Dr. Jill Hermen, D.C.
Doctor of Chiropractic
825 Nicollet Mall
Suite 820
Minneapolis, MN 55402
612-339-0149
My Blog
Posts for: February, 2012
80% of Americans suffer from low back pain at some time in their life. These numbers are staggering! Now, we have to analyze why this is. We as Americans lead very sedentary lives. Even if you work out, as I do, we still sit the majority of the day. We sit to eat, drive, work, and rest. The vast majority of Americans have some sort of desk job. We as humans are not meant to be sedentary. To decrease the harmful effects of all this sitting, we need to open up our hips and stretch our hip flexors (the Psoas muscles). Here is how to do it.
Stand with your feet shoulder width apart. Take one extra large step in front of you and hold it there. Always have a wall right next to you (on your side) for balance. Bend that front leg. Your front knee should never go past your toes; if they do, widen your stance. Your back leg is straight and you're up on that back toe (your back heal is off the ground). So, with your front leg bent and your back leg straight, rotate your hips towards your front leg. Bring your shoulders and head up into proper posture and lean back just slightly. Now, breathe. Hold this stretch for 60 seconds and repeat on the other side.
Yesterday I told you how to strengthen your back for proper posture. This will give you the strength to hold your shoulders back. Today we are going to go over the stretches that you will need to do to help maintain that posture. You will need to stretch your chest (pectoral) muscles so you can get your shoulders back into proper posture. The more you slouch, the tighter your chest muscles get, the less your body will like being in proper posture. I give my patients a simple way to stretch their chest muscles.
Stand in a door way, put both hands on the door frame at shoulder height. With your head up and shoulders back, take a step through the door way until you feel a nice stretch in your chest. Hold this stretch for 30-60 seconds. Repeat with your hands above shoulder height and hold this for 30-60 seconds. Then repeat with your hands slightly below shoulder height and hold for 30-60 seconds. For more information, visit my website at www.hermenhealth.com, or make an appointment for an exam and consultation.
When thinking about posture exercises you need to work your body opposing gravity. Gravity will pull your shoulders down and make you slouch. You need to regain your posture. Here is one exercise to help regain proper posture.
Stand with your back against the wall; Put your heals, hips, shoulders, and head flat against the wall. This may feel unnatural, but this position is proper posture. Then bring your arms up against the wall forming a "goal post". Your elbows, wrists, and fingers are all flat against the wall too. Now, keeping both arms, elbows, wrists, and fingers on the wall, straighten your arms above your head as much as you can without losing contact with the wall. Then bring your arms back down to the "goal post" position without losing contact with the wall ever. This is one repetition. Do 3 sets of 5-10 repetitions a day. For more information, visit my website at www.hermenhealth.com.
Find a chiropractor ASAP!! The longer you wait, the more pain and dysfunction you will experience. Immediately after the accident, you may or may not choose to go to the emergency room. If you do great, but if you don't there are things you should do at home to prevent the pain and dysfunction car accidents cause. One thing to remember, never heat a new injury! I like to use the pneumonic PRICE.
Protect the area of involvement.
Rest your body. Do not clean, workout, or over do it immediately after the accident.
Ice the area of pain.
Compress- If you have injured an arm or leg, wrap the limb with an ace bandage to keep the swelling down.
Elevate- If you have injured an arm or leg, elevate the limb above your heart to prevent swelling.
The Boi-meridian machine is a quick, painless, and effective way to test your allergies. Unlike the traditional western medical way of testing allergies, there will not be any drugs or needles involved. It will be a pleasant pain free experience. The machine electronically tests various acupuncture points to see how the patient reacts to an allergen. Reactions are recorded and graphed for analysis and assisting us in planning your custom treatments. For more information, please visit my website at www.hermenhealth.com.