Best Ways to Treat Your Body Between Chiropractic Adjustments
By Dr. Molly Casey
Let’s say you’re looking to get your health care routine in phenomenal shape. You already have chiropractic adjustments as a part of your regular health care regimen – meaning you get adjusted weekly to promote health. And now you’re wondering, outside of the adjustment, what basic components for the health of your spine should be a part of your daily life? Don’t worry, it’s not overwhelming and you can easily implement these elements into your daily activities.
Spine Health 101
There are plenty of elements that play a role in the health of the spine. The basics are simply and profoundly helpful in getting and keeping your spine healthy. These basics also help speed the process of getting back to health when we aren’t at our optimal selves.
Proper Hydration
You can never hear this enough (particularly because many people don’t follow through on this): drink proper amounts of water. The majority of your body is made up of water. It needs proper levels of water to function and heal optimally. The spinal discs found between the vertebrae in your spine are largely made of water. The health and movement of those discs require proper water consumption. The health and ability of those discs then affect the health and movement of your entire spine, so not having enough water equals not having an optimally functioning spine. The ideal amount of water to consume daily is half your bodyweight in ounces. If a person is 130 pounds, that is 65 ounces of water daily, essentially two liters.
Proper Movement
The second component of the basics of spine health is proper movement.
Balance
The fact is, most Americans live a very unbalanced life. For many, that includes holding prolonged positions, most notably at work; most frequently, this means sitting for long periods of time. Such inactivity wreaks havoc on the spine. There is a difference between being able to physically do something and having it be healthy for us. Many of us can sit for prolonged periods and not experience symptoms, but this doesn’t equate to healthy.
The fix is simple: stand up and move minimally twice an hour. If you can include a small walk in there, maybe go deliver something to a co-worker or, if you have the freedom, do a lap around the building. If you don’t have the freedom, simply stand up and do three full-body air squats and sit back down.
Stretching
You can change the health of your spine in profoundly beneficial ways by adding in a daily stretching routine. If you have a pet, watch to see the very first thing they do upon waking: every single time, they stretch. It is inherently part of their way of being, living. It’s wise we humans do the same thing. Five minutes of stretching each morning would create a shift in the health of your spine, 10 minutes daily and you’ll start noticing a significant difference, and 15 minutes daily will do wonders. You can get some simple exercises by looking at The Joint’s YouTube page, which guides you through some basic spinal stretches wise to perform on a daily basis.
There you have it, the basic and simple components to add to your spinal health routine. These, of course, are to complement to your already existing regular chiropractic adjustments. Improve your spine health and you’ll improve your life.
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