If you’re an on-the-go professional, then you’re likely all too familiar with neck pain, back pain, or tension headaches from bending over a laptop or monitor. And that’s not even factoring in the toll that work stress can take on the body. Working while moderately or severely uncomfortable is challenging, to say the least, but here’s the good news: there’s something you can do about it. 

Just a few easy chiropractor-recommended stretches can make a significant difference in how you feel at work. These exercises can be done at the office, at home, or on the go. 

Apply the following techniques to help ease your discomfort and alleviate your tension headaches, neck and/or back pain. Your ability to perform and focus will improve as the pain fades away. 

Start with A Postural Awareness Check-In

Before we get started, take a look at how you naturally sit and stand. Pay attention to the alignment of your neck with your shoulders and hips, especially while sitting in a chair. 

• If you notice your head is slightly forward or your upper back is beginning to hunch forward, attempt to sit up straight with your shoulders pulled slightly back and down. Pull your chin inwards so your head sits in a more neutral position above your spine. 
• If you notice your hips are scooped under and you’re slouching, attempt to create a subtle c-shaped curve in your low back by arching forward a bit and redirecting the weight towards your “sit” bones.

These 2 simple changes in your physical posture can help prevent tension in your neck, upper back, and lower back. To learn more, check out the blog Perfecting Your Posture During Your Daily Habits.

Easy-to-Apply Neck Stretches that You Can Do Anywhere

Now for the real action! The following exercises can be done while seated anywhere to relieve tension headaches, neck aches, and upper back pain.

Just a few minutes each day can help relieve muscle strain, reduce your stress levels, and improve your circulation.

Upper Trapezius Stretch

How-To:

Levator Scapulae Stretch

How-To:

Maximize Your Healthy Results

While these stretches are the start of a great routine, working with a highly-skilled chiropractor will maximize your results. With chiropractic care and muscle therapy, you’ll be able to reduce pain and improve posture. Create a plan to live pain-free today.

PERFECT YOUR POSTURE FOR EVERYDAY LIVING

A key component of living your healthiest life? Better posture. Posture can impact the way you look, feel, and move. This month’s guide is full of tips to get you sitting, standing, sleeping, and even texting better than before.

FREE infographic download 

“Everyday Ergonomics: Day & Night”

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When it comes to your workout, both warm-up and cool-down stretches are important for injury prevention and optimal recovery. The following exercises will help increase your range of motion, ease existing aches and pains, and help prevent strains while working out.

CAT-COW STRETCH

1. Start on on your hands and knees, with your back flat in a tabletop pose 
2. Slowly arch your back and push your stomach toward the floor as you look toward the ceiling, holding that position for three seconds
3. Then, slowly round your back up and tuck your tailbone under, pushing your spine up toward the ceiling as you look down toward the floor 
4. Gently flow between arching and rounding your back 5-10 times, breathing in and out with each motion

Benefits:

The Cat-Cow stretch helps mobilize the spine and eases tense back muscles, which can be a particular problem for weightlifters or athletes who sit a lot during the day. While this can be done as a warm-up or a generalized exercise to prevent back pain, we recommend utilizing it as a cool-down after exercise to alleviate any strain from activity.

DOORWAY STRETCH

1. Approach a doorway with your arm positioned up and at a 90-degree angle. Rest your forearm on the doorframe
2. Step forward in the doorframe, but leave your arm on the door. You should feel a stretch in the front of your shoulder. For a deeper stretch, step forward a little more. 
3. Switch arms to stretch both sides. For a more complete shoulder stretch, straighten your arm in the doorframe to reach up above your head, and step forward.

Benefits:

This stretch helps access muscles commonly used by athletes or in the gym, like the shoulders, triceps, and deltoids. This is a great warm-up exercise to increase mobility in the shoulders, prevent injury and strains, and to warm up the joints in your upper body.

FIGURE FOUR

1. Lie on your back and bend your knees
2. Cross your right leg over your left leg by resting your right ankle on your quad 
3. Grasp the back of your left leg with both hands and pull back gently, until you feel a stretch in your hip and glutes 
4. Switch sides and repeat

Benefits:

Figure four makes an excellent warm-up exercise because it stretches the glutes, hips, and hamstrings, all of which need to be warm and loose before intense activity. The glutes and hips are common areas for general exercise wear-and-tear, so if you’re feeling soreness in the days after a workout session, give this one a try.

Download this simple guide to learn about some of the most common exercise injuries facing athletes today… and what you can do to prevent them!

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Injured? It’s time to grab the heating pad… or the ice pack… or both—who even knows! There’s a lot of confusion when it comes to using heat or ice to help treat common injuries like strains, sprains, pulled muscles, shin splits, knee injuries and tenderness.  

When it comes to choosing between ice or heat therapy, recent research supports using whichever one feels best to you! But if you’re not sure, follow this temperature guide on Heat & Ice therapy below so you can recover and heal faster!  

Cold Therapy 

As a general rule, always choose ice for injuries and inflammation. Cold restricts blood flow and reduces inflammation and swelling. Whenever there’s bleeding in underlying tissue—think sprains, strains or bruising—ice treatment is the way to go. You can use cold therapy in two ways: immediate or rehabilitation. 

Immediate Treatment: helps prevent the injured area from becoming stiff by reducing tissue fluid. 

Rehabilitation: aims to restore normal function to an affected area by reducing pain and spasms, which in turn allows for better movement. 

Conditions for Ice Therapy  

• Recent Injuries  
• Swelling 
• Strains & Sprains 
• Joint Pain 

If you have bad circulation, then cold therapy probably isn’t for you. If you apply ice for too long (or directly!) then skin, tissue or nerve damage becomes a possibility. If you have cardiovascular disease always consult with their doctor before using cold therapy. 

Heat Therapy  

Usually, heat is the best temperature therapy for relaxing—whereas ice restricts blood vessels, heat opens them, increasing blood flow to an affected area. This is perfect for most aches and pains, and it is also great for repairing damaged tissue since increased blood flow stimulates healing. Minor stiffness and tension can usually be relieved with about 15-20 minutes of heat therapy. 

Do not feel the burn! When using heat therapy, you want to keep a nice, even warmth. If you have swelling or bruising, heat isn’t the right call. Never use it near open wounds, and for people with heart disease or hypertension, always ask your doctor before using this treatment. 

The Ultimate Treatment 

When it comes to injuries caused by physical activity, heat or ice therapy can be beneficial, but they are not long-term solutions.  

A healthy musculoskeletal system is critical to overall health and healing, affecting how the entire body functions. Chiropractic care can reduce tension and pain and to speed up your recovery time, if an injury happens.  

What you need to know about ice and heat therapy for injury care, sore muscles. inflammation and more!

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Chiropractic isn’t just for your back! As experts in the musculoskeletal system, our offices specialize in treating extremity conditions to relieve pain and discomfort by improving joint motion, optimizing muscle function, and restoring proper flexibility and strength.

30 Million doctor visits a year are due to knee and shoulder injuries alone.

Common Extremity Issues

Extremity Adjustments

Can restore joint motion to a restricted joint and reduce pain, allowing for proper joint function.

Muscle Therapy

And rehab exercises help to strengthen the muscles around the joint, which can help decrease inflammation and swelling.

Tips For Joint Health

Stay In Motion – The more you move, the less stiff you’ll be. Change positions and take a 10-minute movement break every hour. 

Treat Joint Injuries – Injuries can add to the breakdown of cartilage in your joints. If you get hurt, see your doctor right away for an evaluation. 

Strengthen Your Muscles – With proper strength training, you will increase your joints’ stability while decreasing pain. 

Drink More Water – Proper hydration can improve the production of synovial fluid, reduce inflammation and maintain the shock-absorbing properties of cartilage.  

Omega-3, Vitamin D, & Calcium – Ensure your diet is rich in these crucial nutrients. Omega-3 lowers inflammation and keeps joints healthy. Vitamin D and Calcium are required for healthy bones.

For more tips, download our Free Beyond the Back – Chiropractic & Extremity Care Guide

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We understand that your days look different and you may not be as active as you were pre-COVID. At MyoCore, our goal is to get you back to the activities you enjoy and reduce any potential pain or discomfort in the process. A great way to support and strengthen muscles between visits safely and effectively is with resistance bands. Below are a few exercises you can do at home to improve your mobility and flexibility. Whether you’re working from home at the dining room table, spending hours helping your kids with online homework or binging the latest show on Netflix, here are three easy, low impact resistance band exercises to increase your mobility and flexibility!

Glute Bridge

This glute bridge exercise is ideal if you are experiencing lower back or sciatica-type pain. One common cause of lower back issues is weakness in the glutes which can lead to many different compensations that commonly cause pain.

1. Starting Position

• Begin lying on the floor. 
• Place the resistance band around your thighs, just above your knees. 
• Bend your knees with your feet flat on the floor, and your arms extended to sides.

2. Movement

• Activate your core muscles.
• Slightly abduct your legs while simultaneously performing a hip bridge, attempting to attain shoulder, hip and knee alignment.
• Slowly lower back to the start position without bringing knees together.

3. Repeat

• As prescribed or as you feel appropriate.

Resisted Neck Retractions

One exercise to reduce neck pain is neck retractions. Adding resistance bands to this exercise can be beneficial to decrease pain, improve posture, and activate your muscles.

1. Starting Position

• Begin in a seated or standing position, looking forward with your shoulders back with neutral posture.
• Place the resistance band around the back of your head.
• Hold the ends with each hand at shoulder level, straight in front of you.

2. Movement

• Activate your core muscles.
• Attempt to draw your head directly backward.
• Maintain level head position. Do not tilt your head up or down.
• Hold for two seconds and release to the starting position.

3. Repeat

• As prescribed or as you feel appropriate.

Brugger’s With Resistance

Brugger’s is an exercise that is great for resetting your posture, especially if you work long hours at a computer. Posture is affected by what we call “Upper Cross Syndrome,” characterized by a forward head posture, rounded shoulders, and a slumped mid-back. Adding a resistance band is perfect for improving your mobility and flexibility.

1. Starting Position

• Begin seated or standing with your back flat against a wall or chair.
• Position the resistance band in both hands.
• Your hands should be in front of you, palms facing one another, thumbs up, and elbows at 90 degrees.

2. Movement

• Begin by extending your wrists while turning your palms up.
• Pull your hands apart by rotating your shoulders externally while straightening your elbows.
• Slowly return your arms to the start position.

3. Repeat

• As prescribed or as you feel appropriate.

Are you interested in incorporating resistance band exercises into your routine care? Talk with your MyoCore chiropractor for more information on which resistance band exercises can best support your treatment plan and improve your overall health. 

Feel free to consult with your doctor before starting new exercises.

3 Easy Resistance Band Stretches

Check out three easy low-impact resistance band exercises from Dr. Koerner to strengthen your mobility & flexibility and improve your posture.

Chiropractic can help more than just your neck and back! Download this infographic to learn all about how chiropractic care can help with extremity issues like carpal tunnel, sciatica, arthritis and much more.

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Most of us understand the importance of going to the doctor after an auto accident, especially if you have any discomfort, pain, or injuries, but did you know that even seemingly minor auto accidents can have harmful effects on the body? 40% of all spinal injuries in a given year are the result of a car accident.1 After minor accidents, it can be common not to feel pain or have pain that starts a few days after the trauma. Your health is essential, and there are several reasons to have a chiropractic evaluation after an auto crash.

1. You May Be Hurt But Feel Fine

How you feel is not the best indication of a potential injury. After minor accidents, most people will not feel much pain, or their pain may start days or even weeks later. You could have injuries where you feel no pain at all. Seeing a chiropractor early on will help identify potential problem areas before you start experiencing pain.  

Some injuries that don’t present themselves right away include: 

• Whiplash – neck injury that occurs when the head is rapidly thrust backwards and then forwards.
• Soft Tissue Injuries – injury that involves the muscles, tendons or ligaments of various areas of the body.

2. Delay in Pain or Injury

Many injury symptoms can take time to surface and frequently do not manifest until hours or days after an accident. Endorphins and adrenaline, your body’s natural “pain killers,” can be present after a car accident and disable pain due to high levels of stress.

3. One Accident = Four Collisions

Every vehicle accident has four separate collisions happening to the car and driver. 

The first collision is the car striking another car or object. Your vehicle may be pushed forward due to this force, causing the second collision, which is the seat hitting or going against your body. As your body moves forward, the third collision will be your head or body hitting the seat belt or airbag. Lastly, there is an internal collision when your organs collide with the inside of the body. All of these separate collisions may cause injury. 

We find that even in an 8 mph collision, the g-force will equal 2 g’s on the vehicle and as much as 5 g’s on the occupant’s head. The average head weighs 10 pounds, which means in this scenario, up to 50 pounds of force is acting on the head and neck. Research shows that these low-speed collisions may be more harmful to the neck than a high-speed crash. 

Common injuries may include 

• Contusions
• Sprains/strains
• Whiplash 
• Concussion
• Fracture
• Dislocation

Auto accidents, including a minor fender-bender, can have a significant impact on your health. Play it safe. Always wear your seatbelt, drive carefully, and please have a chiropractic evaluation following any motor vehicle accident. 

Sources:

1 MayoClinic.com