Sunday, February 21, 2010

Low Back Posture – Does It Really Matter?

The answer is: Absolutely! The better your posture, the better your lumbopelvic alignment. If your lumbar spine and pelvis are in alignment then the nerves of the low back are free from pressure. This equals no back pain or leg discomfort.

Not only that – if something is out of alignment it will cause your gait to be altered; this can then cause muscle strain, and possibly hip and knee discomfort. Also, by then the pressure and inflammation is enough that you now have serious pressure on your low back or sciatic nerves.

Posture is always a window to your spine inside. If the lower back or pelvis appears “out of whack”, there is a good chance it is. Pain may not come right away, but you can bet it will eventually come.

Keep your posture maintained and you will prevent low back pain.


CT Spine and Disc Center is located in Glastonbury, Connecticut- Specializing in patients who suffer from sciatica, disc degeneration, bulging disc or herniated disc in the lumbar spine. Call us at 860-633-8756 to see if you are a candidate for non surgical spinal decompression

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Thursday, February 18, 2010

Better Balance Can Help Prevent Falls

Fall prevention is a major chiropractic issue. Many of the patients we see everyday in our Glastonbury Chiropractic office have suffered from or are suffering from back or neck pain as a result of a fall.

Increased health care costs, loss of mobility, and loss of independence of many older patients, has lead many chiropractors to seek more preventative measures regarding slips and falls.

At the heart of preventing falls is helping to restore and maintain balance. Certain exercises and activities can help stimulate nerves we call propriocoptors which help with balance.

Restoring spinal alignment can also help. Keeping pressure off nerves and restoring good posture and gait also helps substantially. This is exactly what a chiropractor does. By adjusting the spine to correct alignment, pressure is taken off the nervous system and the body can work at its best.


CT Spine and Disc Center is located in Glastonbury Connecticut- Specializing in patients who suffer from sciatica, disc degeneration, bulging disc or herniated disc in the lumbar spine. Call us at 860-633-8756 to see if you are a candidate for non surgical spinal decompression

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Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Back Pain When Sleeping Or After Sleep...


Sometimes when you sleep for an extended period of time in one position it can cause soreness in the back when you wake up. The same thing can happen when in one place for many hours. Here are a few things you can try to get better quality sleep and not wake up with a sore back:


  • If you have an extra comforter/sleeping bag, place that under you to change to consistency of your mattresss.Maybe it needs to softer (or straighter). Check your mattress (is there a bow or a dip in there? ). Recently I had a patient who had an issue with her bed and it caused a lot of lower back pain.


  • Use a different neck pillow- try to choose a cervical support pillow with a neck roll.


  • Use something under your knees when you sleep (this is how I sleep)- I just put a pillow under my knees if I sleep on my back and between my legs if I am on my side. You can also use positioning products such as the knee elevator (for back sleeping) or the Spinal Relief pillow (for side sleeping)


  • Do some stretches right when you get up specifically for your lower back. When you get into the hot shower- let the water hit the lower back area and bend down slowly and to the side. Don’t extend back to much as this is not good for your back.


  • You should also need to get adjusted…go see a chiropractor to get treated and see what he says. You can also get some muscle work on your back. Plus, get some biofreeze (pain relief gel) that you can massage into the lower back muscles


  • If your back pain has been going on for some time, Use a hot pack on your lower back in the evening time while watching tv (gel packs work great).


  • Finally, sleeping for an extended period of time (over 9-10 hours) - try to avoid that. It can be avoided, so just get up and move around, stretch in the a.m. You can always take naps later.



Pay attention to what you are doing during the day also – and see if that is somehow contributing to your lower back. Sounds simple, but certain activities can bring on the pain moreso. For example, wearing heals for a greater part of the day, standing for a long time, exercising without doing a stretch before or after, doing a certain exercise (for example elliptical machine/rowing machine)




CT Spine and Disc Center is located in central Connecticut- Specializing in patients who suffer from sciatica, disc degeneration, bulging disc or herniated disc in the lumbar spine. Call us at 860-633-8756 to see if you are a candidate for non surgical spinal decompression

Additional Reading Resources:

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Back Pain When Standing …

Disc pain is often excrutiating...
"I have no pain when I lay down or sit, but if I stand more than five minutes the pain is unbearable, what can this be?"

This sounds like a disc issue. When pain is this severe and depends on position like this, it can often be a protruded disc. Similarly, a bulged or severely degenerated disc can give the same symptoms.

Often what happens is, in one position- in this case sitting or laying down- the muscles are relaxed and the inflammation is minimal. When this person changes position to a standing position the inflammation builds, in this case within about 5 minutes the pressure on the nerves is severe.

A disc injury like a herniation or protrusion can often put significant pressure on a nerve, hence severe pain. It also depends exactly where the protruded disc is. Depending on the level of the spine, the position of the herniation in relation to the nerves, and the size of the herniation can determine the severity of the pain or what kind of pain you have.

A positive note in this type of pain!... Non-Surgical Spinal Decompression helps significantly with protruded or herniated discs and you lay on your back with your legs supported. If you are experiencing this kind of back and leg pain, call our office for a consultation.


CT Spine and Disc Center is located in central Connecticut- Specializing in patients who suffer from sciatica, disc degeneration, bulging disc or herniated disc in the lumbar spine. Call us at 860-633-8756 to see if you are a candidate for non surgical spinal decompression

Additional Reading Resources:

Thursday, February 4, 2010

I Have A Disc In My Back That’s Completely Degenerated!

This may be true. Over time and depending on your health, and previous injuries to your back may cause that degenerative process to take place.

That being said, we rarely see a disc that is completely flat to the point that there is nothing left. This would be when the spinal vertebrae surrounding that disc are “bone-on-bone”. A doctor or therapist may say this sometimes, but it can be an exaggeration. The only true way to know is to look at your x-rays of the back.

You won’t see the actual discs on an x-ray, you need an MRI for that … but you will see the space where the disc belongs. If there is no space and the bones appear to be fusing together then that is complete degeneration.

Most people we can catch the breakdown before it gets to this point. The spinal decompression is the best thing for it because it pulls hydration or water into that hardened and flattened disc, helping to expand it to take pressure off of vital nerves.

Other things that may help as well to do this are low back exercises as well as seeing your chiropractor for low back manipulations and mobilization.


CT Spine and Disc Center is located in Glastonbury Connecticut- Specializing in patients who suffer from sciatica, disc degeneration, bulging disc or herniated disc in the lumbar spine. Call us at 860-633-8756 to see if you are a candidate for non surgical spinal decompression

Additional Reading Resources:

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