Health and Wellness Blog
Chiropractic for Tennis Players in Dunedin
Tennis allows players to maintain a high level of physical fitness and social wellbeing
At Hayes Family Chiropractic, we love tennis because it is a holistic wellness activity that can be enjoyed by families and people of all ages and abilities. While it is considered a low-impact sport, especially in comparison to sports like football, some estimates still say that up to 65% of players will suffer an injury in a given year. The most common tennis-related injuries include:
- Tennis elbow
- Shoulder tendinitis
- Sprained ankles
- Back sprains
- Disc-related injuries
At our office in Dunedin, we want to help people keep injury at bay so they can retain a high level of happiness on the court.
Chiropractic for Golfers in Dunedin
Golf is much more physical than it seems, especially when it comes to your spine.
Any argument that says golf is not a sport is seriously outdated. While it might not involve the high-impact intensity of football, or the cardiovascular conditioning of a sport like soccer, golf comes with its own set of challenges for your body. At Hayes Family Chiropractic, we set the mental part of golf aside, and focus on helping you lower your handicap by ensuring that your body is aligned and your muscles balanced. Read on to find out how you can improve your golf game with the help of chiropractic.
How Chiropractic Supports Your Quest for Fitness
Your spinal health is an influential factor in fitness
Spinal and postural disorders tend to get in the way of fitness. Back pain or dysfunction can stop you from working out altogether, or it can affect you to varying degrees while you are exercising. Spinal misalignment, at its most basic level, gets in the way of achieving full range of motion which alters the way you work out completely. It may cause you to favor one side versus the other, completely altering your natural biomechanics and causing secondary injury or dysfunction. For the same reason, spinal misalignment can also stop you from developing the back’s musculature evenly. In all cases, spinal disorders prevent you from reaping the full benefit of your exercise.
Massage Therapy in Dunedin
For such a simple act, massage is powerful
With the right hands, massage is a powerful tool for influencing wellness. There is no denying that a back rub feels good, and this is proven by the fact that massage has been shown to release endorphins, pain-killing chemicals that also provide a euphoric feeling. Massage further sets the stage for relaxation by easing muscle tension, treating muscle spasms and increasing circulation, both in a local area and throughout the body. The end result is a more relaxed you, and a you who is able to function better and sleep easier.
Chiropractic Provides for the Productivity-Minded
Being productive is contingent upon feeling well
While we can force ourselves to be productive with sheer willpower and caffeine, there is an easier way of going about things. It entails being a little more proactive- looking out for the factors that inhibit cognitive efficiency and contribute to physical pain. Take your nervous system for example: it has a role in everything productivity related. Let’s break the nervous system down into its constituent part to demonstrate its role in productivity. The autonomic nervous system, which controls heart rate, respiration and digestion, is comprised of the:
- Parasympathetic: when this part is active, heart rate is slowed, and we experience increased blood flow to the internal organs; this increases feelings of rest and encourages digestion.
- Sympathetic: when this part is active, our “fight-or-flight, reflex comes alive, increasing heart rate and respiration.
This second reaction enables us to take action and get the job done.
When Being Bipedal Becomes a Curse: The Problems with Overpronation
Do you pay attention to the way you walk?
If you are like most people, you get up, put on your shoes and go. The act of walking becomes so subconscious that we never stop to check our gait. But your gait says a lot about you; from a chiropractor’s perspective, your gait also says a lot about your spinal health. Being bipedal means that a large percentage of the shock your body receives on a daily basis is processed through your feet.
Preventing and Treating Pinched Nerves in Dunedin
The “pinched nerve,“ is a ubiquitous blanket term; what exactly does it mean?
Very broadly, a pinched nerve happens when a given nerve is put under too much pressure by the surrounding bones, muscles and tendons. The pressure causes interference in nervous system signaling which translates to pain, numbness, tingling sensations and weakness. The nerve causes pain during movement, limiting range of motion; it can also cause radicular pain In which the actual discomfort is experienced somewhere other than the nerve which is pressurized. The scientific term radiculopathy is used to describe injury or simply irritation to a nerve which causes pain and contributes to dysfunction in the body.
Preventing Spinal Misalignment Day by Day
Spinal misalignment is a part of daily life
In fact, your spine is most likely misaligned as you read this. But misalignment does not necessarily need to be a cause for concern if you view your spine through the right lens. Too many people view their spine as a single structure, immutable and rigid. The truth is, your spine is a shifting mosaic of spinal motion segments, each specifically designed for a different type of motion.
- Cervical: provides flexibility and stability for the neck and supports the weight of the head,
- Thoracic: provides for rotation, flexion and extension of the upper body.
- Lumbar: supports the weight of the upper body, and provides stability to prevent excessive range of motion from damaging the spine
Despite what it may seem, your spine is designed for movement. But movement, and more importantly, lack of movement, are precisely the forces that help move your spine out of alignment. Misalignment is a natural part of life; it becomes a problem when:
- Musculature develops unevenly
- It causes dysfunction in the nervous system
- It contributes to spinal degneration
- It contributes to pain.
Why Does a Massage Feel So Good?
Massage goes deep with wellness benefits
Nothing feels better than a massage. Whether it comes from the hands of a loved one or from the hands of a qualified professional, the essence of a massage is the same: relaxing your body and mind so that stress and pain pass away. The state of heightened health you attain after massage includes boosted immunity that helps your body fight off illness and injury. At Hayes Family Chiropractic, we are proud to offer professional massage services that provide our patients with more well-rounded healthcare.
Putting Posture First: A Roadmap to Feeling Better
Have you ever had your posture checked?
There is a reason why it is one of the first things we do when we see a patient for the first time at Hayes Family Chiropractic. Every physical examination includes an evaluation of:
- Overall movement
- Range of motion
- Balance
- Posture
The outcomes of these tests help describe the overall state of your spinal health. Static postural analysis is a set of simple tests and observations that help us determine how you hold your body in a variety of activities. We then take into account your lifestyle to determine where any postural shortcomings may be taking a toll- for example, if you sit a lot and your sitting posture is less than ideal, this will be a point to focus on.