Archive for September 2016

You read it right: text neck is now a viable ailment and it is causing the premature onset of spinal degeneration in many young people. Cell phones have become the preeminent device in our daily lives: business can be conducted, social engagements can be made, info can be accessed and things can be purchased from your pocket. In the process, we forget that our spines are suffering. Chances are, when you pull out your cell phone you hold it at hip level. Whether for discretion’s sake or to look casual, or because it is simply ingrained, we hold the phones down low and ask our necks to crane downward to view them. In this picture, your shoulders are slumped forward, and because the neck is out of neutral alignment, the burden of weight from the head to spine is magnified and muscles in the shoulder and neck are strained trying to compensate. 

This quandary is particularly problematic because the people using cell phones the most heavily are teens and young adults. For these young people, their spines have not even finished developing fully and already we are creating a problem of persistent poor posture and spinal imbalance. At Haynes Chiropractic, we believe that awareness is our greatest tool in the fight against text neck. It is a problem of posture: everyone knows the maxim, “sit up straight,” but it is still easier to slouch and, as lazy creatures, we usually end up slouched or slumped. The same rule applies with cell phones: odds are you are not going to stop conducting cell phone business from the hip and lap, but having an awareness of the damages it can cause may make you pause for thought. 

If your neck or shoulders are feeling stiff or painful for any reason, we can help. Keeping your spine balanced through chiropractic adjustment, and your muscles in a state of good health are some of the best ways to prevent against the incursions of poor posture. Furthermore, we can help you establish posture as an institution in your life: whether it be for sleeping, sitting, standing or texting, the are always ways to improve. 

Dr. Jeff Haynes, D.C. 

Here is a simple truth, of which the importance cannot be stressed enough: maintaining a healthy weight is the best thing you can do for yourself moving forward in life. Whatever your health goals, priorities or needs, they can probably be helped by learning how to keep off the excess pounds. A perfect example of this is the health of your spine: every extra pound is increasing the burden on the structures and muscles in your back, particularly in the lumbar region. Besides throwing off the balance of your spine, excess weight can lead to subluxation, herniated discs and a host of other conditions that irritate spinal nerves and cause pain. 

• Chiropractic adjustment: our penchant for exercise is severely reduced when we are experiencing pain. An adjustment can alleviate the nerve pressure involved with subluxation and restore spinal balance. By increasing your range of motion and making you less vulnerable to injury, you can exercise with more confidence.
• Exercise: what works for one doesn’t necessarily work for the other. Your fitness plan must necessarily be a unique plan, including stretches and muscle building for core stability to ease the burden on the lower back. We can help you come up with a customized plan that you feel comfortable with and keep you accountable.

At Haynes Chiropractic, we support your weight loss plan by making sure your body is in conducive shape for exercise. If your days are filled with chronic back pain, give our office in Bakersfield a call. The health of your spine is an excellent reason to consider dropping a few pounds and we want to inspire you with a bit of practical wisdom and some hands-on, all-natural help. 

Dr. Jeff Haynes, D.C. 

Walking is a profound activity: it gets us off our butt and out the door to interact with the day, to take part in the human experience, to see, hear and smell new things. But something equally profound happens to your musculoskeletal being during the average walk as well: every step you take is contributing to the longevity of your body. Perhaps the most rewarding aspect of a walk is that it contributes to spinal balance, which is something we take seriously at Haynes Chiropractic. Taking a walk contributes to your well-being in the following ways: 

• Preserving range of motion: walking helps tone your “everyday muscles,” the ones used most frequently, keeping you more flexible and less susceptible to injury. 
• Improving circulation: getting your blood moving means that the cells in your body are receiving the oxygen and nutrients you need to feel your best.
• Reducing pain: you feel more at ease during a walk. This is because your body naturally releases endorphins and promotes the movement of sedentary joints. 

The next time you go for a walk, whether it be to the grocery store, to the mailbox or to the bathroom, think about the importance of each step. At Haynes Chiropractic, we believe that walking is purposeful and we want to help you rediscover its power in terms of well being; no matter what health goal you have in mind, it can benefit from an after dinner stroll.

Dr. Jeff Haynes, D.C. 

In the last post we discussed stretching on the job, which, when done correctly, should not get you in trouble with the boss. However, more humans than ever are seeking out electronic entertainment from the comfort of the couch, which means that after a day of trauma in the workplace, the spine is subject to overly-plush couches or outdated recliner chairs which offer virtually no real support for the spine. The same principal applies at home: to prevent premature spinal degradation, we must be proactive to preserve a comfortable range of motion in the joints of the spine. A great way to do this is with simple yoga poses that can be performed in your living room during your next Netflix marathon. 

One of the most basic yoga moves is child’s pose, a full body exercise which:

• calms the mind and body
• Enhances respiratory function
• Increases circulation 
• Eases anxiety and stress, both physical and mental
• Lengthens and stretches the spine, relieving tension in the neck and back
• Stretches the hips, thighs and ankles.

As you are sitting through hours of television, you may not be aware of the tension accumulating in the different parts of the back. Break this tension with the child’s pose:

• Kneel on the floor with knees touching and buttocks resting on your heels. 
• Inhale deeply
• Exhale and rest your torso over your thighs, touching forehead to ground. 
• Lift buttocks slightly and stretch arms out over the head.
• Touch your palms to the floor until you feel a stretch in the shoulder blades. 

Hold this position for as long as feels comfortable. Try 1 minute at the end of every hour spent sedentary. We promise you will feel a difference. At Haynes Chiropractic, we want to help you unlock the secrets of spinal longevity and greater well-being. Being disciplined about stretching is a great place to start, especially if you have the advantage of an already “healthy spine.”

Dr. Jeffrey Haynes, D.C. 

Can you dedicate a few minutes out of every hour to keeping your body limber and inoculated against the worries of the workplace? It keeps your body free from the distraction of the pain, and increases circulation to all parts of the body including the brain, making you a more productive you. Whether its work or relaxation which has you dedicating your time to sitting, throwing in a stretch every now and again is the greatest way to ward off muscle tension and headaches.

Simple stretches include: 

• Shrugging your shoulders. Give them a wriggle and get creative: it’s all about the movement to defeat stagnation. 
• Put one leg over the other and gently twist in the opposing direction. Chances are you will feel this one all over: from core to hamstring, upper back and neck this stretch is a great reliever. Hold it for as long as feels comfortable, then repeat in the opposite manner. 
• Clasp your hands together in front of you with arms fully extended and palms facing outward. Stretch by pushing your fingers against the back of your hands. 
• Stretch the neck: ear down to shoulder, chin to chest, and looking up at the sky. Do all these gently and stop while you are still comfortable. 

These stretches barely take any time at all, but your body will thank you. Chiropractic is all about optimization, and that is why stretching in the workplace is so exciting. It is a microcosmic example of how the littlest factors can make the biggest difference in your health plan. For achieving spinal balance throughout all phases of the day, give our office a call. 

Dr. Jeff Haynes, D.C. 

Sitting on your backside all day in various forms of repose and poor posture can wreak havoc with weak backs. In lieu of the last blog, it is probably worth reminding people about good posture and a few simple ways to keep yourself accountable. Try to remind yourself that every time you catch yourself slumping or slouching and correct, you are making an investment in your overall well-being. 

• Feet flat on the ground. This is a test: how long can you last before you cross your legs or adjust “comfortably,” yet crookedly in a chair. One thing that will help you stay grounded is keeping both feet flat on the floor. 
• Shoulders back. Draw back your shoulder blades and take a deep breath. You have relieved the pressure of slumping from the diaphragm and relieved shoulder tension at the same time. 
• Ears over shoulders: this maxim helps you remember not to lean toward the screen, as is the natural human impulse as the hours drag on. Whenever you can remember, hit the reset button so that you don’t strain the muscles in the neck and upper back. 
• Simply keep your butt back in the chair. This encourages you to also keep your back straight, using the chair as a rest. If you really want to up the ante, stick a rolled up sweater or small pillow in the low back to support the natural curvature of the spine. 

Stop leaving work reeling from the effects of 8 hours on a chair in front of a screen. Call our office to enact a proactive plan that will help keep you invested in your health and productivity by keeping the pain at bay. If your muscles are sore and stiff, we provide the hands-on therapy which will relieve tension and open them up to an influx of nutrients through enhanced blood flow. Chiropractic is essential for maintaining spinal balance and thereby regulating the function of the nervous system. Call our office and find out how we can help you today!

Dr. Jeff Haynes, D.C. 

It is not easy to pinpoint the source of a headache: while certain headaches certainly correspond to specific triggers, the majority of headaches are cumulative and specific to the individual: your headache is a manifestation of synergism between genetics, physical and mental health, environmental and other factors. While these are broad categories, the point is that there are innumerable factors pertaining to your headache. Managing the symptom by masking the pain is ineffectual; like procrastinating with any problem large or small, it is unsustainable. A factor that you may not immediately consider is posture, and it serves as a great case in point. 

For those deskbound workers, the office can be a barbaric place for the back. Without a proactive plan in place for stopping it, physical and mental stress is likely to accumulate and whether it be over a matter of days, weeks or months, the body is going to reach a breaking point. Persistently poor posture in the workplace contributes directly to headaches because it puts the spine out of balance. When we slouch down, or slump forward, we are putting a disproportionate amount of weight burden on the spine. The muscles, usually already in a state of weakness, are called on to compensate which often results in painful muscle spasms. Often times, this pain is referred from nerves in the neck to the head, manifesting as a headache. 

Treatment for chronic headaching must therefore be as cerebral in order to combat the wide range of irritants. Keeping muscles strong and the body limber is critical, because if you are going to put it through 8 hours of (mostly)sitting, it needs regular conditioning to combat the weakening that is happening. Learning to love posture is the next great step, because you spend most of the time sitting. And finally, learning to break the cycles of accumulating tension by stretching regularly on the job is a great way to stay headache-free. 

Before all this, we need to get you pain free. No health plan can be successfully implemented if your body is holding you back; we lend you a helping hand to get back to a pain threshold that is manageable so you can focus on living life to the fullest, both within the workplace and without. 

Dr. Jeff Haynes, D.C.