Working in an office or manufacturing job where you repeat specific tasks or motions multiple times a day, puts you at risk for repetitive motion injuries. Typing, assembling, sewing, or construction workers are all high-risk jobs. Many people in these industries wonder if there are ways to prevent these muscle and tendon strains and avoid excruciating pain. Some exercises can help limit tense muscles while you are at work, but chiropractic care can also help slow the development of these injuries and limit your pain. 

Elevate Wellness provides high-quality chiropractic care for a variety of injuries. We can help your body have better alignment and limit inflammation in some regions of the body. Read this blog to learn more about how to prevent repetitive motion injuries while you work. 

What Are Repetitive Motion Injuries?

Injuries like Carpal Tunnel, Tendinitis, Bursitis, and Rotator cuff injuries come from repeated motions. Other tasks that can cause these injuries include lifting heavy objects, maintaining bad posture for long periods of time, typing, or packaging items. 

These injuries are caused by strained and torn tendons, nerves, and muscles. This causes shooting pains, numbness, and limited mobility in your arms and legs. You may also feel pain in your elbows, knees, fingers, and shoulders. 

Tasks That Can Cause Repetitive Motion Injuries

One of the most common jobs that see repetitive motion injuries is an office or typing job. The process of typing, holding the phone, looking down at a computer screen, and bad posture can all lead to RSI’s. 

Manufacturers can also develop carpal tunnel or tendinitis by doing the same installation or building motion all day. Drilling, cutting, and shoveling can all cause strained muscles. Doing things over and over can cause built-up tension and something as simple as picking up a pen could throw out your back. 

Learn About Proper Work Ergonomics

Developing bad posture while working at a desk or standing in a manufacturing line will lead to pain in multiple areas of your body. One way to limit repetitive motion injuries is to learn proper ergonomics and sitting positions. 

Some ways to improve your posture at work include:

• Don’t sit with your legs crossed
• Take time to stand and move around
• Organize your workstation so you don’t have to overreach
• Place your monitor at eye level
• Use a headset to answer phone calls rather than cradling it between your shoulder and ear

Look For Ways To Modify Tasks

Modifying your typing, assembling, writing, or bending can help you avoid pent-up tension and the need for surgery. Implement proper lifting techniques into your routine or do stretches on your lunch break. 

If you are constantly doing the same task at work, look into how you can mix it up, or do a different job for one week. Switch between tasks more often, or look into taking a break from work altogether. Doing so will help limit the early onset of these injuries.

Take Stretch Breaks

Taking breaks from your desk and performing stretches during the day will help you avoid injuries and muscle tension. Wrist stretches, walks, or seated stretches will help keep your muscles strong and avoid strain on muscle groups. Staying in one position for too long can lead to cramps or spinal misalignment.

Stretching before the workday is also a great way to help get your blood flowing and prevent muscle weakness. Doing some yoga or mild stretching before working at a desk or on a production line will help you feel awake and rejuvenated. 

Chiropractic Care From Elevate Wellness For Injuries

Our team at Elevate Wellness works to treat a variety of injuries and help limit inflammation in the body. No matter where you are experiencing pain or if you don’t currently have symptoms of any injury, our tested chiropractic methods can help you gain a better quality of life. 

Chiropractic is not just for back pain, it can be an excellent tool for many different struggles. Car accidents, repetitive motion injuries, torn muscles, scoliosis, and more can all be made more manageable with the right chiropractic care. If you think that chiropractic is right for you, give us a call and schedule a consultation!

Seeking chiropractic care can be beneficial for people of all ages, but there are always risks when seeking a new healing method. Chiropractic care for seniors does have some significant pros and cons. Chiropractic care for seniors is possible and can help give them a better quality of life. 

Many seniors experience back pain (over 6% experience debilitating back pain) so seeking medication or natural healing can be a helpful option. Spinal manipulation is the leading treatment for lower back pain, which can help limit other symptoms seniors experience. Whether seniors want to use chiropractic practices as a complementary method or prevention of future problems, Elevate Wellness can help. 

Is Chiropractic Care For Seniors Safe?

The overall answer is, yes. For many different patients, chiropractic care happens weekly without any injury or side effects. Some patients do experience soreness or stronger symptoms of pain during their first few appointments. For seniors, some of these side effects can be debilitating or turn them off from chiropractic care. 

Chiropractors are trained and know how to treat different bodily issues in a safe way. Chiropractors are doctors and often only adjust where you tell them to. Talking with your chiropractor about your goals and fears will help you feel more comfortable during your appointment. 

Benefits:

Lowering The Risk Of Falls

Chiropractic can help seniors learn stretches and limit subluxations that can lead to better balance and leg strength. Utilizing chiropractic can help limit the risk of falls for seniors that have been falling more recently. Helping to improve posture and balance is a major benefit of chiropractic care for seniors. 

Limit Symptoms Of Chronic Conditions

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Arthritis, Crohn’s Disease, ALS, and Cystic Fibrosis can affect people of all ages, but more elderly people experience chronic conditions. These conditions and more can be improved by utilizing chiropractic care and proper exercise. While chiropractic care and spinal adjustment will not cure these chronic conditions, they can help you or a loved one experience fewer adverse effects or have a better quality of life. 

Cons:

Soreness Can Occur

After adjusting muscles or joints that have not been used in a long time, you may experience soreness. For elderly patients, this soreness can be more severe or cause extreme nerve pain. A chiropractor will work to prevent pinched nerves and give you instructions to limit soreness, but this is a potential con of chiropractic care. Especially during the first few appointments. 

Bone Fractures Or Breaks

As we age, our bones can become more fragile and susceptible to breaks. Visiting a chiropractor as an elderly person could increase the risk of bone fractures or breaks. While a chiropractor is trained and experienced, there is always a risk when it comes to working with the spine or other fragile areas. For elderly patients with osteoporosis or other bone diseases, it is best to consult with a doctor before seeing a chiropractor. 

How To Continue The Benefits At Home

Seeing a chiropractor regularly will help seniors have better mobility, but there are some steps to help them take at home to ensure the benefits carry throughout the week. 

Making their home safer can help limit the risk of falls or injury and help them still feel independent in their own home. Clearing the floor of debris or tripping hazards can be a major place to start. It can also be helpful to move around furniture and come up with a more open layout for them to maneuver through.

Some additional things that can help after chiropractic care for seniors include:

• Keeping the home well lit
• Doing stretches or light exercises in the morning
• Wear shoes inside instead of socks and slippers
• Put things on lower shelves to avoid strain and step stools
• Get plenty of vitamins and sunlight

Chiropractic Care With Elevate Wellness

Dr. Simmonds knows firsthand how chiropractic can help improve your quality of life. Our office wants to help athletes, pregnant mothers, children, and older adults all have the best mobility possible. Whether you have a health condition or just want to prevent pain in later years, chiropractic adjustment can work for you. Call our office in Bountiful, UT to get started! We take most major insurances and our office staff is happy to answer any questions you may have.

Dealing with digestive issues like irritable bowel syndrome, indigestion, dyspepsia, gas, and abdominal pain can be difficult. Digestive problems can distract you during your work, make it hard to enjoy eating, and may even keep you homebound. Those who struggle with these issues may try multiple medications or doctors to help reduce their symptoms, but one thing they may not consider is working with a chiropractor.

A chiropractor can help manage your stomach problems by improving your spine shape and your joint mobility. We want to share more information about how chiropractic helps with digestion and how it can help those with digestive diseases listed above. 

Common Symptoms Of Digestive Problems

Each person will experience different symptoms and react to different foods depending on what digestive issue they have. There are some common symptoms that come with Chrons, IBS, indigestion, etc. 

Some common symptoms to watch for can include:

• Heartburn
• Nausea
• Bloating
• Going to the bathroom more often than you should
• Runny bowel movements
• Blood in stool
• Difficulty having bowel movements
• Severe lack of energy
• Noticing cramping in your stomach
• Constipation
• Gas

Subluxation In The Spine

The slight misalignment of your vertebrae is known as subluxation. If this occurs in certain areas of the spine it can lead to problems like diarrhea and constipation and disrupt the communication between the spine and the digestive system. 

Chiropractors focus on improving subluxations and spinal miscommunication so that your entire body can function better. A chiropractic adjustment helps to reduce pressure on the spine and nerves, which can help your brain relay key information to the digestive system. Nerves in the body carry information to the brain that can help your body to process food or drinks. Adjusting your spine or abdominal muscles can help you limit constipation or bloating. 

How The Digestive System Is Connected To The Spine

Understanding how your spine is connected to the digestive system may help you feel more open to chiropractic care. Chiropractors are versed in the spinal cord, vertebrae, and back, but these areas can help contribute to other mobility areas of the body. 

Your digestive tract gets signals from your spinal cord so that your whole body can work to digest food, and nutrients, and expel unneeded waste. Your body contains nerves from the spine to your digestive system and if signals can not make it all the way to your brain, your digestive system will have a hard time working properly. 

Chiropractors can look at the state of your spine and other body systems to see where they can make adjustments. Talking with your chiropractor about your goals and where you are experiencing pain can help you both understand where to adjust and help improve your digestion.

How Can Chiropractic Help Aid In Digestion?

Manual therapy is used by chiropractors to help realign spinal discs, vertebrae, and muscle groups. Your digestive tract can be blocked by misalignment or your body may not be able to absorb certain nutrients because of the misalignment of the spine. 

When your chiropractor adjusts your spine, it helps you to digest minerals and vitamins and helps you feel more energized. Chiropractic treatment can help in digestion but it can also give you more energy to exercise and sleep better which can help you feel less bloated or have limited bowel movements. 

Chiropractic With Elevate Wellness

Our team at Elevate Wellness can help improve mobility in patients and improve other issues such as headaches, digestion, injuries, and stress. Elevate Wellness and our chiropractor, Dr. Simmonds, can help patients of all ages to gain a better quality of life. 

Chiropractic can help with digestion, but it can also help with many other issues or prepare you for situations in life. Pregnant women, athletes, and the elderly can all benefit from proper chiropractic care as well. Chiropractic can help your joints move better, prevent injury, and help your brain communicate with all systems clearly. 

Contact our team to learn more about what we can offer and schedule an appointment!