By: Dr. Ryan Lee
November marks a huge milestone at Reach Health and Wellness, as we celebrate 5 years in business! We love being a part of the Collegedale, TN community and helping so many of our patients live active, healthy and pain-free. Over the last five years, our team has had the opportunity to provide chiropractic care and massage therapy to families and individuals in our community, and we couldn’t be prouder of the work we do. We are incredibly thankful for all of our patients and always welcome new visitors. To celebrate this momentous occasion, we’re sharing our top 5 Wellness Tips. We are committed to our community and love to educate and provide resources to improve your health and wellness.
Stretch Every Morning
Setting aside just 5 minutes to stretch during your morning routine can make a huge difference in your day. This is especially true if you’re rushing out the door to sit in traffic on your way to work, only to sit at a desk all day.
Stretching can help warm up your body and relieve both. Stretching will also improve your posture in the long run; sticking to a stretching regimen every morning will loosen up stiff muscles, resulting in better posture over time.
1. Practice Good Posture
The more that you stay in a certain position, the more that you’re going to remain in that position. That means that good posture is something that you have to constantly practice. Proper posture helps to improve your overall spinal health. Sitting and standing with proper alignment improves your blood flow, helps to keep your nerves and blood vessels healthy, and supports your muscles, ligaments, and tendons. People who make a habit of using correct posture are less likely to experience related back and neck pain. Awareness is essential to good posture, so check your alignment often.
When sitting, your feet should rest flat on the floor, with your weight distributed evenly on both hips. Your back should be mostly straight (after all, you do have natural curves in your lumbar, thoracic, and cervical areas). Your shoulders should be back but relaxed and your ears should line up over your collarbones.
When standing, your legs should have a slight knee bend so you’re not hyperextending or locking your knee joints.
2. Always Support Your Back When Lifting and Carrying Heavy Things
Most back pain is caused by overuse or straining of the muscles and ligaments. This can happen when lifting and carrying heavy items. So it’s important to support your back as much as possible. To prevent injuries, you should always bend your hips and knees. You should hold heavy objects close to your body and use your core (abdominal muscles) to help keep the object stable. This reduces the amount of force that the object will apply to your body and helps to spread the load across different parts of your spine. Always avoid turning or twisting your body while lifting or holding a heavy object.
3. Practice Good Sleeping Habits
One of the easiest ways to cause back and neck problems is to sleep incorrectly. Sleeping on your stomach causes you to strain your neck and while putting additional strain and pressure on your spine. To best support your spine, we recommend sleeping on your back and side. A simple method is to go to sleep with proper posture and try to avoid wiggling because your body will be aligned and comfy.
4. Live a Balanced, Healthy, Lifestyle
Leading a healthy lifestyle is important to your overall health and well being. Good lifestyle choices like eating nutritious foods, staying hydrated, exercising regularly, and also taking care of your mental well-being all add up and contribute to your overall health. Healthy habits minimize the risks of injury and illness. Remember, improving your health includes both your body and your mind.
5. Practice Chiropractic Wellness at Reach Health and Wellness
It might be difficult to determine where you need to make changes and improvements in your daily life. Chiropractic wellness is a simple matter of practice. Scheduling regular appointments with a chiropractor who has a plan that’s based on your specific chiropractic needs is the best way to improve your chiropractic health.
Please get in touch with us if you have any questions or would like to set up an appointment for a chiropractic evaluation. We’re thrilled to be celebrating our 5 year business anniversary and look forward to continuing to offer holistic healthcare to the community. Our clinic is located at Little Debbie Parkway in Collegedale, TN and we would love to serve you! For additional information, or to schedule a chiropractic or massage appointment, give us a call today at (423) 498-3400.
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Dr. Ryan Lee is the practicing chiropractic physician at Reach Health and Wellness Chiropractic. For his full bio, click here. *This content is strictly the opinion of Dr. Ryan Lee and is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended to provide medical advice or to take the place of medical advice or treatment from a personal physician. All readers/viewers of this content are advised to consult their doctors or qualified health professionals regarding specific health questions. Dr. Lee does not take responsibility for possible health consequences of any person or persons reading or following the information in this educational content. All viewers of this content, especially those taking prescription or over-the-counter medications, should consult their physicians before beginning any nutrition, supplement or lifestyle program.
