Understanding and Tackling the Health Impacts of Severe Thoracic Kyphosis

Today, we are going to delve into the world of spinal health, focusing particularly on a condition known as severe thoracic kyphosis. We'll explore its health consequences, implications for your quality of life, and effective ways to prevent kyphosis progression.

Severe thoracic kyphosis, often characterized by excessive rounding in the mid-back, has potential health implications that can significantly affect daily living. But before we get into that, it's essential to clarify what we mean by excessive or severe thoracic kyphosis.

Kyphosis naturally refers to the curvature of the spine, specifically in the thoracic region or your upper back. While a slight curve is normal, when this curve exceeds 50 degrees, we refer to this as severe or excessive thoracic kyphosis. It's worth noting that even if you don't fall under the excessive category, kyphosis tends to increase with age due to regular daily activities that encourage poor posture, such as excessive use of tech, prolonged driving, and sitting. The strain from these repetitive activities accumulates over time.

Research exploring the impact of thoracic kyphosis on physical health, particularly in older adults, has revealed significant impacts. Excessive kyphosis can lead to decreased walking speed, impaired balance, and a reduced ability to carry out daily activities. Moreover, older adults with severe thoracic kyphosis have a heightened risk of falling, underscoring the importance of early detection and intervention.

Moving beyond the physical, thoracic kyphosis can also have substantial psychological impacts. Severe kyphosis may lead to mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety, possibly linked to physical discomfort and aesthetic concerns. Participants in these studies reported lower self-esteem and decreased quality of life, shedding light on the broader effects this physical condition can have on mental wellbeing.

Finally, an often overlooked but critical aspect is the impact of severe kyphosis on respiratory function. Studies have found that severe kyphosis can compromise respiratory function, leading to reduced lung capacity and decreased forced expiratory volume. The changes in spinal alignment can affect chest wall mechanics and lung volumes, potentially increasing the risk of respiratory complications.

Given these far-reaching implications on physical, mental, and respiratory health, it's clear that severe thoracic kyphosis needs to be addressed early and adequately. So, what can you do at home to prevent kyphosis progression?

One option is using postural devices such as the Posture Medic, which wraps around the shoulders and serves as a reminder to maintain proper posture. Another approach is postural taping using stretchy kinesiology or rock tape. These methods are especially useful for those who spend long hours driving or sitting at a desk.

Regular exercise and chiropractic treatment can also help. Segmental movement through chiropractic adjustment is key, and you can supplement this at home with a foam roller or postural exercises. These activities aim to build endurance in your upper back muscles, enabling you to maintain proper posture for longer periods and relieve stress on your spine.

In conclusion, it's crucial to address thoracic kyphosis early to prevent it from becoming a significant health concern down the line. Take proactive steps today and start incorporating these preventive measures into your daily routine. Remember, when it comes to your health, prevention is better than cure!

Addressing Dowager's Hump: Strategies for Prevention and Reduction

Today, we delve into an issue of great relevance - Dowager's Hump. Often perceived as merely a cosmetic concern, this condition holds the potential to significantly affect individuals both physically and emotionally.

For those who may not know, Dowager's Hump refers to an abnormal curvature at the base of the neck, leading to a prominent hump in the upper thoracic spine. While it's commonly linked with aging, it's critical to remember that Dowager's Hump can manifest at any life stage. Varied factors, including everyday postures, genetic predispositions, and specific injuries, can exacerbate the condition. Though typically painless, its psychological impact can be substantial, with individuals tending to worry excessively about their appearance.

But fear not! This article is designed to equip you with various strategies that you can utilize to prevent or limit the progression of Dowager's Hump.

Promoting Correct Posture

Let's begin by examining your daily posture. When seated, particularly when engaging with digital devices, ensure that the screen is positioned at eye level. For laptop users, consider investing in an external monitor to prevent habitual downward glancing. Mobile phone users should also remain vigilant of their position, as the further the head leans forward, the greater the strain experienced by the neck.

To illustrate, a normally positioned head creates about 10-12 pounds of neck strain. However, a 30-degree forward tilt increases this load to 40 pounds, and a 60-degree tilt leads to a startling 60 pounds of strain. Consequently, maintaining an upright posture is vital.

When it comes to children, a preventive strategy could involve having them lay on their stomach while using phones or tablets, ensuring an appropriate head and neck alignment.

Introducing Targeted Exercises

In addition to posture correction, home exercises can play a significant role in managing Dowager's Hump. Here are three recommended exercises:

1. Wall Extensions: Perform these with your elbows raised above your head.

2. Deep Neck Flexors: A great way to target the area affected by Dowager's Hump.

3. Child Pose with Scapular Raises: An excellent combination for spine health.

Adapting Your Sleep Position

The importance of a good sleeping position should not be underestimated when dealing with Dowager's Hump. Those who tend to stack pillows under their heads should avoid this habit. Instead, use a single pillow to support your neck, taking care not to over-extend the neck to compensate for the lower height.

To conclude, while Dowager's Hump may seem daunting, there are numerous strategies you can employ to mitigate its development. Following the tips in this article should offer valuable action steps towards reducing the impact of this condition on your life. Always remember - prevention is better than cure. So, let's adopt healthier habits today to secure a healthier future.

Overcoming the Most Common Posture Mistake: The Overlooked Importance of Lower Back

Today, we're diving into a commonly misunderstood aspect of health—posture, with a particular emphasis on the role of the lower back, which is often overshadowed by concerns regarding rounded shoulders or forward head posture.

When considering posture, most individuals are instinctively drawn to fixing the visibility of the upper body, by drawing back their shoulders and repositioning their heads. This approach, however, neglects a critical component of our physical structure—our lower back. Because modern lifestyles often involve long hours of sitting, our lower back takes on a paramount role in posture maintenance.

Unfortunately, focusing exclusively on the upper back and shoulders while disregarding the lower back can precipitate a variety of health issues. This one-sided focus can instigate chronic low back pain, cause muscle imbalances, and result in a persistent poor posture.

So, what's the secret to rectifying this common posture mistake and improving your overall posture? It lies in understanding and working on the fundamental structure—your lower back.

Think of your body like a house. If a house is built on a shaky foundation, it's unreasonable to expect stability from the rest of the structure. The same concept applies to your spine. Often, when we sit, we unknowingly roll our pelvis backwards, causing our mid-back to round, our shoulders to droop, and our head to drop forward. This chain reaction disrupts our entire posture.

Rather than focusing on fixing the shoulders and neck, it's essential to establish a robust foundation. By tilting your pelvis forward, you help align your upper body and naturally guide it into an improved position. This is the first step to building an optimal posture.

Addressing your lower back is the fundamental, yet most overlooked aspect of maintaining an ideal posture. By applying these suggestions to your daily regimen, you can make significant strides towards improving your posture, staving off back and posture-related discomfort, and ultimately leading a healthier, more comfortable life.

Remember to join us as we continue to share tips on improving your posture and overall health. We appreciate your time and look forward to helping you build a better, healthier life. Don't forget to like and subscribe for more healthful insights. Thank you for your attention, and here's to a better-postured future!

Is Your Vagus Nerve The Solution?

The vagus nerve, named in Latin for “the wanderer”, extends from the brainstem and travels long distances throughout your body.

The vagus nerve is primarily associated with your body’s autonomic function (think automatic). Autonomic functions are non-voluntary functions of the body that you don’t need to think about to make happen. These include functions such as the beating of the head, breathing rate/depth, digestion, dilation, constriction of blood vessels, control of sweat glands, sexual arousal, and many more.

Can you spot the Vagus nerve?

When the vagus nerve is not functioning correctly, this can lead to an increased frequency and duration of your body in fight or flight mode, the opposite mode of which proper vagal nerve tone produces, rest, and digest.

Here are some common issues that can arise when your vagus nerve is not functioning properly

1. Dysfunctional breathing

2. Dysfunctional digestion

3. Chronic inflammation and immune activation

4. Dysfunctional microbiome

5. Dysfunctional heart rate

6. Dysfunctional liver function

7. Chronic stress

8. Poor sleep and circadian rhythm

You may be thinking, I have a few of the items mentioned above, how can I test the function of my Vagus Nerve? Luckily, there is an easy way. It’s called Heart Rate Variability (HRV) and it is a measure that I have been using for years to test if I’m overtraining or not.

HRV looks at the time variability between heartbeats. The more active your vagus nerve is, you will have increased heart rate variability, a lower heartbeat, and a healthier cardiovascular system. HRV is most accurate in a lab setting, however, there are a lot of apps that offer the ability to do this from your own home. Most will require a heart rate strap, however, there are some rudimentary versions built into smartwatches and sensors.

Understanding the function of your vagus nerve is paramount to understanding how your body is functioning. It will provide you with an inventory of the quality of your body’s autopilot, and let you know whether or not your lifestyle is causing your body to redline or not. If you are in fact “red-lining” it may be your chance to give your body what it deserves and activate your vagus nerve and put your body into a better state of health.

In the next article, I will discuss how you can activate your vagus nerve.

3 Ways to use Your Foam Roller

Most people like using their foam roller like a meat tenderizer on their muscles. Although it may work for some, I know of a lot of people that don't like the feeling and tend to stray away from using their foam roller all together.

Foam rollers can help with recovery and self care of tight sore muscles. In this video Dr. Adam gives three way you can use a foam roller that most people never thought of.

Foam rolling for posture, foam rolling for muscle tension and foam rolling for lymphatic drainage.

Piriformis Syndrome - What it is and what you can do about it.

Back pain, sciatica, hip pain, tightness in the glute, trouble putting socks on, can’t cross my legs, painful while sitting.

These are all common descriptors of piriformis syndrome. To understand what piriformis syndrome is, let’s first discuss what the piriformis is.

The piriformis is a muscle that is deep to your large glute muscles. It attaches from the tailbone to the lateral part of the hip. Its primary function is that of an external hip rotator (think turning your knee outward away from the other knee).

Another important feature of the Piriformis muscle, is its close proximity to the sciatic nerve. In most people the sciatic nerve travels beneath the Piriformis muscle and exits below. There are normal anatomical variants that can happen however, including the sciatic nerve exiting above or right through the belly of the piriformis muscle. These variants can lead to increased risk of pirifomis syndrome and sometimes can be resistant to chiropractic care or physiotherapy.

Most of the time, the annoying glute or hip pain, is easy to resolve. However, sometimes it can be resistant to change. A common complaint that is often described is that it’s difficult to put one foot on the opposite knee while sitting, while the other leg the flexibility is there fine.

If you notice this discomfort here are three things you can do.

1. Knee to the opposite shoulder

2. Gluteal foam rolling

3. Pigeon stretch

Check out the video below for the demo.

Understanding Your Posture to Protect Your Health

You are human, therefore you are bipedal, meaning you should be upright.  However, you spend much of your time hunched over in a seated posture. Whether it’s computer work, driving, or relaxing while watching a movie, you can’t deny that we are slowly folding like a lawn chair. 

Sitting and leaning forward, with gravity pulling your head and shoulders down, creates unpleasant postural strain. This can present as neck pain, low back pain, shoulder pain, and the associated daily stiffness. Most commonly, the pain and stiffness is not severe enough to stop you from your daily activities, but nagging enough that it will cause you fatigue. 

Repetitive strain is something that you cannot avoid, but depending on your posture it can either set you up for a future of pain and stiffness or with better/proper postural alignment, it can improve your body’s ability to cope with the repetitive strain placed on it.

Here is an example of a posture out of normal alignment. This example highlights the effects of forward head posture and how it correlates with increased strain in the neck.

Notice the red box. This estimates the amount of strain placed on the neck muscles, that have the task of holding the head upright.

Over time, a daily strain that is 2.5 times the normal force on the neck, will increase the rate at which the underlying structures break down.  You can read more on the strains placed on the neck in this post here.

One of the most common signs of chronic wear and tear is the breakdown of the vertebral discs that space each moving vertebrae in your spine. This takes years to develop but with proper care, and posture awareness this can be limited. As the old saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

The example below is a degenerative disc that occurs over a period of time. 

This postural effect isn’t isolated to the neck, but it’s also common in the low back, especially with people who are desk-bound for 40 + hours a week. Low back pain and stiffness over time can lead to concerning conditions such as sciatica, which can be difficult to recover from.

Often times we assume the breakdown is caused by “old age”. The correct way to put this is it is associated with age, ie. the more time this postural strain has been present, the more breakdown and degeneration is going to be evident.

In the past, as a chiropractor, I would expect to see signs of spinal degeneration in someone who has been working for 10-15 years at a desk for 40 hours a week. The concerning part for me is this is happening more and more in youth, especially since the reliance on technology, such as smartphones, tablets, and laptops.

Below is an example of a teenager that was referred to me by her family physician, for having a history of multiple disc bulges.  

You can tell in the x-ray that her neck has lost the normal curvature and is putting undue strain on her spine, causing the discs to bulge on the now convex side of the curve. 

It’s concerning to me what the next 10-15 years will look like for the youth of this generation. Prior to the pandemic kids were glued to tech and as a chiropractor, I was already seeing concerning issues in kids, teens and young adults, all related to their daily posture. Symptoms such as numbness and tingling into both hands, shooting pain down shoulders and arms, chronic headaches, and many more. Unfortunately, all of this has been exacerbated over the past year with online schooling and the obvious limitations of available recreational activities.

Like with your car, when the alignment is off, your tires wear unevenly and more rapidly. If your spinal alignment is out of position, the structures of your spine wear unevenly and more rapidly than if the alignment was good.

When it comes to the alignment and breakdown of the spine it’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when.

It worries me that for the current generation of youth we will not be able to chalk up spinal osteoarthritis to “old age” when they are going to show those signs at a much earlier age.

The Most Overlooked Stretch for Low Back Pain

Low back pain is not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when.

According to some health organizations, low back pain and stiffness affects 80% of people in their lifetime.

I’ve suffered from disc injuries in my low back when I was younger. I’ve also broken many bones, wrists, hands, ribs, and I can tell you from experience I would rather the latter than the former.

When you get low back pain or low back stiffness you will have a tendency to try and stretch out the low back and improve the movement.

Although your low back can have deterioration and disc degeneration, there is a limiting factor that is often almost overlooked.

This limiting factor in back pain is the length of the psoas muscle. The psoas muscle is a hip flexor that connects to your lower back and when you are in discomfort it will contract and compress your low back.

With people working from home, and spending more time than ever in a seated posture, the psoas muscle will lead to increased tightness, and therefore subsequent compression of the low back. This will lead to increased risk of low back pain or the likelihood of low back pain lingering longer than it normally does if you hurt your back.

As a chiropractor I usually see a high correlation between hip tightness and low back pain. The hip tightness caused by the psoas muscle usually presents as the inability to extend your leg behind you. If you sit at a desk for work, have a long commute or drive for a living, or you played/play sports like hockey or soccer where you are forced to drive your knees forward and you have a history of low back pain or low back stiffness, you need to start doing the following.

Here are three different variations of how you can stretch your psoas muscle to help reduce low back pain.

These are in order of what I think are most effective to least effective but the key to any stretching is do it consistently or it will provide little to no results.

1. The Couch Stretch

Lock your knee into couch

Drive hips forward

Feel the burn

2. Lunge Stretch

Knee on ground

Drive hips forward

On the right picture above, you can reach with your left hand and grab ankle for a greater pull and incorporate a greater stretch.

3. Couch Stretch - Easy Version

Inside leg extended at hip

Extend upper body for more stretch

Preventing Arthritis Pain From The Inside Out

Gone are the days where you turn to glucosamine and chondroitin supplements to improve the health of your joints. 

There are better ways to improve the health of your joints and one of them that is often overlooked is collagen supplementation.

Collagen has a gel-like consistency that can literally ad oil to your creaky joints. 

Many of you may have already heard of collagen for its anti-aging qualities, as it can impact the health of your hair and skin, preventing wrinkles and creating more firmness. I will save the anti-aging properties for another post, but for today let’s focus on what it can do for arthritis and joint pain.

Collagen is found in connective tissue, such as ligaments, tendons, and joints. If you haven’t seen the older video I did on how to make a bone broth, check it out below. I add chicken feet because these are loaded with collagen and will break down nicely in a long slow boil.

You can get adequate collagen from your diet, however, most of us don’t eat the foods consistently enough to get these effects. When we aren’t getting an essential component for health in our diet we must supplement to get the benefit.

Without getting into the details, here are a few studies that show the effectiveness of supplementing with collagen.

First, a study looking at collagen supplementation’s effect on functional daily activities. When comparing the collagen group with a group that took glucosamine and chondroitin supplements and there was a major difference in pain reduction and function changes.

Another study that reviewed the available literature at the time, looked at collagen’s effectiveness with osteoarthritis (OA). When the research studies available on the topic were reviewed the authors concluded that it was safe and showed improvements in function and pain for both men and women with OA.

Finally, a 24-week study done on athletes and joint pain found statistically significant improvements in joint pain when at rest, while walking, standing, and both lifting and carrying objects.

I try to intake collagen daily. One tip that I recommend is if you are making a bone broth, freeze large ice cubes of broth so you can grab 2 or 3 a day to heat up quickly. If you aren’t able to do that, then taking a hydrolyzed collagen supplement is going to be your best option.

I usually put my collagen supplement into a smoothie and since it has no taste, I don’t even know it’s in there. Another thing that can be done is simply mixing with water.

The other way I will supplement with collagen is I sometimes use a coffee “creamer” which provides protein and MCT (a good source of fat), which will help curb your appetite in the morning.

I hope this helps to give you some clarity for a natural way to improve joint pain. It will not only reduce pain and increase function, it will help support your joints proactively as well.

Back Pain While Raking

When the leaves turn their beautiful fall colours you know you will be burdened with the task of doing a fall clean up shortly there after.

Every autumn I have a plethora of new back pain injuries that show up in my chiropractic office.

Ranging from neck pain, to shoulder blade pain and even sciatica, it never ceases to amaze me when these painful conditions present.

One of the main reasons why you can develop different types of issues while raking is that it is in fact seasonal. You may only doing this once or twice a year, and you may try to do it all at once creating muscle fatigue and eventually back injury.

As a chiropractor, I see many different complaints present in the fall, but I decided to create a video to explain two of the most common back injuries that can happen while raking.

How to Prevent Hunchback - Only 5 Minutes a day

No one ever said when I grow up I want to stare at my shoes all day.

But for many of us, the path we are going down ends up here.

With many of repetitive daily postures in a forward seated hunched position, it forces your spine into a strained position that can cause long term tension and stretch to the ligaments of the spine.

Over time the muscles in the back become long and weak, while the muscles of the chest and shoulders tighten pulling your shoulders and rounding your back.

Bad posture can lead to other problems including back pain and even compression fractures of the spine.

As a chiropractor, I see many people that complain of chronic tightness and pain through the shoulder and shoulder blade region.

Since many of the muscles holding up the spine and preventing it from slouching forward are postural muscles they need to be worked more frequently to build endurance. It is also important to stretch the tightened muscles of the chest and shoulders to allow the shoulder and back to straighten.

Check out this video that helps explain daily stretches and exercises that will help prevent the progression of a rounded hunchback.

Wry Neck - What it is & how to fix it.

Nothing is worse than starting your day with a pain in the neck. Even worse sometimes it can lock up and leave you with a very limited range of motion.

Sometimes this happens while you sleep and you wake up like this. Other times you just move your head and something lets go in your neck and you instantly feel the pain and stiffness.

Wry neck is characterized by some common symptoms like pain, stiffness, limited neck motion, muscle spasm, and sometimes referred pain into the head, shoulder, or upper back.

One symptom that is usually not related to this is consistent shooting nerve pain down into your arm, hand, and fingers. If this is what you are experiencing it is more likely that you are suffering from a pinched nerve.

Although wry neck can cause very sharp pain it should not travel past your elbow.

There are many different conditions that can cause wry neck, but if this is something new to you, it’s most likely that you have acute facet syndrome.

Your spine is lined with facet joints on the left and the right and allows for smooth motion. Sometimes they can become acutely irritated, and due to their high sensitivity, they can cause severe pain.

The natural course of healing for this type of neck pain usually is around 14-21 days. In really bad cases and with re-aggravation you may look at closer to a month.

I personally love using chiropractic for treating this as I can decompress your neck to the point where it alleviates the pressure and spasm around the joint. Also, the adjustment and other techniques can help considerably with regaining movement in your neck. It may not go back to 100% right away but you should have more range of motion.

Deep massage and heat are two things that you want to avoid in the first few days, as this will increase the inflammation and make the condition more drawn out.

In the meantime, before you can get in and see your chiropractor, try these few things that I talk about in the video below.

Better Seated Posture - Do This One Thing

Low back pain, shoulder pain, neck pain, headaches, muscle strain, spasms, and more are all the consequence of bad posture. Bad posture isn’t the main problem, it’s a bi-product of sitting for long hours each day.

The average American sits on average for 6.5 hours per day. YIKES! Not only are the effects of sitting bad for your general health due to inactivity, it’s terrible for your posture.

When we sit everything is out in front of us and it causes us to round our backs, drop our heads and reach in front of our body. This is compounded by the fact that gravity is also pulling us down the entire time.

When we think about correcting our posture, intuitively we think to roll our shoulders back to relieve some of the strain that is consistently happening. This may help with the strain in that specific area but it negates the fact that there is an underlying problem that we must correct first.

That problem is the foundation of your spine. By setting up a good foundation at the base of your spine while sitting you will improve your posture drastically by giving integrity to the structures above, therefore reducing postural strain and the back pain and stiffness associated with it.

Check out the video below for a quick explanation on what setting a strong foundation for your spine looks like.

How to Get Out of Bed and Avoid Low back Pain

Low back pain first thing in the morning is very common. Unfortunately there are many contributing factors that cause low back stiffness first thing in the morning. The underlying cause is usually low back arthritis or an existing injury to a lumbar disc. However, there are many aggravating factors that can contribute to the morning low back pain and stiffness. These include but are not limited to the mattress, you sleep position and finally the way you sit up out of bed.

This last maneuver is similar to a sit-up which puts a ton of strain and compression through the lumbar spine,.

This is made even worse by the fact that your discs re-hydrate overnight and increase your risk of low back injuries with certain movements.

Below is a video explanation of a better way to get out of bed, or off the couch when you are laying on your back.

Nerve Flossing for Back Pain and Sciatica

Nerve conditions like sciatica and carpal are just a few of the many that can greatly affect an individual's quality of life. 

Unfortunately, a lot of people think there is no hope with DYI options at home to help.  

If the pressure on the nerve creating the condition is caused by soft tissues like muscles, or tendons then there can be a simple solution that may help... nerve flossing. 

Just like flossing your teeth the idea of nerve flossing is flossing the nerve through soft tissue to eliminate any areas that may be causing an entrapment and subsequent discomfort and pain. 

With specific movements you you can cause your nerves to slide through the tissue and sometimes help to eliminate these small irritations. 

Now it goes without saying, that you should always consult your health care provider to be sure of where the root cause of the problem is coming from.  But if it is the soft tissues causing it then nerve flossing may help you. 

Please click the buttons for the guides of the upper and lower body below.