Dr. Drew D. Kycynka, Coastal Chiropractic Dunedin, FL is the doctor of choice for headaches, neck pain, mid back pain and low back pain. Whether your pain is caused by muscle spasms, irritated nerves or bulging discs or herniated discs, Dr. Drew is highly trained in the differential diagnosis and treatment of your pain.
Throughout our everyday lives we come across pain that in some way is directed from our spine. Our spine is the central core of our nervous system and these nerve fibers control the movements in our body. Our muscles and bones need these nerve fibers to work properly, so that our posture, movement, strength, and balance are working properly as well. Staying active in our lives is a key importance to maintaining spine success.
When lack of activity is present your body will lose the energy needed to control the human body. Keeping active maintains and increases this ability to work properly. Not only will you become physically injured by lack of activity, your mental focus in life will also decrease. You will become unproductive and fall into a downward state, with a chronic loss of energy or fatigue. Eventually this will cause major problems with your body and physical exhaustion occurs regularly throughout your life.
Posture and Balance
Spinal balance and correct posture are two very important elements to abundant energy. Good posture should be a relaxed, comfortable and a balanced state, providing you with stability, poise, and energy. woman_yoga.jpg
Do this quick test. Grab a partner, have them stand and relax their head and shoulders. View them from the side. Either side will work. Look at the center of their ear, where the ear canal is. This should be centered over their shoulder. Their shoulder should be centered over the center of their hip. Their hip should be centered over the center of their knee and their knee over the center of their ankle. In other words, there should be a straight line connecting all of these landmarks from the ear to the ankle. Make a stick figure drawing and show them what their posture looks like, then have them do the same for you.
Good posture begins with your head position. Changes in your neck structure, cause your head to move forward in front of your body. As this happens, the force of gravity is magnified, sometimes as much as 50-60 pounds, on the back of your head and neck.
Now grab your partner and do this. Stand and face each other 5 or 6 feet apart. Have them close their eyes and relax their head and shoulders. Compare one side of their body to the other at the ears, jaw line, shoulders and pelvis. If you see one side significantly higher than the other, this is an indication of spinal imbalance and dysfunction. This works with any age, children or adults.
We use special techniques at our office to restore proper neck and head position, reversing this process and restoring normal function. Without this correction, this condition will only worsen. You cannot win the battle against gravity, on your own.
Balance is a mechanism that your body uses to keep you from falling down. There are special cells throughout your body called "proprioceptors". These cells constantly communicate with your brain, telling your brain where all of your body parts are, at any given time. Close your eyes and hold your hand out to the side and you know where your hand is or take a few steps with your eyes closed and you know when your feet touch the ground. This is called "proprioception". A fall, trauma, auto accident, sports injury or just lack of physical activity can disrupt this proprioceptive mechanism and lead to balance issues. With chiropractic care and our special reeducating techniques, we can restore normal spinal function, balance and proprioception in most cases.
A proper functioning spine is a key element in overall balance, posture and well-being. You will even look younger. Stand in front of the mirror and slouch your shoulders and let your head drop forward. See how this makes you look older? We can change this.
Strength
Research has shown that people who are physically fit are less likely to have back pain, injuries, and will also recover much faster from injuries than those who are less physically fit.strong_kid.jpg
The abdominal and back muscles help to stabilize the spine allowing proper spinal movement and correct posture. Also, having strong leg and hip muscles allow for proper lifting techniques and body mechanics.
These "core" muscles stabilize the structures of your body that give you a strong foundation for all your normal daily activities.
Strengthening these core muscles can help to relieve back pain, provide energy and give a feeling of wellness making daily routine activities much easier.
However, we see many individuals that have hurt themselves from an exercise routine that is above, beyond or not correct for their needs. Therefore, it is important to undergo a strengthening program under direct professional supervision. In conjunction with your chiropractic care, we will design a custom strengthening program for your exact needs, based on our physical examination findings, not on the latest trend.
Movement
Proper spinal movement is aligned with flexibility and strength. Having adequate flexibility of tissues around the spine and pelvis allows full, normal spinal movement, prevents abnormal force on the joints, and decreases the possibility of injury.
Stretching exercises prepare muscles for activity. Stretching before and after a workout can prevent muscles strain, soreness and help to avoid injuries. Stretching exercises will help improve your flexibility and strengthen muscles.
Improper spinal movement causes nerve irritation, inflammation or interference at the spinal nerve root level. This will cause dysfunction of the nerve system and ultimately decrease the function of the body area that the nerve controls.