Spine care for better health

Spine care is an essential part of your health. 

The three main functions of the spine are to: 

1. Protect the spinal cord, nerve roots and several of the body’s internal organs. 

2. Provide structural support and balance to maintain an upright posture.

 3. Enable flexible motion. Your spine allows your body to be in a stable and upright position. A strong spine and good posture are essential to healthy mobility, a painful spine can eliminate it.

Your spine is a part of the central nervous system, along with the brain, and relies on the peripheral nervous system: the millions of nerves that send messages to the brain that control the body’s functions. An unhealthy spine interferes with this entire system, causing a host of unwelcome health issues such as pain, numbness, and weakness in the arms and legs, digestion and impaired control of the bowel and bladder.

Our everyday lifestyles that include activities such as sitting, lying down or lifting heavy objects incorrectly are contributing factors that damage the spinal cord. Knowing the correct ways to adjust our habits will help us reduce spinal problems that may occur in the future.

Sitting

Don’t: Slouching or crossing legs while sitting for a long time throughout the day will cause back and shoulder blade pain.

Do: Sit up with your back straight touching the back of the chair, relax your shoulders, and sit all the way on the chair with buttocks and both sides of the hip evenly, not titled to the right or left. Get up and stretch every 20-40 minutes.

Sleeping

Don’t: Sleeping on too soft or too hard surface or sleeping in wrong positions such as, sleeping on your stomach, or curling up may cause back pain.

Do: Mattresses should not be too firm or too soft. Sleep on your back or on your side while keeping your spinal cord aligned. Use a pillow under the knees when sleeping on your back or place a pillow in between the knees when sleeping on your sides.

Heavy Lifting

Don’t: Bending your back to pick up an object suddenly may injure your muscles and spinal cord.

Do: Stand closer to the object you need to pick up and bend your knees to squat down slightly, keep your back straight, your head straight aligned with the spinal cord so the pressure is distributed to the spinal discs equally when picking up.

Using Phone

Don’t: Bending your neck forward while looking at your phone at all times causes pain in the

neck, shoulder and shoulder blades as the pressures are placed on these areas.

Do: Try to keep your neck completely straight, don’t bend your neck or slouch.

Here are a few mistakes that may ruin or worsen your spine problems:

Ignoring your pain for too long – If back pain continues for a few days do not ignore. Do not just reply on self medication. Consult a spine expert for correct diagnosis and treatment.

Choosing surgery too quickly – Do not take hasty decisions. It is recommended to try non-surgical treatments for at least several weeks or months before considering surgery.

Poor sitting posture – Do you work for long hours at your desk in a poor posture? It is time to correct it with ergonomics.

Excess mobile usage – Excessive texting or seeing your cell phone for long hours can cause repeated stress injury and pain in the neck. This is called text neck.

Remaining inactive – If you are in pain, one or two days of doctor-recommended rest is fine. However, over time lack of activity will in fact lead to more pain. Consult a physiotherapist for a daily exercise routine that suits your spine.

Are you or a family member suffering from a spine injury or a chronic back ache?

Get yourself checked, consult expert Dr Amit Dhakoji  for further help.
Please find below link for more details: Contact details – +919766656785