health
Yes! If you are unfamiliar with chiropractic care you may be shocked to learn how spinal health dictates many of your body’s function. Headaches are a common problem that can be alleviated through chiropractic care.
Your spine controls the majority of your body, and interweaves with the functionality of you nervous system. When vertebrae are not moving as best as possible they can irritate the nerves causing pain and discomfort. Also, the nerves that come out of the spine go to all the internal organs. If you have an irritated nerve that goes into your stomach, it can make your stomach feel upset, even creating a nausea.
Indigestion and Acid Reflux
Indigestion and acid reflux are common health issues that millions of people struggle with on a daily basis. You may be unaware that an irritated nerve could cause your indigestion or acid reflux. If you have an irritation on a nerve that is going into your stomach, that nerve also goes into the middle back, so not only do you have middle back pain, but you may start noticing indigestion or added acid building up.
Chiropractic care identifies regions in the spine where the joints are not moving optimally, corrects those joints restoring motion, thus taking the pressure off of the nerve, which in turn makes the pain dissipate and relieves the nerve restoring its functionality and health. When pinched nerves compromise spine health, the nerves in turn send out messages of pain that can affect your entire body. Chiropractic care relieves the tension, which relieves the nerve, which relieve the problem.
Mental Health
In many cases mental health is just as important as physical health. If you are not feeling physically healthy due to neck or back pain, you are most likely not feeling mentally strong either. Neck and back pain can limit you by preventing activities you used to enjoy, or jeopardizing your interest in partaking in social events due to feeling unwell. This can take a huge toll on you psychologically.
This can snowball into a dark depression that could unhinge your life. Chiropractic care can relieve your physical pain, giving you back your life.
Chiropractic Pillow
Neck pain and sleeping habits
Sleeping incorrectly can put your spine into some pretty awkward positions—ones you hold for hours at a time. It’s no wonder poor sleeping habits can contribute to chronic back and neck pain.
If you’re regularly waking up with a painful kink in your neck, it may be time to examine your sleep routine. The first place to start is making sure you have the right pillow.
Choosing the right pillow size
When it comes to choosing a pillow to reduce neck pain, the only thing that really matters is finding the right size.
The goal is to keep your head and neck in a neutral position. This means keeping your neck parallel to your mattress.
If you sleep on your side (the best sleep position for your spine, since it maintains the natural curvature), a pillow that is too thin will force your neck into a downward position. This position can put pressure on the nerves in your neck and can cause tingling in your arms, and can potentially make carpal tunnel issues worse. Just stacking pillows on top of one another can force your neck into an upward angle, causing similar problems.
If you sleep on your back (the second-best sleep position for your spine, and the best option if you have issues with your shoulders), you’ll run into similar problems with pillows that are too flat or too high. It’s best to find one pillow that’s the right fit.
(Incidentally, if you sleep on your stomach, your pillow may not be the only cause of your neck pain! Sleeping on your stomach can cause you to twist your neck in an unnatural position, so we recommend you train yourself to sleep on your side or back instead.)
Shopping for the right pillow
When you go shopping for a new pillow, take someone with you. It’s important to make sure the pillow keeps your head and neck parallel to the bed, so you may need to test it in the store and have another person observe how everything lines up.
There are also adjustable pillows that can make this fitting process easier. One of the pillows we often recommend for patients with neck pain is the Chiroflow, a very comfortable and supportive pillow which includes a water compartment you can fill to the appropriate height for you.
You don’t need to spend a fortune on a neck-friendly pillow. If you can find a cheap pillow at Kmart for $10, as long as it’s the right size it should do the job—just be prepared to replace it often. Higher-quality pillows will cost more, but they’re likely to hold their shape longer.
If you have any questions about finding the right pillow or about your sleep habits in general, be sure to ask Dr. Maggio at your next appointment—he’ll be happy to steer you in the right direction!
Photo credits: Esben Bøg via Compfight cc and ▲brian james via photopin cc
Neck Pain and Headaches
In Virginia Beach,Virginia Dr. Maggio is a practicing chiropractor and has been in practice since 1995. Over this time he has treated patients for many different conditions but typically low back, neck pain, arthritis, disc issues and headaches.
Most people now use laptops, ipads or tablets instead of a traditional desktop computer. There are major problems with that because as you notice when you use a laptop or an ipad your head is constantly facing down. The proper posture for using a laptop is you should be sitting straight up and down with your feet, thighs, spine and eyes all at right angles to the computer screen looking straight ahead into the computer is what works best.
Unfortunately with laptops and tablets you can’t do this because the keyboards and monitors are attached. One thing you can do to modify your laptop is to put your laptop on a raised stand so that when you are seated your eye level is perfectly straight. You can also purchase (for a relatively inexpensive cost) a keyboard and mouse so that you can put those on a pull out keyboard tray on your desk. This will prevent you from leaning forward to use you tablet. Use as large of a screen as possible, don’t slouch, and prop your feet up all of that makes a great formula for proper posture when using a laptop computer.
