| Welcome |
|
This newsletter is about neck posture while using smartphones causing neck complaints.
June 24, 2012
Smartphones risking health
Hi ,
This was the headline that greeted me Tuesday morning when I checked BBC Health online. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-18490433 I expected an article about microwave radiation dangers causing brain cancers, but was instead delighted to find an article about a much more common problem - work stress and posture.
The last few years I have noticed an increasing number of my patients presenting in the office with neck, shoulder, arm, upper back, and even low back complaints coming from computer use. The sheer amount of time folks are spending in front of a computer is causing sufficient postural muscle stress to inflame nerves and misalign joints.
The first tell tale sign I check is the position of their ears relative to their shoulders. Looking from the side, your ears should be directly centered over your mid shoulder. Most people will find their ears forward of their shoulders to some degree - perhaps as much as 2 - 3 inches.
Imagine you were trying to balance a bowling ball in your hand upright directly over your elbow. The weight of the ball would balance and stay steady with little effort of your arm muscles. If you let your arm tilt forward just a couple inches and now your arm muscles will have to tense up to keep the ball from falling forward. Your head acts the same way balanced on your neck. It takes little neck muscle action to keep your head upright when it is centered over your shoulders. The more forward your head is positioned, the tighter your neck muscles become to keep the head from falling forward. This tension is pulling both down and back, and the downward portion squeezes the joints together. Squeezed joints pinch and inflame and eventually irritate the nerve roots.
This problem is made much worse with the use of smartphones, laptops, ipads, and the like that are normally used in a position where our head is actually tilted down to see the device. Normal computer use is bad enough, as we stay focused on the screen in front of us. Add in the pressure of work and the fact that our head naturally pulls forward when we are stressed, and you have a formula for neck joint compression.
Neck joints don't like being compressed. First the tissues swell and get painful. The pain triggers the tiny muscles around the joint to get even tighter. They try to act like splints to prevent the joint from moving when inflamed. The body does not want to rub the inflamed tissue so it limits motion. Unfortunately this muscle tension squeezes the blood vessels slowing circulation. Slower circulation means the inflammatory chemicals being released from the inflamed tissues does not get carried out of the area. These now build up and cause the nerve roots to be poisoned by these bad chemicals so they get inflamed and start sending pain signals down the nerve and up to the brain.
Some number of days after this happens the patient calls my office because of the neck pain that came out of nowhere and won't go away. I put them on my table, adjust the joints and release the muscle spasm, and get the circulation going once again and send them home with instructions for using heat and cold to reduce the joint swelling and nerve root swelling, and everything feels better - for a while. The unfinished story here is that the basic cause of the neck problem - the poor postures being aggravated by computer or smartphone use - still takes place.
Changing poor posture habits is hard. The posture muscles along the spine are generally weak in most of us. It takes active posture muscle training to rebuild them and constant practice to keep them in tone. Posture muscles are truly a "use it or lose it" type of muscle. Even just a few weeks of slacking off and not keeping these muscles in shape will cause you to lose significant function in these muscles.
The most basic "exercise" I tell people to do is raising the chest. Pretend a helium balloon is tied to the center base of your front ribcage lifting up. Raise up you ribcage a good inch and keep it raised throughout the day. This should allow your shoulders to roll back and allow you head to naturally sit back over your shoulders instead of falling forward. This will relax the neck muscles and let off the compression of the neck joints. It does mean your mid back muscles below your shoulder blades will be working a lot harder, as these are the muscles you use to raise your ribcage up. Practice this posture every time you can think of it.
Generally building the spinal postural muscles does not take a lot of time each day, but it does need to be done very regularly. I have been recommending the book "Foundation" by Dr Goodman for a simple and easy to follow program for strengthening the spinal stabilizer muscles to prevent back and neck pain.
The BBC article went on to talk about the problem of work stress in which we feel we have to put in a couple extra hours of work every day. Obviously this is a problem, but by no means is work the only source of stress in our lives. Any kind of stress that does not quickly resolve can create a forward head thrust posture that causes spinal joint compression. We need to address all kinds of stress in order to keep our spine happy. Stress is what we feel when we don't know or have the skills to overcome the challenges in our lives. We need wisdom and skill to navigate life and stay healthy.
Find models of wisdom and skill you can imitate to help you in your life. Spiritual teachers might be good models. People you look up to as successful in the areas you are challenged with are also good people to look to for modeling. Changing your old habits is difficult and requires powerful motivation to keep you focused on the task of change. Find motivation in your life. What drives you enough to try new ways of being? What is important enough to you to give up the comfort of your old identity and try on a new identity? I don't expect that neck pain or back pain is enough of a motivation to get you to change your relation to life, but it does add to the desire for change. Painful posture is feedback that lets you know that you are stressed in one or more of your current relationships with life.
If you need help discovering what specific stress is affecting your body in ways that produce pain, see Ellen for a Heartflow session. She can use muscle testing to find the source of the pain manifesting in your body through stress. She can help guide you to a new relationship with life, which will give you the chance to change your posture towards life (both physically and emotionally.)
So don't let your smartphone risk your health. Create better postural relationships in your life. Don't get stuck bent forward pinching off your nerves. Get tall. Get straight. Get happy.
Yours in health,
David
Here is a picture of the new office before we start work on it. Check us out - 9725 Fair Oaks Blvd - between Sunrise and New York.
_______________________________________
Coconut Flour and Coconut Oil
We have the good stuff from Tropical Traditions back in the office again for you. This is not your cheap solvent extracted coconut oil, but coconut oil harvested in the traditional manner - the oil is mechanically squeezed out of the coconut meat without the use of any chemical solvents. These are pure organic coconuts raised without fertilizers or pesticides. Its a little more expensive, but so much better for you.
New Exercise Program
Patients are reporting great results with the new back strengthening program I wrote about in the March 18th newsletter. I highly recommend this program for everyone as we all need stronger backs to counter the effects of too much sitting. If you missed this information here is a link to that newsletter.
Special Offer: Free Health Evaluation
Discover your true health status
________
Questions - if you have questions of
a health or growth nature we could discuss in this newsletter, or if
you have comments or ideas about a future newsletter focus please email
me at:
david@fairoakshealth.com
You are free to reprint this article in your newsletter as long as you include the following statement in the same size type and color:
"This article appears courtesy of Fair Oaks Health News, offering natural and healthy solutions for body, mind and soul. For a complimentary subscription,
visit http://www.fairoakshealth.com"
|
H
|
On the Wire
|
-
Possible cure for radiation sickness discovered?
Using a protein created by gut bacteria, scientists from Israel and the US have developed a treatment for radiation sickness. This treatment works either as a preventative or given up to 3 days after exposure. In tests on 650 monkeys exposed to radiation, those that were treated all survived with almost no side effects while 70%of the untreated monkeys died. This not only is helpful in the event of a nuclear blast, but more commonly it may prevent problems arising from the use of radiation therapy in fighting cancer.
_____________________________________________
"If you tell the truth you don't have to remember anything. "
~ Mark Twain
Pressure vest helps calm autism sufferers
 Folks with autism and ADHD often experience sensory overload triggering high anxiety. Experience has found that a firm hug helps calm them down. The deep pressure seems to relax the anxiety. Now they have invented a pressure vest that inflates to provide that deep pressure whenever needed.
"It is easier to perceive error than to find truth, for the former lies on the surface and is easily seen, while the latter lies in the depth, where few are willing to search for it."
~ Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
_______________________________
Portable hydrogen power solution
This is fantastic - a portable hydrogen powered fuel cell that does not need massive hydrogen tanks filled with high pressure gas to power the fuel cell. Instead they are using a chemical that releases hydrogen when exposed to simple water. A small suitcase unit is powerful enough to run an electric bicycle. Each 1 1/2 pound cartridge of chemical will give the bicycle a 60 mile range!
"Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing happened. "
~Winston Churchill
________________________________________________
|
| |
|
_______________
to check on old newsletters
_______________
About Dr. DeLapp
|
|
Dr. DeLapp has been a philosopher, non-force Chiropractor, medical intuitive, and health innovator for over 30 years. He began experimenting with medical intuition in 1972 while studying physics at UC Davis. In addition to physics he designed and completed an individual major in the philosophy and psychology of education. Shortly after he choose to pursue a career in the only truly health oriented profession available at that time, Chiropractic. He graduated with honors in 1981 with his doctorate and opened a private practice.
Since that time he has continued his research into the effects of consciousness and learning on health.
He developed the Biomagnetic Retraining system for correcting movement abnormalities.
Since 1991 he has focused on developing a powerful system for uncovering and assisting the mind-body connection in health and personal growth. The in-depth coaching, guided by the subconscious direction from the body, is called Heartflow and the simpler mind-body retraining for health and unfoldment he has named Gracework. Both are available at Fair Oaks Health.
Fair Oaks Healing
& Arts Center
Staff
Dr David DeLapp DC
Chiropractor
Ellen Flowers FGM
Spiritual Life CoachEnergetic Nutritionist
Health Care Coordinator
Susan Richardson
Office Manager
Front Desk
Gypsy Andrews
Metabolic Nutritionist
Lifestyle Support Person
Front Desk
Susan McDonald
Catherine Cummings
Is there a sweet that is not poisonous? Yes!
Dr Dave Supersweet Drops and 2X Sugar Substitute
| |
