The winter months are upon us and that means all of those fun winter activities: snow shoveling, sledding with the kids, and negotiating those icy paths.  Along with these activities can come the propensity for winter injury and back pain.  That could mean falling or that tweak in your low back when you lift that lovely ice that has accumulated upon the driveway.  One of the best methods to assist in these injuries is proper warm up and cool down exercises.  By warming up just a little bit before beginning your winter outdoor activity and cooling down properly afterwards, you can effectively assist your body.

Simple Warm Ups

Some very simple warm activities are a spinal rotation exercise, and lunges or squats for your legs.  To perform the spinal twist exercise sit on the edge of a level surface, put your arms out in front of you like a chief and twist to the right and to the left.  Please sit up tall during this exercise to avoid damage and if you feel sharp pain please stop.  You can do approximately 25 side to side rotations to get the blood flowing into the low back musculature.

Before heading out on your walk, some simple lunges or basic squats off of the side of your bed should be sufficient to get the tushy and legs warmed up so that your balance will be at its best.  Remember to continue to look up while performing these activities and focus on contracting your glute musculature.

Lay Down To Rest

One of the biggest mistakes people make after they have been outside in the winter is coming in, shedding their winter garmets and plopping themselves down onto the couch for some rest.  Did you know that simply by laying on your back for ten minutes on your floor or in a reasonably firm bed will allow the ligaments and discs of your back to cool off in a more appropriate position? Please do yourself a favor and avoid sitting in slouched position after your body has been warmed up.  Remember that your core temp is up after you have been working outside, and allowing your musculature, ligaments, and discs, to cool off in a proper posture pattern is an easy way to avoid bad posture and future pain.

Push Snow, Don’t Shovel

As another note of interest for all of my snow shoveling fanatics out there, remember that pushing snow is easier than lifting it.  If you have got to lift the snow, please don’t twist at the same time, instead, approximate yourself to the shovel, looking ahead lift the snow through your legs and glutes and then toss it.  If you want to cause some serious injury to yourself, the traditional lift and twist over your shoulder is the way to do it, please remember that one sided activities like constantly throwing or pushing the snow on the right side all of the time isn’t that great.  Instead do your brain and body a favor and push or throw the snow with your right hand on top of the shovel and then the left, this will work both sides of your body and reduce the incident of injury.

The winter time can be tricky so please stick with these simple tips and save yourself some pain!

To perform the spinal twist exercise

1. Sit on the edge of a level surface
2. Put your arms straight out in front of you and cross your arms
3. Please sit up tall during this exercise to avoid damage
4. Twist to the right and then to the left

If you feel sharp pain please stop.  You can do approximately 25 side to side rotations to get the blood flowing into the low back musculature.

Its 2:30 in the afternoon on a Monday and you have a headache .  What do you do at this point?

Look in your purse (if you have a purse) and/or ask around the office for some aspirin, Ibuprofen, Tylenol, or at least something to try to get rid of this thing.  Am I right?

Or maybe it’s a terrible migraine, you just want to go home, get in your bed and turn the lights out.  Ok, so what if you had another option?  What if you could eliminate or at least greatly reduce these darn headaches?

At Spine Correction Center of the Rockies, this is highly likely.  I know you are thinking this is too good to be true BUT before you do that please give us a call and come talk to one of the physicians for a FREE.  We can determine whether you are a candidate for groundbreaking technology to get rid of those headaches.

We can help where others couldn’t.

The patient stretches their own neck by:

1. pulling their ear to shoulder on both sides
2. then turning their head 45 degrees and stretching forward and then backward on both sides

If you have been thinking about going to visit a chiropractor, it might be because you are suffering from a herniated disc. If you have heard this term before and you now are suffering from back pain, chances are that you are putting two and two together. Here is the truth. Many people, especially medical doctors, disagree about what exactly a disc that is herniated is. Many professionals believe that there are several disorders that often are described as the same thing. No matter what side you take, it’s important to remember that you can get help that can make the pain stop.

A person suffering from a herniated disc might feel a sharp pain in the lower back, or in the lombar region. If this is a problem that you are suffering from, your first step should be to locate a chiropractor in your area. A chiropractor can help you align your spine, potentially relieving pressure on affected nerves. There is no surgery or intrusion into your body. Instead, a specialist uses special tools that literally straighten your spine. It’s that simple. At the same time, just because this may seem simpler than, say, a surgical procedure doesn’t mean it’s less effective or that anyone can do it. On the contrary, if you are thinking about seeing a spine specialist, you should make sure that you are using a trained professional.

Getting Herniated Disc Treatment

If you need a specialist who can work on your herniated disc, do your research. This is the only way to be sure that you are learning about a specialist’s qualifications and his or her health interests. You might even want to make sure that a chiropractor has customer testimonials on a webpage.  Make sure that you feel comfortable with your spine specialist. Don’t be afraid to ask some basic questions. Remember that you are dealing with your own health and well being. You deserve to have your questions answered.

Spine Correction Center of the Rockies prides ourselves on getting results where others could not. We go beyond simple chiropractic care and treat patients with an integrated medicine approach. We have not only chiropractors look at your disc issue, but also a registered nurse and doctoral staff. Additionally, we have therapists on site to consult and help treat you. This integrated approach has given our patients unparalleled results.

The hours of operation are Friday 3 – 9 pm, Saturday 2 – 9 pm and Sunday 2- 9 pm.

The clinic is an alternative to both Emergency Departments and Urgent Care clinics or if you are just looking for a new provider.  The provider, Lisa Myers is a Family Nurse Practitioner who has been practicing the last 12 years in this capacity.  She has over 20 years experience as a Nurse and is formerly the practicing provider at the Student Health Center at the University of Northern Colorado.

Please keep her in mind should you need any medical attention on the weekend.  For more information, please refer to their website:  www.weekendhealth.com.

Do you ever ask yourself that question and then think I’ll just take some aspirin? Many people deal with leg pain on a day to day basis and don’t realize that there is something that they can do about it.

Oftentimes leg pain is associated with a problem in the low back or even in the buttock region. Some may refer to this pain as sciatic pain but others may just brush it under the rug as pain for some weird reason in their legs. The nerves that affect the muscles and tissue in the legs come from the low back and this pain is often caused by compression or pinching of the nerves in the low back. By relieving this pressure in the low back the pain in the legs often times subsides.

If you or someone you know is suffering from leg pain, suffer no more. At Spine Correction Center of the Rockies we specialize in helping people just like you to get out of pain and move on with their lives. Start the winter out right and call for a free consultation with a physician. We look forward to meeting you.

Dr. Farrell describes the latest methods in treating scoliosos in a non-surgical, non-bracing way.

In this interview with Denver’s KMGH Channel 7 News on 10/22/2011, Dr. Farrell outlines the latest scoliosis treatment options, focusing on those that are non-surgical and non-bracing.

You can watch the video at http://www.thedenverchannel.com/video/29559474/index.html.

A herniated disc is when your spinal discs become damaged, then herniate, or bulge (push out), against your spinal cord and spinal nerves. A herniated disc becomes very painful when it presses against the nerves in your spinal column, causing numbness and/or pain.

One question you might have is knowing when you have a herniated disc. Are there any telltale signs? Unfortunately, the answer is not really. This is one reason why it is so important that you go to see a chiropractor. We can perform diagnostics where we look at your spine and determine causes of your pain. At Spine Correction Center of the Rockies we take disc problems very seriously and have amazing results with these conditions.

If you think that you may be suffering from a herniated disc, you should know what the symptoms are. Back pain is a common symptom. If you have lower or upper back pain, this could mean that your disc is herniated. It’s also possible to have a pinched nerve. You can know this is happening when there is pain in the arms, legs, or neck. If you are suffering from pains like these, you really should go to see a chiropractor. This is the only way to find out how you can align your spine to feel better all around.

If you are wondering how best to find a chiropractor for your herniated disc, it is a good idea to start with recommendations from those you know and researching online. You can look at a chiropractor website and learn all about his or her practice. Make sure that the professional you choose to use also has a certification that shows that he or she has been trained to deal with this kind of problem.

If you are like many people, you know someone who has gone to see a chiropractor, but you have never gone to see one yourself. In a sense, you might know what this kind of specialist does, but you don’t know any specifics. To begin with, this is a back pain specialist who works on aligning or straightening your spine. This might seem simple enough, but you have to consider how important your spine is to the rest of your body. Your spine is what holds you up. It keeps you straight and affects the movements of all of your muscles, such as those in your arms, legs, and neck. If you think about the spine in this way, you can see just how important chiropractors are.

What To Expect

What can you expect when you go to see a chiropractor? The first thing you know is that most appointments take around an hour, though this all depends on the kind of treatment you are receiving and the routine that you go through with your specialist. On your first visit to a chiropractor, you will talk to him or her about what is bothering you and why you decided it was time to come in. It can be tempting to believe that the treatment is going to hurt since you might not know what to expect, but it is important that you understand that you will feel relaxed and better after you leave the office.

Do I Need A Chiropractor

Another question that people have regarding seeing a chiropractor for the first time is how to know if they need to see this kind of specialist. The truth of the matter is that anyone can see a chiropractor at any time. You don’t have to have something wrong with you to benefit from seeing a spine specialist. Most people who visit chiropractors, however, tend to have back pain, neck pain, headaches, or numbness. They also might suffer from muscle pains that they have taken to medical specialists and for which they have not been able to find a solution.

If you are interested in finding a chiropractor for your problems, or if you simply are interested in discovering new ways to improve the way you feel, you are on the right track. Using the Internet to research is a great way to get a little insight into the specialists whom you are considering.