Spine Health & Spinal Hygiene

Upright’s wearable device connects to your back and helps improve your posture. Thankfully, we had the chance to test it out

If the opening of this article hasn’t already prompted you to straighten your back, give it a go right now. Try keeping your back straight for the rest of this article. Unfortunately you may find that after five minutes or less, you will be longing to slouch again. If this is the case, Upright has the product for you. 

As well as causing back pain in the short and long term, slouching affects your body language, mood, self confidence and more. It is estimated that as many as 80% of people will experience back pain at some point in their lives.

Vast research demonstrates the benefits of good posture. It was found that “adopting an upright seated posture in the face of stress can maintain self-esteem, reduce negative mood, and increase positive mood compared to a slumped posture.” Furthermore good posture can improve mood and energy levels and increase lung capacity by as much as 30 percent.

Oded Cohen founded Upright when he couldn’t find an adequate solution for his mother’s slouching. So in July 2012, he started Upright in Israel, with a mission to eradicate bad posture. In May 2014, Upright launched an Indiegogo campaign and raised $155,244 from over 2,000 backers.

The bipedal posture of humans carries many benefits for us, but alternatively, this standing posture also adds pressure on the spine as well as other bones and surrounding muscles of the body. Together with an individual’s improper sitting position and the natural wear and tear degeneration of tissues through age, it’s not uncommon for individual’s to develop symptoms of back pain. In fact, back pain is considered to be the second most common cause people seek medical attention, only next to upper-respiratory infections. According to some experts, as many as 80% of individuals may experience back complications at some point in their lives.

Although back pain and its associated symptoms is common among the population, treating your injury or condition is crucial for individuals to achieve a healthy lifestyle. Chiropractic care focuses on the structure and function of the human body, primarily that of the spine. A chiropractor can diagnose a possible injury or condition causing back complications and determine the most appropriate treatment for each individual using spinal adjustments, manual manipulation and occasionally, recommending exercise and dietary lifestyle changes to improve a person’s wellbeing. Chiropractic adjustments can be an effective treatment for back pain as well as other types of pain.

 Additionally, before relying on chiropractic care for diagnosing and treating a back complication, the common injuries or conditions relating to back pain can be prevented in a variety of ways such as, maintaining a healthy diet and weight are important towards preventing back pain, avoiding prolonged inactivity or bed rest, staying active, warming up or stretching before exercising or participating in other physical activities to avoid further injuries, maintaining a proper posture, wearing comfortable, low-heeled shoes, and sleeping on a mattress of medium firmness to minimize any curve in the spine.

Many people commonly describe feeling shooting pain down their leg along with back pain. Numerous factors could be causing these frequent symptoms but before treating an individual with back and leg pain, a proper diagnosis is first required to identify the source of the problem.

One of the most common causes for symptoms of pain, numbness, and tingling sensations originating from the back and traveling down the leg could suggest a disc problem on the lower back. Disc complications, such as disc bulges, disc inflammation due to injury, herniated discs, and disc extrusions, are all painful conditions that could affect a person’s lifestyle. While many people consider surgery as an option for treating their spine injuries or conditions, chiropractic treatment through the use of spinal adjustments and manual manipulation can also help treat and improve the symptoms of many spine-related injuries and conditions. Regardless of the treatment options you may choose to follow, the healing process usually requires time and patience to completely restore the natural state of your body.

If you’re experiencing pain, you can apply ice to the affected area. The ice will help to reduce the inflammation of the muscle and help decrease the compression of the nerves. Complications of the spine and its symptoms may not go away over night but with regular and frequent care, you can eventually begin to feel better.  

A variety of issues weigh in on an individual's likelihood of ending up with sciatica. Most of them deal with increased pressure on the spine.

According to the Mayo Clinic, sciatica can best be described as a compression of the nerves on the spine, most commonly occurring as a result of a herniated disk or a bone spur. The impingement of the nerves can then cause inflammation, pain, and often, symptoms of tingling and numbness on the affected leg. Sciatica can commonly be the result of increased stress on the spine and/or nerves of the spine. 

Obesity, improper lifting, a sedentary lifestyle, and getting older are all frequent factors that cause sciatica and its familiar symptoms. Carrying too much weight can strain the spine, causing damage that may result in sciatica just as twisting the body incorrectly to lift heavy objects can also result in injury to the spine.

Treatment options for sciatica can vary and the choice depends on the severity of the condition.

Chiropractic care for sciatica works to align the spine and reduce the pressure on the lower back. Together with strengthening exercises, a person's symptoms of sciatica can be greatly reduced. Acupuncture has also shown positive results in the treatment of sciatica. Other treatment options for sciatica involving medication include, anti-inflammatory drug therapy, supplements, and cortisone injections. 

In the human body, the spine functions to balance and support an upright posture but, when there is a spinal misalignment as a result of an injury or underlying condition, the health of the spine can be greatly affected, an individual’s posture may appear abnormal and can often lead to further complications.

Although there are many treatment options for restoring an individual’s spinal health and reducing common symptoms of back pain and an improper posture, maintaining a healthy spine can most importantly be achieved through prevention. Chiropractors often diagnose and treat a great amount of people whom experience a back injury or aggravate prior spinal conditions. In order to maintain a healthy spine free of back pain and other symptoms, following several preventive measures can make a great difference.

One of the biggest causes for spine complications is overexerting physical fitness. The best way to avoid an injury is to forget instantly resuming into your previous workout routines especially after a long period of little to no physical activity. Foremost, in order to maintain overall spinal health, it’s important to start building your physical fitness slowly. Individuals often tend to overestimate their fitness levels once they resume physical activity. By starting slow, an individual is allowing the body to first regain its previous strength, stamina, and agility. 

After performing any physical activity its also important to stretch. A chiropractic doctor or physical therapist can also help by recommending the appropriate stretches according to each individual to efficiently warm up and stretch the muscles and joints as to not cause an injury or aggravate an underlying condition.

With summer coming into season, many people begin to take on those last summer yard projects or start their annual gardening renovations. But, after the whole winter season without participating in any strenuous outdoor activities, it’s not uncommon for people to experience back pain and other symptoms from yard work and gardening.

For people who maintain good physical conditioning throughout the year, gardening or yard maintenance is generally an activity that can aggravate a previous injury or underlying condition in the spine. Contrary to exercising at a gym, the physical exertion required from working in the yard is far less predictable, such as pulling out weeds or even something as large as a tree root, the body is unable to determine how much force it will take to accomplish the task. Other outdoor tasks, such as digging holes, can also involve the use of unexpected resistance, both which can cause back strains.

Yard projects usually tend to last longer than your regular exercise routine and rushing through these chores without taking any breaks to stretch may ultimately cause damage or injury to the spine and other parts of the body.