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Exercise Your Way to a Better Back

An estimated four out of every five adults suffers from back pain at some point in their lives. Many turn to prescription and over-the-counter drugs to relieve the pain, but this only masks the symptoms; it does nothing to get at the root cause of the pain. Chiropractic and back strengthening exercises are far more beneficial and effective because they harness the body’s own natural healing abilities to go after the source of the pain, rather than simply fooling the body’s warning system.

Simple and effective aerobic exercise.

Many find that performing some simple, at-home back exercises helps relieve pain and makes the muscles in the back, hips, thighs and stomach stronger and more flexible. These exercises work well in conjunction with a program of aerobic exercise such as swimming, running, walking or bicycling.

It is important to remember that if you feel any pain at all when performing any of these stretching exercises, that you stop immediately so you do not make the condition worse than it already is.

The following are good beginner back strengthening exercises:

Wall Slides

Stand with your back against a wall. Walk feet 12 inches out from your body. Hold your abdominal muscles tight while you slowly bend both knees 45 degrees. Hold this position 45 seconds. Slowly return to upright position. Repeat 10 times.

Heel Raises

Stand with weight evenly distributed on both feet. Slowly raise your heels up and then lower them. Repeat 10 times. Straight Leg Raises Lie on your back with one leg straight and one knee bent. Tighten your abdominal muscles to stabilize your lower back. Slowly lift straight leg straight up about 6 to 12 inches and hold for 1 to 5 seconds. Slowly lower leg back down. Repeat 10 times. Do the same with other leg.

Back Leg Swing

Stand behind a chair and hold on to the top of it with both hands. Swing one leg back and up, keeping the knee straight. Slowly lower the leg. Do the same with the other leg. Repeat 5 times with each leg.

Perform these exercises on a regular basis, along with regular chiropractic checkups, and you will notice a reduction in the severity of your back pain in no time at all!

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Dr. Shawn Asks some important questions of interest to Greenville residents - Chiropractor Greenville Dr. Shawn Asks...

Do nerves actually get pinched?
Chiropractors recognize two types of nerve disorders involved in subluxation. The least common is a pinched nerve that diminishes nerve supply to an affected organ or tissue. More common is the irritated nerve (facilitative lesion) which overexcites nerve communications to an affected organ or tissue. Chiropractic care has been shown to help with both types.
What controls every cell, tissue and organ of your body?
DNA? Wrong. Immune system? Wrong? Hormones? Wrong. It's your nervous system, consisting of your brain, spinal cord and all the nerves of your body. When a chiropractor sees a Greenville patient with say, stomach problems, we want to know why the brain is unable to properly control and regulate the stomach. Which prompts us to examine the nervous system—the focus of chiropractic care.