Posts Tagged ‘chiropractor westwood’
An Introduction to Musculoskeletal Medicine
Understanding your body to understand your pain
No matter how far science has come, we are still only at the precipice of our understanding of pain. Even with a proper diagnosis, the best known treatment may not work for everyone. What’s worse is that many people will never get a proper diagnosis before starting on a, “magic bullet,” treatment plan that they found on the internet. Because pain is often intangible, a vacuum has opened in which a host of unqualified “health writers” and less-than-ethical doctors will offer you anything to drive business.
We believe that anyone already suffering from chronic pain should not suffer further by wasting time, energy and money on treatments that promise everything and deliver nothing. At OFW Chiropractic, we believe that understanding the musculoskeletal form of a human is the best way to understand and treat that human’s chronically recurring pain.
Filtering Stress: In With the Good While Keeping Out the Bad
Stress is necessary to live
But the energy-endowing, problem-solving, survival instinct elements of stress have a dark side; they can take more than they give. You’ve heard people say life is all about balance; we would argue that managing good and bad stress, and how much of it is present in your daily life is a life-defining type of balance. Some studies suggest that there is a perfect amount of stress, but few of us know how to find or maintain it.
How to Avoid the Dreaded Back Spasm
The dreaded back spasm
Many adults are familiar with the sudden, involuntary tightening of a muscle, the literal spasm of pain, the uncontrollable tightening and the restricted range of motion which immediately follows. Does this sound like an accurate description of a muscle spasm? Now imagine, it happens regularly and you have a recipe for something that damages your quality of life.
Chiropractic As Preventive Medicine
Prevent rather than treat!
Yes, chiropractic is an important modality for healing after an injury, but it is equally important as a modality for preventing injury in the first place! Your spine is the chassis upon which the rest of your body is effectively built- regular maintenance including chiropractic adjustment and treatment of the layers of tissue in the back ensures that your spine has the best possible chance of resilience to injury.
Back Pain: Common Causes with a Single Solution
What is causing your lower back pain?
When you have non-specific lower back pain, it is always worth taking a look at the usual suspects. As chiropractors we pay attention to a frequent occurrence that results from everyday activities: subluxation. Whether from acute trauma or culmination of repetitive trauma, the spine can move out of alignment and put pressure on one or more of the 124 nerve roots which exit the spine. Because these nerve roots connect your entire body to the central nervous system, a problem with their smooth function tends to create problems including pain and dysfunction.
The Undeniable Power of Morning Time
Morning time is the best time to lose weight
Carpe diem, seize the day and make the morning hours your time to set a course for weight loss. This is the most potent part of the day; each step you take from bed represents a deposit in the bank of caloric balance that contributes to maintaining a healthy weight. The process actually begins before you even wake up- a healthy sleep cycle is essential to keeping the pounds at bay. But once you wake up, each decision you make will go for or against your weight-loss regime.
From a chiropractor’s perspective, maintaining a healthy weight is essential for the health and alignment of your spine. Every pound over your ideal weight is adding an extra burden to the spine, especially to the lumbar region, which is responsible for bearing the weight of the upper body. Read on to find out ways you can use the natural energy of the morning time to encourage weight loss.
Finding Balance Amidst the Holiday Hustle
Stress goes up, down and all over the place during the holidays
Take a 40-hour/week worker and pile on another 10 hours/week of holiday commitments like myriad dinners with family and friends, parties, and other holiday events. That is the reality for many of us and it is enough to jack our stress levels up even if these are supposed to be relaxing, stress-relieving affairs. So how do we stay centered amidst the holiday hustle? We use techniques to be proactive about stress reduction and the maintenance of our well-being. Here’s how:
Preventing Osteoporosis with the Right Diet
It doesn’t have to be a huge change!
Osteoporosis: bone loss. Osteoporosis: old age. Osteoporosis: not my problem. Few people ever think that osteoporosis will become their fate. Outwardly, there are no symptoms- osteoporosis doesn’t cause pain, nor does it manifest itself in any visible way. Most people never even consider the word until they break a bone and pay a visit to their doctor. The fact is, bone loss is reality for everyone on earth- after our thirties, bone loss begins, and our lifestyles either slow or accelerate this natural process. Diet is the number one way you can control bone loss and prevent weaker bones from causing problems in your life.
In the Moment: Muscle Spasm Management
Muscle spasms happen
It is a brutal reality but the first step to treating a muscle spasm is to accept that it is happening- fighting it is only going to make the problem worse. Take a deep breath and commit to laying low for up to 72 hours (longer in extreme cases).
Step 1 is to ice. Muscle spasms represent a breaking point: what got you here was a set of soft tissue strains and sprains that went unaddressed until they could be borne no longer. In order to prevent a serious injury from occurring, your body goes into spasm. Unfortunately, at this point, a certain degree of injury has already occurred, and the accompanying inflammation is a good indicator of this. So step 1 is to use ice to reduce inflammation in the immediate aftermath of a spasm.
Step 2 is switch to heat. After the inflammation has been reduced and the pain has receded, we need to start the healing process. Heat helps tight tissues relax, encourages blood circulation and brings the nutrients your body needs to heal.
Step 3 is to repair. After the spasms have stopped, you need to gently reintroduce your body to purposeful exercise, with a focus on strengthening the region of injury so that the spasms will not recur.
OFW Means Individualized Healthcare
It all starts with a conversation
What do you need? How does your back feel? How does the condition of your spine affect the way you live your life? These are questions that need to be asked before you can receive truly effective healthcare. In tandem with a full diagnostic and physical examination, a conversation can give us the clues that direct us to getting you the right type of care. Even if that means we need to refer you elsewhere, we are absolutely dedicated to advancing your well-being in the appropriate manner.