How Your Shoe Choices Affect Your Back and Spine

Have you been wondering why you have back pain? Your shoes may be to blame. Unfortunately, the most stylish choices don't always offer the best support or comfort for your feet and spine.

What Happens When You Select the Wrong Type of Shoes

Your feet support the weight of your entire body, absorb the shock generated when you run and walk, and help keep your spine properly aligned. If you choose shoes that don't offer adequate support or place too much pressure on one part of your foot, the vertebrae in your spine may soon become misaligned.

Misalignments, called "subluxations" by chiropractors, cause back and neck pain, muscle tension, spasms, stiffness, and reduced range of motion. Hands-on spinal manipulation can improve spinal alignment, but subluxations may continue to occur if you don't make a few footwear changes.

Some Shoes Are More Likely Than Others to Cause Problems

High heels are particularly troublesome because the shoes place extreme pressure on the front part of your foot. A one-inch heel increases pressure by 22 percent, while pressure rises by 76 percent with a three-inch heel, according to UPMC Pinnacle.

When you put on a pair of high heels, your posture changes completely. Due to the unnatural position of your feet, your lower back moves forward slightly, disrupting the natural curve of your spine. Wearing the shoes every day will increase wear on tear on the discs between the vertebrae that absorb shock and may strain the joints and ligaments in your back. Knee and muscle pain, tight calf muscles, and Achilles tendons are other consequences of wearing high heels.

Both high heels and flip flops can affect your gait, which is the way you normally walk. Gait changes may alter spinal alignment, cause balance problems, and trigger knee, hip, and back pain. Auburn University researchers reported that an altered gait due to flip flop wear makes walkers take shorter steps and affects the vertical force of the heels.

Lack of arch support is a common problem when you wear flip flops or flats. Arch support helps stabilize your feet, legs, and spine, and is essential to proper spinal alignment. Without proper support, your feet and your back may begin to ache by the end of the day.

How to Select Shoes That Protect Your Spine

Keeping these tips in your mind will help you select spine-friendly shoes:

• Lower Your Heels. "The lower the better," is a good motto to follow when it comes to heels. If you're not ready to give up high heels entirely, give your feet a break by switching to lower heels after a few hours or wearing high heels every other day. Thick heels are a better choice than stilettos and offer more even weight distribution.

• Rethink Your Flip Flop Obsession: Flip flops can be a good choice if you're spending the day at the beach or hanging around the house, but they shouldn't be your go-to shoes. You're more likely to develop back pain or injure yourself if you wear flip flops every day.

• Choose Well-Cushioned Shoes. Shoes with plenty of cushioning help your feet absorb shock and, of course, are much more comfortable.

• Replace Athletic Shoes Often. Your shoes may look like new, but that doesn't mean that they're still offering adequate support. Cushioning in running shoes may become compressed in as little as three months. Replacing your shoes often helps you avoid injuries and pain.

• Try Orthotics. Orthotics are shoe inserts custom-designed by your chiropractor. The inserts provide arch support, keep your feet properly aligned, reduce foot movement, and provide extra cushioning.

• Get Fitted. Ask the shoe salesperson to measure your feet the next time you go shopping. Wearing the wrong size shoes, whether they're too small or too big, may be a factor in gait issues.

• Avoid Tight Shoes. Tight shoes also increase pressure on your feet and can affect alignment and gait. Make sure your shoes offer a little wiggle room in the toes.

• Make Arch Support a Priority. Look for flats, flip flops, and other types of shoes that offer adequate support.

Are you suffering from back pain? We offer treatments that will realign your spine and relax your tight muscles. Contact our office to schedule an appointment.

Sources:

PubMed: Journal of the American Podiatric Medical Association: Comparative Analysis of Human Gait While Wearing Thong-Style Flip-Flops Versus Sneakers, 7-8/10

American Osteopathic Association: The Real Harm in High Heels

UPMC Pinnacle: The High Price of Heels, 5/10/19

Spine Universe: High Heels and Flip-Flops Cause Back Pain, 8/1/18

American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons: That Pain in Your Back Could Be Linked to Your Feet

Improve Your Condition With Chiropractic Care

5 Conditions That Can Be Improved with Chiropractic Care

Chiropractic care offers more benefits than you may realize. Whether you're suffering from back pain, fibromyalgia, temporomandibular joint dysfunction (TMJ), or another condition, chiropractic treatment can ease your pain and reduce or eliminate other symptoms. These five conditions are among the many that chiropractors treat every day.

1. Back and Neck Pain

Back and neck pain may occur as a result of a car accident, fall, arthritis, spinal disc degeneration, poor posture, or even looking down at your cell phone for hours every day. No matter what the cause, back and neck pain can interfere with your sleep, make you feel irritable, and prevent you from carrying out your usual daily activities.

The pain may be a result of a misalignment of the vertebrae in your spine called a subluxation. In addition to pain, you may notice tingling, numbness, or burning in your back or neck if you have a subluxation. Misaligned vertebrae can also increase tension on your muscles and press on your nerves, worsening your symptoms.

Spinal manipulation is one of the treatments chiropractors use to treat subluxations. The hands-on treatment uses quick thrusts to move vertebrae back into alignment. Your chiropractor may also use several other treatments to ease back or neck pain, including massage, soft tissue manipulation, heat, ice, ultrasound therapy, and electrical stimulation.

2. Headaches and Migraines

Headaches and migraines affect the quality of your life and can make it difficult to function at work or school. Head pain is a particularly common complaint. In fact, 50 to 75 percent of adults have suffered from headaches during the last year, according to the World Health Organization, while 30 percent have experienced migraines.

Chiropractic treatment eases the pain of both migraine and tension headaches and may reduce the number of headaches you get. In a case series published in the March 2019 edition of Global Advantages in Health and Medicine, researchers explored whether chiropractic care could be helpful in treating migraines.

One patient reported a 50 percent decrease in headache intensity after treatment with spinal manipulation, spinal mobilization, and soft tissue release. Migraines decreased from three to four a week to just one per month in another patient who received chiropractic treatment.

3. TMJ

TMJ affects the muscles, bones, and ligaments in the hinge joints in your jaw, causing pain that increases when you open or close your mouth or chew. Headaches, facial and ear pain, and muscle spasms can also accompany TMJ.

Your treatment may involve soft tissue techniques that relax muscles and tissues in the jaw and break up scar tissue. Gentle pressure may also be used to improve the alignment of your jaw joints.

4. Fibromyalgia

Fibromyalgia causes tender points all over your body, in addition to fatigue, limited range of motion, and difficulty sleeping. Pain relievers, anti-depressants, and anticonvulsants are typically used to treat fibromyalgia symptoms. Unfortunately, these medications, like all drugs, can cause unpleasant side effects.

Spinal manipulation and ischemic compression treatments may reduce pain, eliminate muscle spasms, and improve nerve health. Ischemic compression involves applying pressure to a trigger point, or knot, to deactivate it.

Twenty female fibromyalgia patients received 20 sessions of connective tissue manipulation and ultrasound therapy of the upper back in a study published in The Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapies. The women reported better sleep and less intense pain after their treatments.

5. Asthma

Asthma flare-ups affect your ability to breathe easily by narrowing the small airways inside your lungs. A spinal misalignment may worsen your symptoms if the subluxation causes muscles used for breathing to tighten. If this happens, it may be difficult to take a deep breath.

Realigning your spine loosens the muscles, which gives your lungs more room to expand when you breathe. Correcting subluxations also reduces pressure on nerves, allowing them to send messages between your lungs and brain more efficiently.

Has pain become a constant part of your life? Chiropractic care offers natural relief for many conditions and injuries. If you'd like to find out if chiropractic treatment is right for you, give us a call.

Sources:

Global Advantages in Health and Medicine: Integrating Chiropractic Care Into the Treatment of Migraine Headaches in a Tertiary Care Hospital: A Case Series, 3/28/19

Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapies: Short and Long-Term Results of Connective Tissue Manipulation and Combined Ultrasound Therapy in Patients with Fibromyalgia, 9/06

Spine Universe: What Disorders Do Chiropractors Treat?

WebMD: Chiropractic Care for Back Pain

Covid-19 In Colorado and Our Clinic's Take on the Data and Lifestyle Recommendations

With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and doom and gloom in the news headlines, we felt compelled to send a message of hope and encouragement to our patient base.

You may have recently seen that COVID-19 cases are skyrocketing nationwide and, in particular, in specific communities. The numbers are certainly on the rise in Grand Junction. We understand that some of this is due to an increase in testing.  There is also increased utilization of the new rapid test with a much higher false positivity rate than the typical 4-6% with the PCR testing that most counties had been using.  For example, in Ohio, they are now doing 60,000 tests a day and have switched over to the more rapid testing with a higher false positivity rate. The positivity rate is currently 8.4% among those tested, yet their hospitalizations are low, and their number of deaths continues to fade. 

We see similar trends in Colorado with increased cases yet declining deaths. 

Our encouragement would be to take the "case "numbers with somewhat of a grain of salt. It's more important to look at hospitalizations and death rates from COVID-19. Also, something to consider would be flu infections and flu deaths. Those numbers have wholly fallen off and have flatlined this year.  We know we have not cured the flu in 2020.  Those numbers are likely getting counted in with the Covid infections and Covid deaths.  Also, we are looking at the weekly US deaths from all causes. As you can see from the graph below, we are almost back to normal. (orange line)

Rimrock Wellness Center considers itself to be a partner with you in your health and wellness. While masking and social distancing is debatable on its effectiveness, we find other prevention steps to be essential to consider.  Our approach to infectious diseases like cold and flu has always been the same; if you are sick, stay home.  Wash your hands as frequently as needed during the day and take personal responsibility for your health.  This means being proactive with your health and wellness.  Below are some health and wellness recommendations for your consideration. 

Obesity:

It is undisputed that the number one risk factor for complications and death with COVID-19 infection is obesity and metabolic syndrome, which includes insulin resistance and prediabetes. People with diabetes are at an even more increased risk. To that end, we recommend gaining and maintaining a healthy body mass index.

Stress management:

We also recommend maintaining low levels of stress as we know that stress increases our cortisol output, which depresses our immune system.

Nutritional Supplements:

There is new and emerging evidence to support the maintenance of adequate Zinc (1,2) and Vitamin D (3) levels in the blood. Both are important for the prevention of COVID-19 infection, and those individuals with sufficient levels that do contract COVID-19 have much better outcomes. Other supplement recommendations would be Vitamin C and Quercetin (4).  

Rimrock Wellness recommends an adult daily regimen of:

1000 mg of Vitamin C

5000 IU of Vitamin D3

500 mg of Quercetin

20 to 50 mg of Zinc

We plan to roll out our Covid-19 Defence Supplement Package in the next couple of weeks, so look out for that in our office and on our website store https://www.rimrockwellness.com/shop-online

Additionally, adequate sleep, a healthy diet (such as the Paleo diet, which is generally low carb), and stress management would be very beneficial in preventing as well as treating COVID-19. 

Lastly, we cannot forget the importance of a properly functioning nervous system that controls and regulates the immune system. Chiropractic adjustments precisely correct nerve interference in the spine and help maintain normal nervous system function.  Staying consistent with your and your families' chiropractic care can help keep a properly functioning immune system and properly working immune system. 

1.       https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2020/10/26/zinc-for-covid.aspx

2.       https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.10.07.20208645v1

3.       https://academic.oup.com/jcem/advance-article/doi/10.1210/clinem/dgaa733/5934827

4.       https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7318306/

Why You Should Receive Chiropractic Care After an Auto Accident

Even seemingly minor motor vehicle accidents can cause whiplash, back pain, and other ailments. Visiting your chiropractor as soon as possible after an accident will help ease your pain and prevent long-term complications.

Chiropractic Treatment Eases Whiplash Pain

Whiplash is a common injury after an accident. In fact, the American Chiropractic Association reports that approximately two-thirds of people involved in motor vehicle accidents develop whiplash symptoms. The injury occurs when your neck "whips" back and forth suddenly. The movements strain or damage muscles, ligaments, discs, and may force the vertebrae in your neck out of alignment.

Although you may feel fine immediately after the accident, your neck might begin to hurt hours or days later if you have whiplash. Chiropractic treatment relieves your neck pain naturally, realigns your spine, and improves movement in your neck. Treatments also improve blood flow, reduce inflammation, and speed up healing time.

Back and Body Pain and Muscle Spasms Also Improve After Treatment

Your chiropractor uses a variety of therapeutic techniques to treat the aches and pains that can occur all over the body following a motor vehicle accident. Massage eases spasms, improves range of motion, and reduces pain by triggering the releases of endorphins, natural chemicals produced by your body to reduce pain.

If your back is sore and stiff, spinal manipulation, in addition to massage and other therapies may be part of your treatment plan. The hands-on treatment uses quick thrusts to realign the vertebrae in your spine. Misaligned vertebrae can cause muscle tension and increase pain if muscles or bones press on nerves. Although a misalignment may actually occur in your neck or back, you may feel pain that extends to your arms or legs if a nerve is involved.

Chiropractic Treatment Helps You Avoid Stiffness Due to Scar Tissue

Depending on its location, scar tissue can prevent joints, muscles, and tissues from moving freely. Decreased range of motion, stiffness, and pain can occur due to the buildup of scar tissue. Luckily, you can avoid or reduce these issues simply by visiting your chiropractor soon after your accident.

Massage, instrument-assisted soft tissue manipulation, and other therapies break down and stretch scar tissue, restoring your flexibility and range of motion. In addition, your chiropractor may also recommend exercises that will strengthen your muscles, decrease inflammation, and improve your range of motion.

Treatment can be helpful even if it's been months or years since your accident. In a case study published in the Journal of Chiropractic Medicine, a 61-year-old woman sought treatment for neck and back pain three years after an accident. After six months of spinal manipulation treatment, she reported improvements in pain and quality of life and was able to stop taking opioid medication.

Treatment Reduces or Eliminates the Need for Over-the-Counter or Prescription Pain Relievers

Medications temporarily ease pain after an accident, but the drugs can cause a variety of unpleasant side effects. Nausea, vomiting, dizziness, upset stomach, and abdominal pain can occur when taking pain medication. In some cases, even short-term use of opioid pain medication can cause addiction.

Over-the-counter pain medications aren't necessarily any safer than prescription drugs. In fact, ibuprofen and acetaminophen can cause liver or kidney damage if you take high doses of these medications or take them for a long period of time.

Chiropractic treatment offers a natural pain relief method that can help you avoid these side effects. As your treatment progresses, you may be able to stop taking prescription or over-the-counter drugs completely or reduce the amount of the medication you need to take.

Chiropractic Care Helps You Avoid Lifelong Pain

Treating injuries promptly with chiropractic care prevents motor vehicle accident injuries from becoming long-term problems. You may be more likely to develop chronic pain, arthritis, migraines, headaches, and other symptoms that may make getting through the day difficult if you don't seek treatment soon after your accident. Chiropractic care may even help you avoid surgery.

Have you recently been in a motor vehicle accident? Chiropractic treatment can ease your pain and help you recover more quickly. Contact our office to schedule your first appointment.

Sources:

American Chiropractic Association: Whiplash: More than Standard Neck Pain, 3/15

CDC: Motor Vehicle Injury, 10/4/19

Journal of Chiropractic Medicine: Chiropractic Management of a Patient With Chronic Pain in a Federally Qualified Health Center: A Case Report, 6/18

Pain-Free Travel Tips for Your Back and Spine

Do you suffer from neck or back pain for days after a long car, plane, bus, or train trip? Sitting for hours stresses your spine, joints, ligaments, discs, and muscles, causing those travel-related aches and pains.

How Traveling Causes Pain

After you remain in the same position for a few hours, your joints and muscles tend to tighten. When this happens, your range of motion may decrease. As a result, the slightest movement can lead to painful muscle spasms or even strained muscles. Reaching forward to change the radio station or turning your head to look out the window can trigger jolts of pain if your muscles and joints are too tight.

Long trips can aggravate existing back or neck conditions, including arthritis, herniated discs, spinal stenosis, degenerative disc disease, and sciatica.

Sitting affects your spine's ability to support your body adequately. When you sit, the natural curve in your lower back flattens, while pressure on your spinal discs increases, according to a study published in the Asian Spine Journal.

Seat design is another issue. Although seat designers try to accommodate a range of body types and sizes, it's difficult to construct a seat that fits everyone equally well. If the headrest is too tall to fit your neck, or the seat doesn't offer enough lower back support, you're more likely to experience some degree of pain if your trip lasts more than an hour or two.

What You Can Do to Prevent Pain

Fortunately, pain can be avoided, or at least decreased, by following a few of these suggestions:

• Take Regular Breaks: Break long car trips into two- or three-hour-long segments. If you're a passenger in a plane or train, get up and walk up and down the aisle a few times after two or three hours. Walking not only keeps your muscles and joints limber but also reduces the risk of blood clots on long trips.

• Try a Few Stretches: Stretching before, during, and after long trips will help keep your joints and muscles limber, reduce spasms, and prevent range of motion restrictions.

• Be Prepared: Pack a few things that make your trip more comfortable. If long trips leave you with an aching neck and a headache, use a headrest pillow or a U-shaped neck pillow. When back pain is an issue, buy a cushion that helps support the curves of your lower back. Bring a pillow or cushion to sit on if you often develop shooting pain in your back and legs after sitting for a few hours.

• Use Pain-Relieving Patches, Ointments, or Tape: Pain-relieving capsicum patches or ointments can help ease muscle pain, while kinesiology tape applied to your neck or shoulders can reduce stress, pain, and swelling. If cold is most helpful, bring a few cold packs to ease your pain. (If you're traveling by air, you may not be able to bring the packs.)

• Improve the Way You Sit: Slouching increases pressure on your back and neck and can increase aches and pains. Remind yourself to maintain good posture while sitting. Keeping your seat upright will make it more difficult to slouch. If sciatica or tailbone pain is a problem for you, put most of your weight on the bones in your legs, rather than your tailbone, when you sit.

• See Your Chiropractor: Visiting your chiropractor before and after long trips can help you avoid pain. During your pre-trip visit, your chiropractor will offer treatments to improve the alignment of your spine and reduce muscle tension. If these issues aren't corrected, you'll be much more likely to experience pain. Treatments after your trip will focus on restoring spinal alignment, eliminating spasms and muscle pain, reducing inflammation, and improving range of motion.

Do you have a long trip planned soon? Chiropractic care can enhance your comfort. Contact our office to schedule your pre- or post-trip visit.

Sources:

Edmunds: Creating the Perfect Fit: New Car Seat Design

Spine Health: 7 Tips to Alleviate Back Pain on Your Road Trips, 9/12/19

How to Stay Comfortable on Long Drives, 5/24/18

Asian Spine Journal: The Effect of Standing and Different Sitting Positions on Lumbar Lordosis: Radiographic Study of 30 Healthy Volunteers, 10/15

Does Collagen Help With Joint Pain?

The Benefits of Using Collagen For Your Joints

Painful joints complicate even the simplest activities. Walking up a flight of stairs, bending or even rising from a seated position is much more difficult when your joints become stiff and painful. Collagen supplements promise to ease your pain naturally, but do they work?

What is Collagen?

Collagen is a natural protein produced by your body. It's essential for:

• Healthy Skin: Collagen keeps your skin taut and supple. As collagen production decreases as you grow older, sagging and wrinkles occur, and the skin becomes dryer and thinner.

• Joint Function: High amounts of collagen are found in the cartilage at the ends of bones. Cartilage is the flexible tissue that absorbs shock and helps the bones in a joint glide together easily. Joint pain often occurs when cartilage decreases due to wear and tear or injuries.

• Muscle and Tendon Health: Reduced collagen production due to aging can also affect muscle strength and mass and loosen the tendons that connect muscles to bones in your joints. Your muscles help support your joints and are essential for normal joint function. Muscle weakness can be a contributing factor in joint pain.

• Strong Bones and Teeth: Collagen is also found in bones and is responsible for keeping your bones strong. As collagen production declines, you may be more likely to break your bones, even if you only experience a minor fall. Declining collagen production can also cause your teeth to become brittle and break easily.

What Are Collagen Supplements?

Collagen supplements are intended to replenish your body's natural supply of the protein. Available in pill, powder, gummy or liquid form, the supplements are readily available in grocery stores, pharmacies, and from online stores. Type I and III collagen supplements are recommended if you want to improve the condition of your skin, while Type II collagen supplements are used for joint pain.

Can Collagen Supplements Ease Joint Pain?

Supplements can be helpful but not everyone notices a difference in joint pain after taking them. If your joint pain is due to osteoarthritis, the supplements are worth trying. They may help tighten the muscles and tendons that hold your joints together, improve muscle mass and rebuild cartilage.

In an article review published in the Journal of Arthritis, researchers evaluated clinical evidence and studies that explored the effectiveness of collagen supplements. They noted that collagen may be helpful in treating osteoarthritis joint pain, although more research is needed.

Other studies considered the effectiveness of bioactive collagen peptides (BCP) in treating joint pain in both athletes and non-athletes. After taking BCP daily for knee pain, athletes reported a 37.5 percent decrease in pain.

The non-athletes experienced similar results after taking the peptides for 12 weeks for hip and knee pain. Activity-related pain improved by 38 percent, while at rest pain improved by 39 percent.

Bone strength may also be improved by collagen supplements. Taking collagen regularly can help you avoid painful fractures by increasing the density and strength of your bones.

Collagen supplementation, coupled with chiropractic treatment, offers a natural way to treat joint pain. Your chiropractor can correct misalignments and muscle imbalances that cause or worsen joint pain. Treatments also reduce stress on your joints, promote healing, ease stiffness, and improve range of motion.

Order your Grass Fed Collagen online here with Free Shipping

Are your joints stiff and achy? Chiropractic care can help you reduce your painful symptoms. Contact our office to schedule an appointment.

Sources:

Arthritis Foundation: Are Collagen Supplements Helpful for Arthritis?, 4/4/19

Penn Medicine: 4 Head-To-Toe Ways That Collagen Can Improve Your Health, 11/4/18

Journal of Arthritis: Efficacy of Oral Collagen in Joint Pain - Osteoarthritis and Rheumatoid Arthritis, 2/28/17

Osteoarthritis and Cartilage: Efficacy of Specific Bioactive Collagen Peptides in the Treatment of Joint Pain, 4/26