Tips to keep your New Year's Resolutions

According to many reports, here are the some of the most common New Year’s resolutions:

•         Lose Weight

•         Get Fit

•         Quit Smoking

•         Learn Something New

•         Eat Healthier

•         Get Out of Debt and Save Money

•         Spend More Time with Family

•         Travel

•         Be Less Stressed

•         Volunteer

•         Drink Less

I'm sure that at one time or another, most of us have resolved to make changes in at least some of these areas.  Unfortunately, studies also show that these same resolutions are frequently broken.  The answer is not to stop making resolutions but is to figure out ways to accomplish your goals.  Helping Salt Lake City residents achieve their health goals is a very rewarding part of my job as a chiropractor in Utah.  Here are a few tips to help you achieve your goals and resolutions.

1.      Make it something that you really want.  Don't make a goal that you really aren't committed to or one that you think you 'should' do. Make it meaningful to you.

2.      Be specific.  Instead of just making a goal to 'Lose Weight', make a goal for example to lose 20 pounds by April 1^st, and then have a plan that breaks it up into daily, weekly and monthly tasks that will 'baby step' you to the end goal.

3.      Limit your list of resolutions to a number that is easier to handle.  This helps focus your efforts on the things you really want.

4.      Allow yourself to fail.  If your goal is something you really want and you have a specific plan, don't throw it all away if you mess up a few times.  Just realize that it is hard to change some habits and if you cannot perfectly follow your plan doesn't mean that you have to quit working at it. Just re-commit yourself and restart.

5.      Write down your specific goals and visualize them regularly.  As you write down your goals, put them in a prominent place that you will see frequently, this will help you keep visualizing the completed goal.

6.      Involve friends and family.  Having someone hold you accountable is a great way to stay on track. Changing your diet or exercising is easier if you have someone to act as a coach or cheerleader for you and you for them.

The bottom line is that whether you have succeeded or failed at keeping resolutions in the past, the new year is always a natural time to re-assess your life and try to make a few positive changes.  Here at The Joint in Salt Lake City, we hope that you will make it a goal to keep your spine and joints healthier, and we are here to help you by making it convenient and affordable to get regular chiropractic adjustments.

~ Dr. Hendricks

Could texting KILL you?

We have known for many years that texting and driving causes impairment similar to drinking and driving and is associated with nearly 4000 deaths per year from car accidents.

Chiropractors have also known for years that when people adopt a hunched-over posture while using phones or tablets, they tend to develop a forward head posture that causes neck and back pain and spinal dysfunction.

Now a new study by the UK United Chiropractic Association (UCA) says that texting and using mobile devices for long periods of time could lead to a lower life expectancy. Poor posture could pose as big a risk to a person's health as obesity. They showed that the hunched-over, forward head position constricts breathing and blood flow, making the heart work harder.

UK United Chiropractic Association (UCA) Study Shows Link between Texting and Lower Life Expectancy

The new research suggests a link between forward-leaning postures that people use while texting, going online, sending emails and playing video games, and hyperkyphosis, which is associated with pulmonary disease and cardiovascular problems.

The study suggests that when someone drops their head and rounds their shoulders while looking at a phone or tablet, it is harder for them to take a full breath because of the restriction to their muscles.

In addition, the ribs cannot move properly so the heart and lungs cannot function to their full effectiveness.

More often than not, people do not know they could be doing serious long-term damage to their body because the short-term effects are not as noticeable, the study says.

It's only later in life that the effects are noticeable and can seriously affect the quality of life.  The biggest fear is that young people, who are by far the heaviest users of mobile technology, will develop irreversible problems that may lead to early death.

Chiropractic procedures to help with texting-related posture

In my practice I have noticed that the increased prevalence of forward head posture problems has coincided with the explosion of smart phone, tablet and laptop use for work and leisure.

The study compares the risk of early death from poor posture to the risk of having a BMI (Body Mass Index) of 30, which places and individual in the obese range. Currently some estimates claim that obesity is responsible for 1 in 5 deaths in this country. It is startling to consider that poor posture from texting can equal that risk.

We live our lives in such a way that oftentimes we are ruled by technology and we use our phones, tablets and computers so frequently that it is easy to overlook the effects it is having on our posture. 

The good news is that we all have a degree of control over this issue.  We can limit the time we spend on our mobile devices, and we can bring them to eye level to reduce the poor posture.

The recommendation that we make here at The Joint Cottonwood Heights is that you come in for a postural evaluation and appropriate chiropractic treatment to improve forward head posture and help lower the associated risks.

~ Dr. Hendricks

Drink Your Way to Better Health!

Water is the substance of life. The majority of people in Utah are dehydrated, and they don't even realize it. In fact, up to 80% of the people in Utah may be dehydrated. Before you assume that you are not in that group, because you don't feel thirsty, realize that thirst really has nothing to do with dehydration. You may also believe that you get enough water because you drink beverages that have water as an ingredient, such as coffee, tea, and sodas. Even though these beverages are made with water, when they are ingested, they actually cause us to lose water! You don't need other beverages - what you need is water.

Two-thirds of our bodies consist of water. Approximately 83% of our blood is water, 75% of our muscles are water, 22% of our bones are water, and 74% of our brains are water. Our brains even float around in water! With these percentages, it should be obvious as to why we require water to live in a high-altitude desert environment like Salt Lake City. The water in our bodies is lost every minute of every day - through sweat, tears, breathing and urination - and simply through our pores. You are losing water right now, at this very moment, and it needs to be replaced.

Dehydration affects more than just people outdoors in the sun, but the heat and aridity of Utah summers makes it an even more ubiquitous and serious problem for Salt Lake City residents. Some signs of dehydration include headaches, muscle aches and cramps, fibromyalgia and joint pain.  As we perform chiropractic adjustments, we encourage you to increase your water intake so that the cells of the body are able to get the nutrients they need to heal properly.  This happens best when you are well hydrated.  Oftentimes chiropractic adjustments for neck and back pain leads to detoxification and a flush of toxins that build up in our systems and therefore it is important to be drinking enough water to help your body eliminate those toxins.

By increasing your water intake to eight glasses per day, in about a week's time, you may notice that you have more energy, your mind is clearer, your skin is healthier, and your food digests easier, and you may even find that you lose weight!  A good rule of thumb is to also drink one glass of water for every cup of coffee or tea you have, as well as for every soda.  If you are exercising in the Utah heat it is important to drink even more water.  You can do your part in helping your body heal by getting regular chiropractic adjustments and by drinking more water.

~ Dr. Hendricks

Chiropractors in Cottonwood Heights Help Athletes Stay on Top

 Many people have realized the positive benefits of regular chiropractic treatments at The Joint in Cottonwood Heights for the various aches and pains that accompany everyday life, but you may not realize how chiropractic can improve overall athletic abilities and capabilities in relatively pain-free elite athletes.

There have been several studies looking at how chiropractic adjustments effect the performance of athletes and I'd like to share a couple of these with you.

A recent study out of Sweden looked at the hip extension ability and running velocity of young male runners. This research study divided a group of young men into a control group (no treatment) and a chiropractic treatment group. They measured the hip extension and stride length before and after chiropractic adjustments. Those of you who are runners can appreciate the importance of a full leg extension and how that affects your run times. The athletes treated by chiropractors in this study did have a significantly increased hip extension and stride length post-treatment compared to the control group, and they did end up with a small decrease in their run times compared to the control group.

Another study looked at athletic performance and physiological measures in baseball players following upper cervical chiropractic care. This was an interesting study in that it did not look directly at baseball skills but

looked at general athletic performance using the vertical jump, broad jump specified, standing broad jump and muscle strength. It also measured physiological changes to blood pressure, pulse rate, microcirculation (capillary counts) and treadmill stress testing. Twenty-one university baseball players were assigned randomly to either a control group or a chiropractic adjustment group. Each subject was required to complete three sessions of athletic ability and physiological testing. The results showed significant improvement at 14 weeks in muscle strength and long jump distance in the group receiving adjustments along with a significant improvement in capillary counts. Further evaluation revealed that the group receiving chiropractic care showed decreases in resting blood pressure and pulse rate as well as pulse rate following treadmill activity.

The last study that I want to report was done at Virginia Tech University where the researchers studied 115 football players in 2 consecutive football seasons. A total of 1976 manipulative treatments were provided pre-competition, and the results showed that there was positive improvement in performance among both offensive and defensive Va. Tech football players.

The takeaway from reviewing these studies is that whether you are in pain and want to get healthy or if you want to stay healthy and improve your performance (which is not limited to athletes but also includes housewives, construction workers, businessmen, nurses, etc.) chiropractic treatment is an excellent way to get you healthy.

Let the chiropractors and staff at The Joint Cottonwood Heights help you achieve your optimal health and well being.

~Dr. Brad Hendricks