Posts by Jeffrey Haynes

Sciatica is a condition characterized by pain, numbness and tingling that affects the lower back, hip and legs and is most often caused by compression of spinal nerve roots in the lower back. Anyone who has experienced it once has experienced it enough- the limited range of motion, dull achy feelings and shooting pains can make it difficult to even stand up. It’s easy to understand why sciatica is so widespread; the sciatic nerve is the longest in the human body, exiting from the spinal column in the lower back, running through the buttocks and down the leg. This being the case, there are many factors that can create an irritation for this nerve and leave you with sciatic nerve pain. 

A herniated disc creates pain because it effectively bulges out of position and pressurizes the nearby nerve. If this happens to be the sciatic nerve, it creates dysfunction in the lower body which can be scary at first, but is quite common. Fortunately, chiropractic is a very effective method for responding to sciatica; two particularly effective modalities are spinal adjustment and traction which seek to correct any nerve irritation, regulate the nervous system and ease the discomfort associated with compression of a nerve. Through spinal decompression therapy, we use a table to gently stretch the spine and ease the pain, while simultaneously improving range of motion and fighting the natural build up of inflammation. 

Another factor that can create sciatic type pain is piriformis syndrome, caused by tightness or strain of the piriformis, a muscle that runs underneath the glutes. Trigger point therapy is a direct and targeted method that frees up the area from tension and improves sciatica symptoms. Don’t let the scourge of sciatica linger in your life any longer- call our office in Bakersfield to schedule an appointment today!

Dr. Jeff Haynes, D.C.  

Sitting is already the worst position for your spine- imagine if we lived in a world that required us to sit for most of our waking days? This is already a reality for a large part of the populace and the demographic is growing. What’s more is that, regardless of whether our jobs require it or not, we are actively seeking out entertainment options that place us in front of screens and often we are slumped on the couch, or laying with our necks tilted upward in bed just to watch and be, “as comfortable as possible.” This is setting a dangerous precedent, as persistently poor posture is one of the quickest ways to create problems related to spinal compression and muscular degeneration. To illustrate this point, let us use the hamstrings:

As you sit working away at the desk, or watching your favorite show, the hamstrings are in a perpetual state of contraction. If they are not stretched and lengthened regularly, they contract and create a pull on the pelvis. This, in turn, leads to destabilization of the lower back and can create misalignment. Furthermore, many people who are unaware of posture sit with a posterior-tilted pelvis, which can be torture for the sacrum and lumbar regions of the spine. 

Hamstring tightness is an individual experience, as some people are not affected by it while others find that it causes pain and limits movement. It is particularly problematic for athletes and gym goers, but this is OK because exercise is precisely the way to solve the problem. With targeted stretched and strengthening, we can release the region from tension and prevent the problem from recurring. Yes, it takes dedication, but the reward is worth it: you will feel freer. Let’s get those muscles lengthened and stretched and address any spinal misalignment that may have been caused by chronically tight hamstrings; give our office in Bakersfield a call to schedule an appointment today. 

Dr. Jeff Haynes, D.C. 

Muscle tension is not a way of life, but it does define many people’s lives who suffer from the knots of tension that accumulate naturally throughout the day. Posture and exercise aside (these being the 2 other greatest factors), there is an even more direct way that you can affect the severity and quantity of tension that besets your muscles during the standard work week and that is with diet. When it comes to muscle tension we focus on 3 key ingredients:

• Caffeine is the #1 offender of the bunch, for its role in stimulating the nervous and muscular systems, which leads muscle to stay contracted for longer than they need. Furthermore, caffeine is a well-known diuretic, which causes you to pee, in the process losing water, vitamins and minerals that need to be maintained…
• One of those minerals is calcium, and deficiency of calcium can also cause muscles to stay stuck in the contracted position. 
• Soft drinks are a go-to at work, most likely for their delicious, caffeinated qualities and not for the high levels of phosphorous that are present in many brands. High levels of phosphoric acid steals calcium away from our bones and making less available to the muscles, thereby increasing muscle tension.

Balance is important when dieting for anything, and dieting to reduce muscle tension begins with drinking less caffeine and soda where possible. Consuming the B-complex vitamins, especially B-12 found in meat, poultry, fish, eggs and milk products, are crucial for influencing the relaxation of muscles. At Haynes Chiropractic, we care about your well-being and a great way to improve it is by removing chronic muscle tension from your life. The chiropractic care we offer helps to regulate the nervous system and correct spinal imbalance, preventing your own nerves from contributing to muscle tension. Configuring your diet and finding time for regular exercise are two of the other ways we can help you keep muscle tension at bay. 

Dr. Jeff Haynes, D.C. 

What does your core mean to you? For many people, “the core,” refers to an ambiguous group of muscles in the middle of the body that can be turned into a six-pack with enough crunches. In reality, the core is a complex network of muscle groups that influence almost every single movement you may perform during the day. There are three main functions of the core, as we see it:

• Commence movement
• Limit and stabilize movement
• Transfer forces across the body

At Haynes Chiropractic, we focus on the last 2 as the essential functions of the core to help people with back pain improve their symptoms. To this end, we try to establish the core as a stabilizer: boosting its ability to control the forces we produce rather than producing forces which is what you will get with a six-pack. A healthy core can be used to share the burden of the upper body’s weight with the intervertebral discs and protect the spine and its surrounding muscles from damage done by extreme movement. 

The core can be used for a lot more than just looking good. Let us help you use your core to improve back pain symptoms and actually prevent them. Crunches are good for toning, but exercises such as planks, side-planks and bridges are better for establishing the core as a stabilizer. Call our office in Bakersfield to schedule an appointment today!

Dr. Jeff Haynes, D.C. 

Breathing is our most essential bodily function: every last cell in the body needs a constantly refreshing supply of oxygen in order to stay alive, let alone produce the energy needed to perform their biological function and keep your systems working smoothly. And if respiration is so vital, then the main muscle involved in the respiratory system, the diaphragm, has a legitimate claim to most important muscle in the body. It is startling to learn that, with the transition to a more sedentary society, coupled with a lack of awareness, fewer people than ever are getting the oxygen they need. At Haynes Chiropractic, we believe that better breathing leads to better well-being, and we help you achieve this in the following ways: 

• Poor posture – poor breathing: A vicious cycle whereby hunched posture hampers the ability of the rib cage to open properly during a full breath.
• Abdominal strength: Insufficient strength in the abs means reduced lung capacity and this can be combated with simple stretching and strengthening techniques. 
• The diaphragm and proper breathing technique: 70-80% of each breath drawn should be done so on the power of the diaphragm. Taking oxygen in through the nose to the base of the lungs requires coordination of the diaphragm and abdomen as well as many accessory muscles. 
• Spinal misalignment: nerves exiting the spine between the C3 and C5 vertebrae make up the phrenic nerve which powers the diaphragm. A nerve irritation at this location can interfere with proper breathing function. 

Learning how to breathe better is perhaps the quickest way you can start feeling better on a second-by-second basis. It may be time to review your breathing technique and resolve the issues which are holding you back from getting the amount of oxygen you need; if this is the case, give our office in Bakersfield a call to schedule an appointment and start breathing better today!

Dr. Jeff Haynes, D.C. 

In the adult human body, muscles make up between 60-70% of total body weight, meaning that there are a lot of them! Designed first for movement, a secondary purpose of the muscular system is to provide for maintenance of posture and body positioning. It’s no wonder that muscles are among the most sensitive parts of our body.

Trigger points are tight areas within muscles that create problems (namely, pain) in other parts of the body. Through a process called referral, whereby the actual pain is felt in a spot other than the point of painful stimulus, a tight muscle in the back can cause you a headache or neck pain. This is not a matter of scar tissue within the muscle, but of a heightened level of sensitivity in a specific muscle; with trigger point therapy, we seek to release this painful point from tension through targeted pressure and release. 

The most common method of treating trigger points involves using direct pressure from the chiropractor’s finger or thumb! This may not be the most comfortable part of the massage, but once the trigger point is released, we can follow it up with a more relaxing massage that increases circulation and provides an influx of oxygen and nutrients to the site, helping it recover quickly. 

Trigger points are a daily irritation that should not be allowed to exist; call our office in Bakersfield to schedule an appointment and find out how we can release these problematic points and teach you how to do it at home or in the office as well!

Dr. Jeff Haynes, D.C. 

Lower back pain is epidemic and even the healthiest people we see in our office have had some experience with a stiff, achy lower back. While it maybe normal for a pregnant woman in the final trimester, an anterior pelvic tilt is not good news for anyone else. It is a positioning of the body that often results from chronically poor posture and regular inactivity, and it looks like this: 

• shoulders rounded, 
• abdomen protruding 
• head tilted forward, also known as anterior head carriage

This is a position that, if carried on regularly, can lead to unhealthy curvature of the spine, leave the muscles of the back out of balance and magnify the weight of the head to the spine. If this is you, there has never been a better time to start fighting back! The pelvic tilt is a stretch that can be used just about anywhere to provide relief in the lower back. 

• Lay on your back with knees elevated and feet flat on the floor. 
• Place your hand in between the gap formed by the small of your back and the floor. This will be the space you fill with the stretch, so now remove your hand. 
• Inhale and tilt your pelvis, lifting the buttocks and using the abdominal muscles until your back touches the ground. 
• Hold for five seconds then exhale and return to the starting position. 
• This makes 1 rep, repeat 3 times. 

15 seconds to provide relief from the daily accumulation of stress on the lower back. Be diligent! Try performing these stretches when you wake up and right before bed; consistency is the key to a successful stretching program. If you need help addressing postural deficiencies, structural and muscular weakness, or something more serious that is creating a drag on your life, give our office a call so we can help you start on the road to health today. 

Dr. Jeff Haynes, D.C. 

The syndrome of overtraining is a pitfall that only the human can have: under the influence of the reward system in the brain, we innately believe that more exercise should always bring more muscle or more stamina, but this is not always the case. There is a point of optimization beyond which you can actually cause more harm than good to your own body; it is not always easy to realize exactly when you have reached this point, but you can usually tell by listening to your body. Here are some key signs:

• Feeling drained after a standard workout
• Depression
• Chronic fatigue
• Inability to concentrate
• Abnormal aches and pains

The problem could be nutrition, especially if you are not hydrating fluidly or providing your muscles with enough protein after a heavy workout to help them rebuild. But even the most hardcore athlete, who thinks they have perfected their gym routine down to the perfect formula, can push themselves too far on a given day, particularly when you take into account the presence of nervous system imbalances. At Haynes Chiropractic, we offer specialist support for the athlete’s body to help them improve recovery time between workouts, rehabilitate injuries, work on stiff, strained muscles and keep the spine balanced, thereby influencing the efficiency of the nervous system as it relates to working out.

Chances are, if you have overtrained, you feel it. If you need help getting back to your personal standard of excellence, give our office in Bakersfield a call to schedule an appointment today.

Dr. Jeff Haynes, D.C.  

Regardless of your chosen sport, chiropractic can help keep your body in conducive shape for growing muscle, increasing stamina and avoiding injury. For competitors in high-impact, low-impact and no-impact sports, we can help ensure that your biomechanics are sound so that you can retain your maximum possible athletic advantage. Regular chiropractic helps to: 

• Maintain range of motion, by contributing to more flexibility
• Improve reaction times 
• Improve pulmonary and respiratory functions
• Naturally increases energy levels
• Regulates the nervous system 
• Improves immune function
• Focus on relieving muscle tension build-up, inflammation and break up scar tissue. 

High-impact sports have been shown to deal as much damage to the human body as automobile collisions, and at a much higher rate of repetition. As a result, vertebrae are regularly out of alignment and muscles are strained, making it hard to avoid injury, let alone reach your peak performance levels. For low-impact athletes, chiropractic helps to reduce your vulnerability to injury, especially those sustained from twisting motions. At Haynes Chiropractic, our services act as an augment to the athlete:  we specialize in keeping your body resistant to injury during activity, and in receptive shape for regrowing muscle and rebounding between workouts. 

Dr. Jeff Haynes, D.C.