The holiday season is upon us, bringing joy, festivities, and, of course, the inevitable holiday travel. Whether it’s a road trip to see family or a flight to a snowy retreat, traveling during this busy time can be challenging for your body, especially your back and spine.
As a chiropractic clinic dedicated to your well-being, we’ve compiled essential tips to help you maintain good spinal health during your holiday travels. What should you know beforehand so you can have a safe and happy holiday season?
Tip #1: Plan and Prepare
Start your trip with a solid plan. Book in advance, check travel advisories, check the weather, and most importantly, prepare your body. In fact, a pre-travel chiropractic check-up can help ensure your spine is aligned and you’re in the best shape to tackle the hectic travel schedule.
Tip #2: Pack Mindfully
Heavy luggage is a common culprit of back pain. So, pack light and use luggage with wheels. When lifting bags, bend at the knees and use your leg muscles, not your back, to avoid unnecessary strain. If you must carry a bag, distribute the weight evenly and switch sides often.
Tip #3: Support Your Spine While Sitting
Long hours in a car or plane seat can wreak havoc on your spine. Use lumbar support pillows and adjust your seating to maintain the natural curve of your back. If you’re driving, adjust your seat to comfortably reach the pedals without straining. If possible, take frequent breaks, such as roadside stops for coffee or water every hour or so.
Tip #4: Stay Active
Inactivity can lead to stiffness and discomfort. On long flights or drives, take regular breaks to stand, stretch, and walk around. This can help alleviate tension in your back and neck. Remember, movement is key to spinal health!
Tip #5: Stay Hydrated
Dehydration can lead to muscle stiffness and discomfort. Drink plenty of water before and during your trip. This is especially crucial if you’re consuming diuretics like coffee or alcohol.
Tip #6: Practice Good Posture
Maintaining good posture is vital, especially during travel. Sit upright, aligning your ears with your shoulders, and keep your feet flat on the ground. Avoid crossing your legs or sitting in a slouched position. If needed, schedule regular reminders on your smartphone for good posture.
Tip #7: Get Ample Rest
Travel can disrupt your sleep pattern, adversely affecting your spinal health. So, try to maintain a regular sleep schedule and use neck pillows for support if you’re sleeping while in transit.
Tip #8: Choose the Right Footwear
Comfortable shoes are a must, especially if you anticipate a lot of walking or standing. Good footwear provides support and helps maintain proper alignment of your spine and joints; choose wisely!
Tip #9: Be Mindful of Your Diet
Overindulgence is common during the holidays, but heavy meals can lead to discomfort and sluggishness. Balance your diet with plenty of fruits, vegetables, and lean proteins to keep your body energized and ready for travel.
Tip #10: Listen to Your Body
Pay attention to what your body is telling you. If you start to feel discomfort, don’t ignore it. Adjust your posture, stretch, or take a break. Remember, pain is a signal that something needs attention.
Stay Aligned This Holiday Season!
After your travels, it’s important to realign your body and address any discomfort or stiffness you may have developed. And this is where your local Chelsea chiropractor can help. At Precision Spinal Care, we specialize in helping travelers like you recover from their holiday journeys. Book an appointment with us today, and start the new year with a healthy spine and renewed energy!
You probably create financial goals for yourself. For instance, you’re going to bank $3,000 this year as a security blanket in your emergency fund. Perhaps, you want to save for a new roof or increase your income over the next few years. Your financial objective may be to improve your budgeting skills so you can save more money in general.
However, other life goals can help you live a happier life. And when you prioritize health goals, you’ll have a healthier AND happier life, which can help you strive toward your financial goals, as you have more energy.
Reduce Illness
Your immune system plays a vital role in your overall health and vice versa. If your overall health isn’t good, you weaken your body’s defense mechanism, making you more susceptible to illness. On the other hand, if your immune system is weak, you let germs into your system that can bring down your overall health; it’s a vicious cycle.
By creating health goals and achieving them, you’ll see your immune function strengthen, and you’ll become ill less often. Not to mention, this health boost will improve your overall health.
Live a Better Life
Whether your goal is to start chiropractic care in Chelsea and adhere to visiting this specialist regularly, or you just want to increase the frequency and duration of your exercise sessions, you’ll see an improvement in your life overall.
You may have more energy and be able to do more. You may find that the activities that used to be difficult for you to do no longer are, whether for work or recreation.
Your stress levels may start to dissipate, so you’ll feel happier overall.
Develop a Plan
When you create long-term goals for your health, or just major goals in general, you can break those down into smaller chunks, which are easier to visualize and achieve. As you find yourself conquering those small goals, you’ll get closer to the bigger picture.
Ultimately, when you set a major goal, you can create a plan or map out your course of action.
Prioritize Yourself
Over 60 percent of households have two working parents. This isn’t taking into account if one parent has a “side hustle,” such as freelance writes or DoorDashes. And this isn’t taking into consideration any of the other responsibilities a household may have, such as taking care of an elderly parent.
It’s safe to say that MANY people are busy, and it’s a good guess that many of these individuals aren’t prioritizing themselves at all, which takes a toll mentally and physically.
Ultimately, when you set health goals, you’re finally making time for yourself, your needs, and your overall well-being. This not only benefits you, but it’s also benefiting those around you and your other responsibilities when you can complete everything with less stress and be able to put your entire mind and efforts into it.
Allows You to Assess Your Progress
Think about how you approach other aspects of your life. You, more than likely, look at the success you have, evaluate any areas of concern, and then address them as necessary. But how can you do that with your health if you don’t have any measurable way to evaluate it? You obviously can’t, at least not accurately.
This is where goals come into play. Once you set them, you know how far away you are from achieving them. If you see you’re not making progress, you can make alterations to help you better reach those goals.
At A Spine at a Time, also referred to as Precision Spinal Care, we offer chiropractic care in Chelsea, MI, to the city and surrounding areas. We’re all about helping people attain a “new” life, a better way of living where they’re healthier and happier. Having health goals can be part of the process.
If you’d like to see how chiropractic care can help you meet your health goals or speak to us about setting goals, contact us today at 734-433-9564, or use our online form.
Do you just feel sluggish, like you’re merely going through the motions in life? Do you feel like you are drinking coffee by the bucketful, and it’s just not helping anymore? While you hear about these new solutions for more energy, they, quite frankly, sound dangerous.
But the solution to more energy might not be in a bottle or cup, well at least not in the sense of consuming something that’s specifically designed to give you energy.
Instead, the solution might be making lifestyle improvements. And we at Precision Spinal Care, also referred to as A Spine at a Time, serving Chelsea, MI, and the nearby region, have some recommendations.
1. Stay Hydrated
If you’re dehydrated, you may be more tired than usual. When your body doesn’t have enough water, it can affect your blood pressure and ultimately impact blood flow throughout the body, including the brain. Therefore, aim to drink more water. You can calculate exactly using your body weight or merely strive to drink eight glasses of water per day.
2. Make Some Diet Changes
Your diet might be the reason why you’re sluggish. Change to one that includes whole grains as opposed to refined ones. Consume a diet high in protein, and while it doesn’t help your energy per se, choosing ones that are low in fat is good for your body.
When our patients come to us with issues with feeling sluggish, we ask questions about their dietary habits, not because we’re nosey but because they have a profound impact on a person’s energy levels and overall health.
Based on the information we collect, we may recommend you reduce your intake of certain foods, like refined sugars.
3. Start Eating Breakfast
You’re busy in the mornings. We completely understand. You might have kids to get off to school. Not to mention, you might need to be at work at a certain time. Sitting down for breakfast just doesn’t seem feasible for a lot of people nowadays.
However, it can be when you don’t have to sit. Choose something like a fruit smoothie that you make the night before, a breakfast burrito wrapped to go, or breakfast bagels. The goal is to get nutrients and energy for the day.
4. Exercise
We know what you’re thinking… it’s difficult to exercise when you’re tired and have limited energy. But, by forcing yourself to get more exercise, you’ll feel more alert. Exercise helps the body obtain more oxygen, which helps you feel more awake.
Physical movement stimulates the release of endorphins, which in return, wards off depression and anxiety, possibly making you feel better and ready to handle whatever comes your way.
You’re also helping circulate oxygen and nutrients better throughout the body whenever you exercise.
5. Get on a Sleep Schedule
No matter how old you are, it’s not too late to develop good sleep habits. Calculate backward from the time you need to wake up at least seven to nine hours. That’s a perfect bedtime for you. If you’re having trouble falling asleep at that time, try restricting tablet and phone use at night, exercising enough during the day, and stopping caffeine several hours before bed.
Eventually, you’ll get on a good sleep schedule, though it may take a bit of time. You’ll eventually reset your circadian rhythm.
6. See a Chiropractor
This tip might baffle you a bit since you may wonder how someone who helps with back pain can help you feel more energized.
First, if we do reduce your pain, not just in your back but anywhere, you’ll have an easier time getting to sleep and remaining that way throughout the night. And our treatments — in general — even if you’re not in pain, may help you get a better night’s sleep.
Plus, when you’re in our office, we can provide you with lifestyle and diet advice that may assist with improving your energy levels.
Precision Spinal Care, serving Chelsea, MI, and the neighboring communities, is here to give you a better night’s sleep and put more spring in your step through natural means and none that are related to ingesting more caffeine. And you can take other steps at home, like getting on a better sleep schedule. Book an appointment at our office today to see how chiropractic care can benefit your life by calling 734-433-9564 or using our online form.
When you think of anti-aging treatments, you probably think of creams and serums that combat or prevent wrinkling. You probably think of lotions that stimulate collagen production or consist of hyaluronic acid.
These all, however, are no competition for chiropractic care’s effects on aging. The treatments we provide at Precision Spinal Care, also known as A Spine at a Time, serving Chelsea, MI, and the nearby region, focus on all areas of your body, not just your face and wrinkles, giving you total-body rejuvenation. Let’s discuss what chiropractic care can do to slow the effects of aging.
Keep You Limber
Over time, your soft tissue becomes more rigid and you become less flexible. You then can’t move around as well as you used to. It might be difficult to accomplish everything you want. And you might find yourself foregoing activities you once loved because you just can’t keep up. These are all signs of aging that you don’t hear about in all the ads for the salves and other concoctions on the market.
However, when you keep your body flexible, you can then do more. You can keep up with people younger than you, and you’ll ultimately feel more youthful as you continue to do what you love for as long as possible.
Ward Off the Impact of Arthritis
Arthritis is a progressive condition that affects your joints. You may wake up with joint stiffness and pain. You might particularly notice the pain more so when you’re moving that joint than at any other time. Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis, and it stems from age, well, not so much age as wear and tear on the joints over time.
You may start to lose the ability to partake in certain activities, which will increase over time until you may no longer be able to take care of yourself like you once could.
One way to combat the decrease in independence is through chiropractic care. You can then maintain as much of your independence as you can for as long as possible, which we feel is truly anti-aging at its best.
Ease Stress and Its Effect on Aging
Since this is only a short blog, we won’t get into exactly how stress relates to aging, but we will let you know that it takes a toll on various aspects of your health and even contributes to wrinkling.
You can ease your stress levels through chiropractic care. Our Chelsea chiropractor will provide alignments or other treatments that improve nervous system function and alleviate your pain. In return, these treatments will reduce the amount of stress you have and will result in
stress having less of an impact on your body and aging.
Pain Relief
Ever hear someone say they have so much pain they feel like they’re 90 when they’re only in their 40s? Pain doesn’t have to be a part of the aging process, especially if you look at statistics and see that not every older adult has it.
When you receive chiropractic care you can minimize your pain through every age bracket you hit, which will make you feel younger than you are.
Feel More Energized
People naturally slow down as they age. It’s part of life, though it would be nice to have the energy a six-year-old has when you’re in your 40s, 50s, 60s, or older. While you might not be able to get back the energy of a child, chiropractic care can help you feel more energized than you currently are, which will result in you feeling younger than you are.
Help With Cognitive Clarity
The brain slows down with age, usually after the age of 60. If Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia sets in, it can greatly impair your memory and cause other mental decline. However, chiropractic care can optimize your nervous system function and assist you with maintaining your mental focus and clarity.
At Precision Spinal Care, serving Chelsea, MI, and the general vicinity, our practitioner can help you feel younger, and even possibly look younger, for longer. It might not be a youth serum advertised on TV, but it’s certainly one, and it can be started at any stage of your life!
Aging is a natural part of life, but it need not be a downward spiral into discomfort and disease. With the right care, we can not only age gracefully but also actively and healthfully. One often overlooked yet powerful tool in promoting senior health is upper cervical chiropractic care.
At Precision Spinal Care in Chelsea, MI, Dr. Lisa Olszewski leverages the science of upper cervical care to enhance the health and vitality of her senior patients. This blog post explores the science behind this specialized form of care and its benefits for senior citizens.
The Intersection of Aging and Upper Cervical Health
The upper cervical spine, consisting of the first two vertebrae (C1 and C2), is a vital area that directly influences the brainstem and the central nervous system.
As we age, various factors can lead to misalignments in this region, disrupting the crucial communication between the brain and body, potentially resulting in various health issues.
Upper cervical care focuses on correcting these misalignments, restoring proper communication, and promoting overall health and wellness. Understanding the impact of this specialized form of care on senior health requires delving into its key benefits.
Unveiling the Benefits: Upper Cervical Care for Seniors
1. Promoting Mobility and Balance:
Misalignments in the upper cervical spine can affect balance and coordination, increasing the risk of falls in seniors. By correcting these misalignments, upper cervical care can help improve mobility and balance, fostering greater independence.
2. Boosting Immune Function:
A well-functioning immune system is crucial as we age. Proper alignment in the upper cervical spine ensures optimal communication between the brain and the immune system, thereby enhancing immune function.
3. Enhancing Overall Well-Being:
By ensuring proper nerve communication, upper cervical care can contribute to better sleep, improved mood, and increased energy levels. These elements are crucial for maintaining quality of life in senior years.
4. Managing Chronic Conditions:
Upper cervical care can help manage the symptoms of many age-related conditions, such as arthritis and degenerative disc disease, by addressing inflammation and improving nerve function.
Precision Care with Dr. Lisa Olszewski
At Precision Spinal Care, Dr. Lisa Olszewski’s mission is to enhance the health and well-being of her patients through precision upper cervical care. She understands the unique challenges faced by seniors and tailors her approach to meet their individual needs.
Her holistic approach extends beyond immediate symptom relief to focus on long-term health and quality of life.
Conclusion: Embrace Aging with Upper Cervical Care
Upper cervical care offers a powerful, natural approach to health that can help seniors not just cope with aging but truly thrive.
It underscores the adage that prevention is the best medicine, with a focus on maintaining optimal spinal and nervous system health to enhance overall well-being.
To discover how upper cervical care can help enhance senior health, contact Dr. Lisa Olszewski at Precision Spinal Care in Chelsea, MI.
Serving residents of Chelsea, Dexter, Grass Lake, Ann Arbor, Gregory, Pinckney, Manchester, Munith, Bridgewater, Whitmore Lake, Lakeland, Norvell, Hamburg, Stockbridge, and neighboring communities, we’re here to support your journey to a healthier, vibrant life in your golden years.
Take the first step towards aging gracefully with upper cervical care today!
Summer is here, well, in a few days from now. If you’re a fall athlete, you may find it as a little break when you can go on vacation and enjoy the time with the chaos of running hard and the intricate feat of balancing work and play, though no feeling may compare to when you’re on the field, court, or rink.
However, even if you’re taking a break from sports in the summer doesn’t mean you have to take a break from good health and prepping for the fall. At Precision Spinal Care, serving Chelsea, MI, and the nearby region, we treat athletes through our chiropractic care program and see them on a regular basis. Our Chelsea chiropractor has training in this area and uses this knowledge and her experience to help athletes prevent an injury and improve their game, even on the off season.
So let’s take a few moments to discuss how fall athletes can start preparing for the fall season!
General Information
Though we’re not known for having lengthy heat waves, temperatures are usually in the 80s or higher in July and August. This can make it too hot at times to exercise outdoors if you’re not taking the necessary precautions.
It’s also an excellent time to get your body into better working order, seeing as how you may be less scheduled.
Hydration
One of the main factors to consider when exercising over the summer when it’s hot outside is to get adequate hydration. While you’ve probably heard the “eight glasses of water per day” recommendation more than a time or two, this is a general rule.
Some people may need more water, and some are fine with less. As you’re determining how much water you need, factor in your gender, weight, and activity level. All of these can alter how much water you need.
Since it’s not static across the board, we recommend you take a few sips before you exercise, sip sporadically throughout your exercise, and have a few more once you’re done. The worst way to stay hydrated is to chug a large quality of water before or after your workout. Not only will
it cause you to not feel well, but it can throw off your electrolyte balance and cause a potentially life-threatening condition known as hyponatremia — a sodium-to-water imbalance that causes your cells to swell.
Choose You Time Carefully
You also want to choose the time you exercise carefully. Opt for early in the morning or later in the evening. These are times when the sun isn’t high in the sky, and as a result, isn’t as hot.
Listen to Your Body
Getting physical activity in the summer also entails listening to your body. If you feel thirsty, break for a drink. If you’re very out of breath because of the humidity, take a rest or slow down. You may even need to make some time to sit in the air conditioning for a few.
Though this isn’t necessarily just for summer, make sure you’re listening to your body when you’re feeling pain. That’s your body’s warning sign. A little bit may be helpful in muscle building, but that isn’t the case when you’re in more than just a little pain.
Seek Out Chiropractic Care
As a sports chiropractor in Chelsea, we strongly recommend this one. A body that’s not properly in line and flexible is more susceptible to injury. We can use chiropractic adjustments to ensure your spine and nervous system are in tip-top shape for when it’s time to return to sports.
Part of our chiropractic care also includes stretches that help with function and flexion — two vital components to an athlete.
Our care will also include tips on how to keep active over the summer and work on improving your game, as well as hints you can use on the court, field, or rink.
Just because your season is over doesn’t mean you should just let your body go. Over the summer, you can take vital steps to improve your game and keep in shape, such as seeing a Chelsea sports chiropractor and exercising in the healthiest way for your body. If you’re ready to start your summer training, give us a call at 734-433-9564, or use our online form. We’re helping athletes one spine at a time, one knee at a time, or whatever body part you need help with over the summer at a time!
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