Posts Tagged ‘acupuncture Park Slope’
Two Daily Movements for Resetting Neck Alignment
Two daily movements that help us restore balance and reduce tension:
- Shoulder blade squeezes: don’t try to squeeze a pencil between your shoulders, despite what some people suggest. This is too extreme of motion. Instead, focus on gently squeezing your shoulder blades and opening up your chest. This movement relieves tension in the thoracic and cervical segments.
- Chin tucks: this simple movement is effective for strengthening the muscles that are responsible for maintaining spinal alignment through the cervical segment and supporting the weight of your head.
Retraining your spine into a state of balance starts at the top
Always pay attention to your posture by performing posture resets as often as is possible. When you feel your head creeping forward, choose to realize that this is responsible for your aching, stiff neck at the end of the day; choose to reset your head atop the spine and give your neck a quick stretch. These little actions add up to make a world of difference in your spinal health.
The Importance of Pelvic Stability
Why do I want a more stable pelvis?
Think about all the joints in the pelvic region:
- Sacroiliac
- Pubic symphysis
- Iliofemeral (hip) joint
Pelvic stability means that all the muscles in this region are strong and able to prevent excessive movement from destabilizing the balance of joints in the region. While each of these joints obviously needs to move, excessive movement will create problems, especially for the spine. The fact is, the pelvis is the anchor of your upper body and thus your spine- if it is moving around without any stabilization, then the base of your spine has no stability either. This instability has ramifications in every movement you make. No matter who you are, pelvic stability is important for preventing injury in all types of activity.
A stable pelvis and a happy spine
A stable pelvis complements a stable core, forming the essential components of the framework which supports your spine. If you are interested in finding out more about simple ways to improve pelvic stability, give our office in Park Slope a call to schedule an appointment today.
Cervicogenic Vertigo: When Dizziness and Neck Pain Overlap
Cervicogenic vertigo is a difficult condition to diagnose
When we suspect cervicogenic vertigo, we perform diagnostic tests such as the Dix Halpike Maneuver and the Head Fixed Body Turn test, both of which seek to gently articulate vertebrae in the neck in order to reproduce vertigo symptoms. Reproduction of vertigo during the DHM is an indicator of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, not cervicogenic vertigo; reproduction of vertigo during the HFBT is a positive indicator of cervicogenic vertigo. These two tests allow us to narrow down the cause of your cervicogenic vertigo which allows us to move on toward treatment.
Mechanical problems are most effectively treated by chiropractic
By excluding BPPV, we exclude the most common cause of vertigo, which strengthens the case for true cervicogenic vertigo. The vital difference between the two is that BBPV is caused by disorder in the inner ear while cervicogenic vertigo has a true mechanical cause; that means that chiropractic is one of the most effective methods for treating CV. CV responds well to spinal manipulation, myofascial release and other rehabilitative modalities. If you are interested in getting a clear diagnosis and plan for treatment regarding the cause of your vertigo, give our office in Park Slope a call to schedule an appointment today.
Chronic Pain Management with Acupuncture
Acupuncture for chronic pain
There is no one solution for all types of pain- the western medicinial cure that works for one may not do anything at all for the pain of another. At Community Chiropractic & Acupuncture of Park Slope, we use acupuncture to help people with chronic pain manage their symptoms. By controlling and increasing endorphin flow, pain signals are regulated and reduced; by unactivating the source of the pain, your brain’s awareness of that pain is similarly reduced. Acupuncture has other positive side effects that apply to pain management- it increases circulation which brings healing nutrients and oxygen to the injurious region; it releases other neurotransmitters such as seretonin which are important for relaxing mind and body.
Acupuncture at our new office in Park Slope
Acupuncture has further applications as a complimentary therapy that can integrate with more traditional forms of medicine in suppressing your chronic pain. If you are interested in finding out more, we urge you to give us a call. We hope to see you at our new office where we have dedicated acupuncture facilities that will help you manage your chronic pain in a natural an effective manner.
Can Acupuncture Ease Sciatica Symptoms?
Acupuncture addresses sciatica symptoms
By inserting tiny needles into strategic points in the body, acupuncture creates a chain reaction of healing:
- Releases painkilling endorphins in the targeted region.
- Relaxes tense muscles, including ones that could be impinging or creating a pull on the sciatic nerve
- Increases local blood flow, which brings oxygen and healing nutrients to the region.
Traditional Chinese Medicine maps out the points that correspond to dysfunction in the lumbar and sciatic nerve regions, allowing us to directly target the symptoms. By relieving pain, you are able to move more freely and perform exercise-based activities that can further improve your sciatica symptoms. Acupuncture is, in most applications, completely side-effect free and the upside is tremendous.
Let’s put acupuncture to work for your sciatica today
If you are interested in using acupuncture to improve your sciatica symptoms, give our new office in Brooklyn a call to schedule an appointment today. We firmly believe that the most effective way to take on any spinal condition, including sciatica, is with a multi-faceted. We have dedicated acupuncture facilities that will help you relax both body and mind in support of more effective healing.
When Compression is Your Problem- Spinal Healing Through Yoga
Yoga for compression injuries
Compression is defined as any injury or condition in which undue pressure is placed on the spinal cord. Degenerative illnesses, ruptured discs, bone spurs and acute injury can all cause compression, among many other factors. This brand of spinal pain is life-altering and most people will have to live and manage the pain for the rest of their lives. Enter yoga, which has long been used to improve symptoms related to compression suffering. Our guidelines for using yoga to account for compression include:
- A priority on being gentle in your movements.
- Avoiding excessive transfer of forces and extreme movements.
- Focusing on traction, or the lengthening of the spine during each sequence.
- Avoiding poses that exacerbate your condition
It is important to know which poses can actually worsen the pain. For compression-related pain, poses to avoid include:
- Camel Pose
- Boat Pose
- Shoulder standing or legs-up-the-wall
- Seated forward folds or toe touching poses
Using yoga to effectively account for your back pain in Park Slope
You should never start a new plan to account for your back pain without first consulting a health care professional. At Community Chiropractic & Acupuncture, we are in the business of helping people get an accurate diagnosis and picture of their back pain before we implement any holistic care strategies. Once we know the exact cause of your pain, we can begin incorporating modalities such as chiropractic care, massage, acupuncture and yoga to make powerful changes in your pain. If this sounds like something you are interested in, please give our new office in Brooklyn a call to make an appointment today.
Your Acupuncturist Asks: What are You Waiting For?
Acupuncture is a full body tonic
At Community Chiropractic & Acupuncture of Park Slope, we see spring as the time of ultimate rejuvenation. Just as our ancestors took the opportunity to clear out their houses after a long, harsh winter, so too can we benefit from spring cleaning our bodies. Acupuncture is one of the best ways to do this:
- Immune system support: acupuncture improves immune function which is important during the season of allergies!
- Sleep support: acupuncture increases the amount of neurotransmitters involved in relaxation and sleep cycle regulation, helping you rest more effectively.
- Improve mood: again, by stimulating the production of certain neurotransmitters, acupuncture helps you feel happier.
- Back pain: reduces discomfort in the back and neck by improving circulation and releasing endorphins.
- Regulates heart health: acupuncture is noted for its ability to decrease stress markers in the blood, as well as lowering blood pressure.
Spring cleaning starts with holistic healing
At our office in Park Slope, we use all-natural modalities to help you feel your best. With better weather around the corner, you are going to want to get outside to take full advantage. Chiropractic and acupuncture are two ways of ensuring that you hit the ground running this spring. If you are interested in regulating and improving your internal systems and overall function with natural methods, give our office in Park Slope a call to schedule an appointment today.
Body Drought: Functioning with Insufficient Water Supply
During an internal drought, your body is forced to make decisions
It is forced to prioritize, and the spine is not a priority. With deficient water supply, the body pulls water from the extremities and spine, reallocating it to the vital organs which simply cannot do without water. Your spinal discs, which rely on water to provide the shock-absorption and articulation between vertebrae, dry out. This effect manifests itself in more back pain, less range of motion and accelerated spinal degeneration. With an internal drought, any water that is put in is automatically routed toward the internal organs, and the spine continues to suffer.
Hydration helps you function your best
So what are we really looking for? To just hum along, with our body scrambling its resources to keep us functioning at the lowest possible level; or to provide our body and brain with the water they need to truly thrive? Drinking your daily recommended amount of water is the easiest and fastest way to start improving overall health, especially that of your spine.
When Lower Back Pain Flares: Movement Matters
Don´t skip exercise when you have back pain- just change your routine
With lower back pain, it is important to avoid movements that will exacerbate your condition. These movements include: bending, toe touches, sit ups, leg lifts, and twisting motions. Lower back pain is often accompanied by less range of motion, meaning that excessive movements can cause injury. Instead focus on these types of exercises:
- Yoga- especially child’s pose and bird dog, provides gentle stretches that challenge your core stabilizing muscles.
- Cardiovascular activity- even walking gets circulation flowing and releases tension in the musculature that creates a pull on the lower back.
- Focus on stretching the hamstrings- tight hamstrings create a pull on the lower spine which can wreak havoc in the lumbar vertebrae.
- Pelvic tilts- focus on undoing pelvic tilt and strengthening the core stabilizing muscles.
Movement speeds up the healing process
That being said, don’t speed into an exercise routine without checking with your Park Slope Chiropractor first. We can help design a multi-faceted, goal-oriented treatment plan for your specific body type and back pain. By combining chiropractic modalities including spinal adjustment and decompression, with targeted exercise and stretching, you can effect great improvements in your spinal health. If you are interested in using our services to manage lower back pain, give our office in Park Slope a call to schedule an appointment today.
Chiropractic’s Role for Tennis Players
The spines of tennis players face a unique mix of stresses
For being classified as a low-impact sport, tennis actually contributes to a lot of wear and tear throughout the body. Once you look at the nature of the sport, you begin to see why injuries are so common in the tennis community. To begin with:
- Shearing forces in the lower extremities: you speed up then come to a full stop, then accelerate in the opposite direction. This unpredictable procession of motions wears down the load bearing joints in the legs and lower spine.
- Repetitive stress: applied to the same local areas over and over again, creates a disproportionate amount of stress to a given region.
- Ballistic motion: increases the pressure on the joints in the upper extremities, as well as the thoracic and cervical spinal segments.
- Twisting motion: side-to-side motion increases the amount of overall spinal pressure.
How we help mitigate pain and dysfunction for tennis players in Park Slope
Our combination of chiropractic and acupuncture modalities help tennis athletes discover their best from while preventing injury.
- Spinal adjustment: balances the body, improves range of motion and circulation, mitigates back pain and prevents injury.
- Decompression: alleviates pressure from the spine, rehydrates intervertebral discs and facilitates healing.
- Stretching for tennis players: focusing on the core muscles, as well as those in the upper and lower extremities; yes, tennis is a holistic exercise that requires stretching for every part.
- Acupuncture: increases local, as well as full-body, circulation and facilitates healing.
Performing your best on court: chiropractic for tennis players in Brooklyn
Our overall goals for helping tennis players include: maintaining a high standard for range of motion, balancing the body so that musculature develops evenly, and improving coordination between body and brain, via the nervous system. If you are interested in using our natural modalities to improve your game on the court, give our office in Park Slope a call to schedule an appointment today.