We’ve noticed for many years now that when people take a long overseas trip they will often come back with their skull effectively “stuck”.  One or more sutures or joins in the skull are jammed.  The skull can’t move the way it’s supposed to with each in and out breath. That puts tension on the membranes around the brain and spinal cord.

What do people feel?  Here are a few common things:

• fuzzy headed, “foggy”
• can’t think straight,
• making a lot of mistakes at work,
• can’t get focussed and motivated to work effectively
• clumsy
• headachy

One of our patients has theorised that being subjected to the reduced pressure in the aircraft cabin for a prolonged period may be the cause. That’s a good PhD thesis for someone out there.

In the mean time if you’re feeling that way after an overseas trip, please remember to come in and let us release those sutures so that you can get back to being yourself a lot more quickly.

Contour pillows are rounded on both sides.  The rounded areas support your neck whether you sleep on your side or your back (sleeping on your stomach and ‘corkscrewing’ your neck is a no-no!).  By supporting your neck and ensuring correct alignment, contour pillows lead to a comfortable and truly rejuvenating sleep by reducing pain and discomfort throughout your body.

Which pillow is right?

Each person differs in terms of shape and size.  Some of us have long necks, some short ones.  Shoulder depth, neck shape and curve also vary.  To meet these variables, contour pillows come in low, medium and high profiles.

Low: is designed to support children from 5 years and adult back sleepers;

Medium: suits average physiques;

High: this suits side sleeping, broader shouldered physiques.

When you lie on your side with your head on the pillow, your spine should be in a straight line from your neck to your low back.  Your head should neither be tilted back nor your chin tucked in.

When you lie on your back, your spine and head should line up in the same way as when you stand up.  Your chin should neither be tucked in nor your head tilted backwards.

If you’ve tried a foam pillow in the past and didn’t like it, give a Memory Foam pillow a go.  The foam moulds to your head and is very comfortable to sleep on. Latex pillows are another option.  Bacteria and mildew can’t live in the latex.

Investing in a good pillow is certainly worthwhile!

Your Psoas runs from your low back, through your abdominal area,  to the inside of your upper thigh on the femur. 

Look at our Downloads page in the “Chiropractic and massage” section for a diagram-”Check out the Psoas”

It’s the muscle that lifts your leg when you walk, run, and cycle.  It also bends you forward towards your legs.  If it’s tight it will pull your legs up into the hip sockets at a slight rotation.  It will also pull your back down and forward, compressing the joints and tilting the pelvis.  You may walk with a bit of a stoop if your psoas is very tight.  This will cause problems at your knees, feet, shoulders and neck.

Many knee problems that aren’t caused by an accident are often the result of a chronically tight Psoas muscle. That’s because, when the Psoas is tight, it will rotate the femur and twist the knee joint.  The knee joint doesn’t really like this!

If your Psoas is so tight that it bends you forward, then your shoulders will also be pulled down and in.  This can cause anything from sore upper back muscles, to bursitis and fixed joints.  The shoulder pull will also affect your neck, bringing it down and forward.

Of course sitting all the time doesn’t help with psoas tightness either.  Your whole pelvis will tilt and put extra stress on your spine which you will feel in our neck and low back.  This chronic pelvis tilt will cause tight hamstrings, which you‘ll never seem to be able to stretch sufficiently.

So what can you do?

At home, you can use a spikey massage ball to release your psoas.

• Start with your right psoas.
• Hold the spikey ball against your abdomen a little below the level of your appendix on the inside of your pelvic bone.
• Lie face down on the floor with the ball in that position.
• Prop yourself up on your elbows. 
  You should notice the spot on your abdomen becoming a little sore.
• Hold the position for 40 seconds.
• You can slide the ball up or down a fraction if there are other sore spots.
• Don’t hold for longer than 40 seconds or you might bruise yourself.

Do the same on your other side.  Stand up and feel that sense of release as you stand more erect.

What else can you do?

Your massage therapist or chiropractor can release the Psoas in the clinic.  Pilates can help with effective ways of working on the Psoas.

Remember that successfully decreasing pain and stiffness relies on treating the cause, not just the symptoms.

From an original article by Beth Sabo Novik

Headaches should not be part of your daily life.  Even headaches once a month for us women is just not right.  If you care about your health you should do something about it that will fix the problem long term.

From the time I was 22 to the time I was 31 I had an almost constant low grade headache that I just took for granted.  I got used to it so that it really didn’t register any more.  Until I got my first chiropractic adjustment.  The difference………it was like I suddenly became so much lighter.  It was wonderful and it happened immediately.  Mind you, it only lasted 3 hours but what a marvelous 3 hours.  It took another month before I lost the headaches completely.

Now if I get a headache once a year, it’s unusual and I try to figure out why.  Headaches are a message from your body that something isn’t right and you should look at doing something about it.  AND for goodness sake don’t assume it’s a tumour!!  It more than likely something musculoskeletal that can be readily addressed.

Read a case study from the United States in the “Chiropractic and massage” category of “Downloads”.  If you’re not interested, pass the link on to someone who might be. Enjoy good health.

If you don’t do something about your posture though, you’ll suffer the consequences not too far down the track.  To start with you’ll get niggling aches around the bottom of your neck.  That ache might go down your back to your shoulder blade or up your neck and start to give you a headache.  Ignore it for long enough and you’ll start to get pain down your arm or your fingers start to go numb. That’s not to mention the constant headaches that you get. Taking pain relievers does just that- relieves the pain but doesn’t get rid of the problem.  It always surprises me that people think it’s Ok to get headaches a couple of times a week.  It’s not Ok really.  A headache once or twice a year is more like what a healthy person might have to put up with.

There’s a simple neck tension release that I like to teach people.  It’s not enough on it’s own but if you’ve had treatment and want to maintain your pain free status then it works quite well.  Have a look in the downloads “Chiropractic and massage” section for “40 seconds a day to release neck tension” and enjoy your work week.

Source: “Well adjusted babies” by Dr Jennifer Barham-Floreani

Stomach sleepers have to turn their head to one side in order to breathe. This creates tension in the muscles of the neck and upper spine. Think about doing this for up to 8 hours a night and you can see why this might cause a problem. Also, sleeping on our stomach increases the curve in your lower back making you even more prone to low back pain.

Changing your posture isn’t always easy. To prevent sleeping on your stomach try these tips. Remember it will take at least a month to break the stomach sleeping habit so do persist.
When on your back, place a pillow under one or both legs. This allows the lower back to relax and flattens the arch of the lower spine slightly.

If you lie on your side, place a thin pillow between your knees and a thick pillow at chest height to wrap your arms around. This is usually comfortable and keeps the spine in a relaxed and neutral position. You might be surprised how easy it is to bring the extra pillows with you when you roll from side to side at night.

Regardless of whether you are on your back or side, a pillow that is the right height is essential. The pillow should be pre-contoured or soft enough to deform to the shape of the head when resting on it. The pillow should not slowly collapse but should continue to provide support throughout the night.