Posts by Espinosa
The Power of Spinal Health Habits, For Better or Worse
How do your habits affect your spine?
Short answer, greatly. Spinal health is best thought of as a daily, if not hourly, struggle to maintain balance and prevent degeneration. Every little activity you undertake during the day, even if it is no activity at all, is going to have an effect on this system. Starting in our 30s, bone and muscle loss sets in and the challenge takes on a whole new dimension. Being proactive about your spinal health is not only about exercising, eating well and using good posture, but also about being aware at every moment of how your activities and habits affect your spine. Let’s take a look at some bad spinal health habits and see how you are doing:
Postpartum: Body Rehabilitation Begins
Overcome with joy with your newborn
And adjusting to the mental stress and responsibility of life with a new life, it can be easy to forget that your body has a veritable mountain to climb. You will probably lose 12 pounds right away, including the weight of the baby, placenta, some blood and amniotic fluid. Many women ask us why they still look pregnant in the weeks or months after pregnancy. The answer is that your abdominal muscles are stretched to the max! It takes patience and dedication to get your stomach back in shape, and some women are never able to fully banish the pregnancy pouch.
But a further consideration is the state of your spine which, for most women, suffers immensely during the pregnancy process. Your pelvic ligaments remain loose for a period of months after pregnancy meaning that the destabilized state persists. We treat many women who complain that the aches and pains of pregnancy are still with them, even though there baby has been with us for weeks. At Espinosa Family Chiropractic, we have a plan for helping new mothers regain a pain-free life.
Why is Corrective Chiropractic Care Different?
What does corrective chiropractic care entail?
This is a comprehensive approach to healthcare that starts by evaluating the Central Nervous System (CNS) and spinal function. Because the spine houses the CNS, it follows that spinal dysfunction will interfere with the proper functioning of everything in your life, as the CNS controls most functions of the body and mind. Our job as practitioners of Corrective Care Chiropractic is to not only control pain, but to fearlessly search and resolve the causes of your spinal dysfunction. Let’s take a look at how this works.
Weight Matters for Spinal Health
Being overweight: the greatest burden your spine can’t bear
When it comes to spinal health, carrying extra weight is akin to shooting yourself in the foot. Your spine and the surrounding muscles already have enough to contend with considering gravity and the onset of spinal degeneration that comes with age. So when you add superfluous weight into the mix, those same muscles have to work harder to keep you upright and pain free. The logical conclusion is muscle strain, which causes pain in of itself. But once your muscles cease to support your spine properly, your posture changes; the proper functioning of your spinal motion segments becomes altered. This is how weight leads to long-term spinal problems.
Integrating Massage Therapy with Chiropractic Care
Giving yourself the best chance at wellbeing
Healthcare is best thought of as multi-dimensional: it incorporates everything you and your healthcare team do to take care of you; this includes you as a (key) team player! From the food you eat to the exercise you take to the medicine you receive, healthcare is an integrative method of keeping you alive and well. Chiropractic is another cog in this machine- a conservative method of care that adds another entire dimension of support to your wellbeing. At Espinosa Family Chiropractic, we believe that chiropractic’s natural modalities are essential to an individual’s musculoskeletal health. Remaining upright and pain-free in old age is dependent upon proactively taking care of your spine. And while most of society is too busy to spare a thought for posture, we are here as advocates and professional reference points for your spine’s well-being.
The Power of Functional Wellness
Functional Wellness focuses on the health as a whole in order to influence the health of individual parts
Chiropractors, physiotherapists, and nutritionists are among the leading lights in the functional wellness movement. We seek to help our patients take a new approach to healthcare which emphasizes the combination of knowledge and natural healthcare approaches with functional medicine to create profound changes in the way you feel, look and function on a daily basis. We take the time to work with you on an individual basis to create a plan that is:
- Holistic
- Safe
- Preventive
- Evidence-based
- Promoting optimal function
So how does functional wellness work?
Preventing Back Pain While Biking
Cycling and lower back pain go hand in hand
A cycling habit is great for physical fitness, happiness and social well-being. Cycling gets you out for varying degrees of exercise and lets you access the outdoors in a truly unique way. But, as with all physical activities, you need to be careful that your fitness habit is not causing your back pain. The fact is that cycling, because of the mechanical factors involved in the motion, lends itself to back pain. Indeed, people who have no previous history of back pain find that when they start biking, they also gain a tender lower back. But that doesn’t have to be the case! We have identified the factors that matter for keeping you on the road and leaving the back pain behind!
Will You Still Be Active When You’re 80?
Are you looking foward to old age?
It Is hard to envision life at 80- the mere number brings on feelings of anxiety and questions with intangible answers. But we are here to tell you that, while it may be difficult, now is the right time to start envisioning your life in old age. The more we think about it now, the more we can take an active hand in determining what kind of life we will lead In the future. One of the best ways to think about your future is through the lens of spinal health. Whether we like it or not, our spines will play a make-or-break role in our wellbeing in old age. If we start taking care of our spines now, old age will be exponentially easier and less Painful.
Healing Modalities for Athletes: The Deep Friction Massage
Smart, safe, effective healing for athletes
The most common sports injuries involve ligament sprains and tendon strains. The severity of these injuries ranges between limiting your performance and preventing you from engaging in physical activity altogether. At Espinosa Family Chiropractic, a major part of our philosophy is helping athletes heal quickly and effectively. Because exercise is one of the cornerstones of wellness, it is our responsibility to offer you all our knowledge and expertise in support of keeping you active. Deep friction massage is an excellent modality for healing common sports injuries, but it must be carried out by a skilled set of hands. Fortunately, we have those hands! Read on to find out more.
Preventing Sports Injuries with Chiropractic Care
For athletes, success is where preparation and opportunity meet
Within this formula, we are interested in the preparation; how can we work together to better prepare your bodies for the challenges you face in your chosen sport? When an athlete comes to see us at our office in Sacramento, we focus on the following:
- Improving biomechanics of the upper body and lower limbs
- Maximize range of motion in joints throughout the body
- Boosting core stability
- Establishing spinal alignment and balance
- Resolving muscle imbalances
- Promote faster healing
- Naturally increase energy levels
Every single one of these bullet points represents an important factor in athletic success. But the most important part of this preparation process is that it keeps your body in the best position to avoid injury; by increasing your body’s natural resilience, and ensuring the right pieces are in place to stabilize the transfer of forces in a healthy manner, we go a long way toward preventing common sports injuries.