Are headstands safe for your neck?

Headstand or Sirsasana Pose:

As an upper cervical chiropractor, I get asked if headstands are safe for people's necks all the time.  My answer is yes, but with some very important distinctions.  The first distinction is that this posture is ALL about how you get into it and how you get out of it.  Standing on your head isn't actually the hard part, I promise!  What is difficult and can compromise your neck and body is getting up there and getting down.  When going into this posture, the most important aspect is that you have a solid base created by your shoulders and forearms.  The secret is that you should have almost no actual body weight on the crown of your head.  Your body weight is supported by the upper body, not your head and neck, which is why, when done correctly, a headstand is not going to hurt your neck.  Coming in and and out of the head stand is all about core engagement so that you are shifting weight appropriately and being sure to protect your neck during this movement. 

The health benefits of body inversion are well documented, and done correctly with attention to detail, headstands are beneficial for your body.

So... happy head-standing!

Vertigo, TMJ, and neck pain helped with Upper Cervical Care

Jeremy came in 6 months ago with severe bouts of vertigo. He had a concussion during a hockey game 3 years prior and had been struggling with vertigo for the last two years. The symptoms had progressed to the point where he wouldn’t be able to get off the floor or leave the house for days because he was too dizzy and nausea and couldn’t trust his balance. Jeremy experienced constant whooshing in his ears with temporomandibular joint (TMJ) pain and dysfunction (TMD). He also had neck and low back pain and stiffness.

Jeremy has been under upper cervical chiropractic care now for six months. He has not had any bouts of vertigo since starting care and his neck pain, jaw pain, whooshing in his ears and his low back pain are all much improved. Jeremy is back outdoors hiking and doing the things he loves again!

Reverse Warrior: Engage your abdominal muscles to spare your spine!

Reverse warrior posture is one of the foundation poses for many yoga practices and is one of my favorites.  It just feels so good to get that deep stretch through the side body while strengthening your legs.  Although as with all yoga poses, alignment is crucial for this posture or lower back injuries can be created or exacerbated.  There is so much going on in this posture that it can be easy to forget to engage your abdomen as you lean back and yet it is crucial to remember this to protect your lower back.    

In this posture you are not just leaning to one side but your also leaning back.  This oblique movement can be compromising to your lower back and should be avoided if you have a recent injury.  Even with the healthiest backs, remember that this movement starts and ends in your abs! 

Low Back Pain and Headaches Improved with Upper Cervical Care

We all know that pain and fear of injury can stop us from doing the things in life that we really want to do and make us feel...well...just not like ourselves. Ryan came to us experiencing low back pain, which was keeping him from exercising. Ryan was becoming frustrated because when he would exercise, his low back would flair up. He was also getting headaches two to three times a week and neck pain. Ryan’s upper cervical spine was corrected and immediately he felt the pressure off his low back. He has now had four upper cervical corrections and his low back pain, neck pain and headaches are all dramatically improved just by getting his head on straight! Is your head on straight?

Whiplash Relief with Upper Cervical Care

Craig was in a bad head-on motor vehicle accident about five years ago, which had suffered from bad whiplash.  When he first came in about eight months ago, he felt unstable in his spine, he had left arm pain, numbness and tingling, as well as low back and neck pain.  Also after the accident, he found that he couldn't work out with being in pain or injuring himself. After the first four weeks of corrections, Craig was reporting dramatic improvements and was able to get back in the gym. Now he has been holding his alignment for about six months - meaning he hasn’t needed to be adjusted! He has his confidence back and is feeling strong!

Give Yourself the Gift of Health This Season and Help a Child in Need

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Have you been thinking about trying Chiropractic care for a while but haven't taken the plunge? This is the perfect opportunity! Each holiday season, we partner with Annie's Angels to help local families in need with our Angel Tree. We are passionate about building our community and giving back, which is why we are offering a discount on our services in exchange for a gift. 

Not only can you help a child in need by donating a gift, but you will be giving yourself a gift as well! 

November 27th until December 18th, bring in a gift around $20-$25 and receive the following:

• New Patients will get 50% off their initial evaluation
• Current Patients will get a $50 credit toward an office visit
• One offer per patient

If you aren't a patient with us and are interested giving back AND in finding out if we can help, call the office and we'll give you the gender and age of a child in need and book you in for your first appointment where we'll take your health history and spinal exam. 

So give yourself the gift of health and help a child in need this holiday season. 

Call the office to schedule! 

Contact the Portsmouth NH Chiropractic Team

WARRIOR THREE POSE FOR A STRONGER CORE AND BACK

Warrior three pose or Virabhadrasana III is a more advanced posture and requires the practitioner to have a solid foundation and balance.  This is a pose that is wonderful for strengthening: ankles, legs, back, core, and shoulders.  It is also a pose that if done incorrectly can cause some problems in the body, especially for the hip of the standing leg and for the lower back.  For the ideal benefits of this pose make sure that your foot, knee, hip, shoulders, head and arm of the raised leg are in a straight line, and that the raised leg, toes, hip points, and fronts of the shoulder all point towards the ground.  

This pose also helps with focus, concentration and invigorating the body.   

Remember that keeping a body moving is an important part of keeping a body healthy! 

Happy Practicing. 

MIGRAINE AND BACK PAIN RELIEF AFTER CAR ACCIDENT WITH UPPER CERVICAL CARE

Car accidents can be traumatic and life changing. They can leave you with chronic headaches, neck and back pain, and rob you of your ability to concentrate and complete day to day tasks. Janelle was in a car accident and suffered with those symptoms for over a year before finally finding relief with Upper Cervical Care.

One of the most common injuries car accident victims experience is whiplash, which occurs when the tissues supporting the head and neck are damaged and the bones in the neck are forced out of alignment. No one wants their neck cracked or twisted after getting whiplash, but the technique we use involves gentle adjustments that cause no additional trauma to the neck and give the body time to heal.

HELP FOR MIGRAINE SUFFERERS IN PORTSMOUTH, NH

When you body has a recurring symptom that doesn't resolve medication can be helpful to get you through the day to day, it masks the symptom but you should ask yourself... WHY?   Why can't my body self correct this?  Why does the problem continually recur?  With migraines often the causes can be many factors from environmental triggers like chemicals to life stress but often a big factor is also neurological and structural. 

At Arete Chiropractic, we work at correcting the underlying problem that causes migraines. For many, this is a misalignment of the C1 and C2 vertebrae. These vertebrae are located at the base of the skull. The C1 (atlas) provides protection for the brainstem. If misaligned, however, pressure may be placed on the atlas resulting in various symptoms such as migraines.

Also, a misalignment in this sensitive part of the body may restrict blood flow to the brain keeping it from getting enough oxygen. It could also result in reduced drainage of cerebrospinal fluid, thus causing pressure to build up.

Regardless of the way in which the misalignment causes or contributes the migraines, a correction can help to resolve the issue.   Watch the story below of a woman who's entire life was affected by chronic daily headaches.  

Surgery Cancelled after beginning Upper Cervical Care

Have you ever stopped being active because of pain?  Check out Lauren's story.    Being in constant pain is draining.  Regardless of if you have had specific head or neck trauma or if you are in the category of years of pore posture, neck pain runs the gamete from annoying to debilitating.  Pain in the neck can arise from many of the various structures in this complex part of the body.  One of the most common is due to degeneration of the vertebra and joints causing bone spurs or bony growths.  Here we're going to break that process down.  When a trauma occurs and a joint in the neck is locked out of place (most commonly the 1st cervical vertebra) it then changes how that joint and the rest of the joints in the neck move.  When there is altered movement at a joint it creates inflammation and instability.  The body's response to instability is quite brilliant in fact, it's going to lay down more bone to try to stabilize that area.  This response is a natural process in the body, and like we said it's pretty brilliant because it takes DECADES for bone to degenerate to the point where it is drastically affecting function.  When the human body was evolving and our life expectancy was 40 this process was not a problem.  However if we want to stay pain free and active into our 70's-80's or even 90's we need to restore that joint motion as best we can!  This is where gentle specific upper cervical chiropractic can help your body feel better and function better.  Just ask Lauren.  

Warrior Two Pose for Strong legs, Open Hips and Engaged Core

Warrior two pose or Virabhadrasana II is one of the most common yoga poses you might see at your local class.  Yet often I see this pose done slightly incorrectly that can cause significant aches and pains in time.   One of the most common mishaps is when the knee tracks two far over the ankle.  This causes sheering forces on the knee and can create strain.  Also if your torso is not balanced over the hips this is going to increase strain in the lower back and looses a huge benefit of the posture.  The biggest benefit of this posture is to create a strong foundation with your legs. 

This posture will tone and increase the strength in your legs and thighs.  It also is a great posture to open up and stretch the hip and groin muscles.  Additionally with the torso over the hips and the chest open it will strengthen the back muscles and open the front of the chest.  All of us on computers drastically need that these days!  So next time your getting into this pose be mindful of these tips to get the maximum benefit and prevent injury.

Chair Pose: A Strong Back = Less Pain

Chair pose builds stabilization in your back and has many benefits for proper spinal health.

• Chair Pose stretches spine, hips and your chest muscles.
• Chair Yoga Pose strengthens the immune system and gives relieves back pain and joint pain.
• Chair Pose strengthens your torso and lower back.
• This Yoga Pose tones the legs, muscles in the knee, the ankles, and the thighs.
• Chair Pose reduces weight, especially from the buttocks.

Check out our video below for proper form! 

The Benefits of Meditation

Meditation and Why You Should try it!

Meditation = relaxation. It is not about concentration, it’s actually about de-concentration. It’s not about focusing one’s thoughts on one thing, but instead on becoming thoughtless. Why is this good for us? A calm mind, good concentration, better clarity, improved communication, relaxation and rejuvenation of the mind and body to list just a few. These are all things we would like to experience, but what about the health benefits? When you meditate these amazing things will happen to your body:

• Lower high blood pressure
• Lower the levels of blood lactate, reducing anxiety attacks
• Decrease any tension-related pain, such as, tension headaches, ulcers, insomnia, muscle and joint problems
• Increase serotonin production that improves mood and behavior
• Improve the immune system
• Increase the energy level, as you gain an inner source of energy
• Emotional stability improves
• Happiness increases

Now that we have gone over why we should meditate let’s talk about how…

• Sit somewhere you’re comfortable. Sit cross-legged, or if you prefer, on a straight-backed chair with your feet flat on the floor, without leaning against the back of the chair.
• Find a comfortable sitting posture. Place your hands palms-down on your thighs and sit in an upright posture with a straight back. Have your eyes open, let your gaze rest comfortably as you look slightly downward about six feet in front of you.
• Follow your breath. Place your attention lightly on your out-breath, while remaining aware your environment. Be with each breath as the air goes out through your mouth and nostrils and dissolves into the space around you. At the end of each out-breath, take a rest until the next in-breath naturally begins. For a more focused meditation, you can follow both the out-breaths and in-breaths.

• Whenever you notice that a thought, feeling, or perception has moved your attention away from the breath, just say to yourself, “thinking,” and return to following the breath. This Is normal, just note the thought and continue focusing on your breathing.
• After the allotted time, you can consider your meditation practice period over. But there’s no need to give up any sense of calm, mindfulness, or openness you’ve experienced.

Let this mindset carry with you throughout your day!

Triangle Pose For Injury Prevention

Triangle Pose is one of the best poses for your entire body, and one of Dr Beebe and Evan's personal favorites. Because of it's total body affects it can help prevent injury when used as a recovery position after a work out.  Remember prior to working out you want to do large movements and active stretching to warm up the body.  After you work out a stationary or static stretch like triangle pose is great for recovery.  This pose will increase strength in the knee, thigh, core and ankle while it will stretch the hip, shoulder, knee, vertebral column, thigh, side body, spinal muscles, calf and groin.  

As with all yoga poses it's more important to do them correctly rather than deeply so listen to your body and treat it right! 

Yoga To Increase Blood Flow To The Spine

Do you experience tightness in your lower back or hips? Sometimes a simple hip stretch to open up the hip joint and increase blood flow is the simple trick. 

The runners lunge, done correctly will stretch hip flexors, activate your thighs & abdomen and build heat in the body to reduce inflammation. 

Check out our video below to correctly perform runners lunge! 

Yoga For Flexible Strength

The Crescent Lunge, creates flexible strength, which promotes stability in the front and back of the torso, tones the lower body, stretches the chest, lungs, shoulders, arms, neck, belly, groins (psoas) and the muscles of the back. Which in turn, strengthens and stretches the thighs, calves and ankles.

Check out our video below for proper form! 

The Best Anti-Inflammatory Foods!

Inflammation is part of the body’s immune response; without it, we can't heal. But when it's out of control for example, rheumatoid arthritis, it can damage the body. These types of health issues affect how we live our everyday lives. Inflammation is also thought to play a role in obesity, heart disease, and cancer. Other than medications there are ways to help fight inflammation! Here are some delicious foods to add to your weekly diet:

Fatty fish: Oily fish, like salmon, mackerel, tuna and sardines, are high in omega-3 fatty acids, which can help reduce inflammation. These fish can help men and woman fight heart disease. Aim to eat fish several times a week, make sure they are cooked in healthy ways! 

Whole grains: Sorry we don’t mean Pasta and bread! Adding whole grains regular into your diet has shown to reduce levels of C-reactive protein. This is because whole grains have more fiber, which has been, a marker of inflammation in the blood. Make sure to look for foods in which the total number of carbohydrate grams per serving is fewer than 10 times the number of fiber gram.

Ginger: This root has a spicy kick and well known for its nausea calming powers, but it’s also holding another secret—inflammation crushing power. Studies have linked the root to lowered post-exercise inflammation and a drop in joint pain caused by the chronic inflammatory conditions like rheumatoid arthritis. And osteoarthritis 

Cherries: This might come as a surprise to ,but not only are they a great snack cherries hold an abundant about of anthocyanins (a type of phytonutrient) to help fight inflammation. 

These are just a few foods that will help fight off rheumatoid arthritis and other harmful diseases. We want to remember to avoid harmful foods that are fried, high in salt, sugary foods, and certain types of oils. Adding these types of healthy foods and exercise will help your overall health!

Yoga To Reduce Fatigue & Depression: Upward Facing Dog

This week we are highlighting the upward facing dog yoga pose which done correctly improves posture, strengthens spine, arms, wrists & glutes, stimulates abdominal organs, and helps relieve fatigue, depression, and sciatica. 

Check out of video below for proper form! 

Yoga For Improved Posture: Low Plank Hold

Planks; you either love them or hate them! They are AMAZING at strengthening your core, which in turn, builds back strength to reduce lower back pain, improve balance, and perfect posture. A low plank (or elbow plank) helps strengthen your core by giving those abdominal muscles, more of a challenge since you aren't activating your shoulder & arm muscles to help hold yourself up as much as if you were performing a traditional high plank. 

Check out our video below for proper form to help reduce back pain & improve posture!