It is thought that the average person spends about 26 years of their life sleeping, roughly 9490 days or 227,760 hours. Having the right mattress is an important part of getting a good night’s sleep.
Why is sleep so important?
During childhood, sleep supports growth and development, but sleep continues to be important throughout our lives to support both physical and mental health. Here are a few reasons why sleep is important:
When we sleep, our bodies release a of hormones. One example is the growth hormone, which helps your body to grow and repair itself. This includes repairing your muscles, organs, and cells.
Sleep lowers your pulse and blood pressure, allowing your heart and blood vessels to rest and recover.
Scientists think REM sleep helps your brain to clear information you don’t need.
Activity in the sympathetic nervous system, which controls your fight or flight responses, decreases. This allows your body to relax.
The importance of the right mattress
A mattress should keep your spine aligned but allow your muscles to relax while you sleep. Pain, particularly back and neck pain, can be made worse by the wrong mattress. It can also lead to headaches or fatigue.
What to consider when buying a mattress:
Mattresses often have several layers, but the support system and comfort layer can help you choose the right mattress.
The support system is the spring or foam layer that supports your weight and provides spinal alignment. This is rated by firmness and choosing the right firmness depends on your body type.
It is not the case that firmer mattresses are the best solution for pain. There are problems with mattresses that are too firm or too soft, as the mattress should support your spine’s natural curve.
The comfort layer is above the support layer and is unique to your preferences. Latex and memory foam are two examples of comfort layers that are beneficial to preventing aches and pains.
Replacing your mattress
Even if you have found the perfect mattress, it is recommended that you replace your mattress every seven to ten years. Over time, mattresses lose the ability to support you, leading to waking up with aches and pains. Here are a few more signs that it’s time to treat yourself to a new mattress:
Noisy springs. This indicates that the springs have worn down, which means they will not be providing the necessary support.
Signs of wear and tear. For example, the mattress is saggy, lumpy or you can feel the springs through the mattress.
Allergies or asthma symptoms have worsened. Mattresses collect lots of dust and allergens and, over time, this can make your symptoms worse.
Other beds feel more comfortable. If you regularly find it hard to fall asleep in your own bed, but find almost every other bed comfortable, this might indicate your mattress is to blame.
Spring is in the air, and it is time to get outside and enjoy it! With warmer weather around the corner, there will be an increase in outdoor sport activities. The best way to take full advantage of this season is to keep your health in tip top shape as well. Here are a few ways in which chiropractic care can help you to stay on top of your health and prepare you for the season ahead.
Regular chiropractic adjustments can help prevent injuries
No matter what type of outdoor activity you plan to take part in this spring, regular visits to your local chiropractor are helpful in reducing the risk of injury, ensuring you are not putting too much strain on your joints, and checking that your nervous system is functioning normally. Whether you are running, riding a bike, playing ball, gardening, or spending time outdoors with your kids, plan a visit to your doctor to learn the best practices to keep your muscles and joints healthy in order to reduce the risk of injury and pain.
Chiropractic care can help reduce the stress of a busy spring season
With warmer weather comes busier spring schedules. Whether your calendar is booked because you are spending more time with your kids as they have time off from school, or dealing with a busier work schedule, stress seems to be inevitable as the seasons change. Regular chiropractic care is a great way to reduce and prevent stress that can negatively affect your joints and overall health.
The bottom line is that in order to assure you get the most out of the spring season, and stay on top of your health, you need to take care of yourself.
For more information, contact your local chiropractic clinic, to learn how you can ‘spring’ into your best health and start your path to a healthier, happier, and pain-free lifestyle.
Most of us are aware of the importance of calcium for our health, especially for our bones. However, magnesium is another vital mineral for our bones, as well as for our muscles and nerves, it can actually be more difficult to get enough of this mineral in our diet than to get enough calcium
The many roles of magnesium
Magnesium is needed for normal muscle and nerve function. Without magnesium, our muscle fibres wouldn’t be able to relax after they have contracted, and nerve impulses wouldn’t be able to travel around our body properly.
Magnesium is vital for strong bones and teeth too. If you’re trying to improve or maintain your bone strength, it’s essential to include lots of magnesium-rich foods as well as calcium-rich foods.
Magnesium is also necessary for our cells to convert the food we eat into usable energy, and also for healthy ‘psychological function’ – including mood and how we deal with stress.
For these reasons…
Symptoms of not getting enough magnesium may include: muscle cramping, tight or weak muscles, increased pain, and loss of bone strength, as well as lack of energy, low mood, greater susceptibility to stress, and even poor sleep or insomnia.
As chiropractors we regularly see patients with these symptoms – especially pain and muscle dysfunction, of course. If any of them ring true for you, you are likely to benefit from getting more magnesium into your diet.
Where can we find magnesium?
The main sources of magnesium in our diet are plant foods, particularly the following:
Green leafy vegetables such as kale, chard and spinach
Seeds and nuts – particularly pumpkin seeds and hemp seeds
Whole grains – especially buckwheat and rye
Beans and pulses.
How much magnesium do we need?
The general adult recommended daily allowance (RDA) for magnesium is 375mg. Like any nutrient, our requirements can vary, and the amount of magnesium present in foods – even the foods mentioned above – can also vary. But as a general rule, we need to eat four to five servings of one of these foods a day to get enough of this mineral. (One serving is about 80 grams or one handful green leafy veg, or two tablespoons of seeds, for example.)
Remember…
Drinking milk or eating cheese to get your calcium is not enough on its own to maintain strong bones – make sure you get plenty of those plant foods too! Also, don’t forget that weight-bearing exercise is one of the most important things to maintain bone strength.
Cortisol is the body’s main stress hormone and is well-known for triggering the “fight or flight” response in our bodies when we are stressed. However, cortisol is also responsible for regulating a wide range of processes throughout the body.
What is cortisol?
Cortisol is a steroid hormone produced in the adrenal glands, which is then released into the blood and transported around the body.
What does cortisol do?
Almost all our cells contain receptors for cortisol, meaning it plays an important role in several things your body does. For example, cortisol:
Manages how your body uses proteins, carbohydrates, and fats
Regulates blood pressure
Increases blood sugar
Keeps inflammation down
Controls your sleep/wake cycle
Boosts energy
The short-term release of cortisol can give your body energy to fight or flee from a stressor, but it is possible for our cortisol levels to become unbalanced.
Too much stress
Usually, cortisol levels balance when the stress your body was reacting to passes. However, when cortisol levels are too high for too long, the hormone can have a negative impact on your body.
There are some health issues associated with high levels of cortisol over a prolonged period, including:
Weight gain
High blood pressure
Insomnia or difficulty sleeping
Mood irregularities
In women, this can impact periods causing them to become irregular, less frequent or stop altogether.
Cortisol levels have also been linked to conditions like anxiety or depression.
Managing cortisol levels
There are some lifestyle habits that can help you to manage cortisol levels.
Sleep
Getting the right amount of sleep can be an effective way to reduce cortisol levels. Several things can be done to optimise your sleep, such as limiting caffeine intake, avoiding nicotine or alcohol, and implementing a regular sleep schedule.
Exercise
Exercise can increase or decrease cortisol, depending on the intensity. Intense exercise can increase cortisol levels afterwards, which will decrease a few hours later.
However, regular exercise can also help with managing stress and promoting good health, which may help lower cortisol levels.
Eating a nutritious diet
When trying to lower cortisol levels, it is important to eat a healthy and balanced diet, paying attention to sugar intake. Fruits, vegetables, healthy fats, and even dark chocolate are thought to be helpful for managing cortisol.
Similarly, it is important to ear on a regularly because low blood sugar can increase cortisol.
Staying hydrated
Dehydration has been linked to temporary increases in cortisol levels, meaning it is important to drink enough water throughout the day.
Breathe
Deep breathing is a simple and effective way to reduce stress. It can stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system, which is associated with relaxation and lower cortisol levels. Meditation or yoga are just two examples of ways to practice deep breathing.
Many patients who suffer from knee, back or shoulder pain for example can attribute these issues to a pelvic dysfunction. While pelvic dysfunction is not life threatening it can be life limiting so find out how you can make small changes that may make a large difference. If you’re suffering from regular pain and think you might have a misaligned pelvis, it’s important for patients to visit a chiropractor.
Pelvic dysfunction often happen as a result of everyday awkward movements over time such as lifting heavy loads without care and sitting at a desk with bad posture as well as during pregnancy and childbirth or from injury.
The pelvis acts as a transmitter of forces between the legs and the spine. Many important muscle groups attach to the pelvis, the thigh muscles from below and the muscles of the trunk from above. If the pelvic joints (sacroiliac joints and pubic symphysis) are not moving correctly this can cause an imbalance resulting in pain in many different places. It could be looked at as a core stabilizer, supporting the spine, legs and wide range of muscles, so when the pelvis is not working properly (hip is tilted out of position) it can cause pain, weakness and tightness that can travel through the hip and pelvis up into the shoulders and neck, it also commonly can cause referred pain down into the legs.
There are three distinct areas that may be affected as a result of Pelvic Dysfunction these include the hips, which can become achy, painful and inflamed, the lower back which due to impairment of stability and function of (hyperextension) of the muscles in the abdomen and lower back which can cause spinal joint (facet joint) injuries and finally, the knee and ankle which can be put under a lot of strain if weight is shifted to one side to compensate for the pelvic dysfunction.
You can do a simple test at home to help you look for obvious signs of pelvic dysfunction: stand barefoot in front of a mirror with your back straight but relaxed. Imagine a vertical line going straight down the middle of your body and a second line near your shoulders that is perfectly perpendicular to the first line. If your hips are out of alignment, your pelvis will appear diagonal rather than parallel to the second line meaning you have a lateral pelvic tilt. This could be a sign of pelvic dysfunction.
Many people cringe at the sound of knuckles, elbows and other joints cracking. The debate surrounding whether this common cracking could cause joint problems has recently been settled. It has been confirmed that the popping sound is a result of an unwanted vacuum within the synovial fluid that lubricates the joints, locking the joints together. When the joints are adjusted, the vacuum draws in a small air bubble and the noise is this air bubble being rapidly drawn in by the vacuum. The release of the vacuum by the air bubble allows the joint to move more freely.
This phenomenon is known as joint cavitation. Once the bubble is present, the joint will not crack again until all the air has been reabsorbed and a new vacuum is created. This targeted approach reduces the likelihood of unintended cracking. In other words, cracking the joints in a controlled manner relieves stiffness and enhances the stability of neighbouring joints.
It is important to note that there are other cracking noises and sensations that may require attention. Snapping and cracking noises can be a symptom of osteoarthritis, which occurs naturally with ageing or as a result of trauma or joint diseases. In these cases, the breakdown of cartilage in the joint leads to painful friction and crunching noises during movement.
On the other hand, snapping noises and sensations are also caused by the movement of muscles or tendons across bones. This typically happens when a tendon is slightly loose and is most commonly experienced in the hip, knee, ankle, wrist, and shoulder. If left untreated, this condition can potentially lead to bursitis, which is the inflammation of the fluid-filled sac that allows muscles to move smoothly over bones.
Understanding the reasons behind joint cracking and the potential consequences of certain cracking noises can help individuals make informed decisions about their joint health.
As lifestyle changes in the 21st century make the condition of osteoporosis ever more prevalent, it becomes a threat that you should take into consideration.
The ageing population, dietary trends such as dairy intolerance and the increase in eating disorders like anorexia all contribute to the growing numbers of sufferers. Today’s indoor lifestyle is also a factor, since a lack of vitamin D from the sun hinders your absorption of dietary calcium.
The frightening part of this condition is that it is sometimes not diagnosed until a bone is broken. A way to assess your risk of fracture is a bone density scan. This is the most accurate way of measuring the strength of bones. This scan can be organised through your GP or private clinics, and then appropriate advice can be given by your GP or chiropractor.
There are precautions we can all take to minimise the threat of osteoporosis to our physical health and mobility, both by medical and natural means.
A nutritious diet, and taking supplements where need be, is of paramount importance. If you’re vegan or don’t consume dairy products for other reasons, it’s important to find an alternative source of calcium in your diet. Leafy greens or tinned, soft-bone fish such as salmon or sardines are great options. It’s important to be aware that some foods make it harder to absorb calcium, such as carbonated drinks.
To help your body absorb calcium, vitamin D is essential. As well as synthesizing this from the sun’s UVB rays, oily fish such as salmon, mackerel and sardines provide some vitamin D. However, especially in the UK, vitamin D supplements are recommended.
Another key nutrient for bone health is magnesium. While this mineral contributes to many functions in the body from nerve function to immune health, it is primary found in bone crystals, contributing to their strength. Magnesium is often included in calcium supplements.
Vitamin C plays an important role too. Collagen is the main protein in bone, and Vitamin C is necessary for collagen synthesis. Vitamin C is present in citrus fruits, tomatoes, and in many vegetables.
Chiropractors are fully qualified manipulative practitioners who diagnose and treat disorders of bones, as well as muscles, joints, ligaments and tendons. Your chiropractor will give you specific advice on how to strengthen your skeleton and minimise your risk.
Temperatures are changing as the colder seasons approach. Those who suffer with chronic back pain might notice that their condition aggravates as temperatures or seasons change. Although there’s not much scientific evidence to prove a link between chronic pain and humidity, temperature changes and wind speed, weather changes can certainly affect those who suffer with joint pain conditions, especially arthritis and osteoarthritis.
The most commonly accepted reasoning is that with colder temperatures comes lower air pressure, which can cause joint tissues to expand and further worsen joints already prone to swelling and tenderness.
If cold weather worsens your pain, you can take these three simple steps to combat it.
Heat Therapy
Including heat therapy in your daily routine can help to reduce stiffness and boost healing through increased blood circulation. Try applying a warm towel or a heating pad to your painful area for about 20 minutes for temporary pain relief. You can also opt for over-the-counter heat wraps.
Water Therapy
If you like swimming, try to visit heated indoor pools with hot baths, Jacuzzis and saunas a few times a week for almost instant pain relief.
Stay Active
As tempting as it is to lounge on the sofa during winter evenings, it is crucial to keep your spine mobile and stay active. If your pain is too severe to go to the gym, try long walks with hiking poles or a Pilates routine at home.
However, if your pain stops you from leading a normal life, the best option is to visit your doctor and professionally address the root causes of joint and back pain.
As we approach the Christmas season, you might be more worried about piling on the pounds and feeling like a Christmas Pudding on the big day than anything else, but you’d be surprised how many people hurt their back over the festive period!
Did you know… There is an increase in patients coming in to the clinic with backaches and pains that have appeared during the Christmas period.
In fact… There are many ways you can hurt your back at Christmas. Bending and lifting heavy items like Christmas trees, furniture or even the turkey can easily strain your back or exacerbate existing aches and pains.
If you do hurt your back or neck during the holidays, your first thought might be to put your feet up on the sofa and watch some festive films and wait till the pain disappears.
But remember… Although this may seem like the obvious option, it is much more beneficial for your back to keep your muscles moving.
Here are our top tips to avoid back pain at Christmas:
If you’re lifting heavy or awkward objects like the Christmas tree or furniture, always ask for help and make sure you also bend your knees when lifting heavier items!
When you’re putting up decorations, use a stepladder to avoid over stretching or straining your back or neck.
Make sure you go for regular walks over the holidays, and if you don’t have time, make sure you’re supporting your back at all times with a small cushion.
Autumn has arrived, bringing shorter days and less light. This change in the amount of light is a signal to animals, plants and, before the light bulb, people, that seasons are changing. While those most dramatically affected are those in the higher latitudes, many people in the UK are negatively affected by this shift.
Seasonal Affected Disorder (SAD), also known as ‘winter depression’ is a type of a type of depression that comes and goes in a seasonal pattern, with symptoms more severe between September and April. The NHS estimates that SAD affects approximately one in 15 people in the UK during the darker months.
Symptoms of SAD include:
Lethargy, lack of energy, inability to carry out a normal routine
Sleep problems, difficulty staying awake during the day, but having disturbed nights sleeps
Loss of libido, disinterest in physical contact
Anxiety, inability to cope
Social problems, irritability, disinterest in seeing people
Depression, feelings of gloom and despondency for no apparent reason
Craving for carbohydrates and sweet foods, leading to weight gain
Many people in the UK suffer with SAD, so it’s important to remember that you are not alone.
While light therapy is a popular treatment for SAD, lifestyle factors play a large role too. Getting as much natural sunlight as possible is particularly important, as is managing your stress levels. Exercise is also integral to the treatment of SAD. It has long been known that regular exercise is good for our physical health, but studies also show exercise to be of benefit to our mental well being. Exercise gives you control of your body and is a known mood booster. Your chiropractor can give you a general check to make sure that your bones, joints and muscles are functioning properly and advise on the best exercise solution for you.
