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Showing posts from March, 2013

Quick Tips for Better Health

Advances in technology have been hugely beneficial to our society. But some of them have come at a very physical cost. For example, often when I walk into my consultation room to meet new patients, I see them sitting twisted in their chair, legs crossed, hunched forward, chin to chest, heads protruding forward as they look at their smart phones . Our whole bodies are involved with the use of any form of technology, and we pay the price in aches, pains, and worse. Here are some easy tips for improving our health throughout the work day. 1. Most important is the 30-30 or 1-2 rule. Sit 30 minutes, up 30 seconds; sit for an hour, up for two minutes. 2. Instead of sitting down for a meeting, take a little stroll around the office and have a walking meeting. When you walk and move, you bring 5-15 percent more oxygen to your brain, so your meetings are more clear and productive. Meetings also tend to be shorter when you’re walking around. And of course, you’re going to bur

Presenteeism

By now, you’ve probably heard of presenteeism: the practice of workers reporting to work when ill. It’s a trend that’s been increasing in recent years, and it’s having very real impacts on employee productivity. In fact, some data puts on-the-job productivity losses as high as 60 percent of the total cost of workers’ illness- actually exceeding the cost of absenteeism and medical disability . But employees don’t just show up to work with coughs and fevers. As a chiropractor, I see a different form of presenteeism: people working through pain caused by bad ergonomics. You’re probably guilty of it yourself. You sit too long at your desk and your back starts hurting, which forces you to shift more, draws tension to the affected area, and ultimately distracts you from your work, or causes you to work more slowly than you would otherwise. And yet you still show up at the office, day after day. In today’s economic environment, people are scared not to. And with companies c

The Purpose of Pain

We’ll often ask our newest practice members, “What if the sensation of pain didn’t exist?” If you have back pain or headaches or know someone who does, making the pain go away is a major goal. But what is the purpose of pain? It turns out there are some very important reasons why we’re equipped to sense pain. Dorland’s Medical Dictionary used by health professionals around the world list over 34 different types! Pain causes you to pay attention to something that’s not working right. It’s a warning that a limit of some type has been reached that the body is not equipped to handle or cannot adapt further. In many ways, pain is a good thing. It’s only when we misinterpret the pain or think that by making it go away without tending to its underlying cause that we get into trouble. Many Boston-area folks begin care in our office because of a painful symptom or obvious health problem. And while we always show our compassion, our primary interest is in the under