Back and Spine Health Exercise: Exercise is one of the most significant ways to increase longevity, improve health, and decrease pain and suffering. A proper exercise program can improve flexibility, mobility, increase strength, and reduce back pain. Knowledge of the best exercises to improve health or decrease pain is essential to a workout plan or pain management program. Regular exercise is one of the best things you can do for overall health. The many benefits include improved health and fitness and reduced risk of chronic diseases.
There are many different types of exercise; it is important to pick the right types. Most benefits from a combination of exercises: Endurance or aerobic activities increase your breathing and heart rate. They keep your heart, lungs, and circulatory system healthy and improve your overall fitness. Examples include brisk walking, jogging, swimming, and biking.
Strength or resistance training, exercises make your muscles stronger. Some examples are lifting weights and using a resistance band. Balance exercises can make it easier to walk on uneven surfaces and help prevent falls. To improve your balance, try tai chi or exercises like standing on one leg. Flexibility exercises stretch your muscles and can help your body stay limber. Yoga and doing various stretches can make you more flexible.
Q: Dr. Jimenez, I read one of your articles about physical therapy and spinal stenosis exercises that focus on stretches for relieving pain. I was wondering if it was also possible to do aerobic exercise with a spinal condition and can you recommend a safe cardiovascular program?
I’m a 65-year-old with spinal stenosis, and I want to stay in shape. I try to ride a stationary bike for 20 minutes at least 2 times a week, but with my low back pain, I don’t always finish the workout.
How else can I stay in shape
A: I do recommend aerobic exercise for everyone, but especially for people with spinal conditions.
Aerobic exercise increases the blood flow to the body’s tissues, and people with high levels of cardiovascular fitness generally do better dealing with spinal problems.
However, before anyone with a spine condition or any medical condition for that matter, starts a wellness and fitness program, they should check with their primary caregiver, to clear the individual as fit to exercise.
Example: Someone with cardiovascular (heart problems) can have restrictions when it comes to certain types of exercise.
A physical exam will make sure your body is ready for exercise.
Physiotherapist assisting a senior woman with exercise ball at a chiropractic rehabilitation clinic
Low-impact aerobic exercise is recommended�
Walking
Swimming
These are excellent examples of low-impact aerobic exercise. They increase heart rate and are easy on the body.
Riding a stationary bike is another recommended form of low-impact aerobic exercise.
It can be tiring, but if recommended by a caregiver/therapist, then realize they did so for a reason/s to get you healthy.
By biking, you are building up endurance, and that is exactly what you want, as it speeds up recovery.
Walking is a great exercise for spinal conditions. It is low-impact, and you can control the pace to fit your needs.��
Daily walks after lunch or after getting home are a great way to exercise.
If exercise does begin to increase back pain or another type of pain, tell your caregiver or physical therapist right away.
The phrase, no pain, no gain does not apply when there are spinal conditions. So do not try to push through the pain or think that the hurt is good.
Also, do not try to do take on too much right away. Even if you feel good, follow the fitness plan.
But if you want to mix it up, discuss with your chiropractor/physical therapist if adding walking and swimming to the plan will be beneficial, as well.
It can be tempting to not exercise with a spinal condition. But remember that if there is no movement at all, you could make the pain worse. Knowing what your body can handle and sticking to a workable schedule, these healthy steps will relieve you and help with your low back pain.
Chiropractic Care Sports Injury Rehabilitation El Paso, TX
Daniel Alvarado, the owner of Push-as-RX Fitness, discusses how he carries out his PUSHasRx Functional Fitness Workouts personal injury rehabilitation and athletic training program as a part of Dr. Alex Jimenez’s chiropractic rehabilitation plan.
Physical therapy (PT), also referred to as physiotherapy, is one of the allied health professions which, by utilizing mechanical force and motions (bio-mechanics or kinesiology), manual therapy, exercise therapy, and electrotherapy, remediates impairments and promotes mobility and purpose.
Physical therapy is used to enhance a patient’s quality of life through:
Examination
Diagnosis
Prognosis
Physical intervention
NCBI Resources
Exercise is an essential part of good health. It can help with weight loss and plays a crucial role in preventing many chronic health conditions like hypertension, diabetes, and heart disease. Regular exercise has also been shown to help with depression and anxiety. It is what nature intended; as humans, we are supposed to be active. The more active you are, the better you will look and feel � and the healthier you will be.
Children are not born with a fully developed microbiome, and a baby’s diet has a large impact on the foundation set for a healthy guts future (Biotics Education Team, 1).� Setting up a child to have healthy gut flora from early stages can help them:
In the TEDDY study published in Nature Medicine, it shows that a child’s microbiome goes through 3 transitional phases:
Developmental phase (3�14 months)
Transitional phase (15�30 months)
Stable phase (31�46 months)(Stewart et al., 3)
Throughout the developmental stage, those with a higher breastfeeding rate were associated with increased levels of Bifidobacterium.� “However, once the infants were weaned, there was a rapid loss of the�Bifidobacterium spp.,�and a quick turnover occurred in the microbiome, which featured a higher population of bacteria within the�Firmicutes�phylaphase (Biotics Education Team, 1)”.� Once infants begin to wean off milk, it is helpful to start providing them with probiotic powders.
Prebiotics are the dietary fiber that the live organisms in the probiotics need to eat in order to flourish.
Some foods that include prebiotics are:
Vegetables
Fruits
Legumes
It is great to start toddlers on prebiotics and probiotics because it can help them to continue to have a healthy gut. A healthy gut can help prevent many issues that adults face later on in life (Veereman-Wauters, 4) Having a healthy gut can help to protect the gut from harmful bacteria and fungi, it can aid in sending signals to the immune system, regulate inflammation, create a supportive barrier in the cell lining of the colon and reduce the risk of cancer (Lewis, 2)�
Probiotics are safe for most children and can reduce the risk of upper respiratory tract infections and well as helping to reduce their risk of allergies. It is beneficial to have toddlers on probiotics and prebiotics so they do not develop a “leaky gut”. By starting children on probiotics and prebiotics young, it can aid their overall health for life.
ProbioMax� for Toddlers
Prebiotic and Probiotic Support for Toddlers*
�Overall, it is best to start building the child’s microbiota through the maternal diet in pregnancy, expose them to environments, and talk with their pediatrician about starting them on probiotics. It’s better to start young and build a healthy foundation than to be diagnosed in their 20’s with leaky gut from something that could have been prevented. – Insight from Kenna Vaughn, Health Coach�
NCBI Resources:
Our knowledge of microbiota is rapidly developing and changing. A relatively young field, the science of gut bacteria has been quickly taken up by industry. Most drugstores sell probiotics in some form or another, and yogurt and other fermented foods are frequently hailed as healthy for the gut because they contain live bacteria. Probiotics are food or supplements that contain living microbes intended to support or improve your microbiome’s health. If your favorite yogurt contains �live and active cultures,� you are getting a dose of probiotics along with your breakfast. These microbes are thought to bolster or replace the bacteria communities in the gut of people.
�Cites:
Biotics Education Team. �Impact of Diet on Baby’s Microbiome.� Biotics Research Blog, blog.bioticsresearch.com/impact-of-diet-on-babys-microbiome.
Lewis, Sarah. �Probiotics and Prebiotics: What’s the Difference?� Healthline, Healthline Media, 3 June 2017, www.healthline.com/nutrition/probiotics-and-prebiotics.
Stewart, Christopher J., et al. �Temporal Development of the Gut Microbiome in Early Childhood from the TEDDY Study.� Nature News, Nature Publishing Group, 24 Oct. 2018, www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0617-x.
Veereman-Wauters, Gigi. �Application of Prebiotics in Infant Foods.� The British Journal of Nutrition, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Apr. 2005, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15877896.
As humans, we depend on microbiomes to stay alive. Microbiomes are essential in fighting off germs and maintaining health. The development of microbiomes begins in utero where the microbes have been isolated to the placenta, fetal membranes, amniotic fluid, and umbilical cord blood, but are mainly transferred from mother to child during birth in a process referred to as “seeding” (1,2). “Seeding”� occurs as the child passes through the mothers vaginal canal and becomes coated in her microbiome. In addition to this, small amounts of microbiomes get transferred to the child as the mother breastfeeds. This early introduction from mother to infant serves as an inoculation process with long term health outcomes for the newborn (2). With the number of cesarean births being higher this decade than in the past, you may find yourself asking, “How does a cesarean birth affect my child’s microbiomes?”
Vaginal
With vaginal births still being the most common way of delivery (68%), these children are seen to have overall better health throughout their lifetime than those born via cesarian (2). Vaginal birth is the most effective way to spread the microbiomes to the child’s skin, but studies have found that microbiomes do differ between ethnic groups. Microbiomes are made up of multiple bacterias and specifically, women with a higher pH have a smaller community of protective biomes. It has also been seen that the gut microbiota in pregnant women with gestational diabetes, tend to have an increased abundance of disease-associated microbes (2). That being said, the pH and mothers gut microbes play a significant role in the types of microbiomes that get transferred to their child.
Cesarean
There are generally two ways a child ends up being born via cesarean, labor ending in a cesarean, or a planned cesarean with no labor attempted. Children who are born via cesarean with labor attempted first, have a slightly higher number of microbiomes due to the vaginal fluids exposed to them during labor than that born elective cesarean. The most effective way a mother can transfer microbiomes to their newborn via cesarean is to “incubate” a cloth for 1 hour in their vaginal canal. When the infant is born,� the doctors rub the child’s mouth, eyes, and skin with the cloth that was previously incubated within minutes after birth (2). This process ensures that the child will have microbiomes more closely related to those born vaginally. Children born elective cesarean without using the incubation method, show fewer gut microbiomes related to their mother, but rather have more skin and oral microbes, and bacteria due to the operating room (2).
Children who are born via cesarean, whether labor was attempted first or not, are more likely to develop immune-related disorders such as asthma, allergies,� inflammatory bowel disease, and obesity (2). This is directly linked to not being “seeded” by the mother. Furthermore, adults who were born via cesarean contain a fecal microbiota that is drastically different than adults who were born vaginally (2).
The purpose of the female reproductive system is to reproduce and birth. Therefore, the best route will always be vaginal if it is safe for baby and mom. This being said, a cesarean is not a bad way to bring a child into the world. The child will just face more skin irritability and have a greater risk of developing health issues due to not receiving the same microbiomes as a child born vaginally. – Kenna Vaughn, Health Coach Insight
References:
(1) Aagaard, Kjersti, et al. �The Placenta Harbors a Unique Microbiome.� Science Translational Medicine, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 21 May 2014, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4929217.
(2) Dunn, Alexis B, et al. �The Maternal Infant Microbiome: Considerations for Labor and Birth.� MCN. The American Journal of Maternal Child Nursing, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2017, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5648605/.
You hear many people talk about the benefits of walking but may not know how it applies to you. Walking regularly can be exceptionally helpful if you have back pain by providing the spine with added support and increased blood flow. These three spinal health benefits of walking should be enough to convince you.
Walking Aids in Rehydrating Your Spinal Discs
Gravity is not your friend. Well, not when it comes to your back. From the time you get out of bed until you lay down again at the end of the day, the pressure of gravity compresses your spine. When your spine is compressed, that means your spinal discs are too. These fluid-filled discs provide a cushion for your vertebrae, but the constant compression that occurs throughout the day due to regular activity squeezes the fluid out of them.
Dehydrated discs can cause back pain and structural problems. That is why restful sleep and staying hydrated are essential for spinal health.
Walk because it increases circulation throughout your body, including your spine. This increased blood flow helps to rehydrate your discs that improve your spinal health. It also helps keep your spine younger, staving off the effects of the aging process.
Walking Relieves Back Pain and Reduces Stress to the Spine
Walking provides an excellent low impact aerobic workout, and it increases blood flow which helps improve mobility, flexibility, and range of motion. When you incorporate stretching, you can reap even more of the benefits of a healthy spine.
The human body is made to move. When you don’t move or are sedentary, your muscles become stiff and inflexible. Moving prevents that, but even if you are experiencing some stiffness, walking, stretching, and movement can help you regain that flexibility.
You will also find that walking regularly also helps with stress relief. Lower back pain is a prevalent stress symptom, but walking combats its effects by encouraging dopamine release.
When you are stressed, your pain sensitivity increases, you feel pain more acutely, and it is more challenging to manage. By reducing your stress level, you also make your pain more manageable but, at the same time, minimize lower back pain.
Walking Improves Posture
When you don’t use your muscles, they become weak and inflexible and cannot do their intended job. The back forces are designed to provide support to the spine, and when they are not used, they can atrophy and weaken, resulting in stooped or other improper posture.
Poor posture causes back pain by putting more pressure on the spine, leading to pain, soreness, tension, and headaches. Without the necessary support, it can also lead to misalignment of the spine, which can cause problems.
Walking strengthens the supporting muscle groups so that your back muscles get more robust, and your spine gets the structural support needed. As your back muscles get stronger, your body will naturally begin to adopt a correct posture. The benefits of good posture include improved organ function, reduced pain, less fatigue, and easier breathing.
Walking is good for your whole body as well as your mind. When you walk to reduce back pain, you are also doing great things for your body. If you have any questions about proper form or achieving a better, healthier posture, your chiropractor can help you. The spine is such an essential part of the body; it does so much. Please do your best to protect it and keep it in good health. In return, it will save you from moving for a long, long time.
Now in the heart of the school year � new shoes, haircuts, homework, and their bulging backpacks. Think about the backpack your child is carrying. Sure, they load them up with books, but did you know that wearing a heavy backpack for a long time can actually hurt your child? The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has provided some helpful guidelines for choosing a backpack for your child and avoiding the injury that can result from one that is too heavy.
What are the health risks of a heavy backpack?
Wearing a heavy backpack can strain the shoulders, back, and neck. As the child�s body tries to compensate for the extra weight, such as leaning forward, it can adopt positions that put the spine out of alignment. It can also cause the muscles to fatigue and weaken. This results in poor posture and a misaligned spine.
The longer he or she carries the extra weight, the worse it gets. Over time, the child can experience pain, stiffness, and problems with flexibility and range of motion. This can significantly increase the child�s potential for injury. The effects may include backache, sore or stiff neck, sore shoulders, and headaches.
How heavy is too heavy for a child�s backpack?
According to the AAP, a child�s backpack should weigh less than 10 to 20 percent of his or her body weight � and no more. However, a Consumer Reports survey showed that the lower end of the range, around 10 percent or less, is preferable. In short, the lighter the backpack, the healthier it is for your child. A good rule of thumb is to observe your child wearing the backpack. If they are stooped or leaning forward, it is too heavy.
Children who are shorter, as well as girls, may be more prone to back pain caused by carrying heavy backpacks. This means that for these children you need to aim for even lighter weights. Children who are overweight may also be at risk for injury. The excess weight already puts a strain on their joints and muscles; the heavy backpack exacerbates the situation.
Children who wear their backpack over one shoulder also increase their risk of injury. This puts all the weight on one side, causing the child to bend or lean in an effort to compensate for the off-kilter weight. This can strain the shoulder and back, eventually causing injury and pain.
Helping your child avoid carrying a heavy backpack.
If you notice that your child cannot stand up straight while wearing the backpack, then it is too heavy. You should inspect your child�s backpack on a regular basis to test the heaviness. When purchasing a backpack, aim for wide, padded straps that are adjustable. It should fit the child well and to be too big. The straps should not be too loose. You want it to fit close to your child�s body and should come to just below the waist � but not too far. Don�t allow your child to carry the backpack on one shoulder, encourage them to wear it on both shoulders. This distributes the weight more evenly.
If your child is carrying a heavy backpack, you may need to talk to their teacher to see what is necessary for him or her to carry daily, and what can be left at home or at school. Work together to find ways to lighten the load and avoid injury. Also, keep in mind, your child may not bring your attention to the fact that their backpack is too heavy. It is up to you to observe and intervene for them.
Imagine a world where clothing feels like sandpaper, light is excruciating, or sounds make you feel like your ears are going to bleed. That is what it�s like for someone with sensory processing disorder�or SPD.
Approximately 1 in 6 children have SPD (some reports say 1 in 20, but this appears to be based on earlier research). It is unclear how many adults are affected; it is typically seen in children with autism and ADHD. There is very little research on adults with these issues at this time.
There are not many treatments for SPD or ways for people with it to get relief. Cutting tags out of clothing and laundering it multiple times before wearing (so it is soft) can help with tactile issues. Precision tinted lenses can help with photophobia, and earplugs can help with auditory issues. However, chiropractic has been found to help.
What is Sensory Processing Disorder?
SPD is a neurodevelopmental disorder that occurs because the brain is unable to process and integrate common sensory information that is received from one or several of the five senses (taste, touch, smell, vision, sound) as well as two other senses, the proprioceptive system,�and vestibular systems. The proprioceptive system extends throughout the spine and joints. When there is a problem with this system, it can cause problems with motor skills, learning, behavior, and emotional and social development.
The vestibular system is located in the cerebellum (base of the brain), the cervical spine, and inner ear. It regulates all sensory information that the body takes in and of the sensory systems in the body, is the most important.
The result is an inability to tolerate certain types of stimulation including being touched, eating certain foods, and hearing certain noises. It can also affect other seemingly unrelated issues like sleep problems, uncoordinated or clumsy, balance issues, and difficulty writing or reading in cursive. This can make life very difficult because the individual essentially lives in a world that they were not built to tolerate. They may feel depressed, anxious, frustrated, or afraid as a result. Parents may feel helpless because they don�t know how to help their child cope in a world that often feels scary and painful.
How is SPD treated?
There are several ways that treatment for SPD is approached. One very effective treatment is chiropractic for SPD.
Another popular treatment for SPD is therapy. Children work with a specially trained, licensed therapist in a sensory gym. The goal is to help them better adapt to their environment.
Diet is an important aspect of SPD treatment, particularly gut health. A clean diet (no processed foods, all natural and organic) is a very good start. Some doctors recommend a gluten-free diet.
Whatever the case, it must be well balanced and provide the necessary vitamins and minerals needed for good health. Magnesium and Omega 3 fatty acid supplements may also be advised. This works very well with chiropractic as it also addresses the root of the problem.
How does Chiropractic Help Sensory Processing Disorder?
It is the primary role of the spine to protect and contain the fragile nervous system. The nervous system is what controls how we process our environment. Its function is to respond and adapt to internal and external environments.
Structural shifts caused by injury, habits, even a forceps birth can affect the alignment of the spine. This creates neurological stress that hinders the processing and flow of information. By bringing the spine into alignment, chiropractic can help ease the neural stress, improve neural processing, and facilitate better flow of information and neural firing. This, in turn, helps to alleviate the symptoms of sensory processing disorder.
If you are one of the seven out of 10 Americans who have back pain, you are probably looking for relief. What you probably aren�t looking for are injections or pills with harmful side effects. Your doctor may have told you that exercise is a great way to relieve pain naturally, but you aren�t sure where to start or even what activity is best.
Running and walking are both good exercises, but they aren�t for everyone. Some back pain patients can run with no problem with others have significant trouble. So, which is better for back pain sufferers? The answer might surprise you.
Benefits of running
When it comes to health benefits, running and walking, don�t differ much. Both help to decrease your risk of developing heart disease, diabetes, and hypertension as well as lower your cholesterol.
Running also has the added benefit of increasing the bone that connects the femur head to the shaft, substantially strengthening the hips and helping to prevent hip fractures. Both running and walking burn calories, facilitate weight loss and can help to make you healthier. However, one activity is a lot harder on the back, so if you have chronic back pain, there are some things you should know.
How running affects the back
Running puts repetitive impact and stress on the back. If you have a problem with your lower back, running can exacerbate it or lead to additional issues like sciatica.
You can experience back muscle spasms, muscular strain, and other centralized lower back pain. If you have disc problems, the high impact nature of running can make put a lot of stress on your spine and make your disc problems worse.
How walking benefits back pain sufferers
Walking is a much lower impact activity than running. Although some back problems can be made worse by walking, that is relatively rare.
Most back pain is relieved with walking, and you can enjoy other great benefits as well. By adopting a regular walking routine, you will strengthen your hips, legs, ankles, and feet as well as your core.
This helps to provide better stability for your spine. It also helps to increase circulation in the spinal structures, draining toxins, and pumping nutrients into the surrounding soft tissues.
Pain often restricts mobility. Walking helps to improve range of motion and flexibility. You will find that your posture improves as well as your mood. A stronger body and increased flexibility help to prevent injury.
Walking at least three times a week for at least 15 minutes is great for overall wellness and a strong body. Combine it with a healthy diet and stress relief techniques, and you will look, feel, and move better � and your pain will be easier to manage.
Make walking work
When you start your walking program, don�t push too hard too fast. Go at your own pace and start slow. If you have a higher fitness level, you may want to try speed walking. After a five-minute warm-up, walk as fast as you can for about 8 minutes then slow to a moderate pace for two minutes to cool down.
You can also engage your core muscles by using several techniques. Walk on an incline or using walking poles are excellent for strengthening the core. Pulling your abdominals in toward your spine while you walk is also a great move.
Running is beneficial for your health, but it isn�t for everyone. Walking is a far better choice for most patients with lower back pain. You may even find that your pain is alleviated altogether so get out there and get moving.
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