- Break from keyboard/mouse work and reading /writing every 15 to 30 minutes.
- Sit back in your chair. Get out of it every half hour.
- Do not lean on your elbows, at your side.
- Stand to reach any material(s). Stand to read.
- Hold the phone. Stand to talk whenever possible. Use a headset if necessary.
- Use two hands to grip; avoid pinch grip. Use gloves to assist gripping.
- Reduce your grip on writing tools and/or the mouse. Use appropriate writing tools.
- Slow your typing pace/minimize keyboard pressure.
- Float across the keyboard, keeping wrists straight.
- Use your whole arm to move the mouse; do not deviate your wrist.
- Use keyboard commands as much as possible (i.e. avoid the mouse!).
- Spread the workload between hands (e.g. try using the mouse with nondominant hand).
- Turn to face your task (e.g. when taking notes, using the phone , lifting).
Harbor Family Chiropractic
Chiropractic can help Chronic Chest Pain
The Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, (JMPT), published a cases study of a 49 year old man who suffered from chest pain. The patient, a music composer, was exercising on a treadmill during part of his regular physical workout routine when he developed a dull and achy chest pain with some difficulty breathing. The patient did not seek immediate help for the condition, thinking that it would resolve on its own.
Over the next two weeks the pain increased and the patient sought medical care. A visit to his internist revealed the patient’s blood pressure to be 140/97. He was diagnosed with muscular chest pain, secondary to tachycardia (rapid heart rate) and hypertension (elevated blood pressure). Treatment was a prescription of a combination of anti-inflammatory drugs and beta-blockers. The patient felt that his beta-blockers made him extremely drowsy, and the anti-inflammatory drugs did not relieve his chest pain.
In spite of the medication, most all of the man’s problems seemed to worsen. After extensive testing, all findings were deemed normal, and the internist declared that the patient’s heart and lungs were healthy. Over time, the patient’s symptoms had progressively worsened to the point that the chest pain radiated sharply into his upper back as well. The pain was so severe that he was unable to sleep at night or perform simple activities of daily living without increasing his pain. Anxiety over the severity of his condition also began to affect the patient’s emotional well-being, and got to the point of precluding the patient’s active employment and most physical activity.
Finally the debilitated man sought chiropractic care. His chiropractic examination showed an increase in many reflexes and the conclusion was that the man had subluxations. Chiropractic care was initiated at the time. After only one session, the man immediately rose to a standing position after the chiropractic adjustment, he then took a deep breath and exclaimed that he could breathe much easier.
The patient was placed on a program of sustaining chiropractic care, initiated 3 times per week. The study showed that the patient responded favorably to chiropractic, obtaining prompt relief form his symptoms. Sustained chiropractic care rendered over a 14-week period resulted in complete resolution of the patient’s previously chronic condition, with recovery maintained at 9-month follow up.
Chiropractic Care Improves Coordinated Movement and Performance
A study in the May 2006 issue of the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics found that patients under chiropractic care improved the relative times it took to perform movements in a controlled test (movement times).
The study involved ten patients who received chiropractic adjustments and another control group of people who did not receive adjustments.
Movement time was measured on a computer screen with the subjects moving a cursor onto a randomly moving target of various sizes.
Every one of the subjects under chiropractic care had significantly improved movement times. Only one person in the control group not receiving chiropractic care showed improvement.
The chiropractic patients showed and average improvement of 9.2% while the non-chiropractic subjects averaged an improvement of only 1.7%.
The researchers concluded, “This study demonstrated a significant improvement in movement time with chiropractic care.” These results suggest that spinal adjustments may influence motor behavior.
While this study applies to our everyday lives, it also bodes well for people involved in sports and/or any other activity that requires high levels of coordinated performance.
Cancer Patients Quality of Life Improved with Chiropractic
An article published in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics follows two case studies of patients with various types of serious cancer. The article follows the chiropractic care and it’s effect on these patients pain and quality of life.
The first patient was a 57-year-old man with serious terminal pancreatic cancer. This patient received chiropractic care during the later stages of the disease. In the remaining time the patient had before succumbing to the disease it was documented that the patient had significantly less pain and was able to reduce his medications. The journal article summed up this case by stating, “In this case chiropractic care was able to provide significant pain relief, reduce the amount of pain medication being taken (as well as the potential side effects), and temporarily improve the quality of life for a patient with terminal cancer.”
The second patient was a 54-year-old man recovering from surgery for lung cancer. This patient was continually suffering form upper back pain and had gotten no relief for over one year. At that point the patient began chiropractic care. In this case the patient received immediate relief and was able to discontinue all pain medication after two chiropractic visits.
The principles of chiropractic make it plain that the focus of chiropractic care is not to directly treat the patient’s pain but rather to assist the body and allow the body’s own healing abilities to work at that person’s maximum potential. These case studies show that ability and the effect on people suffering with serious conditions. The Journal article states it best when it said, “These clinical examples offer 2 specific instances of how chiropractic may improve the quality of a cancer patient’s life.”
Cracking Necks and Taking Names.
IS IT OK IF I “CRACK” MY OWN NECK? NO. And, nothing in the body ever “cracks” unless it breaks. When a joint re-aligns (adjusts) there is a release of gas (oxygen and nitrogen) and you hear a noise that sounds like something is “cracking”. By trying to move the vertebrae yourself you will cause micro tears in the muscles and ligaments supporting that area of the spine. This will lead to spinal instability and more complicated problems like early arthritic degeneration. The desire to adjust yourself is your body’s way of telling you that you have a subluxation. Subluxations should only be adjusted by a chiropractor.
Headaches can be a pain in the neck
If you suffer with headaches chiropractic may be able to put a smile back on your face. Researchers have discovered how the neck structure can cause headaches. Chiropractic care for the neck could provide relief for more that fifteen million Americans who suffer from persistent recurring headaches with no obvious cause. One of the researches said, “It’s true that chiropractors have been saying this for years. . . They were right about headaches.” Tension headaches are the most common types of headaches. Such headaches are often caused by problems with the bones and tissues of the neck (the cervical spine) that trigger pain sensing nerves in the neck. These nerves transfer or “refer” the pain signals up to the head where you feel the pain as a headache. A recent study found that “Spinal manipulation has a significant positive effect in cases of cervicogenic (originating from the neck) headaches.”
Chiropractic may be able to relieve your headache while at the same time improving your posture and range of motion in your neck. In one case study a man suffering from chronic headaches for over two years tried chiropractic care. By restoring range of motion in his neck and proper neck posture within two weeks his headaches were gone and did not return for the remaining seven months of maintenance care. This is just one case, and it does not show everyone else will respond as well, but there are a number of previous studies showing chiropractic care is effective for headaches, even migraines.
In one study of migraine headaches 74.7% of migraine patients were greatly improved under chiropractic care and the success rate was maintained two years after the care ended. Clearly, chiropractic care is not just for backaches. Instead of covering up your headaches with over the counter drugs, try chiropractic. It may be able to correct the root of the problem and leave you headache free.