Improving your posture can help relieve back and neck pain, keep your spine properly aligned, and help you look more put together. Posture is often something that many adults neglect and can cause problems down the road, if not corrected. Here are some small changes you can make to improve your posture. 

1- Keep Your Head Level

Keeping your head level with the rest of your body can help keep the spine straight and tall. Thinking about keeping your head level with the rest of your body can also help you think more consciously about your posture during daily activities such as watching TV, washing dishes, reading, or cleaning. 

Thinking about posture brings a big improvement since posture is often neglected. If you put more attention to your posture, you can start to notice what might be putting stress on your body, especially the back.  

2- Wear Low Heeled And Comfortable Shoes

While heels can look great for special occasions, they are not great for your posture. The height of heels can throw off your balance and cause you to walk differently than you normally would. This can cause more stress on muscles and joints, thus harming your posture. 

Higher heels also increase the weight and pressure on the forefoot. Extra high stilettos will force your center of gravity to the hips and cause unnatural curves in the lower back. If you are looking to improve your posture, ditch the high heels for the majority of your week. 

3- Don’t Slump At Your Desk

If your job has you sitting at a desk, you can and should notice how you are sitting. The easiest thing to do is not to slump while working at the computer and typing. Some things that can help are to place your feet flat on the floor, relax your shoulders, and get up and take a walk every so often. 

Slumping makes your spine curve in a bad way that can make your neck, back, and shoulders feel tense. Letting yourself relax while at work is important, but you can still improve your posture while feeling relaxed. 

4- Beware Of Text Neck

In the age of cell phones and the constant need for connection, a common problem can arise from looking down at your phone, resulting in what is called a “text neck.” If you spend a lot of time on your phone, looking down can add lots of strain to your spine. You can lift your phone up higher and move your eyes to look and scroll, rather than your head. 

5- Firm Mattress

A firm mattress helps to hold the shape of your spine which helps it to hold its natural shape throughout the day. If you typically sleep on your side, you can bend your knees slightly and keep a pillow under your head to keep it level with your spine. Back sleepers should lay flat on a firm mattress and opt for a small pillow placed under the neck. 

6- Exercise And Tone

If you have a lot of extra weight on your belly, this can affect your back. Putting extra pressure on the back can make it hard for your muscles to support the spine. Proper exercise and toning of your abdominal muscles can help improve your posture. Keeping your spine straight and removing some pressure can keep your spine healthy. 

Health And Wellness Chiropractic

Spinal and posture issues can lead to pain medication and even surgery. Practicing posture improvements and taking part in chiropractic treatment can help alleviate some muscle tension and improve the look and feel of your body. 

Our chiropractors want to work with you to improve your quality of life. With over 25 years of combined experience, we serve over 12,000 patients in Layton, UT. We specialize in headaches, neck pain, back pain, and other joint conditions which can all come from improper posture. 

Health and Wellness Chiropractic wants to help you achieve your goals and bring lasting benefits to your whole family. You can schedule a free consultation with either Dr. Daniel Hendricks or Dr. Spencer Rollins for your chiropractic needs.

For those who experience back pain, pool exercises can be easier on their joints and help to ease the back pain. During the summertime, there is easier access to outdoor pools or other water sources to help with aerobic exercise. Swimming is low impact so it’s a great way to get some physical exercise without making your joint or back pain worse. 

Not all exercises are created equal. These exercises are easy to do and can do wonders for your back. Here are 5 exercises that you should focus on this summer.

Flutter Kicking

This common movement is likely something that you did while learning to swim for the first time. Using that common technique, this pool exercise requires your to hold on to the side of the pool and gently scissor kick. You can complete this maneuver with your body parallel to the pool floor and after you are done with the exercise you can flip over and pull your legs up towards the surface to stretch the lower half of your body. 

Pool Planks

This pool exercise will require a pool noodle or something to hold onto in front of you. Hold the pool noodle out in front of you and then lean forward in the water, keeping your back straight. Next, push down on the pool noodle and submerge it as you lean further forward to form a semi plank. Make sure to keep your elbows locked and your feet anchored to the pool floor so that you don’t lose your balance. Hold this half plank position for 60 seconds.

Four-way Hip Strength Exercise

In order to maximize your pool exercises you will need to use forward, back and side to side movements. The four-way hip strengthening pool exercise starts with grasping the side of the ppl with your arms and bracing your core while performing sets. First, start with a set of straight leg hip flexion, by kicking your leg in the front, extensions by kicking to the back and adductions by extending your leg straight out to the side. 

The deeper the water and the greater force and resistance from the water will help you gain more strength in your lumbo-pelvic region and hips.

Knee Stretch

This pool exercise should be completed in the shallow end of the pool. With your feet planted on the floor and your arms relaxed at your sides, start to march in place. With each lift, pull your knee closer to your chest while still balancing in the pool.

Over time as your back gets stronger, you can try pulling each leg to waist level without bending your knees. 

Pelvic Stretch

With your feet planted on the floor and your back facing the pool wall, have your arms hanging relaxed in the water. Slowly tuck your tailbone and pelvis in until your back rounds out. The whole goal of this pool exercise is to feel like your back is parallel to the wall of the pool by pulling in your abs and pushing your hips forward. Hold for just a few seconds and then release. 

Pool Push Ups

Pushups are the best way to strengthen your back and core. Start in the shallow end of the pool  facing the wall, with your feet on the floor, place your hands on the pool edge and press your body weight through your hands and lower yourself towards the wall and bend your arms at the elbow. Hold this position for three seconds and then push off the wall to your starting position. 

For all of these pool exercises, start off slow and build up to more repetitions over time. As your strength builds, you can increase the amount of reps, how long you hold the position or how many exercises you do. 

Health And Wellness Chiropractic

For those with chronic pain, chiropractic treatment, combined with low impact exercise is the best way to help ease the debilitating pain. Our team specializes in the treatment of headaches, neck pain, back pain, and other joint conditions. Our two certified doctors and our staff are willing to help you in the best way possible. 
Located in Layton, UT we are available to help all those individuals with back pain who want to gain more control of their life. With chiropractic treatment you can decrease inflammation, improve your range of motion and decrease pain.

Chiropractic treatment won’t always be available and while you travel this summer, pool exercises can really help. If you have questions about your pain, what treatment we provide or what exercises are best for you, give us a call. Contact our office M-T 9 a.m.-12 p.m. or 1:30-6 p.m. and Friday 8:30-1 p.m.

Exercise is one of the best things we can do for our mental, physical, and emotional health. It keeps our bodies in good condition, it releases endorphins which improve our mood, and it gives you a healthy outlet for any stress or frustration or anger. When we get injured, chiropractic exercise rehabilitation can get us back to normal sooner than later. There are many benefits to chiropractic exercise rehabilitation that help our bodies function and recover from any injury in a natural, non-invasive way.

While exercise rehabilitation is in the name, you don’t need to have been injured to benefit from chiropractic exercise rehabilitation. Chiropractic care is excellent for everyone, the healthy and pain-free and those who need help resolving pain and other conditions. Here are some of the top 6 benefits of chiropractic exercise rehabilitation that you should know about.

#1. Increased Range Of Motion

Whether or not you are experiencing pain, one benefit of chiropractic exercise rehabilitation that everyone can experience is how chiropractic care increases your range of motion. It’s hard to do exercises properly when your muscles are stiff and your movement is restricted. Chiropractors will be able to increase your range of motion through relaxing your muscles, which allows them to open and do more. When your muscles are more relaxed, it’s easier to get a wider range of motion, which will help you workout, move, and work more efficiently, with less restrictions.

#2. Strengthened Muscles And Bones

In addition to increasing your range of motion, chiropractic exercise rehabilitation can also strengthen your muscles and your bones. When your spine is misaligned, this places pressure on your joints and muscles that they are not meant to withstand. By alleviating that pressure through realigning your spine, you’ll be able to strengthen your muscles and bones, since they will be easier to work.

#3. Pain Reduction

One of the main reasons why people go to chiropractors is because they’re experiencing pain of some kind – athletes especially. When your spine is out of alignment, this can result in a lot of pain all over your body, from headaches to back pain and more. When your chiropractor performs spinal adjustments that restore your spine’s alignment, your pain will be reduced and relieved. 

This makes exercising much easier and more bearable, as no one performs their best when they are in pain, and indeed, exercising with a hurt can be very dangerous and result in further injury over time. 

#4. Reduces Soreness

While there are a few people who love the sensation of being sore after a workout because it means they worked their muscles, many people wish they could relieve it. Chiropractic exercise rehabilitation can help! Chiropractic care is excellent for relaxing your muscles and soothing your body in a natural, non-invasive way. When you see a chiropractor after an injury or after exercising, you’ll likely find that you feel less sore. 

#5. Prevents Future Injury

When you’ve suffered an injury, chiropractic exercise rehabilitation can not only help you recover, but also help you prevent future injuries. As mentioned above, chiropractic care strengthens your muscles and bones, increases your range of motion, and relaxes your muscles. A stronger, healthier, more flexible body is one that is at lower risk for injury. In addition to chiropractic exercise rehabilitation helping you recover from your injury, it also sets your body up to be able to avoid future injuries.

Chiropractors want to ensure that you are as healthy and strong as possible. While they help you recover, they’ll show you exercises and stretches that you can do in order to exercise safely and correct any issues that may cause injuries in the future. 

#6. Improved Confidence

Certainly, when you go to chiropractic exercise rehabilitation, you’ll find your confidence coming back as you’re able to heal and start doing the things that your injury prevented you from doing before. Additionally, when your body is strong and healthy and flexible, it will improve your confidence, because you’ll be able to trust it more. When your body is easier to move and you have the tips the chiropractor gave you in mind about how you can move safely, it’s easier to be more confident that you won’t get hurt again.

Health And Wellness Clinic offers exceptional chiropractic exercise rehabilitation. Chiropractic care is wonderful for anyone who is currently suffering from pain or injury resulting from alignment issues, as well as people in general. If you’d like to schedule a chiropractic adjustment, don’t hesitate to contact us today!