PostureVideos

HEALTHY FOOTWEAR, HEALTHY POSTURE

Paula Moore The Chiropractor — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 23:30:48 +0000

It seems like every so often someone comes up with a “revolutionary” new type of shoe for healthy feet and posture. You’ve seen it: Promoters claiming that their latest high-tech-cutting-edge-wave-of-the-future-super-scientific-but-totally-organic-and-back-to-nature-the-way-our-ancestors-did-it shoes will give you perfect posture, tone your muscles, boost your metabolism, take you straight to your ideal weight, get rid of ugly cellulite, clear up your acne, raise your IQ and usher in a golden age of universal love and world peace. (Well, okay – maybe no one really claims they’ll raise your IQ….)

Mind you, I’m not talking about shoe fashions. Those shift every ten minutes or so, and fashion claims aren’t quite as brash. I’m talking about shoes that are meant to DO something for your feet and health in general, and your posture in particular.

FASHION HAZARDS

It’s true that some shoe fashions are potentially hazardous to your health and posture. Super-high heels, for example. Just one look and you know humans were not intended to endure such podiatric torture. I own one pair and they get dusted off once maybe twice a year…ouch! Then there are “uggs” (or as I prefer, ‘ugg’lies). Quite trendy sadly. They even seem to have started out with a worthy purpose – making surfers’ feet warm and comfortable after hours in the chilly ocean. They offer some protection from the elements, but good postural support for your feet? No way! Too often I see the dreaded, ugg fallen arches.

I’m no fashion historian, but I dare say poor posture is a look that has never been fashionable. I hate to be the party pooper, but you’ll regret the shoe fashion fads later in life. And while I’m on a nagging roll, bin the ballet shoes! Unless you do ballet, then by all means, dance!

HEALTHY FEET AND POSTURE

Let’s go back to the help-your-feet-and-posture types of shoes. There are many.

One that is currently hit is the “rocker-bottom” shoe (also called “toning shoes”). These are supposed to improve your posture, general muscle tone and perhaps (uh huh) ease low back pain. Clinical studies (on the MBT) have shown that such shoes have indeed benefited some wearers, but it’s also clear that they are not for everybody and you may ask yourself do MBTs actually work? Nevertheless, some of the claims about them are bold indeed.

In addition to rocker bottoms, you’ll find shoes with scientifically engineered heel cushioning and foot support systems; shoes with “negative” heels – heels lower than toes; shoes with a big coil spring under the heel (yes, really); heels with air cushions and others with gel cushions; even heels on wheels (though to be fair, the wheeled type aren’t touted as posture and foot-health enhancers and I’m tempted to try my nephews). There are flocks of arch supports and all manner of wedges and inserts, meant to remedy standing, walking and running troubles. You name it – it’s probably been tried, and marketed. The abundance of products may all be well-intentioned, but it can certainly be confusing.

HEALTHY FOOTWEAR: WHAT SHOULD A SHOE DO?

So what SHOULD a pair of shoes really do for you?

They should allow your feet to spread to their natural width when standing and walking – not unnaturally bind or constrict (especially important, if like me you have a bunion)
They should allow you to stand and move comfortably, naturally – not force your body out of alignment, or even influence you in that direction.
They should protect your feet from the elements and environmental dangers – at least those you can reasonably expect to encounter while wearing them.

It’s also quite valid to want shoes to be attractive, or at least not embarrassing.

POSTURE FOOTWEAR: TO COMPENSATE OR NOT TO COMPENSATE?

Some shoes may help compensate for physical defects, deformities or even bad walking, running or posture habits. This may offer welcome relief, but its long-term value can be debatable. Is it best to compensate for the condition, or would it be wiser to correct it (where this is feasible) rather than go on compensating forever?

PROFESSIONAL POSTURE ANALYSIS AND ADVICE

The right shoes can most definitely help you improve your posture and help your feet do their vital jobs. For expert help in assessing your posture needs and choosing just the right shoes for YOU, seeing a posture specialist (chiropractor, podiatrist, orthopaedist) is a good start. Now if you want to try something really fun (if not a tad on the painful side) to get your feet in youthful shape for summer, Try This Exercise!

BODY LANGUAGE AND POSTURE

Paula Moore The Chiropractor — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 23:30:42 +0000

Body language consists of the signals sent to others by the position and condition of your body. It’s what you say with your body rather than with words – What is your body saying?

Posture and body language is almost a specialty in itself. What does your posture say about you? Or rather, what do other people think your posture says about you? Just by seeing how you carry yourself, what impression do they form of you? Oh if only ‘we’ knew what ‘they’ were thinking…

Now here’s a question for you: Have you ever seen a confident person with terrible posture? Exactly!

BODY LANGUAGE AND POSTURE ADVICE

There are plenty of people and books and blogs and the like, educating, counselling, teaching and preaching on body language. Many of these body linguists offer to help you develop posture body language that will make you a more effective speaker or presenter, some will even teach you flirting body language. Oh, my goodness, they really go to town on this one. In fact, I just recently heard about a documentary (Ok, actually, I watched it!) on the BBC, called “Virgin School,” of all things. It concerns a 26-year-old male virgin who travels to Amsterdam to become…well, yes – a non-virgin. Now what in the name of all that’s respectable does THIS have to do with posture?? Well, the poor lad’s posture was so atrocious, I couldn’t help but think, no wonder you haven’t got ****. Actually, I don’t really mean that at all. I thought the young man was a good chap and nice looking. I just couldn’t get over my frustration. Why hasn’t anyone helped him with his terrible posture? His sex coaches in Amsterdam certainly didn’t address it. Shame on them. Try slouching really badly, then look in the mirror and act sexy. Nada!

So quite in addition to the enormous benefits good posture (fewer headaches, increased lung capacity, perky breasts, less constipation) offers in terms of general health, your posture may be speaking its very own language.

YOUR POSTURE AND BODY LANGUAGE: WHAT ARE YOU SAYING?

What signals is your body language sending? Are your posture’s pronouncements prompting appreciation, or putting people off?

The sloucher (I’m not confident, I’ve been bullied, I don’t care…harsh but this is what I think when I see this posture)
No eye contact (liar liar pants on fire, scared, shifty character)
Eyes boring a hole through you (criminal, thyroid disease)
The limp-wristed handshake (I’m hiding please don’t talk to me, I might cry)
The ‘cut off the blood flow’ handshake (I’m so unconfident, I’ll squeeze the hell out of your hand and you’ll never know it)
Playing with your hair (flirting, hair needs a shampoo?)
Legs akimbo (Sharon Stone Basic Instinct, man, confident woman?)
The leg crossed and twisted (Does your chiropractor know you sit like that? I think not!)

I could go on and on and on. I’m cracking myself up now. Lets keep this list going……

Exercise Studies: Barefoot Running

Paula Moore The Chiropractor — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 23:30:28 +0000

Or: If you bare it, will you grin?

You may have heard about the growing popularity of running barefoot.

I’m not just talking about kids. It seems like children have always looked for any opportunity to kick off the shoes and socks and dash about with their little feet au naturel. Rather, I’m talking about grown-up folk. More and more of them are running barefoot, or sporting a pair of the growing selection of “minimal” running shoes, also known as barefoot running shoes.

The familiar, conventional running shoes have thick, well-cushioned heels, firm arch support, and construction meant to cradle and support the rest of the foot as well. Barefoot running shoes have a thin, flexible sole, without extra thickness or cushioning at the heel. One popular type even has individual spaces for each of your toes, almost like a glove for your foot. These are my little toes…

The purpose of these “barefoot” shoes is to protect your feet from common hazards such as the weather, bits of broken glass and the like, but otherwise to leave the tootsies free to function as if they were bare.

Why Run Barefoot?

As you might have guessed, there’s some philosophical and scientific background to this move toward foot-bareness. To learn all about it (and it really is fascinating), you can go here. I’ll give you some of the basics right down below, though.

It’s like this. Humans have been running for many thousands of years. For the vast, vast majority of that time, all running was done either barefoot, or wearing minimal footwear – sandals, moccasins, or other such “primitive” types. Light in weight, with relatively thin and flexible soles. Today’s fancy running shoes, with their raised, heavily-cushioned heels, firm arch support and so on, were not introduced until the 1970s. (Designer colors, flashing lights, pump-up air bladders, reflective panels and other glitz came along a bit later than that.)

It’s well known that all the cushioning and support really does serve the important purpose of absorbing the shock that’s generated each time your foot hits the ground.

So how in the world did people manage to run with no special shoes, for all those thousands of years, without running-induced damage being a widespread and well-documented problem?

And what about the many, many people living in less advanced cultures today – for enormous numbers of such people, running is a daily activity, part of their way of life. They run barefoot, or in simple sandals or other “primitive” footwear, yet rarely do they suffer from such common “civilized” runner’s ailments as stress fractures, runner’s knee and plantar fasciitis. Something must be going on to account for this. And so it is.

Putting Your Best Foot-Part Forward

When running in bare feet or with minimal footgear, you tend to “lead” with the forward portion of the foot. By this I mean that the first part of the foot to touch the ground is at the front – usually around the ball of the foot, or just at and behind the base of the toes. In biomechanical parlance, this is known as a “forefoot strike.” Somewhat less common is the midfoot strike, with each step beginning more toward the middle of the foot. A heel strike – in which the heel is the first part of the foot to touch down – is quite rare among barefoot runners.

When running in the modern, familiar type of running shoes, you naturally tend to heel strike. This is a result of the way the shoe is built. The raised and cushioned heel in particular makes a heel strike feel natural. The support and stability provided by the rest of the shoe add to the secure-and-supported feeling. It is possible to run with forefoot or midfoot strikes while wearing cushioned running shoes, but to most runners it just doesn’t feel “right” and can even be difficult.
Here’s one more interesting nugget: if you’re accustomed to wearing cushioned running shoes and someone asks you to run barefoot, you will almost surely shift over from heel strikes to forefoot or midfoot strikes – without even realizing it or giving it any attention.

Why might this be?

Heavy Impact

Heel-strike running has an interesting effect on the forces your foot, legs and the rest of your body are subjected to. When the heel hits first, the impact creates a powerful jolt. If you were to plot the progress of a single running step on a graph, showing the amount of force experienced during the whole course of the step, you would see a sudden force “spike” in the line. This is called an “impact transient.” The force the spike represents jars the bones, joints, tendons, ligaments and muscles of the feet, ankles, legs, hips and right on up. If you try to run heel-first without the cushioning of a running shoe, the power of this energy spike or impact transient becomes very clear indeed. It hurts! There just isn’t enough natural padding in the foot’s heel to absorb the shock of impact.

When you run without shoes or with “barefoot” shoes, and make forefoot or midfoot strikes, the impact transient (spike) disappears. There is still a lot of force involved when foot meets ground, of course – but it is far less jarring and stressful to your body. This all has to do with the ingenious design and structural posture of your feet and legs – the way your bones, tendons, ligaments and muscles are arranged, and how they interact. With forefoot or midfoot strikes, the force of impact is smoothly distributed and cushioned, naturally.

When you wear elevated-heel, cushioned running shoes and heel strike, the sudden jolt is absorbed by the cushioning in the shoe. As mentioned earlier, it feels right to heel strike in such shoes, and fortunately the shoes absorb a good deal of the energy in the resulting jolts.

Despite conventional running shoes’ cushioning and support, though, it is estimated that between 30% and 75% of runners who wear them suffer running-related foot, ankle, leg and other injuries each year. These figures refer to injuries caused by the running itself – not merely running-related mishaps such as being hit by motorists, slipping and falling, music player malfunctions, etc.

A Better Path to Tread?

It has been hypothesized that running unshod or with minimal footwear, and with the forefoot or midfoot strikes that thereby come naturally, the risk of running-related stress and damage may be very significantly lowered. Mind you, so far this is a hypothesis only – it hasn’t yet been subjected to formal studies.

As with starting any new activity, there are some precautions to take, and important points to bear in mind, for your health and safety. If you’re thinking of giving barefoot running a try, you can learn some of the precautions here. As always, you should also consult with your health-care professional before embarking on a new exercise program.

Sixteen Marathons in Two Days??

If you’d like to learn about a complete marvel of human running prowess, and your body’s truly awesome capabilities, look up the Tarahumara people of Mexico. Running has been an integral part of their daily lives and culture for thousands of years, and it still is to this day. They are such amazingly accomplished runners that they seem to exceed the limits of human ability. For example, one of their better runners has run the equivalent of 16 marathons (more than 650 km) in a period of only two days. Oh, and did I mention that even in the tough desert environment they call home, the Tarahumara run barefoot, or in thin leather sandals?

Slowing Down for a Moment…

You might think that if running seems to be best done with forefoot strikes, walking should be done that way, too. Well, it seems that heel strikes are the more natural walking mode. There is even some evidence that when walking, heel striking is more efficient than forefoot or midfoot striking. So if you have a physical situation or posture that makes running impossible or very difficult, but still allows you to walk – not to worry. Walk! A lot!

Running, Walking and Your Posture

Now what, you may be wondering, does all this have to do with posture? Well, exercise happens to be essential to good posture. Our muscles need to be strong and lean to hold our body in its ideal postural alignment. The last three posts are all about running because running is such a popular choice for exercise.

Anyone who has seen me in private practice knows I’m slightly obsessed with feet. Perhaps that is because I myself have a bunion and know the perils of running when your posture is less than ideal (eg: bunions, short leg length, knock knees, bowed legs). Running (or preferably walking) is absolutely marvellous for keeping your heart, lungs, circulatory system, lymphatic system (infection fighting), brain and nerve system in tip-top shape; and if you read my last post on jogging, you’ll know I’m not a great fan of it for the over-35s – unless perhaps it’s done barefoot. So take off your shoes and run along now.

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Before I bound off to another subject and a new post, I’d love to hear from you. Have you tried barefoot running? Have you found a “barefoot shoe” that you particularly like (or dislike)? I’m listening…

EXERCISE STUDIES: JOGGING AND POSTURE TROUBLES

Paula Moore The Chiropractor — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 23:30:47 +0000

In my most recent post, I talked about jogging after one has passed the ripe old age of 35. Just writing it launched me on a whole tangent of subjects on running and jogging, with further posts fairly bursting from my fingertips. Well, here’s the next in the series, as promised.

First, I’d be remiss if I didn’t emphasize once again that exercise is a must. Truly, truly. It is so very vital for your ongoing health and well-being. And it’s fun! Or it surely ought to be. If it is not, then perhaps there’s something amiss with the form of exercise you’ve chosen. And that brings us very neatly to today’s subject.

Sometimes you need to be particularly judicious as to the sort of exercise you take up. This is especially true for those of you with certain posture-related conditions, which may make jogging a dodgy choice at best, no matter what your age.

SHORT LEG

If one of your legs happens to be shorter than the other (and NO it is not likely you were born this way), both legs are subjected to greater-than-normal stresses; so are the back and even the neck. During a jog, the forces transmitted from the feet on up the legs and beyond add even more stress, and can aggravate this postural situation considerably. By the way, that short leg may be literally shorter than its partner (anatomically shorter) – but it may also just seem shorter due to another condition altogether. You can find out which short leg you might have right here.

RUNNING WITH BUNIONS

In a nutshell, a bunion is an inward angling of the big toe, resulting in a bump at the point where the toe meets the main body of the foot. For a detailed and illustrated explanation, including ‘Bunion Causes‘ have a look at this. The forces your feet are subjected to with every impact (no matter what type of shoes you might wear) are tremendous. With feet that have already strayed from optimum alignment, the extra force and stress are an unnecessary invitation for trouble.

FOOT NOTE (IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PAGE)

Another note about troubled feet – if only one of your feet has a bunion, fallen arch or other anomaly, the resulting stresses on your body as a whole can be even worse than if both feet are affected (because in a way, at least you would be less lopsided).

KNOCK KNEES AND BOW LEGS

In the case of knock knees (legs bending inward at the knees) or bow legs (legs bending outward at the knees) your foundation would be at a mechanical disadvantage for such a high-impact activity like jogging. If you think of the bones of the feet, ankles and knees and hips as being stacked up in good vertical alignment to support the rest of the body, you can see that if some of the “bricks” in the stack are out of line, strength and stability are compromised. The muscles have to work harder to keep the whole assembly upright (and bless ‘em, they do), but the extra effort and strain can lead to discomfort, pain and OSTEOARTHRITIS for some. In such a situation, exercises that don’t cause unnecessary strain are preferable.

RUNNING TO LOSE WEIGHT

When the body is overweight (even just 3kg/half a stone) high-impact exercise like jogging causes more extreme compression of the joints at every footfall. By minding your diet and engaging in other forms of exercise, you can bring your weight back into range. Then, if you’ve a mind to jog, go to it! Of course, you may become so enamoured with your weight-reduction exercises that you’ll want to stick with them!

JOGGING ALTERNATIVES

There is no denying jogging’s great benefits – cardiovascular, emotional and otherwise. But if you happen to be in a not-so-smart-to-jog situation like those mentioned above, what to do instead? Ah, many and wonderful are the forms of exercise available. Purposeful walking is just about the best thing going. If, like me, you need a bit of childish fun, may I suggest a kickbike? (A scooter for big kids!). Swimming is fantastic, too. Not too much breast stroke, though – it’s hard on your neck. A bit of a caution about swimming and biking: they are not weight-bearing exercises, as walking is. Weight-bearing exercises help to keep the bones strong, so it’s very wise to include them in your regimen.

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I’ve not yet run out of interesting and useful information to share on this subject of jogging, running and posture. No indeed. So thank you for visiting, and please be on the lookout for more, coming right up.

Amazingly, there are some of you I haven’t heard from yet. (That’s right – you, right there. Mm-hm. At the computer – you with the head pushed forward a bit. Caught you! No worries, just ease it back. The-r-r-re you go. Better, eh?) If you’re the tweeting type, cheers – tweet away. I’ve also put that box down below just so you can drop me a line and share your thoughts – especially about jogging with any of the troubles mentioned above.

Exercise Studies: Is Jogging Healthy after Age 35?

Paula Moore The Chiropractor — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 11:00:21 +0000

If you’ve passed the age of 35, and you’ve been paying attention to the plentiful advice available on the subject of health, you’re well aware that you ought to be exercising regularly. Health and exercise seem to be very intimately connected. Just to review some of the myriad benefits:

According to one of many exercise studies,* regular, moderate exercise can prolong life – prolonging it by 24%, in fact, in men who engaged in light sport for 1-2 hours each week, as compared to those who were inactive.
Helps avoid degenerative arthritis by lubricating and feeding cartilage
Decreases the risk of tendonitis (painful inflammation of the tendons, which connect muscles to bones)
Helps keep weight down
Increases HDL (good cholesterol) which helps carry off fatty deposits that rest in blood vessels
Helps prevent osteoporosis (weakened bone)
Combats depression by stimulating the release of endorphins – antidepressant chemicals formed in the brain (studies have suggested that walking outperforms antidepressants and this outdoor therapy is often referred to as ecotherapy)

Here are a few more, especially pertinent to those of us above the 35-year line:

Exercise has been found to help you convert ageing tissue to a healthier, more youthful state.
Past the age of 35, every week you go without exercise, you lose 10% of your fitness; in other words, inactivity rapidly de-conditions the body.
The de-conditioning mentioned just above (the kind you avoid by regular exercise!) takes such forms as dangerous decrease in blood supply to muscle and bone, loss of muscle bulk, weakening and inflammation of ligaments and tendons, and damage to cartilage.

A Great Read

For an enormously informative and helpful read on exercise and aging, I strongly recommend a book by the founding father of rehabilitative medicine, Dr. René Cailliet: Growing Young: The Fitness Strategy to Reverse the Effects of Aging.

Exercise and Sarcopenia

Here’s yet another salient bit for those who have advanced (or intend to) beyond 35. Exercise has been found to reduce the effects of sarcopenia. This rather scary-sounding term comes from the Greek for poverty or shortage of flesh. The condition itself is described as the loss of muscle mass and strength that occurs with aging. And as one authority put it, “Decreased physical activity with aging appears to be the key factor involved in producing sarcopenia.” **

All right. So there’s no question about it: exercise really is a must, if we’re to maintain good health. Health and exercise go hand in glove. Or should I say, “foot in shoe”?

Jogging

One exercise that has been in vogue for decades is jogging. Exercise “fashions” come and go, but jogging seems to maintain an unwavering popularity. Not too surprising – it’s simple, and doesn’t require all sorts of special clothing, equipment, memberships, classes and so on.

On the whole, jogging is reputed to be terrific. People pride themselves on how religiously they do it. There are whole magazines devoted to it. You can (if you like) purchase all manner of spiffy stuff to enhance the experience: pricey, super-high-tech shoes, chic outfits, heart-rate monitors, audio devices, hydration systems, special foods and supplements – you name it. It’s true, of course, that jogging IS exercise, and almost any sort of exercise is far better than couch-potato-ism!

As it turns out, though, once you’ve passed age 35 (more or less), there are downsides to jogging that begin to mount up. You see, aging is a natural process. The body does change as the years go on, regardless of what anyone does or wishes. That’s just the genetic design and pattern we’re born with. Bone density, muscle mass, circulation, lung capacity and other factors naturally decline from the peaks they reached in our late twenties. And the structures most directly involved in walking, running or jogging have also lived through all those years of use – the affects of physical activity do mount up and take their toll.

None of this means we’re doomed to inactivity or discomfort. It just means we need to understand and make adjustments to the natural changes in our only indispensible piece of exercise equipment – the body.

One conclusion authorities such as Dr. Caillait have reached regarding exercise for older adults is that once past the age of 35, it is not in your best interest to work out as hard as you can, no matter how good you might feel at the time.

So what’s an aspiring exerciser to do??

Fortunately, there is some happy news on the subject of jogging: rapid walking offers the same great benefits, and then some. In fact, rapid walking burns more calories than jogging the same distance, and works the upper body as well. All without the damaging effects of repeated impact which jogging subjects us to.

Stay tuned!

In researching this post for you, I’ve discovered or been reminded of quite a few items of interest in the field of exercise, all intimately connected with your posture, posture improvement and general health. I’m quite excited at all there is to share, so be sure to check back with me here soon – there’s definitely more to come. (Would you be interested in learning the secrets of a group of runners who’ve been known to run as much as 16 marathons’ distance in two days? Yes, I thought so…)

I must be running along now, but first let me ask you: What experiences have you had with this subject of jogging? Particularly if you’ve passed 35, I’d be very interested to know what you’ve observed, and how you’ve dealt with exercise challenges as time has marched on.

* New England Journal of Medicine, March, 1986

**Journal of Laboratory and Clinical Medicine

Is Pain Good? Pain Treatment Guidelines

Paula Moore The Chiropractor — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 23:30:30 +0000

Many people who visit me are seeking relief from pain of one kind or another. Back pain, neck pain, spine pain, nerve pain – the list is painf… quite long. In some cases, these good people are suffering from more than one type of pain. Posture correction often plays a part in a patient’s treatment, but let’s take a look at the subject of pain itself.

Pain: What IS It, Really?

First of all, just what IS pain?

“Everyone knows that,” you say. Ouch! Fair enough, but what about the medical, scientific view of pain?

Here’s a definition from one distinguished medical dictionary* –

Pain: a feeling of distress, suffering, or agony, caused by stimulation of specialized nerve endings. Its purpose is chiefly protective; it acts as a warning that tissues are being damaged and induces the sufferer to remove or withdraw from the source.
Interestingly, the word pain itself comes from the Latin word, poena, meaning punishment.

Pain can be broken down into types, too. Here are a few of the major ones:

Acute pain: Pain in response to injury or another stimulus that resolves when the injury heals or the stimulus is removed.

Chronic pain: Pain that lasts beyond the term of an injury or painful stimulus. Can also refer to cancer pain, pain from a chronic or degenerative disease, and pain from an unidentified cause.

Referred pain: Pain felt at a site different from the location of the injured or diseased part of the body. Referred pain is due to the fact that nerve signals from several areas of the body may “feed” the same nerve pathway leading to the spinal cord and brain.**
There are even further types and finer breakdowns. It’s a broad subject.

Pain Treatments

All right – now that we know a little more about pain itself, let’s turn to the big point of interest: pain relief.

Pain medications have become pain management “tool of choice” for literally millions of people today. The most commonly used pain relievers are the over-the-counter (or “OTC”) varieties. These act on the body in various ways, giving at least temporary relief from pain – usually by blocking or interfering with the body’s mechanisms for perceiving pain or transmitting pain signals to the brain.

Going back to what pain is – a warning that body damage is occurring or has occurred – you can see that pain killers are essentially shutting off the body’s natural alarm system. They mask the true problem, rather than solving it. You might feel better for the moment, but is this really a good idea?

As a comparison, what if the fire alarm went off in your home in the middle of the night? Would it be a good idea to clamber out of bed, shut the noisy thing off and head back for some more sleep? No. You might well end up having a far, far longer snooze than you intended!

Obviously, the sensible answer to that screeching fire alarm is to find the fire and put it out.

Similarly, the safer and more sensible answer to pain is to discover what’s causing it, and treat the cause. If you don’t do so, the problem at the root of your pain may very likely worsen, resulting in a far more grave situation than a temporary discomfort. (By the way, my choice of the word “grave” here was deliberate.)

Pain Treatments – Side Effects

Quite aside from our earlier fire alarm exercise in logic, there is the matter of side effects.

Pain medications can do much more than just inhibit pain. Some of the things they may do are much worse than the pain they were taken to remedy. So if you choose to take pain killers at all, caution is an absolute must. Especially if the pain reoccurs, and you “treat” it again and again with pain killers, possibly in increasing amounts.

Patients often say “I had to take pain killers last night.” Not to seem harsh or scolding, but may I say that rather than “had to,” a more correct statement would be that they chose to take pain killers. After all, the cause of the ache or pain wasn’t a bodily shortage of ibuprofen or aspirin.

Pain Tolerance – How Much Can You Take?

Now let’s take a look at the matter of pain tolerance.

You’ve probably encountered the stoic sort who really has to be hurting before he or she would even think to mention it.

At the other end of the spectrum, there’s the person who’ll whinge at the slightest twinge.

Is this difference in pain tolerance “all in the head,” or is there really some physiological difference to account for it? Many fascinating studies have been done on the subject. In brief, evidence shows that pain tolerance is influenced by a number of different factors – physiological, mental and emotional. Depression, amount and frequency of exercise, smoking, obesity, genetics, past injuries, diseases, even such surprising factors as right- or left-handedness and hair color, all seem to play a part.

A theory I’ve developed through my years of study and practice is that as we use more and more pain medication, our “pain scales” are reset so that the brain says “Ouch!” with less input. If at first it took a hammer to produce an ouch, now it takes only a feather.

So whatever their tolerance, many turn to OTC pain medications. The drugs may ease the suffering for the moment. Well, cheers for that. But the pain was there for a reason: to sound the alarm that something is amiss. So by taking such medicines, one is suppressing the body’s natural warning signal. It’s like shutting off the fire alarm because it’s irritating, and it can have similar long-term results

Pain Treatment Guidelines

Before we go further, let me emphasize that if you’re being treated for pain by a medical professional who has prescribed pain relievers, do what your doc says. You may be interested in trying something – exercises, adjustments, etc. – in addition to what your doctor has advised. That may be fine, but please do not do so without consulting your medical professional first.

Quite aside from pain relief medications, there are many other approaches to dealing with pain. They include acupuncture, physical therapy, massage, assistive devices (such as canes, splints, and ergonomically designed chairs) biofeedback and hypnosis.

Of course, two approaches I recommend quite highly are (surprise!) chiropractic and posture correction treatment.

Pain Treatment – The Posture Correction Connection

I’ve had some remarkable successes with back pain treatment exercises and other practices and procedures, all to help patients deal with pain. These many great results have been in terms of immediate relief, as well as the longer-term business of rooting out and remedying the source of their discomforts. Here are a few videos I’ve put together for you, in this very area. I hope you enjoy and benefit from them:

Stiff Neck Remedy

Stiff Neck and Shoulders

Shoulder Pain Relief

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There, now – making your way through all that didn’t hurt a bit, did it?

Now I’d like very much to know your thoughts and experiences.

What is your experience of pain? Do you or don’t you with pain killers? Do you think you have a high or low pain tolerance?

Come on now – it doesn’t hurt to share! You can write to me down below. Or, Twitter being quite the thing these days, you’re more than welcome to tweet about it. Either way, I look forward to hearing from you.

Posture supports – claims aplenty, but do they really hold up?

Paula Moore The Chiropractor — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 23:30:08 +0000

If you’ve spent much time in search of a remedy for bad posture, you have no doubt heard about posture support devices. I’m talking here about the sort one wears, such as a lumbar support for low back pain (LBP), or a shoulder support to correct rounded shoulders by forcing them back. You’ll hear all sorts of claims for such devices, but do they really lead to good posture?

Posture Support – Fact or Fiction?

My hypothesis is that while such devices may offer temporary benefits in some circumstances, they are not really effective in the long run.

It may even be that supports for poor posture prolong the problem and prevent a real solution. Since the support is artificially holding the head, neck or a portion of the back in a particular position, the muscles that should be doing the work aren’t allowed to. Deprived of their rightful jobs, these poor indigent muscles may weaken and atrophy (wither away). No one likes to be given the sack – not even muscles!

Sticky Tape versus Real Solutions

When there is a posture problem of any sort, it is there for a reason. The real answer is to discover the underlying cause, then take steps to address the cause.

You see, the problem that’s observed outwardly (rounding shoulders, low back pain, forward head posture) is never just a singular issue. Applying a support or a brace is a bit like putting sticky tape over the oil warning light in your car: It might make you feel better for a while, but the problem hasn’t gone away, and may worsen. Sooner or later you’re going to have to do something about it.

Let’s take shoulder pain as an example. The list of possible causes is long, and there is certainly no universal solution, right for all of them. So how can anyone make the broad claim that their elastic brace, special pillow, High-Tech Wonder Contraption™ or secrets-of-the-ancient-Peruvians magic crystal healing necklace is going to end every shoulder pain sufferer’s woes? That’ silly – to put it charitably.

Is There a Straight Solution?

“All right, but what about my posture?” you ask. “How do I get to the underlying cause of my own posture problems? How do I achieve healthy posture?”

Happily, it may be that the root of your difficulty can be found with a simple, inexpensive posture analysis. I’ve had some extremely exciting successes with it, helping people gain better posture and all the health benefits it brings. You can learn more about this service right here.

I can’t guarantee you perfect posture. No one can, honestly. But healthy posture can be yours, most definitely!

A parting thought…

Speaking of achieving good posture, have you noticed that some mums (other people’s mums, of course!) seem to believe nagging about bad posture is a sovereign remedy? Professionally speaking, I haven’t found it to be a reliable cure. In any case, you could hardly classify nagging and nattering as posture support now, could you?

I won’t nag about it, but I’d surely appreciate hearing from you. Write (use that box down below) and share your posture woes and the most outlandish posture correction device you’ve ever seen or tried.

Supportively yours,

Orthopaedic Pillows: What’s Your Comfort Zone?

Paula Moore The Chiropractor — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 23:30:10 +0000

Since such a significant portion of our lives is spent in sleep, it’s reasonable to suspect that the way we sleep might affect our posture. And so it does.

One question I’m often asked is whether orthopaedic pillows are truly helpful, or worth the investment.

Well, first let’s establish what we mean when we talk about these specialized snooze cushions.

What is an orthopaedic pillow?

The term “orthopaedic pillow” embraces a whole array of different pillow types. There are neck pillows, knee pillows, body pillows, pillows for the pregnant, side-sleeper pillows, back-sleeper pillows – so many types that it could make one sleepy. Read all the snoozy details here.

This profusion of pillows shares a basic purpose, though: To promote comfortable, healthy sleep by providing support and cushioning. A good pillow should allow bodily functions such as breathing and circulation to carry on unhindered. Of course, it should do this in such a way that the neck and spine are not twisted or otherwise subjected to undue stress.

Preferences

Now, I must admit that I have neither personal nor professional prejudices pertaining to the pillow you pick. It truly comes down to what you find comfortable.

Sleep is enormously important, in any case. Your sleeping position truly can make all the difference in sleep quality – and affect your posture, too. For more on that, allow me to recommend my book, Posture – Give It to Me Straight! It includes a detailed section on sleep, the sleep positions chiropractors swear by, and sleep dos and don’ts. And there are some definite don’ts!

What’s Your Experience?

I hope that if you now find yourself yawning, it’s not because I’ve bored you – but rather that I’ve prompted you to ponder the possibility of a nice rest. Before you nip off for a nap, though, I’d be delighted if you would scroll down to the box below and tell me about your experiences in search of a better sleeping pillow. Do you love a bit of memory foam? Does your othopaedic pillow look and feel like a speed bump? Do you take your special friend travelling? Your bedtime stories may just help me zzzzzzz. Sorry, I nodded off.

Sweet dreams.

Neck Strengthening: Exercises to Get Your Head Straight

Paula Moore The Chiropractor — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 23:30:29 +0000

Neck muscle strength is one key to healthy, natural and comfortable posture. Unfortunately, so many of today’s occupations and activities tend to weaken some of your neck muscles, which leads to worse head posture and even weaker muscles. Also neck tension, and head and neck pain. Not a nice progression.

Forward Head Posture

Those weak neck muscles (and the whole unpleasant progression) come from what’s known as forward head posture. You may have heard of it. Certainly you see it all around you these days (maybe even in your own mirror). Instead of the ears lining up neatly above the shoulders, the head is held forward, turkey fashion. This position weakens muscles at the front of the neck. At the same time, it gives you over-tense muscles at the back of the neck, and in the shoulders too, as these muscles work hard to pull your head back in line with your shoulders.

Now, it’s fine to say that forward head posture causes weak neck muscles, but what causes forward head posture in the first place? Many things can be at its root. But overall, forward head posture could be said to arise from frequent and repeated downward-looking activities, and activities in which the head tends to be held forward. To name a few: Computer use and desk work. Sewing, knitting and other close hand-work. Sitting slouched. Washing dishes, dressing your children, reading with a book on your lap, driving with the head forward – more than two or three inches from the headrest. Get it? Pretty much life and all that we do!! Darn!

Neck Strengthening

Frustrating though all this may seem, it’s nothing to hang your head about. There are simple (even pleasant) neck muscle exercises you can use to strengthen your neck again, and improve your own neck posture. To be fair, I should warn you that in the process you’re also likely to lose some of that nagging neck tension. Yes, and some head and neck pain, too. You are certainly very apt to look and feel much more alive and alert. Such perils!

So – how to better posture (and reap those other rewards, too)? I could give you step-by-step instructions – 1, 2, 3, blah, blah, blah – but that would be tedious for both of us. So! Because it will be far easier for you to see how it’s done, I’ve made a video for you to watch. You can see it at the top of this page.

By the way – if a picture is worth a thousand words, has anyone figured out how many a video is worth? Hmmm.

When you’ve finished with that video, check out part 2 right here.

Tell Me about It!

Once you have watched one or both videos, and tried out the little neck muscle exercises, I’d love to hear how you liked them. There’s a box down below where you can type me a quick note.

Oh – and if you happen to know the answer to that question about how many words a video is worth, be a sport and tell me, won’t you?