Spine health is something which we all should value, yet some of us need direction on how to potentially improve our spine health through basic lifestyle improvements. In this post, we’ll be discussing how you can incorporate basic changes into your livelihood and have a whole new outlook on your spine health over time. While these changes may seem to be common sense, it’s still important to have a reminder every now and then to ensure we’re all treating our spines with the utmost care. Read on to learn more about how to best go about possibly improving your spine health with easy to implement lifestyle changes everyone can do.
Incorporate Exercise into Your Actual Lifestyle
The human body is made to move. We’re not meant to be sitting in a chair or laying in bed all day. Any type of movement is beneficial for our health. Whether it’s walking, running, hiking, etc… It’s just important to stand up and begin to move. Your joints and muscles need to be stimulated in order to maintain their healthy components. Without movement in the form of exercise, you run the risk of having your muscles become atrophied over time and in turn may make you much more prone to injury down the line. Incorporating exercise into your lifestyle, and not just something you do once per month, will help you maintain greater health in all areas of your body.
Stimulate Your Mind
Your mind sends signals to all areas of the body, and with this mechanism, it’s important to ensure your mind and brain are active and stimulated. This will allow your mind and body to continue interacting with one another and not become dulled over time. The last thing you’ll want to happen is have cognitive decline paired with physical impairment. Stimulating your mind with intellectually focused activities may help assist in ensuring your brain continues to properly fire signals throughout your body.
Readjust & Reevaluate Your Sitting Posture
Your sitting posture, especially if you’re a 9-5/office-style worker, is extremely important. The way you sit for extended periods of time will greatly influence your spinal health. If you possess a strong, healthy posture with good form and confidence, you’ll most likely experience little to no pain in your spine area. Now, if you have poor posture with a slouching, dipped form; you’ll most likely eventually experience severe pain and discomfort within your spine and back area. Be the former, not the latter, and aim for the best posture you can as often as possible.
Go for a Morning & Evening Walk
Walking is one of the best ways to recalibrate everything from the legs, to the waist, to the back, neck, and spine. Going for a morning walk is a fantastic way to start the day and going for an evening walk is a fantastic way to wind down in the evening. Walking can be done nearly anywhere in the world. As long as you’re able-bodied and have the motivation to do so, daily walking can be done quite easily. It’s up to you to make it happen.
Try Out Heat Therapy
Heat therapy, whether it’s a hot tub, a hot spring, or any type of warm, comforting activity with a direct focus on your back, neck, and spine will allow you to relax and ease up muscle tension. With heat therapy, there are many options available, yet it could also be as simple as letting warm water spray against areas of your back which you feel would benefit from such a therapy. Trying so,etching as simple as this is cost-effective, easy to incorporate in your next shower, and will likely help you decompress from physical and mental stress.
Choose the Right Pillow for YOU
A pillow is something you should carefully choose and invest in. It may seem silly,,yet it’s not a laughing matter when you consider you should be spending upwards of eight hours per day on your pillow. When you’re choosing a pillow, be sure it supports your head and neck properly. If it does not, you may encounter discomfort and pain upon waking up the following day. This discomfort and pain could lead to spine pain as well. Start off on the right pillow and choose whichever pillow seems to work best with you, even if it costs a bit more than you’d usually spend; as you’ll most likely save money over the long run by investing in your neck, back, and spine health.
Craft a Healthy Diet Which Caters to Your Needs
You are what you eat. If you’re consuming garbage food all day long, you’ll most likely feel like garbage as well. This garbage feeling may be transferred into your spine area as well through an inflammatory response. Eating healthy, anti-inflammatory foods can be a great way to help improve not only your spine health, yet also improve your entire body’s health.
Fluid-Motion, Swimming Exercises for Low-Impact Aerobics
Swimming is a great way to work nearly every muscle and joint throughout the human body with very low impact when compared to other activities such as running or hiking. Swimming is also a great skill to learn with the proper instruction or even become an expert at due to how useful it can be if you’re ever in a situation where you must swim and save yourself or others.
Get a Massage
A massage is often touted as a luxury for many, yet it should be viewed as something which you should aim to treat yourself with every now and then at least. Massages can help relieve tension and strain in the back and neck. This in turn can provide relief and relaxation over time and help you bounce back with a nice, relaxing day.
Quit Smoking
We all know smoking is bad for our health, yet it’s very bad for spine health. The reasoning behind this is our spine is composed of sensitive tissues and discs with cushioning in between each disc. When you’re a chronic smoker, you may end up causing deterioration of your discs and spine over time and this in turn could increase your chances of spinal injury in the future. Aside from the spinal cord issues associated with smoking, it’s also associated with some of the top causes of death as well (cancer, heart conditions, etc…).
Be the Best You Can Be with Neurosurgery & Spine Consultants
If you’ve been searching for ways to improve your spine health and would like to request an evaluation, feel free to do so using the for, below. We’ll be sure to have you seen by one of our amazing doctors here at Neurosurgery & Spine Consultants and have you back on your way to a healthy lifestyle once again. We look forward to hearing from you soon!
DISCLAIMER: No content on this site, regardless of date, should ever be used as a substitute for direct medical advice from your doctor or other qualified clinician.