Ergonomics

Patient Education

To Your Health Newsletter

May, 2012 (Vol. 06, Issue 10)

The more you understand your body and how it functions, the better equipped you'll be at taking care of yourself to achieve optimal health. Our team of chiropractic professionals empower patients to take charge of your own health and future, educating you about your condition to decrease your need for future care. We've included the Patient Education section on our website to provide you with valuable, practical wellness information which you can incorporate into your lifestyle to improve the quality of your life. We hope you will turn to these pages whenever you have a question about health related issues and urge you to contact our practice at any time to make an appointment with one of our chiropractors.

The purpose of chiropractic is to improve and sustain quality of life.

This is achieved by awakening the body's natural healing ability through treatment of the musculoskeletal system, the healing power of touch and guidance in proper nutrition and exercise.

On Health
Many People think that health is how you feel. But lack of symptoms doesn't mean you're healthy. If you look good and feel great but have undetected cancer - you're sick.

True health is how well your body works mentally, physically and socially. If something isn't working right, then you're sick.

It is the purpose of your brain and nervous system to control the function of every cell, tissue, organ and system of your body. A properly working nervous system in concert with musculoskeletal integrity, proper nutrition and exercise is the key to good health.

We believe in the body's ability to heal itself. We believe healthy people are happy people.

On Chiropractic
Besides medicine and dentistry, chiropractic is the third largest doctoral health profession in the United States.

The typical applicant at a chiropractic college has already acquired four years of pre-medical undergraduate college education including course in biology, inorganic and organic chemistry, physics, psychology and related lab work. Intensive studies include course in anatomy, physiology, rehabilitation, nutrition and public health.

The curriculum includes no less than four years of classroom, laboratory and clinic experience - all aimed at preparing the doctor of chiropractic to be a portal-of-entry healthcare provider. The course of study is approved by an accrediting agency which is fully recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. This has been the case for 25 years.

Chiropractic involves the study of philosophy, science and art. Philosophy considers the fundamental nature of the existence of human beings and their interaction with the environment. The sciences deal with aspects of the universe related to human biology, and especially the relationship between spinal segments and the nerve system. Chiropractic's art is the expression of its philosophy and the concern with locating and correcting vertebral subluxations.

Instead of treating your symptoms, your Doctor of Chiropractic is primarily interested in detecting, reducing, and preventing the Subluxation.

How Chiropractic Works
To understand chiropractic, one must have a basic understanding about how the body functions. From the time you were born, an "inner wisdom" has known exactly how to keep you healthy and alive. It knows how fast your heart should beat, how often your lungs need to breathe, how to digest food and how to eliminate waste. There are millions of details controlled by this inner wisdom that keep this marvelous machine in prime functioning condition.

Every living organism in our world possesses what chiropractors call Innate Intelligence. The body machine comes out of the "factory" fully able to function, as long as it has regular fuel and adequate maintenance, thanks to this Innate Intelligence.

Innate Intelligence sends instructions to every organ and cell in your body through the nervous system housed and protected by the vertebrae. However, if these vertebrae are misaligned, even a little, those instructions can be interrupted. The result is "dis-ease" and dysfunction.

The word disease is a combination of 'dis' and 'ease'. 'Dis' is a prefix meaning "apart from" and ease meaning a "state of balance." It follows then that dis-ease is a lack of comfort, a loss in harmony in the system. When there is a lack of harmony in music, the musician adjusts the notes to complement each other. That's exactly what a chiropractic adjustment strives to do, restore body harmony, thus restore health.

International Chiropractic Association Children's Info
www.icpa4kids.com

Tennessee Chiropractic Association
www.tnchiro.com

Leading news for health and vitality
www.mercola.com

International Chiropractic Association
www.chiropractic.org

2 Imagine Empowerment Products for Adults and Children
www.2imaginethis.com

Wellworx Sporting Clubs, Memphis, TN
www.wellworx.com

Foot Levelers Orthotics and Stabilization
www.footlevelers.com

Maximized Living
www.MaximizedLiving.com

"Health is worth more than learning."

-- Thomas Jefferson

Ergonomics is part science, part art. It involves choosing and working with devices that minimize or even eliminate undue strain on our joints and muscles. For those of us who work in an office (or a home office), we're confronted with many opportunities to work in conditions that place our spinal cord, muscles, and other structures at risk for prolonged injury. Over time, these kinds of situations can lead to permanent injury to our wrists, elbows, knees, shoulders, and backs, not to mention our eyes.

Sitting in a slouched-over or slouched-down position in a chair can overstretch the spinal ligaments and strain the spinal discs. Straining toward a computer screen for long periods of time can strain the joints and muscles in our necks. And operating a computer mouse with an angled wrist can lead to devastating and painful injuries to the bones and ligaments in our wrists and hands.

Here are some tips for setting up a healthy working arrangement:

Avoid having to twist or turn your head to view documents while typing at your computer. Place them in a viewing stand or document holder as close to your monitor as possible.
Ensure that your computer equipment is placed on stable surface that won't tilt or wobble.
Ensure that your monitor is at a comfortable viewing distance. The rule of thumb is about one arm's length away.
Ensure that your work surface is a suitable distance from the floor. A good rule of thumb is 28 to 30 inches above the floor.
Even if you own a laptop, consider investing in an external computer monitor. Reason? Most laptop screens force you head to tilt downward, creating undue pressure on your neck and spine. Also consider buying an external keyboard that allows you the flexibility of positioning the keyboard at a comfortable distance from the screen and your chair.
Your chair should allow you to sit with your back at approximately a 100-degree angle, not perpendicular or 90 degrees. Ideally, your mouse and mouse pad should be slightly higher than your keyboard‚Äîabout 1 to 2 inches. Invest in a comfortable chair that is height adjustable with a lumbar (lower back) support.
Keyboard trays that tilt negatively, that is, down and away from your hands, provide for good wrist posture.
When you have your hand placed on the computer mouse, make sure that your arms are relaxed and close to your body. Ensure that your wrist is level with your hand. This is a neutral or natural position for your wrist.
Practice good posture while sitting for extended periods of time. There should be two inches between the front edge of the seat and the back of your legs.

Here are some additional tips:

Rest your feet on the floor with your knees and hips bent 90 degrees.
Maintain the arch in your lower back. (A lumbar roll, a small, inexpensive padded pillow-like device, can be used to help ensure this.)
Ensure that your hips are touching the back of the chair. Lift up and out your breastbone. Occasionally push your shoulder blades in toward each other. (This helps push out your breastbone and keeps your rib cage a safe distance from your hips. It also improves your breathing while sitting.)
Make sure your chin is level.
Stand up, walk around and take frequent breaks from prolonged periods of sitting.
Ensure adequate lighting, but don't blind yourself with excessive light. This can cause eyestrain as much as low lighting. Work in an area that has excellent ventilation that allows for frequent exchanges of your room air with fresh outside air.
Take frequent breaks.
Rest your eyes every 15 minutes and do simple exercises such as looking away from a computer screen and focusing on something a good distance away. This gives your eye muscles a chance to relax.
Blink your eyes in fairly rapid succession to lubricate them.
Simple stretching exercises can include:
- Clenching hands into fists and moving them in 10 circles inward and 10 circles outward.
- Placing hands in a praying position and squeezing them together for 10 seconds and then pointing them downward and squeezing them together for 10 seconds. Spreading fingers apart and then closing them one by one.
- Standing and wrapping arms around the body and turning all the way to the left and then all the way to the right.

So-called "ergonomic" products such as braces and gloves, gel-filled wrist supports may provide you with additional comfort, but don't be fooled into thinking these devices will compensate for things such as bad posture while working at a desk or in front of a computer.

Additional ergonomics tips for children

Provide a safe and comfortable desk and/or computing environment for your children.

Here are some tips: