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You will be snacking a lot this holiday season  From the myriad sweet treats to decadent family dinners, the options are endless when it comes to indulgence during the holiday season. For those looking to manage their weight, or keep back pain at bay, this can be a treacherous time. It behooves any back pain sufferer to be proactive about the health of their spine during the holiday season. To…

Nursing is the profession most affected by back pain Yes, more than office workers who sit with poor posture all day; more than construction workers who manage heavy equipment; more than any other profession, nurses are the ones stuck with back pain. Reports and statistics consistently show that, among the different varieties of nurses, they collectively miss the most days of work due to back-pain related complaints. As an office…

Understanding muscle tension  Muscle tension means: a condition in which your muscles are semi-contracted for an extended period of time. It is most often caused by mental stress, which constricts blood vessels, reducing circulation and therefore oxygenation to the muscles. When circulation is hampered, oxygen has a hard time and waste products have a hard time getting out, leaving you with muscles that feel tighter and opening the door to…

Shoulder Pain Is A Common Complaint Encompassing four joints and a host of supportive muscles, tissues, and ligaments, the shoulder joint is among the most complex in the human body. Arguably the most used joint in the human body, 1 in 2 people will experience pain in the shoulder at some point in their life, and most shoulder pain will resolve itself within a matter of days. If not, it…

Tailoring a treatment to your specific back pain Your back pain is completely unique and your treatment should be too! This should not be such a radical statement to read but it is at odds with the idea of allopathic treatment, where the same drugs and the same surgery is used to treat every case. The truth is, every diagnosis is different, so we take a different approach that detects…

Because of their shock-absorbing role in the human body, one of the structures most vulnerable to injury during an automobile accident is the intervertebral disc. The net force generated by a car collision is often enough to create a bulge or tear in the annulus fibrosus, resulting in a herniated disc. The discs most likely to suffer injury are the bottom two discs in the spinal column. We have a…

Atherogenic muscle inhibition is common after a joint injury As you move through the rehabilitation process after a joint injury, it is common to notice dysfunction in the muscles which surround the joint capsule. While there is no actual damage to these muscles, they are often unable to contract fully. This is a purposeful reaction by the body, which aims to prevent further damage to the joint by limiting the…

The importance of protein No matter who you are protein is important. To keep hair looking healthy and nails growing strong; to maintain, repair, and build muscle; to make important body chemicals; protein is an indispensable building block. For athletes, the importance is twofold: without protein, your muscle-building efforts will be seriously hampered. And with the foods highest in protein falling mostly into the carnivorous category, many vegetarians struggle to…

Why does tightness in the hip flexors matter? A less thought of factor when it comes to back health, the hip flexors can play a crucial role in the presence of back pain. When we sit for long periods of time, or pursue activities such as cycling or even jogging, the muscle complex in our hip flexors can tighten and create a pull on the front side (anterior) of the…

Sleep is your ticket to success at college By allowing your body to rebuild and repair, and preparing all your major internal systems for another day of activity and mental application, 8 hours of sleep is never more important than in college. But it is also the time when we see our young adults face sleep problems the first time. The struggle is to find balance and keep stress at…