Winter’s a very divisive season with people either loving it or hating it and there not being much of an in-between. Regardless of which category you fall into, winter brings with it heightened and additional risks for your health and body. You want to take care of your body, and one such way you can stave off common winter issues is through chiropractic care. Here are four common winter issues chiropractic care can help you with. 

Cold And Flu

Winter is called flu season for a reason. While you can get a flu shot, there’s no vaccine for the common cold, leading many to simply expect to get a cold at some point throughout the winter season. You do what you can, but did you know that the cold and flu are winter issues chiropractic care can help with?

Unexpected, yes, but true. Chiropractic care can help with the cold and flu through utilizing chiropractic treatments which help your lymphatic system to drain, as well as reducing the stress on your nervous system. Both of these combined make your body stronger and help it to heal quicker, as can the fact that chiropractic care increases your range of motion and ability to move and sleep easier. These are also helpful in the prevention of and healing from colds and flus. 

Plus, colds and flus are common winter issues chiropractic care helps with by setting your body up to better stave them off. The healthier you are, the less likely it is that you will get sick. Regular chiropractic adjustments will keep your body in good working condition so that it can better prevent illness.

Seasonal Depression

While seasonal depression is not something chiropractors can heal and something a psychiatrist or psychologist is better suited to help you with, it is a winter issue chiropractic care can ease through the use of relaxing massage and adjustments that help your nervous system to perform better. These reduce tension in your body and can help with negative alignments which impact communication between your brain and your nervous system. Chiropractic care can reduce fatigue and tension caused by misalignment, which can help your mood, at least a little bit.

Winter Sports Injuries

If you fall into the “loves winter” category, there’s a strong chance that you enjoy winter sports like skiing or snowboarding or the like. While these are fun and something exciting even for non-athletes to try, they also lead to many injuries. Among the most common winter issues chiropractic care treats are winter sports injuries ranging from back and shoulder pain to muscle rehabilitation to regaining range of motion and more. Chiropractors can help you by giving you exercises to help you properly warm up and cool down after hitting the slopes, as well as with injuries you sustain. Chiropractic adjustments reduce inflammation and increase mobility, setting you up for success and lessening your likelihood of injury. 

Should you sustain injury, chiropractors can help with adjustments and spinal manipulation to promote your body’s natural healing process and assist with soreness and spasms, as well as shifting your spine back into alignment, which can help with any pain you feel.

Back Pain From Shoveling Snow

One of the most common winter issues chiropractic care helps with is back pain from shoveling snow. Many people don’t realize quite how much of a strain that shoveling snow places on our backs or how strenuous it is, so we only do it during the winter months. While there are things that you can do to reduce your risk of back pain from shoveling snow, such as warming up properly, keeping the snow close to your body, only doing little loads at a time, and dressing properly, chiropractors can help with any back pain shoveling snow causes you with our adjustments and manipulations. 

These are but a few of the common winter issues chiropractic care can help with. The best treatment for many issues is prevention, so if you’d like to lessen your risk for these common winter issues, chiropractic care can set you up for success, as well as get you back on the mend, should you suffer from any of them.

Do You Need Chiropractic Care?

Ogden Chiropractic is passionate about helping each and every one of our clients be as healthy as possible. We know there are many common winter issues chiropractic care helps with, and we want to be your go-to, should you ever need chiropractic care. To learn more about common winter issues chiropractic care can help with or to schedule a consultation, please contact us today!

It seems like there are always new trends in the gym, but one that has withstood the test of time has been sports taping. People want to do whatever they can in order to keep their bodies in good condition and in order to prevent injury, and sports tape can do that. Here’s what you need to know about sports taping and what it can do for you. 

What Is Sports Taping?

Sports tape is a rehabilitative technique that uses specially designed tape in order to stabilize injuries and assist their healing through promoting proper circulation. It also allows for freedom of motion, so that people can both heal and have use of their injured parts. While commonly used as a rehabilitative method, many people will use sports tape to prevent injury too. 

This is because sports taping allows for improved circulation and muscular support through the light pressure it applies to the tissues underneath where you put it. It lifts the skin up slightly away from the tissues, which allows for better circulation. Since it doesn’t restrict circulation and it supports your muscles, sports taping can be worn longer than other taping methods. This is good both for healing injury and for prevention. 

What Does Sports Taping Help?

While called sports taping, it’s not restricted to athletes. Many people can benefit from the use of sports taping even if they don’t work out at all. 

Sports tape most commonly helps with injuries such as: pulled hamstrings, shoulder pain, back pain, leg pains, and more. This is why you mostly see sports taping applied to the shoulders, the calves, and other such areas.

It can also help with more common aches and pains, such as headaches. This is why there are office workers, elderly people, those who work jobs with a lot of repetitive movements, and the like will do sports taping in addition to athletes. 

The Benefits Of Sports Tape

As you can see, sports taping can help a lot of people. Here are some of the benefits you should be aware of. 

#1. Reduces Inflammation And Increases Circulation

Since sports taping slightly pulls your skin up while still applying pressure, this stimulates your blood flow and allows for inflammation to drain easier. 

#2. Prevents Injury

Through its supportive properties, the slight pressure, and the increased circulation sports tape provides, it can work to not just heal injuries, but also prevent them. 

#3. Allows Freedom Of Movement

Sports tape is very flexible unlike some other tapes or supportive devices. It’s made to feel like a second skin that allows your own skin to breathe under it. Because of this, it allows for full range of motion and doesn’t restrict movement. 

#4. Decreases Pain

Since sports tape applies pressure and allows for better circulation and decreased inflammation, it can also help lower pain levels. 

When Shouldn’t You Use It?

While sports tape can be very beneficial, there are circumstances in which it is best not to use it. These include:

• Frail skin.

If your skin isn’t very strong and can easily be wounded by pressure or pulling, sports tape could do more harm than good.

• Wounds.

If you have an open wound, putting tape over it can cause infection. Additionally, since your skin is already torn, pulling the sports tape off would worsen your wound.

• Adhesive sensitivity.

If you are sensitive to or allergic to adhesive, putting a tape like this on your body could result in a very unpleasant reaction.

• Deep vein thrombosis (DVT).

This condition is when you have a blood clot in one of the deep veins in your arms or your legs. Using sports tape could cause the clot to dislodge due to the increase in circulation, which is potentially fatal.

• Active cancer.

If you’re actively fighting cancer, sports tape can be dangerous, as it could increase the blood flow to the cancer. 

• Diabetes.

If you have diabetes, you may also suffer from neuropathy, which affects your sensation. In this case, sports taping should be avoided, because you cannot feel if it is potentially causing problems. 

Do You Have Questions About Sports Taping?

If you are wondering about sport taping, how to do it safely, and if it is right for you, please feel free to contact us at Ogden Chiropractic. We can answer any questions you may have, help you deduce whether or not sports taping is an option for you, and show you have to do so safely. 

It is natural to be cautious of things you don’t normally think twice about when you are pregnant. After all, there are a plethora of things that you can do normally that are discouraged once you are pregnant. Maybe you enjoy a glass of wine with your dinner, or several cups of coffee during your workday, or riding your horse. These are things that are advised against during pregnancy, so it makes sense to wonder about the safety of other treatments, such as seeing a chiropractor during pregnancy.

Common Fears

Perhaps you might worry about the pressure on your stomach if you see a chiropractor during pregnancy. Or, if you are going into your third trimester, you may also worry about laying on your back. You might fear that going to a chiropractor during pregnancy will increase your risk for a miscarriage. 

Is It Safe To See A Chiropractor During Pregnancy?

The American Pregnancy Association assures that there are no known risks to chiropractic care during pregnancy. So long as you see a licensed chiropractor who knows how to work with pregnant people, you should be just fine. In fact, seeing a chiropractor during pregnancy is even something you might have recommended to you. 

Why See A Chiropractor While Pregnant?

Pregnancy places a lot of stress on your spine – an area of the body chiropractors are experts with. Your body undergoes a lot of changes in nine months, and they can result in a misaligned spine or joints if not monitored properly. Since your pelvis is changing, your posture, how much your abdomen protrudes and your back curves, these increase risk for lower back pain and pelvic girdle pain. 

If your spine becomes misaligned, this affects the entirety of your central nervous system, which impacts how well your body works. Keeping your spine aligned both keeps your body working properly and prevents unnecessary pain. If your pelvis becomes misaligned, this causes pain and can affect your body’s abilities to have a natural birth. Even if you don’t plan on a natural birth, a misaligned pelvis can also affect how much room the fetus has to develop. 

How Can A Chiropractor Help Pregnancy?

Ensuring your spine and pelvis are in alignment will prevent pain, keep your body working right, and help your pregnancy go smoother. Chiropractors can help keep you in alignment, reduce your pain levels, and assist you with keeping your pregnancy as free of complications as possible. Because of this, and because of the rapid changes pregnancy forces your body to go through, practitioners generally recommend monthly visits, to keep you aligned, though that may vary based on your specific needs. 

Additional Benefits

Seeing a chiropractor during pregnancy has additional benefits besides prevention of lower back pain and pelvic girdle pain, too. Those two things help you have a healthier pregnancy, yes, but chiropractic care during pregnancy can also help control nausea, maintain a healthier pregnancy, reduce labor and delivery time, and prevent unwanted c-sections. 

• Controlling Nausea.

Chiropractic care can do this through the realignment of your spine, which improves your overall nervous system, which means that your hormones can be more balanced. Ergo, reducing your morning sickness. 

• Maintaining A Healthier Pregnancy. 

This also ties into your nervous system. By keeping you aligned, your immune system is able to function better than if you did have obstructions to your central nervous system. This helps your overall pregnancy be healthier.

• Reduce Labor And Delivery Time.

If your spine and pelvis are in alignment and your central nervous system is unobstructed, this means that if you desire a natural birth, your body will have an easier time with contractions and delivery.

• Prevent Unwanted C-Sections

If you don’t want a c-section, chiropractic care can help you maintain pelvic balance, which means that there is less risk of the fetus being in the wrong position for a natural birth. Even if you do plan on a c-section, this maintaining pelvic balance helps ensure the fetus has enough room to grow. 

How Chiropractors Work With Pregnant People

If you see a chiropractor while pregnant, there’s no need to worry about undue pressure on your stomach or back, so long as you see one who has experience with pregnant people. They can use an adjustable table to keep pressure off your stomach, and have you lie on your side, to avoid pressure on your back. 

Are You Considering Chiropractic Care During Your Pregnancy?

Here at Ogden Chiropractic, our physicians are trained to work with pregnant people, meaning that you don’t have to worry about unnecessary pressure on your stomach or back when you work with us. We want to help you maintain a healthy, aligned system during your pregnancy. For any questions about prenatal chiropractic care or to schedule an appointment, please contact us at Ogden Chiropractic today!