Likewise watching Netflix or television from bed is many a person’s way to wind down. But it’s no secret that relaxing in bed can cause its fair share of trauma to the spine. While we would never sit here and deny you the pleasure of recreating in bed, it is prudent to set your spine up so that it incurs the least possible damage. For the purpose of this blog, we will use reading in bed as the model activity, but the same principles can be applied to using a laptop or cell phone in bed. 

Ergonomic relaxation: reading in bed edition

 The goal is to keep your spine in alignment and reduce pressure that comes with your spine being compressed by poor posture. We can achieve this by using pillows or other props to support the legs, back and neck.

• Start with a pillow under the knees to lift the legs, maintain spinal alignment and improve circulation
• Then place a thin pillow over the legs where you can rest your arms and keep the book at eye level without taxing your arm muscles 
• Place a pillow under the lumbar region and then another on top for the upper back.
• If you need neck support, utilize one further pillow to keep your neck positioned in a straight line with the rest of the spine.

In this way, you shouldn’t have to crane your neck to read, as the book will be at eye level and the normal curvature of your back will be supported. If you don’t have that many pillows to spare, get creative! Getting as close to neutral posture as possible is essential for minimizing the toll that is taken on your spine while you relax and read away. For more creative ways on improving your spinal health and dealing with back pain, give our office in Houston a call to schedule an appointment today. 

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The most ubiquitous spinal habits which cause harm include:

• Poor diet
• Poor posture
• Poor lifting technique
• Smoking
• Lack of exercise 
• Overuse of technology

Many of these malefactors go hand-in-hand; for example, lack of exercise and poor diet leads to weight gain which makes good posture more difficult; overuse of technology contributes to lack of exercise and poor posture. But all of these factors lead down the same road, the one that points toward back pain. The sooner we realize this, the sooner we can start exercising control over the factors that matter for keeping our spines healthy. 

Initiating a chain reaction of change in your spinal health habits

The first step is awareness. But how many of us are aware of our harmful habits, yet feel stuck in a cycle and do nothing about them? At Holmes Chiropractic, one of our priorities is giving you the motivation and desire for a healthier spine. But rather than a kick in the backside, we focus on using gentle adjustments and work on the soft tissues surrounding the spine to give you a taste for how good it feels to have a back free of stiffness and pain. We restore alignment to the spine, improving range of motion, boosting circulation and reducing pain. From this vantage point, we can show you how to make simple changes that will effect great improvements in your spinal health habits.

This is the only spine you get 

This seems to be an underappreciated fact. Remember that the spine is a depreciating asset, but it is one of the most important assets you have and it is a center of wellness. If you care about the longevity of your spine, and your well-being moving forward, give our office in Houston a call to schedule an appointment today.

The post Unlearning the Habits that are Hurting your Spine appeared first on Dr. Randall Holmes.

Who can really fall sleep with their knees touching and their legs stuck together? Who is ready to dream with their head sinking lower into a lumpy pillow? The first ingredient of any successful sleep strategy is comfort- comfort leads to calm, and calm leads to relaxation. This is an important transition: calmness is a working state of perfect harmony between your mental, physical and emotional states; relaxation, on the other hand, allows your body to reduce its expenditure of energy and focus on getting to sleep.One of the best ways you can get comfortable tonight is by using your pillows to better effect. Paying attention to your pillow(s) can make a big difference when it comes to falling and staying asleep; strategically positioning pillows can help you support healthy sleeping posture, promote better circulation, and prevent back pain. 

Implementing a better pillow strategy

The first thing to remember is that the bigger, fluffier, goose-down pillow does not translate to the best pillow for your sleep health. You may find that, all things considered, it isn’t even the most comfortable option! Spending the time and money on a supportive pillow that fits the contours of your particular body is one of the best ways to start finding a better night’s sleep. But you don’t have to spend money to improve your pillow strategy; indeed, you can use your favorite, flea-bitten friend that you refuse to get rid of in a more imaginative way beginning tonight.

• Back-sleepers can use a pillow under the legs to gently elevate the knees and relax the lower back. 
• Side-sleepers can put a pillow in between the knees for comfort and to maintain spinal alignment
• Stomach sleepers can put a pillow lengthwise under the stomach to shoulder region in order to prevent arching of the back.
• People prone to rolling onto their stomach while sleeping should try hugging a longer pillow to keep them on their sides

There is a place where comfort and supportive sleep habits cohabitate: the pillow is the primary prop

Whether you sleep on your back, side or stomach, you should always place a premium on maintaining spinal alignment, with your neck in the correct midline position.The truth is, the majority of pillows on the marketplace, including the ones you know and love, do not fit you; many of them will actually support the improper alignment of your neck, eventually contributing to spinal dysfunction and pain. At our office in Houston, we can show you what proper alignment of the neck looks like in all sleeping positions and how to maintain it using the pillows that are already kicking around in your house. If it is a financial possibility, shifting that perfectly fluffy pillow to an auxiliary role between or below the knees and investing in a pillow that properly fits both your body and preferred sleeping position is one of the best ways you can start sleeping better and protecting your spine simultaneously. From our perspective, that is a deeper and more sensible definition of comfort!

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Ligaments attach bones to bones and tendons attach muscles to bones. And while, they serve different purposes, they are composed of the same material: connective tissue made up of densely layered collagen fibers.

• Ligaments: ligaments connect bones and allow for the healthy articulation of joints. Healthy ligaments maintain support and stabilize joints so that excessive movement doesn’t cause injury.
• Tendons: connecting muscle to bone is also important for movement as much of the force imparted by movement is transmitted through tendons between muscle and bone. 

Ligaments and tendons are designed for durability, but put either through enough force and they, like the other structures of your body, will give. 

Ligament and tendon injuries in Houston

When the resistance capacity of a ligament or tendon is exceeded by a given force, injury is likely to occur. Injuries to ligament are called sprains, while injuries to tendons are called strains. In both forms of injury the connective tissue is subject to excessive force and as a result, is torn or at least over-stretched. The healing involved in both injuries follows a similar course, including: initial injury, inflammation, cell regrowth and restructuring which tends to grow back as scar tissue. While most injuries will resolve themselves given enough time and attention to rehabilitation, your ligaments and tendons can always use the helping hand of a musculoskeletal specialist.

Healing ligament and tendon injuries in Houston

Our goal as an office of chiropractic is to assist with an efficient rehabilitation of any injury sustained by your ligaments and tendons. Rehabilitation is made easier by maintaining a schedule of movement but you can only move if pain is at a minimum. We focus on maintaining joint mobility despite injuries and use natural modalities to increase circulation and improve the body’s healing response. Our techniques also focus on preventing the adhesion of scar tissue as it regrows in the wake of an injury to ensure optimal movement post-injury. If you are interested in healing ligament or tendon injuries in Houston in a natural, effective manner that strengthens the site to prevent re-injury in the future, give our office a call to schedule an appointment today. 

The post Meet Musculoskeletal You: The Difference Between Tendons and Ligaments appeared first on Dr. Randall Holmes.

No matter what position you are in, or how good your posture, there is still a burden being placed on your spine; as a result of its position in the body, the brunt of this pressure is born by the lumbar segment of your spine. Studies have measured the amount of pressure sustained by intervertebral discs in the lumbar spine of a healthy person which show that: 

• Lying on your back: ~25kg 
• Standing upright: ~100kg
• Sitting upright: ~125kg 

These numbers increase when you do things like lean forward, bear weight, or lift. Because this pressure is ever-present, a common side effect is for the spine to fall out of alignment, a condition known as subluxation.

How to correct subluxation and mitigate the severity of spinal compression

No one said it would be easy: because spinal pressure is constantly accumulating, it takes a constant, proactive approach to undoing the effects of compression to prevent them from compounding into something more serious. At our office in Houston, we use chiropractic adjustment to correct subluxations and restore your spine to proper alignment, thus alleviating potential nerve impingement and the pain that accompanies it. Furthermore, we use decompression modalities to elongate the spine, allowing for a therapeutic stretch of the spinal column that allows for the rehydration of overburdened intervertebral discs. 

Prevent pressure from causing you pain by checking in at Holmes Chiropractic

For workers who sit or stand in one position for extended periods of time, being cognizant and proactive about spinal pressure is all the more important. We can help you find ways to add more movement in to your daily routine to maintain good circulation and keep your core muscles engaged, both of which form an indelible support for an under-pressure lumbar segment. If you are interested in using our services to prevent spinal compression from taking its toll, give our office in Houston a call to schedule an appointment today. 

The post A Spine Under Pressure Leads to Subluxation appeared first on Dr. Randall Holmes.

A big part of this is down to poor ergonomics: because employers rarely care enough to invest the money and set up their workers for success, there is a precedent of poor ergonomics set from the beginning. That means the onus is upon the worker to make themselves aware of how poor ergonomics can actually cause harm to their bodies; carrying on from this, the enlightened worker will take proactive action to prevent back pain and ergonomic injuries.

Ergonomic action at Holmes Chiropractic

At Holmes Chiropractic, our definition of good ergonomics is a work space that puts the spine under the least pressure. Our plan for this involves three-parts:

• Strengthen the core stabilizing muscles to provide support for the spine.
• Establish good posture as the norm
• Optimize the work station to make maintaining good posture easier. 

Ergonomic injuries are most often caused by repetitive trauma: if you work with the same poor posture in the same poorly adjusted work station day after day, trauma is bound to accumulate and eventually cause injury. 

Addressing ergonomic injury at Holmes Chiropractic

If you have already suffered the ill-effects of the workplace, give our office in Houston a call to schedule an appointment today. We address the causes of back pain directly using natural, non-invasive techniques to help your body heal itself more effectively.

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Your core is the foundation of musculoskeletal wellness. Most movements you undertake on a daily basis originate in the core, or at least utilize it in some manner. The core forms a link between the upper and lower body and weakness in this crucial center link underpins a lot of musculoskeletal dysfunction that can lead to immobility, pain and degeneration, especially in the spine. The spine can be used to stabilize the spine and transfer forces across the body from the smallest acts such as bending over to tie your shoes to bigger acts such as the heavy lifting involved in construction work. Let’s take a closer look at one of the most important muscles of the core and how paying attention to it can prevent back pain. 

The transversus abdominis is one of the most important muscles for core stability

The transversus abdominis is the innermost of the four abdominal muscles and its location makes it key for spinal stability. It acts like a girdle, wrapping horizontally from the back to the front on each side of the body; and the two sides are connected by a fascial sheet allowing them to function as one solid muscle. It is thought that weakness and dysfunction in the transversus abdominis is an indicative component of lower back pain and thus, maintaining its strength is a key way to manage lower back pain. 

Core stability as part of a holistic healthcare plan for your spine at Holmes Chiropractic

There is a reason why most exercise regimes for treating back pain begin with the core. At Holmes Chiropractic, we can show you how to unlock the power of your core when it comes to beating back pain. If you are interested in finding out more about chiropractic and core health, and how it can benefit you, give our office a call to schedule an appointment today.

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At its most basic, radiculopathy is a condition characterized by compression and/or irritation of a spinal nerve as it exits the spinal cord. Symptoms include: 

• Pain 
• Feelings of numbness and tingling
• Weakness in the extremities 

Most commonly occurring in the lumbar and cervical segments of the spine, radiculopathy often results from activities or habits that place an excessive amount of pressure on the spine. In this way, people who work physically labor-intensive jobs are the most at risk for radiculopathy. At the same time, radiculopathy can also occur in those who lead a more sedentary lifestyle, especially those work office jobs without consistently good posture. 

Treating radiculopathy conservatively

In the grand scheme of medicine, comparatively little is known about the symptoms, causes and treatment for radiculopathy. What we do know is that radiculopathy very rarely needs aggressive forms of treatment. In fact, most people will see their symptoms disappear in anywhere from 3 weeks to 6 months without any given treatment. However, if the pain is irritating, distracting or encroaching upon your life, it is worth finding out how conservative treatment methods such as chiropractic can help. Chiropractic is a science of the musculoskeletal form that helps people resolve radicular complaints with very few side effects.

Chiropractic treatment for radiculopathy in Houston

Our goals for treating radiculopathy are restoring normal range of motion to the affected area. We do this by providing gentle, targeted adjustments to the joints and bones which correspond to your nerve irritation. Restoring alignment to the spine often alleviates pressure from nearby nerves, but we do not always prescribe chiropractic adjustment for radiculopathy. We also use techniques such as spinal traction to provide therapeutic decompression to the discs in your spine, a further way we can alleviate nerve compression and the pain it causes. If you are suffering from radiculopathy and want to heal quickly, it is worth giving our office a call to initiate the conversation today. 

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Understanding the complexities of the musculoskeletal human means coming to better terms with what causes pain, especially chronically recurring pain that can become life-defining. Chiropractic, in its own way, is a form of pain science that seeks to treat the underlying causes of pain rather than repress or placate the symptoms. 

Musculoskeletal medicine is about enhancing your body’s ability to feel well

The truth is, pain is hard to diagnose and treat. No one wants to spend their time, energy and money chasing after treatments that promise pain relief but deliver (next to) nothing. There is a plethora of these treatments available on the internet, in magazines, in media; and unfortunately, they also exist at many doctors’ offices. 

In order to prevent this waste of time and money, we want to start by placing all the information on our side with a comprehensive medical history, diagnosis and exam of your musculoskeletal form. We do believe that pain and dysfunction in the body are interlinked; with a proper diagnosis of what is causing your pain, we can set a course for treatment that gives your body the best possible chance of reversing it.

It is important to get musculoskeletal medicine right

While chiropractic is a pain science, it is also an information science- an ever-evolving study of the musculoskeletal form to determine what drives dysfunction and pain in the human body. When you are consistently receiving a pain signal to the brain, it is time to troubleshoot. As an office of chiropractic, we differentiate ourselves by offering a low-risk, high reward form of treatment that can help you overcome pain in a natural way. If you are interested in changing your relationship with pain, give our office a call to start the conversation today. 

The post Why Musculoskeletal Medicine Matters appeared first on Dr. Randall Holmes.

White collar work doesn’t involve the dangers of lifting that more physically demanding jobs do, but it still takes a toll on the body. And precisely where does it hurt? The lower back. Because the average office worker can spend more than seven hours a day sitting while on the job, white collar work is one of the worst professions for back pain. 

Sitting is dangerous for the spine

Sitting is the position that puts your spine under the most pressure during the day. Sitting is dangerous in the following ways:

• Slows metabolism and contributes to weight gain
• Interferes with the body’s ability to regulate blood sugar and blood pressure
• Puts the spine under compression
• Contributes excess pressure to the lumbar region
• Overworks certain muscles while underworking others leading to strain in the first case and atrophy in the second.

Responding to excess compression with decompression

For spines wracked by the effects of too much sitting, decompression therapy both feels great and helps you heal. By gentling stretching the spine, decompression therapy creates negative intradiscal pressure, allowing injuries such as herniated discs to heal quicker. 

When it comes to our job, make your spine an asset rather than a liability

More than 50% of our patients report a positive impact in both pain reduction and range of motion after just one treatment. By reversing the trend of compression and pain, decompression allows you to focus on things that matter for maintaining a healthy spine including: building core stability, maintaining proper posture and improving range of motion. If you are interested in using decompression therapy or other natural modalities to reverse chronic pain associated with your career, give our office in Houston a call to schedule an appointment today. 

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