Are You Suffering from Smartphone Slump?

By Dr. Dave Edenfield

You see them every day, walking with head down, oblivious to the world around them.  Or you spy them sitting in their cars at stoplights leaning forward as they frantically try to compose themselves before the light changes.  I’m not talking about road rage here.  I’m talking about texting.  While gen xers are particularly prone to partake in this practice on a nearly manic level, I have seen my fair share of baby boomers who have adopted what I have come to refer to as the Smartphone Slump.

While some of the habits of this practice are obvious, others are not. A spin-off of a topic I covered in an earlier blog that detailed the occupational hazard that every man, woman and child is subjected to as we surf the web.

“If you spend a significant portion of your day staring at a computer screen, this is known to lead to forward head and shoulder posture which can cause pinched nerves and degenerative disc disease.  If your monitor sits flat atop your desk, this necessitates that you lean your head forward to read the screen.  Doing this day in and day out sets up a domino effect of sorts caused in part by the pull of gravity on your head.    This head down posture puts strain on the vertebrae of the lower neck, which in turn causes the muscles of the upper back to work overtime in order to compensate.  Over time, the lower cervical vertebrae may slide forward, further curving the spine until sufferers of this syndrome begin to suffer neck pain, tingling or loss o

f feeling in the fingers and persistent muscle ache as the muscles and tendons become tight.” 

http://eliminatepainnow.blogspot.com/2013/06/occupational-hazards-may-be-at-roof-of.html

Smartphone Slump can also be the initiator for head forward posture, which is an unhealthy forward curvature of the neck and shoulders that makes those afflicted seem far older than their age.  Worse still, if left unchecked, this self-inflicted condition can result in much more than poor posture.  Over time everything from loss of balance to nerve damage.  Some sufferers get to the point where it is difficult to keep their chins from coming to rest on their chests.  As a result, everything from neck pain to a loss of mobility can result.  This makes everyday tasks like walking and driving not only arduous, but hazardous.

To determine if you have Smartphone Slump do the following:

1.      Put down the phone.

2.      Stand with your back flat against the wall.

3.      Note whether the back of your head is touching the wall.

If your head does not touch the wall without forcing it to do so you most definitely have Smartphone Slump.  That is the bad news.  Over time your neck muscles have weakened from repeatedly maintaining a head down posture such as that necessary to text.  (People with head forward posture find it extremely difficult if not painful to straighten their neck so that the back of the head touches the wall.) 

The good news is that this is an easily treatable condition.  If you suspect that you or any one you know suffers from this condition, tell them to consult a chiropractor right away.  Not only can a chiropractor correct this problem, they can also show sufferers a number of exercises that are designed to alleviate the muscle strain that this condition can cause before it leads to more serious problems down the road.

There are also a number of exercises that you can perform for a few minutes every day that can help stretch the muscles that become overworked and tight as a result of prolonged periods slumped either in front of a desk or a smartphone.  Below are several that can help correct the situation if done regularly.

  

Corner Stretch

A basic exercise that is important for stretching the chest and shoulder muscles is the corner stretch. It is performed in the corner of a room.

This neck stretch is done as follows:

·         Patients stand approximately two feet back from the corner, facing into the corner.

·         Feet should be together.

·         Forearms are placed on each wall, and elbows are a little below shoulder height (Figure 1).

·         Lean in as far as possible without pain. Patients will feel a stretch in the front of the shoulders and chest (Figure 2).

·         Hold the stretch for about 30 seconds to a minute.

http://www.spine-health.com/conditions/neck-pain/neck-stretches

The Slouch Overcorrect Procedure

 This exercise helps you find your correct sitting posture. 

      1.   Slouch completely

·           2.   Sit up and accentuate your lumbar lordosis as far as possible. (Hold this posture for a few seconds.)

·          3 Release the strain.

http://www.drsarasolomon.com/oxygen-magazine-blog-if-you-are-slouched-in-your-chair-then-sit-up-straight-and-read-this-by-dr-sara-solomon/

While we are all forced to deal with the demands of an ever more wired world, remember that when it comes to your health, the human body is decidedly old school.

Dr. Dave Edenfield  and Dr. Steven Warfield are part of the team of doctors and therapists at http://chiropractic-jacksonville-fl.com and http://endyourpain.org who are dedicated to helping you and your family lead  healthier, happier and pain-free lives. 

Take Care of those Bones this Halloween.

By Dr Dave Edenfield

When it comes to your musculoskeletal system, the years can create tricks that come as no treats.  Through either occupational hazards such as lifting heavy objects incorrectly, or sports-related stresses (yes, playing golf counts in this category), normal wear and tear take their toll on those bones that can add up to pain.  The problem is that most people don’t realize how much damage is done until pain is already present.  But is there a better way to detect any looming problems before pain rears its ugly head?

How Scary is Your Posture?

One way is to stand sideways in front of a mirror and look to see how others see you.  (You can also use a camera with an auto-timer to take a profile snapshot.)  When you look at yourself in profile, does your back and neck have a graceful curve?  Is your head on a level plain with your shoulders, or is it hanging down?  Can you draw a straight line that bisects your hips, shoulders and head? And is the line perpendicular to the floor or at an angle?  It always amazes patients when I show them their x-rays that prove how out of whack their posture has become. 

Poor posture not only affects the spine, it can also adversely affect the entire body.  Since everything from movement to our immune systems are regulated by the central nervous system, any structural anomaly has a tendency to disrupt the spinal nerves that transmit signals to the body.  This can lead to a number of maladies including everything from headaches, to sleep disorders, to digestive imbalances, to nervous disorders.

Areas of distribution of the cutaneous branches of the posterior divisions of the spinal nerves. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Another exercise you can try to test your frame is to stand upright and turn your head to 

the left as far as it will go and then to the right. Then tilt your head forward and back as far as it will go.  Does it move smoothly, or does it start and stop? Do you hear popping noises as you turn or tilt your head?  Does it turn farther one way than the other?  These can all be signs of spinal sublaxations that beg to be corrected.

Structural imbalances such as these not only alter the natural curvature of the spine, they also lead to degeneration of the discs and other problems such as sciatica and arthritis. They can also make sufferers more prone to injury.  Believe it or not, many people who are deemed “accident prone” may in fact have postural anomalies to blame for this condition.

One last exercise that can help you get a bead on structural issues is to do a squat thrust.  When you lower yourself down to the floor and then stand back up again, do you hear any creaking or groaning sounds emanating from your joints?  Is the motion smooth or does it tend to start and stop?  Do you have any difficulty in either the downward or the upward portion of the exercise?  If any of the above happens to you, these are also signs that your body is under inordinate stress and may have been for some time.

The bad news is that once begun, postural abnormalities create a kind of domino effect that causes the brain to try to compensate by telling the muscles and other soft tissues to alter their tension in order to compensate.  This causes yet more stress and imbalance which if left unchecked can result in tingling in the extremities, loss of motion and pain.  The good news is that by visiting your local chiropractor, he or she can diagnose the problem and begin treatment that can correct the anomalies, eliminate the pain and ultimately return you to health.

So when it comes to taking care of your bones this Halloween, if you detect anything amiss, treat yourself to a chiropractic exam that can start you on the road to recovery. 

Dr. Dave Edenfield  and Dr. Steven Warfield are part of the team of doctors and therapists at http://chiropractor-jacksonville-fl.com and http://endyourpain.orgwho are dedicated to helping you and your family lead  healthier, happier and pain-free lives.  

Does Your Child's Schoolwear Make the Grade?

by Dr. Steven Warfield

It's that time of year when the weather starts to cool, when football becomes a major source of conversation and the kids are back in school.  For many parents, this is also the time of year when their children start coming down with colds, along with any number of other physical complaints that are simply shrugged off as a rite of passage.  But what most parents do not realize is that the reason that many school age children wind up at home in bed instead of in the classroom has to do with a number of issues that can adversely affect their wellbeing.

If the Shoe Fits...

As far back as the 1990's shoe companies were in the habit of marketing shoes that were patently unhealthy

for children.  Playing on parental emotions as well as peer pressure from other children, the footwear industry continues to use such things as celebrity endorsements to sell footwear to a public that is unaware of the potential health hazards that can occur down the road due to inadequate shoes for their kids.
In the first place, the kind of shoes that are right for adults do not work well for children.  Believe it or not, going barefoot is actually the healthiest way for our children to be.  Since their linbs are still forming, shoes with arch supports or stiff sides can actually interfere with a child's gait or even deform the child's feet, both of which can lead to permanent problems down the road.

According to a report commissioned by Dr. Steve Maffetone, called Ticking Time Bomb: "During the first year following the acquisition of independent walking, most of the child’s gait activity, in particular, the neurological memories—the communication between brain and body—becomes well established. During this time, if the feet are not allowed to develop well, gait and balance disorders begin to occur. In many children, these irregularities are often subtle (the “clumsy kid”) while others more serious such as increased vulnerability to physical injury and various neurological imbalances anywhere in the body, including those associated with eye movement. When a shoe becomes absolutely necessary, it should be lightweight, flexible, shaped more or less quadrangularly, and should not have arch supports and stiff sides.

Backpack Blues

Another area of concern to school age children are backpacks.  While backpacks have evolved over the years to be more orthopedically correct, the problem is that most children do not don them correctly.  They also tend to overload them, which also causes stress on the shoulders, neck and spine.  If your child uses a backpack, the first thing you need to do is make sure they are being worn properly.  This means that the backpack needs to be on both shoulders, not simply slung off to one side.  More importantly, the waistbelt needs to be engaged, since this allows most of the weight to be carried on the hips as opposed to the shoulders.  Last but not least, you should take their fully laden backpack and place it on a bathroom scale.  The maximum weight that a child should be allowed to tote in a backpack should be 15% of the child's weight.

Also of concern to adults should be any of the following warning signs exhibited by their children:
Aching back or shoulders
Stooped posture
Tingling arms
Cold Feet
Persistant stumbling

If your child exhibits any of these symptoms or any foot-related condition, then I urge you to contact your chiropractor to take corrective measures before more serious problems occur.  The spine controls many functions in the body, all of which can be adversely affected by spinal misalignment.  If you want to help your kids succeed in school, then make sure that their attire doesn't get a failing grade.

Dr.’s Steven Warfield and Dave Edenfield offer the most advanced treatments for back pain, sciatica, neck pain, whiplash and headaches. They also treat auto accident victims with state-of-the-art technologies.  For more information visit http://endyourpain.org or http://chiropractor-jacksonville-fl.com

Are You Suffering from Bleacher's Back?

By Dr. Dave Edenfield

Being a football player means taking a fair share of punishment on the field.  But what most ardent football fans don’t realize is that being a die-hard football fan comes with a certain amount of physical duress for those who attend the games.  Football season has started and if you are a season ticket holder or even go to an occasional game at EverBank Field, then you spend hours sitting in stadium seats that are less comfortable than those on an airliner.  Even if you are not a Jaguar fan, but are a parent who regularly attends your children’s sporting events, then you too can come down with a case of Bleachers Back. 

The problem with sitting on the bleachers is that there is absolutely zero back support.  This forces you to sit

 in an awkward position for hours on end which causes undue strain on your spine.  Stadium seating while a little better is known to be lacking in lumbar back support.  Even worse, at many stadiums due to space constraints, fans are required to sit with their knees higher than their hips.  This translates into poor posture and inevitable post game pain. 

To avoid Bleachers Back, try to keep your pelvis, hips and shoulders as close to vertical as possible.  Allow your lower back to maintain its natural curve while keeping the abdominal muscles engaged for support.  Try keeping your knees straight ahead and when possible shift in place from time to time to reduce lower back pressure and promote blood flow.  When you do stand up to root for the team, make sure you turn your entire body as opposed to twisting your back.  All of these can help you avoid straining your back.

Like it or not, the two most common causes of back pain are sitting and/or bending.  In practice, this means the human spine has difficulty dealing with dealing with loads at certain angles.  This is why if you twist or bend your back the wrong way, or try to lift something heavy with your back you can easily cause injury.  Also remaining seated for prolonged periods, such as at work or in a sports arena without proper lumbar support can cause undue stress to the back that can inevitably result in pain.

Other than maintaining proper posture when seated at the game, the most important thing you can do to limit the stress of Bleachers Back is to decompress your spine after the game is done.  Other than avoiding further strain on the lower back once you get home, you can also try lying flat on the floor with your knees bent and with your feet up on the couch for ten minutes.  This takes the strain off the spine and allows the muscles and connective tissue to relax. 

If you find out come Monday morning that your trip to the big game has left your back feeling sore, there are several therapies that can prove helpful, including spinal adjustment, massage, ultrasound, Vax-D spinal decompression and even cold laser therapy.  All of these treatments are designed to restore the normal biomechanics of the spine in order to make the pain go away.  Pain killers on the other hand only serve to mask the pain, which can result in more harm than good. 

Bear in mind that the last thing you want to do is start off the week with a sore back, especially if you spend most of the day sitting in front of a desk.  This is only going to increase your discomfort or possibly even cause you to miss several days of work.  So just like the teams on the field, the best way to win the big game is to create a game plan that you can follow every Sunday throughout football season.  Now if we could only get the Jaguars to consider this policy.

Ways to protect your back on game day:

•       Consider investing in your own stadium seat (available at big box stores)

•       Wear shoes with good arch support

•       Stand up every chance you can

•       Keep your abdominal muscles strong and connected

•       Decompress your back post game

•       If you wake up sore on Monday, seek treatment immediately

 Dr. Dave Edenfield  and Dr. Steven Warfield are part of the team of doctors and therapists at http://chiropractor-jacksonville-fl.com and http://endyourpain.org who are dedicated to helping you and your family lead  healthier, happier and pain-free lives.