I am often asked by those who come in and see me, of ways they can support their bodies after an adjustment. In the early stages of care, it is unlikely that you can speed up the change process, but its my experience that there are many ways in which you can slow it down. Here is some friendly advice for those new into chiropractic care and a lovely reminder for those who need to hear it again.
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1. Sleeping
Abhorrent or poor sleeping positions can rapidly affect your progress. On average, most people are in their beds for 6 to 9 hours per day. If your sleeping position is not supportive, then the repetitive patters can emerge. Mattresses have a typical life of approximately 7 to 10 years. The firmness or softness of a mattress is an individual preference; however a firmer mattress is ideal to support your body. If you are looking to update your mattress we recommend the ABCA mattresses. The ABCA mattress has been designed by ABCTM practitioners to support the alignment of their people: www.abcaustralasia.org.au/product/mattress-single/
Pillow height is a simple yet crucial aspect on how to support yourself while sleeping. If your pillow height is set at the correct height, it will help you fall asleep easier, wake with less aches and pains and minimise tossing and turning. Side sleeping is the ideal posture. If you are a back sleeper, then minimal pillow height is required, if any at all.
Please keep an eye out for a video demonstration on our Facebook or Instagram page to help you work out your correct pillow height. Alternatively ask for guidance when you are next in for your adjustment.
2. Sitting
As a society we are very sedentary. More of us are desk-bound or sitting in our cars for long periods of time. Sitting is quite a difficult prolonged activity for our body to do as it is yet another way that we can support of hinder ourselves. We find many people have an exaggerated slumping position without having to recruit large muscles groups and “prop” ourselves up.
Our hips should be higher than our knees. Please observe this next time you are in your car or at your desk. It is very common for people to be unaware that their knees are indeed higher than their hips. This puts an immense pressure on your pelvic and lumbar spine. We teach a technique on how you can find your “sweet spot” for your sitting position by sitting on a towel or seat wedge to increase the support through your lumbar spine and pelvis. Your “sit bones” in your pelvis should support you and the back support in a chair should not be contributing to your upright posture.
We have seat wedges available to purchase at reception. The beauty of a seat wedge is that its portable and can be taken from your car and into work for example. I have used my seat wedge on a long-haul flight and slept for 7 hours in an upright position. I am convinced that this was due to a correct sitting posture.
Please keep an eye out for a video demonstration on our Facebook or Instagram page to help you work out your correct seating posture. Alternatively ask for guidance when you are next in for your adjustment.
3. Standing
I often notice people weight bearing on one leg more than the other. Often there is an underlying postural cause for this, however it can also be a postural habit.
Standing on both feet evenly will support your adjustment and the structural changes that we are making.
The function and structure of our feet can also affect globally through our system. Rigid shoes can place our feet in an altered position and change the natural movement patters in our feet (and therefore the rest of our body). Flexible footwear like the brand, Vivo Barefoot, are ideal to allow free movement of the muscles, joints and ligaments of our feet. This provides optimal neurological feedback to our brain which assists globally with our posture. Please visit their website for further information: www.vivobarefoot.com/au – Contact CCK Rception for our discount code.
4. Good Digital Habits
The frequency that I observe forward head posture in people on their mobile digital devices is alarming. I have mentioned this many times in practice and in our newsletter and I feel it needs to be raised again.
The load through our cervical spine when we drop our heads forward for a prolonged period is huge. The repetitive nature of our digital devices also has an accumulative affect. Please use your arms to lift your device up closer to eye level. This will help avoid loading on your cervical spine and nervous system and support your adjustments.
5. Eat Clean & Drink Clean
Support our structural and neurological changes with great nutrition and hydration. Avoid inflammatory foods like refined sugar and trans fats. Minimise foods from packets. Change your vocabulary from is this food “healthy or not healthy” to is this food “Nutritious or not nutritious”? Do you need to reduce your coffee or soft drink intake and replace it with water?
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If you require anymore information, please do no hesitate to bring it up with your chiropractor at your next adjustment. Implement these changes to help get the most of your chiropractic care.
Love & light,
Karen
