Your best pillow equals your best SLEEP!

How to choose the perfect pillow

 

Hey everyone, Dr. Chris here. I’d like to take a moment to talk to you about how you sleep. Most people spend 6-8 hours of every day asleep, or nearly one third of their lives. But do you ever think about the posture you sleep in or how it might be affect your spine health?

One of the biggest factors on whether you’re sleeping with the right posture is your pillow. If you are waking up stiff and sore or, worse, waking up during the night, you may be using the wrong pillow. “Dr. Renne, what kind of pillow should I be using?” you might ask. Good question. The answer is: whatever kind of pillow feels right for you!

A pillow should do two things for you: keep you comfortable and offer your head, neck and cervical spine good support. Ideally a good pillow will keep your spine in a ‘neutral position’ while you are sleeping. That means that your spine should be oriented in basically a straight line. If your head is elevated too high this can put your spine out of alignment and cause strain on your muscles. The same can be true for a pillow that is too low.

Everyone is familiar with the classic pillow, but there are other types. If you are experiencing soreness, discomfort or pain when you wake up, you should experiment and see if one of these pillows might help:

Knee Pillow - If you sleep on your back, try placing an ordinary pillow underneath your knees. This knee flexion will actually cause a flattening of your lumbar spine, promoting proper posture while you sleep.

Body Pillow - This elongated pillow is great for side sleepers, as it cradles the upper body and allows the knees to be draped over it, promoting a positive sleep posture.

Cervical/Orthopedic Pillow - This is a contoured neck pillow that has a deeper depression in the center than at the edges, following the natural contours of the cervical spine. Some people swear by them, but they don’t work for everybody. Remember, the right pillow for you is the one that feels good!

Travel Pillow - U-shaped travel pillows aren’t only good for long trips in cars and planes; any time you are going to be in an upright, seated position for an extended period of time a travel pillow can help relieve the pressure on your neck and cervical spine.

Lumbar Support Pillow - There are also pillows that address stresses on the lower back. If you experience lower back pain in your day-to-day routine, try adding a lumbar support pillow and see if that helps.

Donut Pillow - These pillows are specially designed for people who suffer from a specific condition, such as coccydynia - which is pain of the tailbone, pain of the coccyx. Sitting on a donut pillow simply takes pressure off of that area of the spine.

These are just a few of the specialized pillows that are available - there are many many more out there! If you’re not satisfied with your current pillow situation, I encourage you to experiment. The good news is that most pillows, even speciality pillows, are relatively inexpensive.

For more information on choosing a good pillow, check out this video from Spine Health.

At Active Medical & Chiropractic we work directly with several medical pillow suppliers. Give us a call at (904) 398-4860 to talk to us today.

Yours in health,

Christopher B. Renne, D.C.

www.activechirocenter.com

Get on the Ball, people!

What? Who does this guy think he is telling me what to do?

Dr. Chris Renne here, one of your favorite chiropractors practicing at 4111 Atlantic Boulevard, here in Jacksonville, Florida. All kidding aside, what am I trying to say here.

Get on the Theraball, of course!

Why should you, you ask. What's in it for me, you wonder. 

My friends at Spine-Health recently shared some interesting information regarding the benefits of Theraball use and provided a few ideas on how you can start a simple, effective Theraball exercise program with less than $20 and a small does of motivation. below, please see what they have to say about this:

Many treatment programs for low back pain incorporate use of an exercise ball (also called a stability or fitness ball) to strengthen the core muscles in the stomach and back that support the spine. Exercise ball exercises clearly work and have been adopted in non-rehabilitation exercise programs by athletes and fitness buffs looking to cross-train and strengthen their core muscles.

This article provides several simple steps to choose, get familiar with, and benefit from using an exercise ball on a regular basis. 


Choosing the Right Exercise Ball

Physical therapists, exercise trainers, Chiropractors, and other professionals have constructed several guidelines to use when selecting the proper exercise ball size.
When sitting upright on an exercise ball:
Feet should be flat on the floor - with an even weight distribution.
Knees should be level or slightly lower than the pelvis - creating an angle of 90 degrees or slightly greater at the hips and knees (thighs parallel to ground or pointing down slightly).
Pelvis, shoulders, and ears should be in a vertical line — the body should not be leaning in any direction as a counter-balance.  Bouncing up and down lightly will usually produce this alignment. Exercise balls generally come in five different diametrical sizes to be accordingly used by people of differing body compositions.
It is important to note that height alone is not the only factor in determining ball size. Because the exercise balls are flexible and offer resistance, weight is also an important factor.

A general guideline for height correspondence to diameter of exercise ball is as follows (assuming average body weight is proportional to height):

Ball Diameter Your Height
45cm 5’ and under
55cm 5’1” - 5’8”
65cm 5’9” - 6’2”
75cm 6’3” - 6’7”
85cm 6’8” and taller

If body weight to height is larger than the average proportion, sitting on the exercise ball will compress it down more, so try using the next larger exercise ball size in order to maintain the 90-degree rule. Another factor to keep in mind is that most exercise ball sizes have some adjustability to them. If the angles at the hips and knees are much greater than 90 degrees, some air can be released to compensate and vice versa.
Bear in mind, releasing air from the exercise ball will cause it to lose air pressure. As the ball flattens out, this will actually make it more stable, as it has a larger contact area with the resisting surface and the body. This means that stabilizing and balancing exercises will become easier and will lose some effectiveness.
Exercise balls also lose pressure because of stretching from regular usage. Therefore, as the ball ages, it may require further inflation. On the other hand, adding excessive air to the exercise ball will increase the difficulty of balancing and stabilizing, as the contact area decreases.

Starting an Exercise Ball Program

Just sitting on an exercise ball is active and requires the core body muscles to work to hold the body upright and balanced on the ball. Until sitting on the exercise ball feels comfortable, it is often a good idea to not have the ball fully inflated - a slightly deflated exercise ball is more stable.
Sit in the center of the ball with both feet firmly on the ground about shoulder width apart. If this is difficult, then use a wider stance.
The knees should be in line over the ankles.
Shoulders should be in line over the body (not hunching forward) and the head squarely over the neck (not leaning forward).
One can easily sit on the exercise ball while working at a desk or computer workstation and use it as an alternative to a traditional office chair. Others prefer to sit on it while watching television. Whatever the use, sitting on an exercise ball at some point of the day is helpful to strengthen the core muscles that support the spine. 

Beginning Stretches

There are several stretches that are easy to do when starting to use an exercise ball. These stretching exercises help with proprioception, or the sense of the position or parts of the body relative to the rest of the body, and with balance. Each of these stretches should be done slowly 8 to 12 times.
Move the hips from side-to-side. While sitting on the exercise ball (as described above) and keeping the knees still, move the hips gently from side to side. Pause for a second at the end of each sideways movement to allow for a gentle stretch.
Move hips from front-to-back. While keeping the knees still, place hands on the knees and rotate the hips forward by tucking the buttocks first under the pelvis, and then push them out behind the pelvis. All the motion should be limited to the hip area, not the knees or chest. 

If you'd like to learn more about how to properly include an exercise Theraball into your daily health routine, please feel free email Dr. Christopher Renne, D.C. at jaxchiro@gmail.com and ask any questions you may have. Additionally, feel free to drop in with your ball and the team here at Active Medical & Chiropractic can show you one of our favorite home exercise programs, the 30 minute TV Workout. 

For more exercise ball routines and exercises, visit http://www.spine-health.com/wellness/exercise/how-start-exercise-ball-program

As always, thank you for taking the time to read this blog. Hopefully, you have learned a thing or two that will inspire you to take a positive step forward towards a more abundant, pain free life. So, Get on the Ball, Jacksonville!


Be well,

Christopher b. Renne, D.C.
jaxchiro@gmail.com
www.activechirocenter.com

Read, Share, SAVE A LIFE!

From the desk of Christopher B. Renne, D.C., a Jacksonville, Florida based chiropractic physician.

Recently, children close to my family have perished in tragic auto accidents.  These unimaginable events have me the thinking how could I effect positive change in the world knowing what I know and having experienced through these families their pain of loss.  So I contacted my friends at Allstate Insurance and they provided me with some facts compiled by their sources which I have listed below in no particular order. 

Please carefully read these and share them with anyone you know who may have a teen driving in their household so that perhaps together we can prevent unnecessary tragedy.

TEEN DRIVING FACTS:

1.         Car crashes are the #1 killer of teens in America.

Car crashes caused far more teen deaths each year than homicide, suicide, cancer, and drugs. (1).

2.         Teen drivers have a crash rate three times those of drivers 20 years and older per mile driven. (1).

3.         A total of 2,823 teens aged between 13 and 19 died in motor vehicle crashes in 2012. (1)

4.         On average nearly 8 teens die each day in car crashes. (1)

5.         Teen motor vehicle crash death in 2012 occurred most frequently from 9 p.m. to midnight (1).

6.         Summer is the deadliest season for teens on the road. (1)

7.         Crashes involving teens cost society $26 billion each year (2).

*On a personal note that is a measure of dollar cost. The cost in heartache and despair can never be measured.

8.         Inexperience is a leading cause of teen crashes (2).

Of teens aged 13 through 19 who died in car crashes in 2012, 52% of drivers and 59% of passengers were not wearing a seatbelt (1).

9.         Of total crashes among 15 to 19-year-old drivers, distractions were involved.  21% were identified as using cellphones (5).

10.       Driver distractions were indicated for 16% of all drivers involved in fatal crashes for people under the age of 20 (3).

11.       With no adult passenger the risk of 16 or 17-year-old drivers being killed in a car crash increases 44% with one passenger under the age of 21. * It doubles with two young passengers, and quadruples with three or more young passenger* (4).

12.       Speeding is a factor in one of every three teen fatal crashes (3).

Finally among drivers ages 16-19 killed in 2012, 23% had blood alcohol concentrations of 0.08% or higher (1).

I commend you for reading all the way to the end. I wish this could have been a more positive message today.

Thank you to Mandy Bowers and Kelby Hoden of Mandy Bowers Allstate Agency here in Jacksonville, Florida for helping compile this information. 

Christopher B. Renne, D.C.

Chiropractic Physician

www.activechirocenter.com

jaxchiro@gmail.com

Sources:

1.         Insurance Institute for Highway Safety 2012 teen fatality fax.

2.         National Safety Council.

3.         National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

4.         “Teen driver risk in relation to age and number of passengers”.

5.         Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.