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Chiropractic for Pregnant Patients
Did you know that the benefits of chiropractic care extend to patients who are in various stages of pregnancy? It’s true! Chiropractic care can be enjoyed and experienced by patients of all ages, body types, and going through all sorts of life cycles.
Below Espinosa Family Chiropractic goes over the benefits pregnant patients can experience through pursuing chiropractic care.
Repair Your Body
Through pregnancy, many women can experience joint pain and spine misalignment. In such cases, chiropractic care is an essential drug-free solution to add to your repertoire.
Drug-Free, All-Natural Pain Relief
It’s true that at many stages of pregnancy a woman is going to experience pain and discomfort. Many collaborative chiropractic and medical studies have shown that up to 75% of pregnant chiropractic care patients reported pain relief without the aid of any sort of medication.
Have a Better Delivery
Many studies are showing improved outcomes during labor and delivery in women who receive chiropractic care during pregnancy. Chiropractic can actually help reduce the amount of time you spend in labor. Chiropractic also helps you maintain comfort, reduce pain in the joints, and helps control nausea symptoms.
If you’re pregnant and wondering if chiropractic care is right for you, contact Espinosa Family Chiropractic today.
3 Wellness Hacks for Your Diet
At Espinosa Family Chiropractic we provide chiropractic treatments which provide drug-free all-natural solutions to our patients. Another part of what we do is educate our patients about what they can do at home to increase their levels of wellness.
Below we go over a few ways you can tweak your diet to start experiencing some major health benefits on a daily basis.
1.) Eat More Greens
Eat more greens, yes, but also try to eat all the colors on the color spectrum on a daily basis. Red onions, kale, blueberries, raspberries, banana, walnuts, squash, orange peppers — you get the idea. When you incorporate more vegetables in your diet, you’ll start feeling noticeably more amazing on a daily basis.
2.) Cut the Junk
Limit cheating your diet to one day a week. Sure, on that one day anything goes diet-wise, but the rest of the week you should definitely be sticking to the script with your diet.
3.) Think About When You Eat
When you eat is nearly as important as how much you eat. Don’t eat past 8 pm if your schedule permits. Try to extend your breakfast time as long as you can to achieve an intermittent fast, which will help you maintain ideal body weight, increase alertness and awareness, and give you a surplus in energy.
If you have any additional questions about how you can change your diet to achieve your full potential, contact Espinosa Family Chiropractic today.
5 Outdoor Summer Activities in Sacramento, CA
This summer is a great opportunity to get outdoors when you work in your cardio or fitness routine.
At Espinosa Family Chiropractic we believe that staying active is an important part of staying healthy and avoiding injury. When your body is used to firing on all cylinders and being pushed to exertion regularly, you’ll experience a host of health benefits and make you resistant to chronic illness, disease, and, yes, even injury. Below we go over a few outdoor activities you can engage in our in the Sacramento, CA area and beyond.
1.) Paddleboarding
Paddleboarding is a great way to get outside, soak in scenic views, and engage your core!
2.) Rock Climbing
Rock climbing, as long as it’s done safely and on the buddy system, is a great workout that strengthens your back.
3.) Outdoor Yoga
Instead of opting for the sweaty studio, do a solo yoga routine out in the woods or on the beach in the morning.
4.) Running
Running is a great way to strengthen your legs and it’s a hard activity to match cardio-wise. Just make sure you’re stretching and running with good shoes and practicing good form.
5.) Swimming
Swimming is another activity that is amazing for your back and your core. Swimming also brings the added bonus of being low impact.
When you engage in any of the activities mentioned above, it’s important that you have a good recovery plan, and Espinosa Family Chiropractic is a great companion to an active lifestyle. Contact us today to schedule your consultation. Together, we’ll help you achieve new balance and a new level of wellness.
What to Look for in a Chiropractor
At Espinoza Family Chiropractic our patients can count on getting the best possible chiropractic care for their entire family. Even though our patients come to expect excellence from us, we like to remind potential patients what they deserve when they step through the front doors of a quality chiropractic care practice.
Below are a few stand-out qualities an excellent chiropractor will exhibit at all times.
Great Team
Everyone working at your chiropractor’s office should be helpful, friendly, and make sure that you as a patient get everything you need from your visit.
Professional Expertise
It’s a good idea to check out your chiropractor’s background to make sure that they have the certifications necessary to treat you. Make sure to check out their website and their Yelp reviews as well. If they have a Facebook page, make sure to check for good reviews!
Superb Communication Skills
Any chiropractor worth their salt will be able to effectively communicate with you to resolve any issues you have and give you the best possible individualized care.
Comfortable Atmosphere
Your chiropractor’s office should be a place where you feel comfortable and cared for. We’ve heard of some chiropractors operating out of their basement or in their mother’s home and a reputable service should never do that to a patient.
If you have any additional questions about what you should expect from a quality chiropractic care practice, contact Espinosa Family Chiropractic today.
Winter Makes Way for Spring: How Your Body Can Beneit
Winter is the unhealthiest season of the year
It is often the point of the year where we feel most fatigued on a daily basis. And there is a biological reason for this: with less daylight, the body produces more melatonin which makes us feel drowsier than normal. This sets the tone for seasonal affective disorder (SAD), a mood disorder usually experienced during winter time. But spring is here, and it’s time to shake yourself out of it. Need some help? Read on.
What Your Posture Tells Us About Your Spine
Your posture can tell us a lot about the shape of your spine
You may have anterior pelvic tilt, a positioning of the body that involves, you guessed it, an exaggerated forward tilting of the pelvis. In this position, there is also an exaggerated arch in the lower back and, as a result your butt will stick out and your stomach will protrude. This is a problem for more serious reasons than making you look funny. If you allow your spine to remain in this hyperextended position as its normal posture, you are putting yourself at enhanced risk for conditions such as:
- Facet joint syndrome
- Spondyloisthesis
- Spinal stenosis
Why do I have anterior pelvic tilt?
Sitting too much, the great evil of our time is probably at least partially at fault. When you sit too much, some of the muscles which control your pelvis get overly tight while others get overly weak from lack of use. The general result of this is a net forward tilt of the pelvis and an increased arch of the spine.
How we go about fixing anterior pelvic tilt in Sacramento
Chiropractic adjustment is effective for relieving pressure from spinal joints and realigning the spine which is often a big contributor to pain in cases of anterior pelvic tilt. Furthermore, we focus on unwinding tightness from overworked muscles such as the hip flexors and quads while adding in strength to muscles that are being underused such as the glutes and hamstrings. Increasing the strength of core stabilizing muscles is a great way to make holding good posture easier.
How Your Body Weight is a Great Asset for Getting Fit
Your body weight can be your greatest tool…
…in your quest to lose weight. For many people, a gym is actually a counterproductive place to attempt fitness goals. Unless you are cut out for the high-intensity culture of a gym, it may leave you spun out and actually less motivated regarding your fitness. Body weight training is a ready made solution for those of us who can’t be bothered to spend a dime on a gym membership or a set of dumbbells.
Perks of body weight training:
- It’s free
- Easy to learn
- Can be performed in your living room
Benefits of body weight training:
- Burns calories to help with weight management…
- …while building muscle simultaneously, which is important-
- particularly in the core muscle group, which are essential for good posture.
- Increases relative strength, which is your strength in relation to body size and…
- also increases reactive strength, or your ability to elongate and contract muscles.
- Finally, it boosts circulation and improves range of motion.
What do you know, these sound like the same benefits as standard weight training and cardiovascular exercise! Body weight training can be performed as stand alone exercises or as part of a circuit i.e. push ups, jumping jacks, squats, lunges, planks performed without a break in between.
The Greatest Gift That Chiropractic Can Give
Remember what it felt like to be young and unencumbered?
One of the greatest benefits of chiropractic is how it improves range of motion, impacting flexibility, reaction speeds, balance and coordination. It’s no wonder that many athletes swear by chiropractic to keep them on top of their game. At Espinosa Family Chiropractic, we see the impact that sedentary lifestyles have on a human’s flexibility: it is a very sad sight and we are here to change that.
The Importance of Your Sacroiliac Joints
How do my legs connect to my upper body?
No really, how do they? Think about how your legs connect to the upper body and you will be thanking the structures known as sacroiliac (SI) joints. These powerful and pivotal points connect the pelvic bones to the sacrum, and are responsible for conducting force and weight between the upper body and the legs. They are supported by a complex system of ligaments and muscles that provide strength to the region.
Keeping Your Spine Happy With a Running Habit
Runners remember: posture is integral to your success and enjoyment of the sport
We love running and admire everyone who uses running as part of their commitment to staying healthy. However, running can take a toll on the spine. We see it as our responsibility to protect the spines of our running community here in Sacramento. The best way to do that is through focusing on good posture.
- Stay upright: you know you’re tired when the shoulders are slumped and you can barely breathe. But some people are not aware that they are slumping from the start.
- Keep your head centered above the spine so that its weight is properly balanced as you run.
- Keep the face faced forward and the body will follow. Do not look at the ground as it will set a precedent for the neck to follow, angling downwards and soon your shoulders will start to move toward each other, leaving you hunched over.
- Utilize your hips as your center of gravity. Letting the pelvis tilt forward will only lead to back pain. So keep your core upright.
But posture is not at all- beware of fatigue
Fatigue is what causes us to lose this great posture. Once you feel your shoulders caving inwards and your shoulders slumping, it may be time to take a turn toward home. Make sure you don’t run yourself to a point of exhaustion and laziness and posture.
These habits may feel like an adjustment at first but given enough repetition they will become second nature. And for the love of the runner: running everyday on concrete is bad for the cartilage in your back. If your back is aching after a run, it may be in need of some tender loving care- we treat sore tissues and misaligned vertebrae to ensure that you are running at your full mechanical advantage.