Pain — we fear it and fight it, try to manage it or make peace with it. When it comes to back and joint pain, massage therapy and chiropractic can help. Often a much better alternative than medication, they're a non-addictive way to address what is causing the pain instead of merely masking it.
What is Chiropractic?
Chiropractors are licensed doctors who treat about 35 million Americans each year. Much of their work involves restoring mobility to joints and relieving back pain, neck pain, pain in the joints of the arms or legs, and headaches. Chiropractic services cost less on average and are included in most health insurance plans.
Back in the Garden, Safely
What's in Your Backpack?
A friend remembers his days as an eight-year-old paperboy fondly, except for the huge paper bag that hung off one of his slim shoulders, which was torture. Kids and adults are often carrying similar loads these days, through schoolyards and airports. Let's look at how we can be sensible about what we schlep around.
Your Head Weighs 11 Pounds!
Oh noooo! For some reason, each of us has a head that weighs about 11 pounds. Apparently that's the trade-off we make for our big, beautiful brains. Luckily, the neck and spine are designed to support this weight, as long as it's well-balanced. The problems start when we tilt our heads forward, like when we're on our phones. Which is, on average, three hours a day. Yikes!
Massage for the Elderly
Pregnancy Massage
Does Extra Belly Weight Cause Back Pain?
Get Good at Breaking Bad Habits
What Exactly is a Trigger Point, Anyway?
Our friend Tom’s laptop keeps shutting down on him while he’s working. It happens several times a week. The laptop isn’t broken — it actually warns Tom twice that it needs to be plugged in before it shuts down! Tom just needs to stop what he’s doing, acknowledge the alerts, and take action. Many of us hear the alerts our bodies are giving us in the form of aches and pains. They say, “Pay attention, do something about this!” But we ignore these messages, limp along, and make do as we slowly lose mobility.
Establishing Healthy Movement Habits for the Whole Family
Why Don’t Older Folks Like Swinging on Swings?
A Closer Look at Joints
Do you know how many joints are in your body? We don’t either! That’s because the answer varies from person to person, depending on factors like age and what is classified as a joint. Babies have more bones than adults, and therefore more joints, because some bones fuse together as they grow. Learn about these amazing connections that help you move!
Skelentology 101
The Cause of Your Lower Back Pain Might Be Lower Down
Nothing will derail your life like back pain. Even mild pain in this part of the body can make getting out of bed a struggle (not to mention sleeping in it to begin with.) No matter what kind of activities you routinely engage in, doing them with back pain is no fun. Sometimes the cause of the pain is in the back itself. But sometimes tight muscles in other parts of the body can pull your back out of whack.
Repetitive Stress
Repetition is essential to most learning, working and playing. But lots of physical repetition can make our bodies rebel. Industrialization and specialization have caused repetitive stress disorders in everyone from factory workers to brain surgeons to tennis pros. You might type away at a keyboard all day and play a standup bass in the evenings to unwind, incurring chronic strain from both. Common disorders resulting from repetitive stress include carpal tunnel syndrome, bursitis, sprains, back pain — and yes, PlayStation Thumb.
Eat Your Electrolytes
Viva las Vagus: Simple Hacks for Clarity and Calm
The vagus nerve derives its name from the latin word for wandering, since it weaves throughout the body from the brainstem to the colon. It’s the nerve that’s largely responsible for our parasympathetic nervous system, which tells the body to rest and digest. This relaxed state also allows the body to heal.
Foster Good Posture
Let's Dance
Because modern life doesn’t require us to be active, movement and exercise can often feel like a chore. Humans have had no evolutionary pressure to develop a love of exercise because it used to be built into daily life. It can feel like something we should do, instead of something we naturally want to do. Dance can keep us physically fit, make us smarter, and get us in touch with the joy of movement.