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:

Your habits and your spine: an uneasy relationship

Chances are, some of your favorite habits are going to be horrible for your spine. That doesn’t mean you need to make wholesale life changes; instead, we ask that you be more conscious of how each habit is going to affect your spine in the long run. 

• You love your phone: be aware of the position of your neck when using your device. 
• You ignore good posture: you know better. Everyone knows that slumping and slouching is trauma for the spine, but we do it anyway. One way to make maintaining good posture easier is to train the core stabilizing muscles which support the lower back. 
• You exercise incorrectly: exercise is something that is learned. If you are lazy about it, you could end up doing more damage than good. Make sure you choose an appropriate level of exercise and do the research first. 
• Ignoring pain and ignoring stress: these two factors go hand in hand and actively antagonize one another. As humans, we are great at putting things to the back of our mind until they cause us serious problems. 

At Espinosa Family Chiropractic, we are dedicated to helping our community members improve the state of their spines. Analyzing our habits and the way they affect our spine is often step #1 in any action plan to account for better spinal health. Give our office in Sacramento a call to schedule an appointment today.