6 Tips for Safeguarding Your Spinal Health

Your spine is one of your body’s greatest assets and investing in your spinal health is essential. Learn what key steps you can take for preventive care. Incorporating these habits, lifestyle changes, and checks can keep your back supporting you in what you love to do today and into the future. The following 6 tips can help you safeguard your spinal health now and into the future.

Develop Good Posture Habits

30 percent of our day is spent at work, and another 33 percent sleeping. This equates to a great deal of time either sitting, standing or lying down. If these activities are executed with poor posture, we invite injury and pain into our lives that could have been easily avoided.  Sitting and standing puts a tremendous amount of pressure on your lower back. Standing exerts up to five times more pressure than lying down, and sitting is even more strenuous.  Forcing your lower back to carry this extra pressure causes the upper body to shift forward when you are sitting making the back muscles strain to hold you upright. Slouching increases pressure on your lower back 10 to 15 times more than lying down, and hunching tenses muscles in the neck and upper back. If these pressures are not relieved, injury and chronic pain are often the result.  Our team at Texas Spine and Sports Therapy Center can evaluate your current posture and help teach you where and how to improve.

Invest in Good Shoes

Consult with an expert on the state of your shoes.  Experts can tell by looking at the soles of your shoes if you need to replace them or switch to a more supportive shoe. Worn out shoes, or ill-fitting shoes, are one of the leading causes of injury among runners, athletes and people that are on their feet for long periods of time.  Also, take the time to make sure you are exercising proper form in your activities to protect your back–and other soft tissues–from impact or repetitive use injuries. Poor technique that torques your body or twists your legs upon impact with the ground can injure your tendons, ligaments and soft tissues as well.

Improve Your Core Strength

One of the best ways to prevent back injuries is by working to strengthen your core muscles in your abdominals and back.  These muscles work to support your spine and keep your body stable and balanced.  When your core muscles are weak, or there is an imbalance in the strength of your muscles, you are more likely to suffer back-related injuries and pain.  The back is a common place for pain to occur because of the number of muscles involved to allow you to stand and move.  Your tendons attach your muscles to your bones, your ligaments work to keep your vertebrae together, and your muscles protect your spine while holding your body in place.  Working to keep these elements strong through muscle-strengthening exercises, good posture, and maintaining a healthy weight will allow you to combat back injuries and pain before they strike.

Invest in Reliable Sleeping Support

On average, you will spend 8 hours of your day laying on a mattress. You rely on this mattress to provide your spine with the support it needs to get you through your next day.  If your mattress isn’t structured to support your body frame, weight and sleeping patterns, or if it has become less effective from years of use, it may trigger spinal problems and pain.  WebMd offers some great advice on picking a mattress for optimum spinal health. Much of your success with mattress selection depends on the pressure points that mattress works to resolve. If your mattress is activating pressure points, it is failing you. When you lie on a mattress you should feel you are floating on air–no pressure points should be noticeable.  If you are waking with lower back pain, chances are your mattress needs to be replaced.

Incorporate Regular Massage Therapy

Massage therapy provides you with an hands-on approach for protecting and treating your spine.  Massage therapy helps to restore circulation to the compromised parts of your body that are limiting sensation or functionality.  Massage therapy also feeds your system with naturally-made chemicals that help your body cope with pain and inflammation.  Improved circulation, higher serotonin levels, increased range of motion, and an overall feeling of improved mood and well-being are some of the results of massage therapy.

Commit to Regular Chiropractic Care

Doctors of chiropractic care are spinal experts who are trained specifically on the health of the spine and nerves. The spine and spinal nerves are part of a complex system that takes years to understand.  If you have received care from other doctors who were unable to deliver the results you needed, our clinic in Austin could change your life.The chiropractic doctors of Texas Spine & Sports Therapy Center are expertly trained with finding and treating displaced vertebrae and subluxations.  Misaligned spines interfere with your body’s normal functioning and long-term health.

What Sets Us Apart from the Rest?

Texas Spine & Sports Therapy Center is an advanced Non-Surgical Spinal Decompression Center, Sports Medicine, Class IV laser, and Chiropractic Center. Dr. Shaner D.C. provides the most innovative and effective non-surgical treatments available. Chiropractic adjustments are exact, corrective, gentle, and safe for all types of conditions and all ages. Chiropractors are dedicated to natural, drug-free, and non-invasive medical treatments to boost your body’s recuperative abilities.

Call for a Spinal Health Evaluation and  Consultation

Spinal health evaluations and consultations can help you prevent serious injuries and support optimal spinal health.  Texas Spine and Sports Therapy Center provides you with the team approach you need to get to your desired goals safely and efficiently.  Conveniently located Near Seton Hospital on 38th Street in Austin, Texas, our team of multidisciplinary providers are trained and skilled to provide you with the treatment you seek.  Call us at (512) 806-0015 today to make an appointment.