Posts by Dr. Hayes

Flexibility of body and mind

As we grow older, our minds and bodies become set in patterns that limit us and actually begin to cause detriment. We don’t have the abundant reserves of energy we had as children and we grow more sedentary; we must work to earn money which leads a lot of us into jobs that cause repetitive stress; the muscles and structures of our bodies weaken making good posture harder to maintain. At Hayes Family Chiropractic, we believe the best way to undo these harmful patterns is to open up our minds and bodies- to essentially embrace flexibility.

Flexibility of the mind

Openness to new ideas makes us more adaptable, less stressed out and more likely to embrace healthy choices. Keeping an open mind allows us to incorporate new ideas into our life, potentially ones that help us keep a more…

…flexible body

And why do we want our bodies to stay flexible? Here are three main reasons: 

• Injury prevention, especially from basic daily motions. 
• Better circulation and muscle tone
• Less chronic pain

By keeping our muscles pliant into old age, we can overturn the patterns which make us less agile and more prone to injury. 

A 2-minute flexibility saver routine to be done from the office chair 

To illustrate our point, try taking 2 minutes out of this hour to perform these extremely simple stretches that will release muscle tension and loosen muscle fibers, essentially undoing the effect of sitting for an hour straight

• Body twist: sit up straight and inhale. On the exhale, gently twist your body to the right, looking over your right shoulder and clasping your right knee with your left hand. Hold 10 seconds and repeat on the other side.  
• Neck turn: simply turn your neck slowly to look over your right shoulder and hold 10 seconds, then repeat on the other side.
• Shoulder squeeze: sit up straight and squeeze your shoulder blades together. Hold 5 seconds, release and repeat. 
• Shoulder stretch: Reach over your right shoulder with your right arm while simultaneously reaching up from below with your left hand. Clasp your hands and pull up on your left hand to create a tension that stretches the shoulders and arms and opens the chest. 

At our office in Dunedin, we focus on preserving flexibility where it matters most: in the neck, back, hamstrings, shoulders and hips- the parts of the body which account for the most motion and burden of weight. Give us a call to schedule an appointment today.

Dr. Chris Hayes, D.C.

< An example of how not to sit during your commute .

Commuting can be physiologically and psychologically damaging if you let it. 

The stress of traffic and the crunch for time can take it out of you before you even reach the office while the posture that many of us inevitably slip into in (for the most part) poorly designed car seats is causing unquantifiable damage to our spine. Today is the day we break this chain of damage and establish the daily commute as something more…comfortable. 

Here are some things we thought of that will negate the maleffects of a regular commute:

• Make the commute easier on the body: focus on sitting up straight with your head balanced atop the spine and hands (with a relaxed grip on the wheel) at 9 and 3. Use a rolled-up jacket to maintain the lumbar curve and relax your shoulders. 
• Wear comfortable shoes: wear your most comfortable pair in the car and wait to change into the stiff business shoes until you reach the office. 
• Learn something new with a podcast: while its important to keep up with current events, news can be grating on our sanity. Try adding a podcast about your favorite subject into the routine- it engages your brain and keeps you happy. 
• Stretch before and after: the neck, shoulders and lower back are the regions most affected during the drive. Use simple stretches to release these muscle groups from tension when you reach the office. 
• Practice deep breathing and progressive muscle relaxation along the way

It’s time to stop entering the office on the wrong foot 

Taking the above preventative measures sets a good safeguard against the incursions of stress from breaking your levy before work even starts. Another way is to reverse the damage that is already done. Let’s work together to unwind the years of tight muscles that have resulted from poor posture, rebalance your spine and establish good driving posture as the norm. Give our office in Dunedin a call to schedule an appointment today. 

Dr. Chris Hayes, D.C. 

Computer vision syndrome: welcome to life in the 21st century

It almost sounds dystopian, but we promise you it is a real problem and its on the rise. Ask anyone who spends the majority of their day deskbound and they will probably tell you that they have experienced a computer screen headache at least once. The reasons they come about are myriad, but there are a few essential causative factors: 

• Your eyes prefer to rest at a distance that is further than your computer screen. 
• Lighting of the surrounding environment: a bright office combined with improperly adjusted monitor settings creates a strain that is too much for the eyes to bear. 
• The refocusing effect: shifting between the computer screen and objects around the office is stressful to the eyes. 

The computer screen is a headache trigger

In all likelihood, your headache is probably a manifestation of more than just the computer screen: perhaps your posture is poor or you haven’t had the right amount of caffeine that day; your diet was off or you didn’t get an exercise. The computer screen then becomes a trigger for the headache; in this instance, you want to stop looking at it but you have so much work to do! 

Tips for dealing with computer vision syndrome

• If possible, control the lighting of the external environment
• Adjust your monitor properly
• Pay attention to ergonomics and posture
• Take a break once per hour
• Avoid refocusing your eyes too often

Exercising power over the factors that are within your control will make a big difference in your experience with headaches at work. 

Chronic headaches are not normal

It is important to note that if you are having regular headaches that affect you significantly, you may want to check with a health professional. At our office in Dunedin, we correct subluxation to improve nerve function and focus on dispelling muscle tension that could be contributing to headaches. Give us a call and let’s start breaking the hold of headaches on your life today!

Dr. Chris Hayes, D.C. 

The Ever-Forward Head

Computers, tablets, cell phones: how much of your daily life is conducted through these mediums? While there is a pretense that these devices have a net positive impact on our health, they exact a toll on the spine. Traditionally known as reader’s neck, forward head posture (FHP) comes about when we perform a repetitive task (i.e. reading) that trains our head to rest in a forward position and away from it’s center of gravity, the spine. 

This position adds another 10 pounds of pressure to your spine for every inch it is held forward. 

With cell phones and tablets taking on the role of books, the prevalence of FHP is on the rise. Because of the constant imbalance and added pressure to the spine, it causes the premature onset of degenerative spinal conditions and strains certain muscles in the neck, while letting the ones that are important for stability go weak from lack of use.

A quick self-diagnosis 

Perform the wall test by standing up straight against a wall with heels shoulder-width apart and shoulder blades touching the wall. Is the back of your head touching the wall? If not, there is a good chance you are carrying your head forward rather than centered over the spine. It surprises many people to find, after postural analysis, that they are carrying their head 2-3 inches forward at all times throughout the day. 

How we help at Hayes Family Chiropractic

First, we make you aware: FHP is pervasive and easy to slip into because it is temporarily comfortable- our muscles have trained themselves to desire this position. Next, we focus on re-training the muscles, by releasing those that are tight and strengthening the ones that make a difference in holding your head upright and centered. By focusing on postural behavior through out the day, we believe you can make big changes to how you hold your head, look more confident and prevent future pain.

Dr. Chris Hayes, D.C. 

When the going gets busy, the busy individual gets smart with their food habits! 

When it comes to navigating a busy day, food often falls down the list of priorities; this is a shame because food is your fuel for those busy days. Food prep is time-consuming and therefore easy to cut out of your schedule completely, leading us to rely on ready-made or restaurant-made food in which we have no control over the ingredients. Prepping our meals beforehand offers the best of both worlds: control of ingredients and speed of delivery. 

Time-honored tips that save your waist-line and your wallet 

1. Plan and prep meals ahead of time: stews, soups, spaghetti; whatever your favorite recipe, take a few hours Sunday night to cook a large version of it then portion the foods into individual Tupperware.

2. Microwave: with the above preparation complete, each meal can be microwaved in under 90 seconds. 

3. Slow cooking saves the day: for dinners, throw some ingredients in the crock pot with a bit of stock before you leave in the morning. Voila, a delicious, steaming hot healthy dinner awaits your arrival after work. 

4. Use smoothies for breakfasting on the go: with a food processor, all the essential ingredients you need to get going can be blended together in about 30 seconds. Let’s get liquid with our breakfast habits. 

5. Reduce booze intake: while quite a normal way to unwind after a busy day, too much booze is certainly going to hamper your sleep quality, and could contribute to your stress cycle even more. 

Don’t let food fall by the wayside

This is the quickest way to let your body and, more importantly, brain down during a busy day. The simple fact is that skipping breakfast leaves you fatigued and anxious, causing you to gorge at lunch on potentially nutrient-deficient foods. With a little bit of prep time, you will be able to find the time to eat within your busy schedule and it will certainly make a difference in cognitive and bodily function! At Hayes Family Chiropractic, we believe in feeling good at all points of the day and nutrition is one of the ways you can best control your well-being from moment to moment. 

Dr. Chris Hayes, D.C.

Staying energized with snacks?

While we sleep, our body rests and fasts and this is why blood sugar levels often reach a low by 7 AM. Many of us wake up at this time and get going to be at work by 9. Say you are part of the minority who enjoys a balanced breakfast in the morning: by the time you’ve reached work and settled in for the day, you’ve already exerted yourself quite a bit, both physically and mentally. Blood sugar levels are often dipping around 10 AM and by the time lunch rolls around you are positively hangry- a feeling that results from low blood sugar. 

Because low blood sugar makes us feel light-headed, anxious and hungry, we often reach for the easiest, quickest meal in an act of desperation. This is quite often a carb-overload that spikes our blood sugar and leaves us, again, fatigued even though we just ate. There must be some way around this madness! Snacking is a good solution for people who need to stay energized throughout the day.

Snacking done right

Snacking doesn’t deserve the bad rap it has in many wellness cicles. A properly timed snack will:

• Balance blood sugar levels
• Fend off hunger
• Prevent the release of stress chemicals

But what is snacking done right? We’ve come up with a checklist that can help you build a snacking plan:

• 150-200 calories
• A mix of carbs, protein, healthy fats
• No refined sugar or saturated fats
• Nutrient-density is important

With this criteria, the candy bar doesn’t look so substantial after all. But that doesn’t mean you can’t have chocolate! Here are some healthy snack ideas:

• Find your favorite trail mix and keep a bag at your office. 
• Nut butter with an apple or banana.
• Yogurt parfait
• Quinoa based snacks 
• Hard boiled egg with hummus 

Even a perfectly timed peanut butter and jelly sandwich can save the day! Snacking is one of the best ways to stay energized throughout the day and keep stress at bay. Keeping energy up and stress down are two principles that align with the work we do as chiropractors- if you are suffering from chronic low energy levels, give our office a call to schedule an appointment today.

Dr. Chris Hayes, D.C. 

“Fitness” is not going to happen overnight.

And what does fitness mean anyway? A ripped set of muscles or a killer beach body?

No, we think true fitness is a body with less pain and less weight to hold you back from doing things you truly love; a body that will prevent an old age full of difficulty and dysfunction. Any good fitness plan begins with realistic expectations so write down exactly what your fitness means to you and this will become your guiding light through the process ahead. 

Start simple with a single habitual exercise.

This is our challenge to you:

• 10 push-ups a day done non-sequentially (eventually you’ll want to do them in a row) OR
• 10 sit-ups a day OR
• 20 minutes of recreational walking

…you get the idea. Challenge yourself! If you can do something once every single day, especially something that you like, your body and brain will begin to crave the endorphin release and you will start seeking out this activity as opposed to forcing yourself. From here, you build incrementally and we can help you put a plan in place to do just that. But it begins with changing the attitude toward movement. 

Stop looking at fitness as intimidating

But do keep your expectations realistic- this may be one of the hardest things you do but the upside is tremendous! At Hayes Family Chiropractic, we know that getting fit is a tough business, but we’ve seen great success that starts with realistic expectations. That’s why we offer you our fullest support in keeping your body free of pain so that you can pursue and realize your greatest fitness dreams. Give our office in Dunedin a call to schedule an appointment today. 

Dr. Chris Hayes, D.C. 

Sitting is not the unconscious activity we give it credit for

It is much more insidious, contributing to obesity and risk for cardiovascular disease while simultaneously destabilizing the back, leading to pain and degeneration in your spine. And then you end up at the chiropractor’s office wondering where it all went wrong. Well, if you must sit all day, we must be proactive about it:

Ensure that your desk is not working against you

Here is an easy to follow ergonomics checklist.

• Top of your monitor at eye level. This encourages your head to stay straight; think about how you look down when the monitor is below eye level- this encourages your head to lean forward and down, and magnifies the weight of the head to the spine. 
• Butt touching the back of the chair. This goes a long way toward keeping your back straight and upright. Use a pillow or rolled up sweater to provide support for the lower back. 
• Hips at 90 degrees or slightly higher, with feet flat on the floor (or a footrest)
• Keyboard in line with elbow joint to prevent pains in the arms. 

At Hayes Family Chiropractic, we believe in stacking the odds in your favor. By checking yourself against this list, you are making it a lot easier for your body to remain in a posture that is at least not actively damaging your spine. From here, it is about being attentive and proactive to moving as much as possible, whether it be at your desk or getting up and walking around. 

At our office in Dunedin, we can show you the importance of posture and help think up creative solutions for your workplace. Posture is one of the best ways you can be preventative with your healthcare; let us help you redefine your attitude and reset your workplace by calling our office and scheduling an appointment today. 

 By checking yourself against this list, you are making it a lot easier for your body to remain in a posture that is at least not actively damaging your spine. 

Rethinking the way we exercise

Between working, commuting and relaxing, many of us are spending up to 70% of our waking hours seated! This is rough news for our bodies, particularly our backs and even people who make a pilgrimage to the gym after work still need to be wary of sitting for long periods of time without a break. If we are going to be spending so much time at the desk, we may as well use a few minutes to keep our bodies in a state of fitness. As chiropractors, we will focus on deskercises that target muscle groups of the core, the upper legs and hips, shoulders and necks.

Subtle deskercises for the discerning worker:  

• Glute squeeze: Squeeze your glutes together and hold 5-10 seconds then release. Repeat as often as you want or until the glutes are tired. 
• Sub-desk leg raising: while seated, straighten legs in the air and hold for 5-10 seconds. Let them down slowly and repeat up to 20 times or until you tire. 
• Ab squeeze: tighten the abdominal muscles, hold for 5-10 seconds and release. Repeat 15 times. 
• Using the swivel chair: Lift and hold your feet slightly off the ground. Grip the edge of your desk with thumb and forefinger and gently swivel from side to side to train the oblique muscles in your core. 
• Shoulder shrug: Lift shoulders up toward ears, hold 5 seconds and let down slowly. Repeat. This one is great for releasing tension in the upper back and neck. 
• Neck strengthening: Put your head in your hands and push. Engaging the muscles of the neck, resist. Then put hands on back of head and push, also resisting with the neck muscles. Hold each for 5 seconds and repeat up to 5 times. 

None of these require you to get out of your chair, let alone make a buzz around the office by looking goofy. The emphasis should always be on movement; the more we can keep our muscles moving throughout the workday, the less tension will build. At Hayes Family Chiropractic, we help the deskbound worker by working with you to establish good posture as second nature- this is the single most important thing you can do if you must sit all day. Furthermore we treat sore muscles and nerve dysfunction in the spine with chiropractic adjustment.

Dr. Chris Hayes, D.C. 

Today, a subject that is certain to get the juices flowing: cerebral circulation.

What price can you place on your brain? It is the central processing unit for your entire world, and it is hungry! For an organ that makes up only about 2% of body mass, the brain uses more energy than any other organ- up to 20% of the body’s total, and three times as much oxygen as other muscles in the body. So we need to ensure that our brain is well-fed. But how? 

It begins with blood

The blood vessels that supply the brain bring freshly oxygenated blood and other important nutrients, including glucose to the brain to help the cells respire and keep you energized and clear. This is what we call cerebral circulation: the flow of nutrients to the brain cells and then the flow of de-oxygenated blood, carbon dioxide, lactic acid and other metabolic products back to the heart.

Stagnation is the enemy of circulation 

Breathing well is very important, as discussed in my last blog post here. But so are two other factors which seem to crop up time and again: diet and exercise. If you find yourself sitting for long periods of time, stand up and have a quick walk and a stretch to break the monotony of stagnation. When it comes to diet, the most important vitamins for the brain are of the b-complex and vitamin C, along with magnesium, zinc and calcium. Adding these into your diet, whether through supplement or in meals, is a great way to ensure your brain is receiving the nutrients it needs!

Above all, remain interested and active; make your brain work toward things that make you happy. The reward complex of the human brain is a powerful tool when used the right way! Chiropractic is another powerful tool for ensuring that circulation flows evenly through the body and brain. Give our office in Dunedin a call to schedule an appointment today.

Dr. Chris Hayes, D.C.