A healthy person needs 30 to 50 ounces of fluid per day, according to Harvard Health. Take a trip to the water cooler to get moving and stay hydrated. For additional tips on proper hydration, contact your doctor of chiropractic!

1157 Fairport Road
Fairport, NY 14450
585-381-7724

Working from Home

With so many people working from home these days to maintain social distancing from their colleagues, many are developing musculoskeletal pain. Improving posture and ergonomics is a proactive way to take care of your body while working remotely.

“I have received countless calls from people who developed musculoskeletal pain soon after beginning work from home,” said ACA member Karen Erickson, DC, who practices in New York City. “Upon careful analysis, we found a common cause: working on a desktop, laptop or cell phone with poor posture or a poor ergonomic set-up.”

Dr. Erickson says postural imbalance is one of the most common reasons patients seek help from chiropractors. “Most of us slouch, text constantly, tip our head and hold our phone to our ear, and sit at the computer all day with our shoulders and neck rounded forward with legs crossed,” she explains. “Our bodies are suffering.”

To reduce stress on the body, the American Chiropractic Association (ACA) recommends the following work-from-home tips:

· You might need a quiet room to work or specialized software that keeps you pinned to your desk. For everything else, identify a few places in your home where you can work, and change body position and location throughout the day. Find ways to work standing, walking and sitting.

· Sit in a good chair—even a wooden one—on your sit bones (the bones at the very bottom of your pelvis), with a little arch in your low back. Avoid the slouch, that half-sitting, half-lying position so many use to lounge on the sofa or in bed. If you want to work in bed or on the sofa, sit up on your sit bones.

· When sitting, put both feet on the floor with a right angle at your knees. Avoid crossing legs or tucking in feet. Good posture means the bones carry the weight of your body. Aligning your posture lets your bones do the work, not your muscles. This prevents muscle spasm, pain and inflammation. It can even prevent nerve pain and headaches.

· Use a keyboard tray and pull it out over your lap. If you use a laptop, use it as a screen only, placing it at eye level with a stand or a stack of books. Get a remote keyboard to use with a keyboard tray.

· To avoid neck pain, keep your screen at eye level whether you use a laptop or monitor. Put books underneath your monitor to raise it or use a stand, if necessary.

· Shoulders should be dropped and relaxed, with elbows hanging down, centered at the seam line of your shirt. Don’t use the keyboard with your elbows reaching forward. This could cause isometric spasm in your neck and/or shoulders and arms, leading to pain and inflammation.

· Keep your sternum or breastbone lifted. This keeps your torso, head and shoulders erect. Letting the sternum collapse down will pull the head forward and compresses your torso.

· Avoid forward head position. Keep your head erect, in line with your torso. Keep your screen at eye level. For every inch your head is forward it increases the weight on your upper back and neck by 10 pounds! If you use a cell phone, rest your elbows on your chest and hold the phone at eye level.

· Use a telephone headset so you don’t have to crunch your neck when using the phone.

· Remember to take several exercise breaks throughout the day, even if only to empty the dishwasher, put in a load of laundry, climb the stairs a few times, do yoga, get in some planks and squats, dance, or take a short walk.

Don’t be surprised if you catch yourself with poor posture several times a day. As your habits change, Dr. Erickson says you’ll be able to spot poor posture right away and fix it. “If you catch yourself slumping,” she adds, “just chuckle and think, ‘I can fix this.’ And fix it. Done!”

Fairport Chiropractic1157 Fairport Road
Fairport, NY 14450
585-381-7724

How Does Chiropractic Work For Headaches?

Headaches are one of the most common complaints that we see at our office. Although there are many causes of headaches we have found that many different types of headaches originate from mechanical problems in the neck. Some headaches such as migraine and cluster headaches are related to vascular problems. These often include nausea and/or vomiting and can be quite disabling and require rest in a dark, quiet place sometimes for a half or a whole day. Other headaches can be categorized as "tension" headaches. These usually result from tightness in the muscles in the neck and upper back caused from stress, work, lack of sleep, sinusitis, trauma such as whiplash, and others. Pain can be felt in the upper neck or the back of the head as well as in the frontal, sinus region, top or sides of the head. It can vary from a throbbing pain to an ache to just a constant pain.

What most people don’t realize is that mechanical dysfunction of the vertebrae of the neck will cause increased muscle tension as well as irritate the delicate nerves that control blood flow into the head. Improving the movement or alignment of the bones in the neck can relieve the pressure and irritation that results in headaches. How do we get misalignments or dysfunction in the joints of the neck? This can be due to trauma such as falls or car accidents. Repetitive stress such as hours of work on a computer, poor posture or stress can also take a toll over time. In many patients it is a combination of activities that took place often years before which has led to chronic and recurring headaches. The examination evaluates these issues as well as attempts to rule out other more serious causes, which can occur but are more rare.

A thorough evaluation will be performed so headache patients can be properly managed. Treatment approaches include: adjustments, soft tissue therapy (trigger point stimulation, myofascial work), posture correction exercises and other exercises, education about job modifications, co-management with other health care providers, if medication or injection therapy is needed.

Fairport Chiropractic1157 Fairport Road
Fairport, NY 14450
585-381-7724

Chiropractic care can improve mobility in seniors.

Fairport Chiropractic1157 Fairport Road
Fairport, NY 14450
585-381-7724

Winter fitness: Safety tips for exercising outdoors

Dressing in layers, protecting your hands and feet, and paying attention to the forecast can help you stay safe and warm while exercising outdoors in cold weather.

Frigid temperatures can discourage even the most motivated exercisers. Without motivation, it’s easy to pack away your workout gear for the winter. But you don’t have to let cold weather spell the end of your fitness routine. Try these tips for exercising during cold weather to stay fit, motivated and warm.

Stay safe during cold-weather exercise

Exercise is safe for almost everyone, even in cold weather. But if you have certain conditions, such as asthma, heart problems or Raynaud’s disease, check with your doctor first to review any special precautions you need based on your condition or your medications.

The following tips can help you stay safe and warm while exercising in the cold.

· Check weather conditions and wind chill

· Know the signs of frostbite and hypothermia

· Dress in layers

· Protect your head, hands, feet and ears

· Don’t forget safety gear — and sunscreen

· Drink plenty of fluids

Putting it all together for cold-weather safety

These tips can help you safely and enjoyably exercise when temperatures drop. Closely monitor how your body feels during cold-weather exercise to help prevent injuries such as frostbite.

Consider shortening your outdoor workout or skipping it altogether during weather extremes, and know when to head home and warm up. Also, be sure to let someone know your exercise route and your expected return time, in case something does go wrong.

Fairport Chiropractic1157 Fairport Road
Fairport, NY 14450
585-381-7724

Chronic spinal pain is prevalent and long-lasting. According to a new study in Pain Physician, frequent chiropractic visits may improve chronic low back and neck pain – an important finding for payers when they build coverage policies for ongoing chiropractic care for patients with chronic pain. #ThinkChiropractic

Fairport Chiropractic1157 Fairport Road
Fairport, NY 14450
585-381-7724

Americans Taking More Prescription Drugs Than Ever

A new survey finds 55% of Americans regularly take a prescription medicine – and they’re taking more than ever. Those who use prescription drugs take four, on average, and many take over-the-counter drugs. But many of those pills may be unnecessary and might do more harm than good. Among those who take prescription drugs, 53% get them from more than one health care provider, which increases the risk of adverse drug effects. More than a third say no provider has reviewed their medicines to see if all are necessary. Forty-nine percent of survey respondents asked their prescribers whether they could stop taking a drug, and 71% were able to eliminate at least one. The number of prescriptions filled for American adults and children rose 85% between 1997 and 2016, from 2.4 billion to 4.5 billion a year. During that time the U.S. population rose 21%.

Fairport Chiropractic1157 Fairport Road
Fairport, NY 14450
585-381-7724

Tips for Snow Shoveling

Snow shoveling is one of the more common causes of back injuries during the winter months. However, this type of injury is preventable if you know the best ways to remove snow without straining the back. The following snow removal tips can help you to avoid low back injuries and pain during the snowy winter season.

Pick The Right Shovel

· An ergonomic snow shovel can help take some of the effort out of snow removal chores.

· A shovel with a curved handle or an adjustable handle length will minimize painful bending, requiring you to bend your knees only slightly and arch your back very slightly while keeping the shovel blade on the ground.

Warm Up Thoroughly

· Cold, tight muscles are more prone to injury than warmed up, flexible muscles. Do your back a favor by warming up for five to ten minutes before shoveling or any strenuous activity.

· Stretch your low back and hamstrings (the large muscles in the back of the thigh) with some gentle stretching exercises.

Use Ergonomic Lifting Techniques

· Whenever possible, push the snow to one side rather than lifting it.

· Bend at the hips, not the low back, and push the chest out, pointing forward. Then, bend your knees and lift with your leg muscles, keeping your back straight.

· Keep your loads light and do not lift an object that is too heavy for you.

· If you must lift a shovel full, grip the shovel with one hand as close to the blade as comfortably possible and the other hand on the handle (handle and arm length will vary the technique).

· Avoid twisting the back to move the snow to its new location – always pivot your whole body to face the new direction.

· Walk to the new location to deposit the item rather than reaching or tossing.

Pace Yourself

· Shoveling small amounts of snow frequently is less strenuous than shoveling a large pile at once.

• In deep snow, remove a few inches off the top at a time, rather than attempting to shovel the full depth at once.

· When shoveling, take frequent short breaks.

Keeping these guidelines in mind during the winter season will lessen the chances of developing new back problems or worsening your low back pain while shoveling, and hopefully make your winter a healthier and more enjoyable experience.

Fairport Chiropractic1157 Fairport Road
Fairport, NY 14450
585-381-7724

Eat the rainbow for enhanced health.

Consult your doctor of chiropractic about the variety of ways to enhance your health.

#ThinkChiropractic

Fairport Chiropractic1157 Fairport Road
Fairport, NY 14450
585-381-7724

Welcome to Fun Fact Fridays

FACT:

Spider webs were used as bandages in ancient times.*

Fairport Chiropractic1157 Fairport Road
Fairport, NY 14450
585-381-7724