Are lifestyle choices affecting your sleep?

We’ve all had those long nights before. When we should be dreaming of sandy vacations at the beach, we’re awake, haunted by the slow tick of an alarm clock.

There are many reasons why millions of people frequently lose sleep at night – diet, an outdated mattress, stress, caffeine, etc. Lack of sleep is typically not a result of a life-threatening illness, and medication isn’t always the best option.

For many people, lack of sleep is the result of simple lifestyle habits. Below are a few common factors that can lead to sleep deprivation.

Click here to read more >>>

Whiplash, lower back pain, sciatica, and "sitting disease"!

Because each individual case of whiplash is different, it is not possible to generalize about the chiropractic whiplash treatment.

http://www.spine-health.com/treatment/chiropractic/chiropractic-treatments-whiplash

Most low back pain and sciatica problems will benefit from a regular routine of hamstring stretching. Read all about it and check out the videos, too.

http://www.spine-health.com/wellness/exercise/hamstring-stretching-exercises-sciatica-pain-relief

Are any of you convinced by this post to stand more at your office this week?

http://www.spine-health.com/blog/new-health-epidemic-sitting-disease

Spine Research Article

A new study published in SPINE addresses the question, “Does Maintained Spinal Manipulation Therapy for Chronic Non-Specific Low Back Pain Result in Better Long-Term Outcome?” The study suggests patients with low back pain of at least six months duration experience greater improvement following one month (12 treatments) of spinal manipulative therapy followed by “maintenance spinal manipulation” every two weeks for nine months. After 10 months, only the group receiving maintenance care reported significant improvement, whereas the group that did not receive maintenance care experienced pain and disability scores “near to their pretreatment level.”

Link to the Spine Study here >>>

Biking, golf, stretching, and info on chiropractic manipualtion

Biking is a popular form of aerobic exercise, and is often a favored form of exercise by people with low back pain conditions. Biking may be a good exercise option for many reasons:

http://www.spine-health.com/conditions/sports-and-spine-injuries/bicycling-and-back-pain

For the millions of people who have chronic, long-standing low back pain, golf can still be an enjoyable sport. However, a regular routine of stretching and low-impact exercise is critical to maintain the ability to play golf.

http://www.spine-health.com/conditions/sports-and-spine-injuries/playing-golf-low-back-pain

Chiropractic manipulation refers to a chiropractor applying manipulation to the vertebrae that have abnormal movement patterns or fail to function normally. Chiropractic manipulation (also known as chiropractic adjustment or spinal manipulation), is a common therapeutic treatment for lower back pain.

http://www.spine-health.com/treatment/chiropractic/chiropractic-manipulation

Low impact exercise, osteoarthritis treatments & headache video

Home exercise equipment can make it easier to start and maintain an aerobic exercise program. Learn which exercise equipment is recommended for low impact aerobic exercise?

http://www.spine-health.com/wellness/exercise/home-exercise-equipment-low-impact-aerobic-exercise

Joint dysfunction in the spine can produce pain, and mobilizing the spine joints through manipulations (also called adjustments) can decrease that pain.

http://www.spine-health.com/conditions/arthritis/more-osteoarthritis-treatments

Sometimes a headache may be caused by a problem with the occipital nerve, which travels through a segment of spine in the neck.

http://www.spine-health.com/video/cervicogenic-headache-video

Lower back pain triage, integrative care, and subluxation

In the assessment of lower back pain, differential diagnosis utilizing a "triage" concept of classifying low back injuries into one of three categories helps to guide the doctor of chiropractic. Click below to read more.

http://www.spine-health.com/treatment/chiropractic/chiropractic-diagnosis

What's the best way to incorporate chiropractic care in with care from other doctors?

http://www.spine-health.com/treatment/chiropractic/integrating-chiropractic-care-other-doctors

The term "subluxation" is used by doctors of chiropractic to depict the altered position of the vertebra and subsequent functional loss, which determines the location for the spinal manipulation.

http://www.spine-health.com/treatment/chiropractic/subluxation-and-chiropractic

Back ache in cool, damp weather

Does your back tend to get achy in the cooler, damper weather? That's not an old wives' tale. Most people with back problems, especially if they have spinal arthritis, generally do.

There is a reason for that. When the weather changes from a nice dry day to a wet day (especially if it's cooler too), the barometric pressure drops. Your joint capsule (the sac of fluid that bathes your joint) expands. It's like when a helium balloon climbs in the sky, it expands in response to less atmospheric pressure around it and eventually blows up.

So your joint capsule expands the same way. The sac itself has a lot of pain fibers in it. When it stretches, it fires off the pain fibers and you feel the pain as aching.

Back spasms, whiplash treatment, lower back pain, sciatica

Back muscle spasms may occur because of an injury or condition affecting the spine. Unless the underlying problem is evaluated, discovered, and treated, the back muscle spasms will tend to recur.

http://www.spine-health.com/video/causes-back-muscle-spasms-video

Because each individual case of whiplash is different, it is not possible to generalize about the chiropractic whiplash treatment.

http://www.spine-health.com/treatment/chiropractic/chiropractic-treatments-whiplash

Most low back pain and sciatica problems will benefit from a regular routine of hamstring stretching. Read all about it and check out the videos, too.

http://www.spine-health.com/wellness/exercise/hamstring-stretching-exercises-sciatica-pain-relief

Persistent leg pain, chiropractic terms, and spinal stenosis

While the term “stenosis” comes from Greek and means a “choking”, spinal stenosis, however, has little in common with choking. So what is spinal stenosis?

http://www.spine-health.com/conditions/spinal-stenosis/what-spinal-stenosis

Persistent leg pain that is aggravated by walking could be a sign of lumbar stenosis. Read more about how to diagnose this painful condition.

http://www.spine-health.com/conditions/spinal-stenosis/lumbar-spinal-stenosis-a-definitive-guide

There are many different terms used to describe spinal disc pathology and associated pain, such as "herniated disc", "pinched nerve", and "bulging disc", and all are used differently by doctors. Learn the difference:

http://www.spine-health.com/conditions/herniated-disc/whats-a-herniated-disc-pinched-nerve-bulging-disc

Treatment plans, insomnia, and anatomy of the sacroiliac joint

A chiropractic treatment plan will try to reduce pain and restore normal joint function and muscle balance in the short term and restore functional independence and normal activity in the long term.

http://www.spine-health.com/treatment/chiropractic/chiropractic-treatment-plan

Without sufficient sleep, aches and pains become more prominent. And many chronic pains can make it more difficult to get to sleep and stay asleep. This loop can make recovery more difficult unless sleep issues are addressed as part of a treatment program.

http://www.spine-health.com/video/insomnia-and-back-pain

The sacroiliac joint connects the sacrum with the pelvis on each side of the lower spine and it transmits all the forces of the upper body to the pelvis and legs.

http://www.spine-health.com/conditions/spine-anatomy/sacroiliac-joint-anatomy

Degenerative disk disease (with interactive video)

Degenerative disc disease refers to any condition where the spinal discs are degenerating or degrading, often causing back pain. This interactive video provides information on spinal anatomy and how degenerative disc disease affects the vertebrae and spinal discs. It also gives an in-depth overview of symptoms associated with degenerative disc disease.

http://www.spine-health.com/video/degenerative-disc-disease-interactive-video

Rick Jardon

If any of you have not been to my business Facebook page, I encourage you to. I try to post some interesting health info regularly which I think you'll find informative. Just type in "Cowesett Chiropractic: Dr Rick Jardon" in the Facebook search box above and like the page. Also, I have a blog with even more info that I post to very regularly. You can access it by going to my website RickJardon.com.

Back to basics: What is a chiropractor?

Back to the basics: What is a chiropractor? What does a chiropractor believe in? What are a chiropractor's goals? Find the answers here:

http://www.spine-health.com/treatment/chiropractic/what-a-chiropractor

Vital info on lumbar stenosis, sciatica, and various common chiro terms

Persistent leg pain that is aggravated by walking could be a sign of lumbar stenosis. Read more about how to diagnose this painful condition.

http://www.spine-health.com/conditions/spinal-stenosis/lumbar-spinal-stenosis-a-definitive-guide

What You Need to Know About Sciatica.

http://www.spine-health.com/conditions/sciatica/what-you-need-know-about-sciatica

There are many different terms used to describe spinal disc pathology and associated pain, such as "herniated disc", "pinched nerve", and "bulging disc", and all are used differently by doctors. Learn the difference:

http://www.spine-health.com/conditions/herniated-disc/whats-a-herniated-disc-pinched-nerve-bulging-disc