If you have ever heard the term “ergonomics” you may have taken some initiative to improve your desk at work. What you may not know is that you are actually improving your overall health as well.
Ergonomics literally means the “laws of work.” This term refers to “creating an environment where the equipment is made to fit the person and not forcing the person to fit the equipment.” A great example would be a car seat. Would you purchase a car where your head hits the roof and your knees straddle the steering wheel? Obviously you wouldn’t! So why would you sit in a desk chair that forces you to lean into the desk for support, bend your knees at an odd angle and put direct pressure on your wrists when you type?
Simple and cost effective strategies can be put into place to improve your posture, pain, and symptoms. Just ‘Google’ the word office ergonomics and you will be immediately overwhelmed by a number of helpful suggestions that are available to you. You could also follow these simple suggestions and find yourself more comfortable at work immediately.

1. Place the top of your monitor at a height that is at your eye level. For most of you, this means lifting your monitor 6 inches or more.
2. Place all your commonly needed items within arms reach. Your phone, printer, stapler and document holder should be with 2 feet of your hands. Reaching over and over will eventually put abnormal tension on your shoulders and neck.
3. Adjust the height of your chair so that your knees can bend at 90 degrees.
4. Once every 30 minutes, leave your workstation for 5 minutes. Once every hour leave your workstation for 10 minutes. Essentially, for every hour that you are working, spend 15 minutes moving around. Time your restroom breaks or grabbing a paper off of the printer.
5. Finally, if after only a few hours at your workstation you are developing headaches, mid back pain or numbness in your hands, LISTEN TO YOUR BODY! Something is not working right. Get advice or help.

Our office is available to answer your questions. If you know your fellow employees are in need of help, we are able to present this information at your work. Ask the doctor for more information.

I was recently out of the office attending to family business and had another doctor cover my schedule. One particularly tough case that I had been working with received a different style adjustment than I had previously used with wonderful results. That doctor and I consulted after the visit and I have changed my approach slightly to offer the patient the maximum effect of their care.
The majority of my patients have one doctor that they report to for certain issues they face; one PCP, one cardiologist, one optometrist. While having one doctor familiar with your specific case and issues is often ideal, one doctor focusing on you does have its setbacks. If your injury does not fit in their “box” of thinking or area of expertise, the patient may receive less-than-optimal care.
Some health care practitioners are unable or unwilling to consult with other professionals in their area due to lack of option or fear of “losing” their patient.  This results in a much less effective treatment for the patient and can lead to the injury increasing in severity.
By having doctors working in a company with multiple approaches to patient care, offering numerous viewpoints with case management, it leads to better results for patients.

Estimates of 75%-97% of Americans are “chronically dehydrated.” So does this mean that Eight 8-ounces of H20 isn’t enough? Well-Yes! (unless you weigh 128 lbs and don’t exercise-I’ll explain later.)
So how much water do you need? This is a daily conversation in my office. We have always been taught that adequate water consumption is 64 ounces or eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day. But even this seems like an astonishing amount of water to consume for some people. So let’s see how much water you need each day.
First, take your body weight and divide by 2 (or half your body weight). This number represents the amount of water that you need in ounces. Let me show you an example. Take an individual who weighs 180 lbs. That person would need 90 ounces of water daily. DAILY? Yes, daily!
At first consuming this amount of water will force you to use the restroom 5-10 times a day. But don’t worry, your bladder is partially muscle and will be trained to hold larger amounts of fluid without sending the signal to race to the nearest restroom.
The best way I have found to track my daily progress is to do the calculation of needed water daily and fill a jug of water with that amount. Each day drink from that container and monitor your intake. The first week or so, it may be difficult. Believe me, every cell in your body will benefit from this added hydration.
Do you need to consume an additional amount of water when exercising? Yes, you do and the amount of water is dependent on the type and intensity of the exercise. Generally, the water that you sweat will need to be replaced and so monitor your exercise accordingly.
As for the rest of the story:
I prefer drinking spring or filtered water over tap/bottled water. Next, if you have a glass container, use it. Glass has been shown to be the least toxic for long term storage of fluids. Room temperature water will be better than hot or cold fluids. Drinking higher quantities may improve your metabolism. Water is a basic building block to wellness, and staying hydrated will not only help you perform at your best but will also keep your body in top shape!

Every day I engage with a patient about “pillow talk.” When you consider the importance of how you spend 1/3 of your day, you can to see the relevance of this discussion.
First, the pillow must fit you! Not the other way around. Second, the pillow you choose will greatly differ from how you sleep. Basically, figuring out what position you sleep in most of the night. The damage that you cause to your neck from a poor or improperly fitted pillow will lead to problems with your spine. A Chiropractor will be able to help you recover from the damage, but stopping the pressure on the nerves must be the first priority.
Here are the basics. You need a pillow that is going to support a neutral posture the entire night. No other decision about a pillow will be as important as how it supports your neck and shoulders. Secondary considerations are allergies to the material and hygiene. Because of the oils in your hair and face, you should replace your pillow once every four to six months. Dust mites and bacteria will build up in almost any material and lead to allergies and poor skin. The oils will also flatten the pillow, changing how it supports you.
If you are a back sleeper, you will need a single pillow with a slight curve in it. This will support your spine while keeping your alignment neutral. Too small of a pillow will stress the lower part of your neck and too many or too large of a pillow will place excess stress on the upper part of your neck. Neither of which is conducive to a good nights rest. An excellent cervical curve pillow may be available from your Chiropractor.
Stomach sleepers, though not recommended, need a very thin pillow that will offer more cushion than support. A thin pillow will prevent excess pressure on the face and shoulders and again promote healthy alignment of your spine.
Finally, the side sleepers are the trickiest to figure out. They need a pillow that is going to fill the space between the side of the shoulder/arm and the neck. A pillow too small or too large with cause the neck to rest at an odd angle and will lead to AM stiffness and pain in the shoulder muscles. I recommend choosing a pillow at the store and keep the costs low ($4-$6), try the pillow out for several nights. If the pillow works well, go back to the store and invest in two or three more pillows of the exact brand and size. Then, replace the pillow once every four to six months to prevent thinning of the pillow due to oils from your skin.
Once you have found a pillow that fits you, always come back to the same pillow. If for any reason the pillow no longer supports you, start the process over and find the right pillow for your body. Again, 1/3 of your life is spent sleeping. Isn’t it worth the investment of time, effort, and money to find the right pillow?

We hear it all the time; “How could I be in this pain when all I have done is sit?”
Can sitting really cause pain? The answer, as I am sure you can figure out by my tone, is…YES! The main questions are, “Why does sitting cause pain?” and “How can I keep from getting pain from sitting?” Pain can result from when your spine is in a position that is not consistent with its normal posture. Spines have two concave curves and two convex curves. When you put your spine outside of these normal curves, over time micro injuries can result.  These micro injuries progress to a major injury over time…a.k.a. PAIN!! Therefore, to prevent these injuries from occurring, you should attempt to keep your spine in these normal postures as much as possible.
For healthier sitting, we have adapted these suggestions from the American Chiropractic Association:

• Sit in a chair such that the curve in back of chair hits your back around your belt line
• Keep your shoulders “rolled back” rather than slumped forward
• Put your feet flat on floor with your thighs parallel to the floor

For a quick self-evaluation check this link out.

When a patient arrives at our office, it is not uncommon for them to be in severe pain. I often get asked, “what can I do for this pain?”
Though there are many drugs, over-the-counter drugs, and herbs for pain that can be used, I have found that ice packs are the most beneficial home remedy for short-term relief.
When you have an injury, your body’s first response is to swell. It is also known as “inflammation.” When you place a cold pack on the injured area, it reduces the blood flow to that area and therefore reduces the swelling. Most doctors understand this process and commonly prescribe anti-inflammatory medications (also know as NSAIDS)
Therefore, we often recommend ice in the beginning part of a patient’s care plan. If the other anti-inflammatories are used, that is fine as long as you’re addressing the primary injury.
If you’ve just been injured we recommend placing ice on the area as soon as possible. This will prevent inflammation from setting in, lessen your healing time and lessen the time it takes to get relief.

For over 30 years, at Tuck Chiropractic we have treated literally thousands of patients. Most assume patients who consult a chiropractor to be very active people such as construction workers or athletes. However, these patients make up a very small percent of our practice. Across America, 40-50% of people are suffering from chronic back pain.
The chronic pain patients we see have injuries commonly known as cumulative type traumas.
These would be defined as small injuries, accumulating over time, into a major injury. To explain this to patients, I use this example: If you were to walk on the side of your foot all the time, eventually you will sprain your ankle.
If you are in pain, these are important questions to answer:
Is my pain new or reoccurring?
If you have never had this pain before and you can attribute it to a specific injury or activity, there is a possibility that no care is needed. Our suggestion is to apply ice to the area of pain for periods no longer than 20 minutes. If the pain does not subside, seek professional advice. If it is a reoccurring type pain, you could be developing a chronic pain condition. It is best to address this immediately. We find some of our patients are developing degenerative joint disease, an irreversible condition.
What if I cannot attribute my pain to a specific event?
Do you engage in activity regularly (perhaps working at a computer or working on a factory line)? This activity, over time, creates the same result as a single trauma. If this is the situation, a “two-pronged” approach usually is necessary. First, you must address the injury to get it to heal. Second, you must look at your activities and do what is called an ergonomic analysis.
No matter what the cause of your pain, you do not have to live with it. Pain is a signal in your body that something is wrong and should be corrected. Some of our patients explain pain away as a sign of old age. Whether you are 17 or 97 there are things that can be done to relieve your pain and get you back to living your life to the fullest.