easily treated by proactive health care treatment.

Researchers evaluated one-hundred, normal asymptomatic adults and compared them to one-hundred adult accident victims following rear low-impact motor vehicle accidents using an MRI. The ages ranged from eighteen to fifty-three years old with a median age of thirty-five years. Asymptomatic means the subjects experienced no symptoms. This study evaluated one group of 100 normal spines of individuals with no pain or symptoms and compared them to a group of 100 people involved in a low-impact motor vehicle accident within the previous 1214 weeks.

The following four categories help explain the results of the study:

                                                                100 Normal Subjects                                                      100 Whiplash Victims
Loss of good neck curvature                        4%                                                                                             98%

Frontward range of motion                 50 degrees                                                                                25 degrees

Backward range of motion                  60 degrees                                                                                35 degrees

Disc Herniations                                             2%                                                                                             28%

The study demonstrates that low impact accidents of any type can and will create significant problems in the spine which must be addressed. Some problems even occur without the presence of immediate symptoms but translate into permanent injuries after the body’s natural pain adaptation abilities deteriorate. Subjects in a low impact car accident lost 50% more range of motion in their spine, suffered twenty-five times more loss of proper neck curvature, and experienced fourteen times more disc herniations than those who had not been in a recent car accident.

The findings of this study demonstrate why anyone in any type of motor vehicle accident, high or low impact, needs to have their spine evaluated and cared for immediately following the accident. Chiropractors deliver gentle adjustments which improve spinal range of motion, halt or slow the degenerate process, and improve central nervous system function. Even the lowest speed car accidents and traumas possess the ability to create permanent spinal problems and degeneration. A proactive approach to spine and neck care creates the opportunity to halt or reverse pain and long-term health concerns. Accidents happen but Chiropractic helps repair the damage.

The post The Most Gentle Car Accidents Still Cause Whiplash Damage: Chiropractic Offers a Healthy Solution first appeared on Chiropractor Broken Arrow.

Billions of people use cell phones daily all over the world. The majority of cell phone usage occurs with the spine and neck in a flexed position of poor posture. Extended use of a cell phone with the head in forward flexion creates a variety of unwanted health challenges. Those numbers continue to rise at unprecedented rates. As a result, doctors created terminology for new conditions and diagnoses specific to this growing epidemic. Proper care for the spine and neck prove essential to overall health. Strategies exist to counteract the stressors attributed to text neck and computer posture.

Cell phone usage continues to increase globally.

A study performed in 2014 evaluated the effects of forward head posture due to the stresses of cell phones and other technology devices. The findings showed that computer screens, tablets, and cell phone use create forward head posture.  Over time, this adds significant stress to the spine which leads to early degeneration. Loss of the natural curve in the neck leads to incrementally increased stresses on the cervical (neck) spine. The study determined that increased stress may lead to early wear, tear, and degeneration.  As a result, the stress leads to an increased potential need for future surgeries.

Poor posture defined.

Poor posture invariably occurs with the head in a tilted forward position and the shoulders drooping forward in a rounded position. The average person spends 2 to 4 hours a day with their head tilted forward for reading and texting on phones and other electronic devices. This amounts to 7001400 hours of excess of abnormal cervical spine stress per year. Research shows the average high school student spends more time on their phone accounting for an extra 5000 hours of poor posture per year.

Proper posture defined.

Good upper spine and body posture begins with the ears aligned with the shoulders and the scapula retracted. With proper alignment, spinal stress diminishes. Good posture creates less wear and tear on the spine and discs while creating an environment that translates into other health benefits. Elevated levels of testosterone, increases in serotonin, and decreased levels of cortisol represent a few additional health benefits attributed to better posture. Poor posture contributes to reductions in each of those categories. Regular Chiropractic adjustments combine with good posture habits to help reduce the stressors of text neck and computer posture. Three specific action steps help minimize the risk of spine and onerous system stress due to phone and computer usage. Take the necessary action steps to avoid the long-term outcomes of this worldwide epidemic while still enjoying the benefits that technology affords.

3 Action Steps to Minimize the Risks of Neck and Spine Abnormalities Due to Text Neck

1) Stay on track with a Chiropractic Adjustment Plan – adjustments reduce wear and tear in the joints and discs, lower tension in muscles, and improve the function of the nervous system.

2) Utilize Good Posture Habits and tools to support spinal curves and posture.

3) Drink More Water – forces routine movement and trips to the bathroom every 60-90 minutes.

The post Wear and Tear from Texting Leads to Spinal Degeneration… Take steps to avoid the dangers of “Text Neck” and Computer Posture first appeared on Chiropractor Broken Arrow.