Downtown / East Nashville Area: Call Today for an Appointment! 615.650.6533
Review Our Business

Welcome to East End Chiropractic

The Dangers of Prolonged Sitting

Let’s have a talk about sitting.

The human body is not designed to be sedentary, yet our culture pushes us to sit down. Between increased smartphone usage, time spent watching TV (Netflix counts, folks!), and jobs that keep us desk-bound, the average American now spends more 8 hours a day sitting. This is a conservative figure; some sources estimate the true average is closer to 13 hours. Couple this with 8 hours of sleep, and that puts most people in the country being completely inactive for 16-21 hours a day. As you may expect, this has some serious consequences on our health.

Prolonged sitting almost always leads to poor posture decisions. Our necks crane forward, our shoulders round, our spines buckle. All of this puts unnecessary and harmful stress on our musculoskeletal system, leading to pain and altered anatomy over time. Changes that can occur include decreased mobility in the spine, weakness of the glutes, uneven compression of vertebral discs, and more. Below is a detailed look of how prolonged sitting influences our musculoskeletal system:

posture-image-blog-nashville-tn-east-end-chiro

  • Strained Neck – Craning the neck forward or looking down at a computer screen or phone increases the pressure on the cervical spine. This can lead to areas of hypo-mobility (defined as decreased movement in one or more of the joints), creating pain and discomfort. This may also lead to tension headaches.
  • Sore Shoulders – When the neck comes forward, the shoulders often follow. This causes the cervical flexors and rhomboid muscles of the lower shoulder to weaken and the pectoralis muscles of the chest and the upper trapezius muscles of the shoulder to become tight, a condition called Upper Crossed Syndrome. This syndrome causes the shoulders to continue to come forward and puts pressure on the spine, causing discomfort.
  • Abdominal Degeneration – Slumping in a chair doesn’t require any abdominal engagement, eventually causing the muscles to become loose and weak. Coupled with tight back muscles, this creates a pull on the spine, increasing the natural arch to unsafe levels.
  • Inflexible Spine – The discs between the vertebrae in the spine are malleable to give the spine its flexibility. When sitting for prolonged periods, discs are compressed and collagen can harden around the tendons and ligaments, reducing the amount of room discs have to inhabit and keeping them in a compressed state.
  • Lumbar Disc Herniation – In one of our recent blog posts we went into depth on the subject of how tight hip flexors can cause low back pain. The shortening of the psoas muscle that occurs when sitting for prolonged periods can cause massive pulling on the lumber spine, creating instances of hypo-mobility and increasing risk of disc herniation.

The musculoskeletal system takes a big hit during prolonged sitting, but there are other negative effects to our health as well, some of which are listed below:

  • Heart Disease – Blood flows more slowly while sitting for long periods of time, making it easier for plaque to become lodged in the arteries. Blood pressure and cholesterol levels are likely to rise with prolonged sitting, increasing risk of heart disease.
  • Increased Insulin Production – Insulin is necessary to transport glucose to cells for energy, but when too much is produced the body becomes less sensitive to it, creating a cycle of overproduction. This can eventually lead to type 2 diabetes as our cells lose responsiveness to insulin, resulting in glucose in the blood rising to dangerous levels.
  • Decreased Brain Function – When we move, our muscles keep blood and oxygen circulating at appropriate speeds. Sitting for prolonged periods slows down circulation, causing less oxygen to get to our brains, decreasing function. While this is unlikely to be dangerous, it will be harder to concentrate and you may feel like your creativity is stagnant.

There are treatments for many of these ailments, but the key to health is prevention. We understand not everyone has the ability to be active throughout the day. Many of us must sit for our jobs, and in the evenings we enjoy coming home to relax. In these situations, it is crucial to break up the time spent sitting. We recommend at least 5 minutes of activity (walking, stretching) for every hour of sitting. Set an alarm on your phone to remind you to stand up and move around once per hour. While mildly inconvenient, this can have huge benefits for your health. It is also important to sit with proper posture to thwart negative effects to the musculoskeletal system.

If you are reading this and recognize consequences of prolonged sitting manifesting in your body, call the proper specialist to help reverse and prevent exacerbations these conditions, a Chiropractic Physician. They will be able to assess your condition and prescribe treatment. This will often include adjustment to mobilize the joints in the spine that have a limited range of motion as well as strengthening and stretching exercises designed to improve posture. Coupled with more frequent movement throughout the day, these treatments can keep our bodies healthy, even if we must sit for work.

If you are more of a visual or audible learner, we have included links to other resources on this issue:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/apps/g/page/national/the-health-hazards-of-sitting/750/

https://youtu.be/uiKg6JfS658

https://youtu.be/4K_ENbRgywY

By Katherine Adams on October 24th, 2016 | Tagged with: Tags: , , , , , , | Comments Off on The Dangers of Prolonged Sitting

Anti-Inflammatory Diet and Joint Health

Eating healthy provides us with the energy to enjoy all life has to offer. There are countless motivations to clean up our diets, some of which include prevention or treatment of cardiovascular anti-inflammatory-diet-and-joint-health-nashville-tn-east-end-chiropractordisease and diabetes, a reduction in cholesterol levels, decreased risk of stroke, and weight loss. Did you know that a healthy diet can also decrease your back and joint pain? Following an anti-inflammatory diet (such as the Mediterranean diet) can play a role in maintenance of good joint health.

There are two types of inflammation: acute and chronic. Acute inflammation occurs when you injure yourself. For example, if you cut your finger, it will become inflamed. Inflammation is an important biological process that recruits the body’s immune system to prevent and fight infection while repairing physiological damage. Chronic inflammation is not as obvious as acute inflammation and has the potential to be damaging to your body. The body becomes chronically inflamed when it is constantly trying to remove harmful toxins. This can cause many issues, such as heart disease, diabetes, and stroke. Chronic inflammation can persist and evolve into joint pain in the back, knees, hands, feet, and more, as well as make an underlying joint issue much more painful.
Thankfully, there are many ways to treat joint pain. First and foremost, visit your chiropractor. They will be able to assess the cause of your joint pain and address any dysfunctional motor patterns or muscle imbalances that are occurring. Adjustments to restore proper joint movement are crucial to recovery. The next level of defense is proper diet and exercise. An anti-inflammatory diet, such as the Mediterranean diet, can help to reduce chronic inflammation throughout the body. Not only will this ease joint discomfort, it will also reduce your risk of developing other diseases characterized by inflammation. Coupled with consistent exercise to keep joints moving properly, an anti-inflammatory diet is a lifestyle change that will keep you feeling healthy and pain free.

Foundations of an anti-inflammatory diet:

Fruits & Vegetables
The foundation to any healthy diet is fresh fruits and vegetables. Not only are fruits and veggies low in calories, but they are packed with nutrients and antioxidants. Antioxidants are a focus of the Mediterranean diet as they decrease the presence of harmful free radicals in the body, greatly reducing inflammation. All fruits and vegetables contain antioxidants, but those with bright colors pack the highest nutritional punch.
Nuts & Seeds
The Mediterranean diet includes nuts and seeds because of their high levels of anti-inflammatory monounsaturated fat. While high in calories and fat, nuts can help you maintain a healthy weight as they contain plenty of protein, fiber, and fat, all of which help to keep you satiated. The recommended serving is about 1.5 ounces a day, which is the equivalent of a handful. The best nuts and seeds to eat are walnuts, almonds, pistachios, chia seeds, and flax seeds.
Fish
Fish is an absolute staple in Mediterranean cuisine due to their omega-3 fatty acid content. Omega-3 fatty acids aid in treatment and prevention of many health ailments, namely by reducing inflammation. The Standard American Diet (aptly abbreviated as ‘SAD’) is heavy in omega-6 fatty acid foods such as vegetable oil, margarine, and other processed fats. While omega-6 is also crucial to our health, it must be maintained in proper balance with omega-3. When this ratio is skewed too far in favor of omega-6, the body becomes inflamed. Increasing the amount of fish in your diet can help to balance the amount of omega-3 to omega-6 in your body. Seafood that is highest in omega-3 is salmon, tuna, mackerel, and herring. Don’t like fish? A fish oil supplement can still provide the benefits without the flavor.
Olive Oil
Full of healthy monounsaturated fat and antioxidants, olive oil is the cooking fat of choice in anti-inflammatory diets. Substitute olive oil for vegetable oil or butter when cooking, and make olive oil based vinaigrettes for salad dressings. Extra virgin, cold-pressed oils are the best as they are minimally processed and therefore retain their nutrients.
Beans & Legumes
Superstars in a vegetarian diet, beans and legumes are praised for their high levels of protein and fiber. Beyond their satiating characteristics, legumes have been shown to decrease C-reactive protein levels, an inflammatory marker in the blood. Including legumes in the diet several times per week is a great way to decrease inflammation and help cut down on grocery bills when used as a substitute for expensive meats.
Whole Grains
Whole grains form a base for all of the delicious, anti-inflammatory foods eaten in this diet. Whole grains are rich in fiber and phytonutrients and have also been shown to reduce inflammation. It is best to pick grains closest to their natural state, such as bulgur, rye, steel cut oats, quinoa, and brown rice. Some people may have sensitivities to grains such as wheat, oats, and rye; in this case these should be avoided. Bread and pasta, even when whole grain, should be eaten in limited quantities.
Red Wine
If you choose to imbibe, red wine is the way to go. The beverage contains the antioxidant resveratrol, making it an appropriate choice for a low inflammatory diet. Most other alcohols increase inflammation and should therefore be limited. As always, moderation is crucial. Too much of any alcohol is detrimental to health.

Foods to limit:

Several groups of foods fuel inflammation and should be eliminated or eaten very sparingly to reap the most benefit from an anti-inflammatory diet. Fried foods and processed foods should be avoided to reduce the amount of hydrogenated oils and preservatives you are ingesting. Refined grains and sugars are also discouraged. This includes foods such as bread, pasta, pastries, soda and other sugary beverages, and sweets. A treat every once awhile is okay, but extreme moderation is recommended. Red meat, especially fatty meats like bacon, should be eaten only on occasion. The saturated fat in these foods creates inflammation in our bodies. Lastly, dairy and eggs can be eaten a few times a week, but try to stick to low fat Greek yogurt and fresh cheeses and eggs if you can. These foods aren’t innately unhealthy, but the saturated fat they contain does contribute to chronic inflammation.

In conclusion:

Diet plays an important role in our overall health. An anti-inflammatory diet will ease joint discomfort by reducing the pressure within your joints and by helping you to lose any unnecessary weight, reducing the strain placed on your joints. While these benefits will make a considerable difference, it is unlikely that diet alone will eliminate your back and joint pain. However, it can reinforce other treatments and provide a foundation of wellness. Lowering chronic inflammation allows the body to better heal itself. This increases the effectiveness of chiropractic adjustment, as the body is more responsive to the treatment and better able to adapt to the new patterns adjustment creates. When your body has an increased ability to heal itself, you will spend less time in the doctor’s office and more time living a pain free life!
As you all know, Dr. Olsen is an expert in back and joint pain and wants to see you feel better! And with a background in nutrition and dietetics, I would be more than happy to answer any questions you may have about anti-inflammatory diets. If you have any questions regarding this post or your joint pain, please don’t hesitate to call our office at 615-650-6533.

By Katherine Adams on September 14th, 2016 | Tagged with: Tags: , | 2 Comments

Find us on Facebook & Twitter!

Location

See Map & Get Directions »
953 Main Street, Suite 109
Nashville, TN 37206
Phone: 615-650-6533
Fax: 615-650-6541
Email: info@eastendchiro.com

Hours

Monday

8am-1pm & 3pm-6pm

Tuesday

Closed

Wednesday

8am-1pm & 3pm-6pm

Thursday

8am-1pm & 3pm-6pm

Friday

8am-1pm

Closed on Saturday and Sunday