Wellness 4 Life

Work Pain Free at Home and Avoid Neck and Back Pain

Its's July 1st, 2020 and it looks like Corona Virus News is just not going away. Still more and more people are working from home, setting up workstations, and rooms to accommodate their work. Working from home can be great, but there can also be a lot more distractions.

Whether you are studying, working on a computer, working on the phone or on a zoom call, here are some great tips to help you avoid neck pain and back pain while working from home.

• Whether you are on your phone, computer, or other screen make sure the screen is at eye level. Many patients will get "text" neck from constantly looking down on their phones. Try not to put your screen on your lap or on your stomach. 
• Take breaks while you work. Being glued to your computer or phone for hours on end is not healthy for you or your neck. It can cause tension in your neck, shoulders and upper back. Taking a break every 30-40 minutes is a good idea. That is easy to do when you are home too.
• Check your office chair. What is the height of that chair? Can you easily adjust it and move it? Do you have your back supported while you are sitting? Are you stressing your muscles, joints and ligaments by sitting too low or sitting too high? Check to make sure that your feet are comfortably on the floor. Check your desk height as well. Are you over reaching and straining your body to get to certain things on your desk? If you have sciatica or leg pain, place one foot on a step stool to elevate, taking pressure off of the lower back.
• Look into getting a lumbar cushion or a seat cushion for your office chair. You can easily support your lower back and mid back with cushion when you sit for long periods of time.Then you can sit up with good posture in your spine. 
• When you are at home, you can have so much more flexibility. If you are home and experiencing tension or pain in your neck or back, apply heat or ice. You can also apply electric muscle stimulation (tens unit) easily to the affected area. This also increases blood flow and reduces inflammation.
• Stay hydrated by drinking healthy fluids like water. Again very easy to do when you are home.

Working from home looks pretty advantageous these days. If you are lucky enough that your job or business allows you to do it- its can be simply wonderful. With some simple changes, it can be a great day at work... and home. 

Further Reading:

• What to do when you have difficulty falling asleep
• Traction Pillow can help for deeper sleep with optimal posture
• Help with Numbness and Tingling at Night
• Stretches to Help  you Sleep
• The Boney Hump in the Back of my Neck
• 10 Pillows that Work in 2020 for Neck Pain
• How about an Adjustable Pillow for Better Sleep

For People with Back Problems here is A Sleeping Position that Works

This is a very simple comfortable way to sleep if you experience low back pain.  It works if you are experiencing back pain. Simple place a flat pillow under your knees when you are sleeping on your back. If you are side sleeping, sleep with the pillow in between your knees.

You can get more fancy and use a wedge made our of memory foam. For me personally, I sleep on a very soft flat pillow. This makes a big difference in how well I sleep. This position literally takes the pressure off of your lower back.

Additional Reading Resources:

• Is it different if I sleep on my right side or my back side?
• A Pillow for Sleeping that Works for Back and Side Sleeping
• What is the best sleep position?
• Being in a good neck and back position when you travel is important

 

How to Use a Towel Roll for Neck Support

Using a towel roll is actually a great idea for a pillow. Especially when you experiencing neck pain and your current pillow is not working.

Making a towel roll at home is very easy:

You can change the thickness of the towel by just using a thin towel or a thick towel. Also, you want to make sure the towel fits YOUR neck. Alternate and change the thickness so that your head is not being pushed forward. You want to keep a neutral neck position.

This towel roll can be used two ways:

1. For sleeping
2. for neck traction and stretching

A towel roll can help you with many neck issues that one is dealing with such as:

• disc herniation or a disc bulge
• military neck or loss of neck curve
• stiff neck
• loss of range of motion
• whiplash
• numbness and tingling in the hands and arms

 

How I Fixed My Frozen Shoulder in Two Agonizing Days

I recently experienced the worst right sided shoulder pain ever. It literrally stopped my life for two days. They call it frozen shoulder syndrome. There is major pain and loss of range of motion in the shoulder. I could not move my arm, up or down and abduct my arm and shoulder (move it away from my body side to side). Even my right arm was aching.

I was in a lot of agony. I don’t take pain well at all, so for me this was excruciating. This happened on Friday night. Friday night: lots of pain, Saturday: Lots of Pain Sunday - Pain was gone, I was able to move my right shoulder - my shoulder was back.

I normally never take pain medication, but I had to Friday and Saturday. It sufficiently numbed the pain and helped me do my activities of daily living. But I had to stay in the house. No relaxing, no going out. Driving and even using the computer was too difficult and painful.

So what did I do at home? Here are 3 things that I concentrated on:

1. Muscle Work

2. Hot and Cold Treatment

3. Exercise and Movement of the Shoulder

 

The key to combating a frozen shoulder is movement. You must move. Slowly at first. You must push yourself a little. Start slow and keep building up.

The location of the major pain was at the right deltoid muscle. Specifically the tuberosity of the deltoid muscle. This is a muscle insertion point and this point felt like it was on fire.

Here are the muscles that are often involved in a frozen shoulder (#1-4 make up the rotator cuff muscles). 

1. Subscapularis
2. Teres Minor
3. Supraspinatus
4. Infraspinatus
5. Deltoid
6. Latissimus Dorsi
7. Rhomboid Minor and Major

Muscles of the Back and Shoulder involved in Frozen Shoulder Syndrome

My husband had to help me with the muscle work. He used a pain relief cream on my entire shoulder and upper arm area. He also did muscle work (stripped the muscles), massage, and trigger point therapy. By that I mean, he dug into the muscle and made me scream with pain. Literally. My 2 year old and 6 year old thought that this was the funniest thing ever. He did this muscle work once on Friday night, two times on Saturday (am and pm). After each muscle work session, I did use a cold therapy pack on top of the my shoulder and I walked around around with that ice pack. When I was able to relax and sit down I used a heating pack. 

On Saturday, starting at 4 am (The pain did not allow me to sleep well or get into a comfortable position), I started exercising. Exercising, moving, putting movement into the shoulder joint, stretching - whatever I could do, I did it and it was so painful. Words cannot describe the pain.  The key with frozen shoulder or adhesive capsulitis as they also call it, is that you have keep putting motion into the area. I made an observation that every time I would rest, the shoulder stiffened up. 

Check out this video below  for effective exercises for frozen shoulder. You must do everything gently and don't go over your pain threshold. As you keep doing these exercises you will start to notice (ever so slowly) that your range of motion is starting to increase. It will help to break up scar tissue and break up the adhesions in your shoulder.  Do all exercises for 30 seconds to 1 minute and move on to the next exercise:

 

As you go throughout the day, engage your shoulder muscles. For example, even lifting up my elbow was difficult. As I was sitting watching tv, I used my other hand to help to lift my right arm up onto the sofa arm rest. I let it sit there for a few minutes, then brought it down and did it again.

With the combination of hot and cold therapy, muscle work and exercising my shoulder, I woke up on Sunday doing better than I was on Friday and Saturday. I did my exercises again early Sunday morning. Literally, I was 95% back- I was able to do all of my activities of daily living and the best thing of all, my pain was minimal. At 10 am I even swam laps in the pool. 

As a result of this incident, I really realized how we take our posture for granted. Forward head posture can really contribute to putting stress on your shoulder and back muscles. I am on the computer constantly - on my laptop, ipads and iphones. Regular stretching, exercising and watching my posture are key things I have to do going forward to prevent this from happening again. 

I would strongly recommend seeing a chiropractor when you have a shoulder condition like this. You can get over the pain faster, and the Dr can pinpoint where your problem area is. They can also help you go through the shoulder range of motion and do trigger point therapy which helps tremendously. 

 

Additional Reading:

• Turmeric - The Superfood we should all have in our pantries for good health
• The Best Pillow for Sleeping for Neck and Shoulder Pain
• 10 Ways to Stretch your Neck at Home for Pain Relief
• How to create a neck support roll at home
• What to Do if you are Waking up with Neck Pain
• If you have existing neck or shoulder pain, try this travel pillow for your next trip

 

 

Improve Your Posture

Posture - Something that Everyone Notices About YOU

I am sure that you have been told at least once in your life to "stand up straight", "stop slouching", or "pick up your head" - Posture is one of those things that is just noticeable in everyday life. Simply by seeing someone's posture, you can judge something about them. Not only that, but it also can affect your health as well. When you stand up straighter, you can breathe better, and it's good for your posture and alignment of the spine. Overtime, if we do not watch our posture - it can affect our health, our well being, and even our physical appearance. I am sure you have heard of hunchback posture? Countless times I have received requests from customers to help them with their posture.

So lets talk about posture. Specifically ways that we can improve our posture.

Wear a Posture Correcting Brace

By wearing a posture correcting brace, You can sit and stand straighter

A posture correcting brace and give you great back support and help you stand up straighter. You can wear it right under your clothes and it serves as a reminder that you have to stand up straighter. It will push your shoulders down and back.

 

Use a Pillow at Night that Aligns Your Neck and Spine

The Arc4life Traction Pillow Allows for Better Posture at Night

By helping to align your spine in the upper back and middle back, it can also help with muscle spasms.

None of us like to stop everything we are doing, and take time out of our busy schedule to do neck traction or postural exercises. So if we have a pillow that helps do this it's multitasking for us. Why not, we are going to be sleeping anyway; why not work on our posture too! One very effective pillow for this is the arc4life cervical linear traction neck pillow for side and back sleepers. 

Stand Up Straighter. Be Aware of How You Sit and Stand

Part of the reason our spine will shift is if we have a continuous posture. You know if we constantly tilt our head right to hold a phone at work, that constant head tilt starts to become your normal posture. So be aware of this sort of thing, it's important

Use a lumbar support when you sit for long periods or in the car for driving

A lumbar support Can Help you Sit Straighter

Certain activities put a lot of pressure on the spine. A lumbar support or low back cushion will help you hold good posture. No matter what, after sitting a long time you will start to lose good posture. One simple way to take this challenge is to use a back support. Great for use while sitting in the office or driving in the car.

Exercise

Simple Stretching and Exercise

Yoga, Pilates, Aerobic Exercises, Spinning - whatever you partake in - watch your posture while you exercise. Just do some sort of exercise. It helps your bones stay stronger in the long run.

Posture is something that you have to work on.

Bad Posture doesn't just happen overnight. One day you will look at yourself in the mirror or catch a glimpse of yourself or see a photograph and think - why is there a bump on my upper shoulders, why am i not standing straighter?

 

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Additional Reading:

• Improve Your Posture with a Posture Brace Underneath
• Sleeping with the right pillow for Forward Head Posture
• Can a Pillow help Correct your posture?
• The Powers of Vitamin D
• Forget the Fancy Gym Memberships

4 Hot and Cold Therapy Packs that Work

1. The Tri- Sectional hot and cold pack - this large 11"x15"  hot and cold pack is amazing because it fits many areas of the body very comfortable. Use it on your low back, upper back or mid back area. Use it for hot or cold. Easy to use. Also great for extremities like your legs, arms and feet. Great for strains, sprains, soft tissue injuries, muscle spasms, tendonitis and arthritis pains. 
2. A Pillow that is U Shaped and has a hot and cold pack built in: the Headache Ice Pillo - this u shaped pillow sits on your neck and upper back area and it great for headache sufferers. - great for patients with migraine headaches and tension headaches. If you have a pinched nerve in the neck, this ice pillo can provide a lot of relief. 
3. Digital Moist Heat Pack - This heating pad can be plugged in and provides even heat that is comforting. The dimensions of this heat pack make it versatile to use on any part of the back: 14"x 27" is a great size.
4. Knee Hot and Cold Pack - the Elastogel Family makes a hot and cold gel pack with a cut out for the patella for knee pain patients. Comes in two sizes. This knee pad makes movement easier because of the flexibility of this gel pack

 

Additional Reading Resources:

• Stretching Your Neck With traction for Natural Pain Relief at Home
• Which should I use for Relief? Hot and Cold
• Arthritis in the Body? In the Neck and the Back Too?
• Simple Hot and Cold Packs for Pain Relief
• Tens Units that Work well with Hot and Cold Therapy

Strengthen Your Lower Back with the Bird and Dog Exercise

 "I’ve had back problems and had to have physical therapy and tablets since 11. Even though my back is not as bad as it once was, when I do get some back pain is there anything I can do to ease the pain? "

The simple answer to this question is to exercise your lower back: Make it as strong as you can. 

What is an example of an exercise that strengthens the lumbar area? The bird dog exercise: See picture below.

• Basically, you get on all fours first. 
• Then balance to put the right hand up, then bring the left leg up. Hold this position for 10–15 seconds.
• Repeat this by bringing up the left hand and extending out the left leg. 
• Repeat this 5 times to start

 

This exercise will not only strengthen your lower back but it will also strengthen your core muscles. I remember doing this for many workout classes at my local gym. It is also a great exercise for your gluteus maximus muscles as well. Who knew that just one exercise would work your stomach, your lower back, your butt, and your thighs.

You may have to start this exercise by only bringing up one arm or bringing up one leg. Then add the 2nd component of raising the opposite limb and side. Also, its better to do a few bird dog stances, than doing a whole bunch but with the wrong posture. 

If you get good at this exercise, there are many advanced versions of the bird and dog exercise. It is powerful in many ways. Practice makes perfect.

Additional Reading:

• How to Stretch One of the Biggest Muscles in your Body: the Trapezius
• A pillow for Back Sleeping after a surgical or cosmetic procedure
• How to Wear a Lumbar Support Belt for Low Back Pain Relief
• Try Tai Chi for Chronic pain in the Body

Next Time You have Lower Back Pain, Your First Stop Shouldn't be the Medicine Cabinet...

 Lower Back Pain is the worst. It affects everything you do in  your daily life. Simple acts like brushing your teeth, putting your clothes on, even sitting can be difficult. For so many Americans, the first step in resolving this pain is often the medicine cabinet. Its the quick fix that takes 5 seconds. They reach for the ibuprofen or a muscle relaxant. 

However, new guidelines on how to deal with lower back pain have recently come out - and it's kinda huge. As a chiropractor myself, its huge. Its a shift in thinking really. The American College of Physicians (ACP), recommends avoiding pills and using other modalities such as massage, heat, acupuncture, exercise, yoga or physical therapy as the primary approach to patients with pain in the lower back that lasts less than 12 weeks' duration.

We all know that all Low Back Pain is not the Same. The ACP is talking specifically about pain that lasts less than 12 weeks in duration (approx 4 months). They emphasize that most cases of low back pain will go away on their own. Here are their new recommendations on how to treat this pain:

• Exercise
• Stay Active
• Light Stretching
• Be Patient

Let's add to this: Chiropractic, Acupuncture, Massage, Yoga are other great treatments that will treat this kind of lower back pain. 

For years and years Dr's have been overprescribing medications for mild cases of lower back pain.Not only are there dangerous long term side effects but drugs taken with other drugs can be deadly as well. "These important new guidelines will help clinicians better manage their patients with chronic pain and give them safer alternatives to use than opioids and NSAIDS," said Rich Able, partner and chief strategy officer at Intuitive IP, a life science company exploring targeted innovations to improve the lives of patients and delivery of healthcare. “ The overprescribing and over-reliance on opiates and NSAIDS has destroyed millions of lives and has had a tremendous causal effect on the skyrocketing rates of drug overdose and sudden death in America.” These guidelines are not intended for patients with with low back pain that radiates down one or both legs, associated with weakness, tingling or any associated fever, or fecal or urinary incontinence. This type of lower back pain needs urgent management by a healthcare practitioner.

 

 

Source:  If You Have Lower Back Pain, Don't Reach For A Pill

How do I get a pain free neck?

This blog post comes from a recent QUORA question I came across recently:

I'm a six-footer and taller than the majority of people in my country. I'm 18, and when I was 16 I developed a habit of forcefully popping my neck sidewise. It grew worse, and now I have to pop my neck to relieve my pain every few minutes. I have a bad posture, too, with my neck a little crooked. What should I do?

Neck Pain Sucks. As a teenager, you probably have other things you are dealing with, and you don’t need neck pain to bringing you down. This habit of forcefully popping your neck  and self cracking needs to stop. You are creating a situation of hypermobility (too much movement) in the cervical spine and it is not healthy for your neck.

Your bad posture is probably contributing to your neck pain and you need to find relief in a different way. This unhealthy habit is setting you up for neck pain for your entire life.

Here are a few things to try:

1. See a chiropractor about your neck pain. They can make sure your neck is in alignment. They will probably adjust your neck in a controlled environment. They will also do different therapies for you such as: muscle work, electric stim, and neck traction. Plus see #2 #3 and #4- your chiropractor will help you with numerous things.
2. Do neck stretches and neck strengthening exercises. Your Chiropractor will help to prescribe this for you. You need to strengthen in the cervical spine muscles.
3. Fix your posture. You sound like you are taller than many people in your country. Hold your head up high. Don’t be cranking your neck and putting yourself in an awkward position. Bad posture puts a lot of stress on your cervical spine and you carrying around extra weight and pressure that is causing more pressure on your neck. This equals more neck pain. I am sure you have heard of text (or tech) neck – you have something similar going on.
4. Use a supportive neck pillow at night. Again ask your chiropractor to recommend a pillow that would be ideal for you. Try to get a neck pillow that has neck contours on it. One example is the arc4life linear gravity neck pillow. This neck pillow has 2 neck rolls on it that will naturally align your head and neck in the most comfortable way possible. Also you can sleep on your back and on your side easily. If you get a good night’s sleep that is the first step in helping get rid of the neck pain you are experiencing.

Additional Reading Resources:

• Choosing the right pillow for neck pain
• Five Neck stretching products that will traction  your neck gently and get rid of pain
• If you have chronic neck pain, try the traction v pillow
• Stiff Neck Remedies
• What Can you do for Neck Pain?

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Sacro- Iliac Joint Pain and How to Get Rid of it.

Sleeping in the wrong way, lifting something too heavy, or just having bad posture at work while on the computer can lead to SI joint pain. The SI Joint or the Sacro-iliac joint is the joint between the sacrum and the iliac bones. The SI Joint can become unstable and not give the proper support that it is supposed to. This can lead to moderate to severe pain in the SI joint area. This can affect all activities including walking, standing and change of position. If you have recently had a slip or fall and your core muscles are weak, this can also affect the Sacro iliac joint and pelvis area. An SI Belt can assist with this type of pain. The sacro-iliac belt can compress the SI Joint together for you and create a more stable moving posture.

The SI belt also works to stabilize the hip joints and helps relieve pain from the sciatic nerve and scoliosis caused by pelvic instability. One important factor when wearing a belt like this is to make sure you are wearing it in the right location. Since it comes in sizes small, through 3 XL size also matters when fitting an SI belt. Where should this belt sit? Its called an SI Belt, so you want to make sure you cover the sacro-iliac joints. If you look at a person from the back, you will notice two dimples that sit at the top of the crease of the buttocks on the right and left side. Make sure the belt covers this area. You want to be on the very top side part of the hip bone.

For the Hip Measurement: Measure around the widest part of your hip for the hip measurement. Measure at fullest part of the buttocks

You do want to wear an SI belt more on the snug side as the compression part of wearing the SI Belt will be beneficial to you the most. Give yourself some extra inches as well, as you do not want an uncomfortable type of tightness. Measurement loose vs skin tight can be 2-2 ½ inches.Best secure fitting is while laying down w/knees bent

How Should this Belt Fit? When you measure, start in the back and finish in the front.The Bottom of support should be at the (crease of buttocks) in the back The Bottom of the support should be at the groin in the front. Normally straps fit right over left. Pull the straps out away from body and then cross. Add compression from bottom to top.

Post Fitting: It is important to sit down to check fitting. Ease and Motion may be more limited.The Belt should not dig into your groin area. When removing, decrease compression from top to bottom. Also When removing, disengage velcro and attach at far posterior of belt where straps originate. **Depending on your condition, the application of the device may need to be done by a secondary care-taker or significant other.

Additional Reading:

1.  Arc4life's Sacroiliac Belt provides sciatica pain relief
2. Walking for Overall Pain Relief
3. Neck and Shoulder Pain
4. Where  is the SI Joint exactly and how does it cause lower back pain?

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