Content

• Steps
• Advice

The spine runs along the main line between the back and contains the spinal cord, like a highway consisting of nerves connecting the brain to each cell tissue in the body. Needless to say, we also know that the spine is of paramount importance. Seen from the side, the spine has three main curves, which are essential to create mobility and stability for the body. However, when viewed from the back, the spine must be straight, not deviating much to either side. Some people are born with an abnormally curved spine, but poor health, poor posture and nutrition are the main causes of spinal disease.

Steps

Part 1 of 3: Knowing How to Take Care of the Spine

1. 

   Keep proper living posture. Maintaining proper body posture while sitting, walking, and sleeping is probably the most important thing you can do to preserve the health of your spine. Many people have to sit to work all day, so the height of the chair and its support posture are very important factors. Office chairs should be customizable (let you adjust to your height) and should buy one with a lumbar support for the lower back. At home, you should use pillows to support your back and raise your legs while watching TV.
   • Do not cross your legs or feet while sitting because this will lose the balance of your hip bones, putting pressure on your lower back.
   • The height of the computer screen should be at eye level and right in front of the chair, otherwise pressure will be placed on the neck vertebrae and gradually create abnormal curvature.

2. 

   
   
   Wear good quality shoes. The feet are important for good posture because they are the foundation that supports the whole body. So choose sturdy shoes with proper arches, a slightly raised sole (13 - 20 mm), and plenty of room for your toes. On the contrary, you should avoid wearing high heels often because they affect the center of the body, force the spine to compensate for the deviation caused by the shoe, and cause too much drag on the lumbar vertebrae (overly arched spine disease. ).
   • If you are overweight, have flat feet or short legs, you should purchase a heel lift orthotics (shoe inserts and are made for each person). Orthotics are beneficial for spinal health because they support arched arches in your legs and provide better posture of motion when you walk or run.
   • Orthopedic appliances are made by a podiatrist, a specialist, or a specialist in osteoarthritis.

3. 

   
   
   Sleep on a hard mattress. You spend at least 1/3 of your life in bed, so pay more attention to mattress quality and sleeping position. For many people, using a hard mattress is the best way to support the spine. A memory foam mattress is also a good option. You should consider replacing a new mattress after about 8 to 10 years. The thickness of the pillow should be the same as the distance from the side of the head to the top of the shoulder, which is a good rule of thumb to keep your neck straight during sleep.
   • The best sleeping position for the spine is to lie on one side of the body, with the hips and knees slightly bent, holding a small pillow between the thighs to keep the hips aligned.
   • Do not support your head with many pillows while reading in bed because this will strain the neck bones and can reverse the normal curvature of the spine.

4. 

   
   
   Avoid carrying backpacks or heavy bags. Whether you're carrying heavy loads from class to class, or from school to home, that heavy backpack can compress your spine and have serious consequences for your spine health. The curved spine also makes it impossible to fully stretch! Even worse, your spine will start to curve if you wear a backpack to one shoulder or carry a bag with all of the weight on one shoulder, such as a messenger bag.
   • When wearing a bag or backpack, remember to distribute its weight evenly across your shoulders. If you need to carry a heavy suitcase, you should split it evenly between hands, sometimes with one hand, sometimes with the other.
   • Consider buying a backpack or suitcase with a wheelchair.
   • Try to go back and forth between the classroom and the closet to get your books instead of carrying everything with you. If the closet is far away and the travel time is short, ask your teacher if you can give you a little more time to go to the locker to exchange books between classes.

5. 

   Exercise and be more active. Moderate exercise has many health benefits, such as weight loss and increased muscle strength, both of which have a positive effect on the spine. Too much body weight puts more pressure on the spinal joints, causing them to wear off more quickly and lose their alignment. In addition, strong muscles help keep the bones and joints stable in the normal position. Weight training is a great way to build muscle, but don't do too much in certain muscle groups and forget about others as this will lose your body balance. Seek advice from a personal trainer if you are unsure how to exercise correctly.
   • Every morning when you wake up, straighten your back and slowly do "snow angel" with your arms and legs for three to five minutes. This is a very good move to warm and gently stretch many important groups of organs that are responsible for keeping the spine straight.
   • At the gym you should use rowing machines to tone the muscles between the shoulder blades and improve the posture of the upper body.
   • Pilate and yoga exercises also help stretch and balance the body, especially the central muscles (abdomen, pelvis, lower back), forming the foundation for a well-balanced posture.

6. 

   Consume necessary nutrients. In order to maintain a strong and well-proportioned skeleton you need a number of nutrients.Minerals such as calcium, magnesium, and boron form the mineral network of the bone, and a lack of these can make bones more brittle and breakable (called osteoporosis). Vitamin D is also essential for bones, vitamin D deficiency makes bones soft and easily deformed (in children called rickets, in adults, osteomalacia).
   • The skin produces vitamin D when it is exposed to intense sunlight.
   • The recommended amount of calcium is 1,000-2,000 mg per day, depending on the age of each person. The best dietary sources of calcium are collard greens, kale, spinach, sardines, tofu, almonds and sesame seeds.

Part 2 of 3: Spinal Condition Assessment

1. 

   Scoliosis screening. Scoliosis is an abnormal curvature of the spine to either side, usually occurring in the chest area (the area between the shoulder blades), leading to back pain and limited mobility. For some reason, people are born with scoliosis, while many others get it in their teens. Scoliosis screenings are usually done by high school nurses, but most health professionals do. You are usually asked to bend your hips forward to see if one shoulder blade sticks out more than the other side.
   • Scoliosis screening is more important for children than adults, because therapies (splints or metal rods) can slow or stop the condition while the spine is still developing.
   • Girls are at greater risk of scoliosis, and severe scoliosis requiring treatment also occurs in girls much more.

2. 

   See a specialist doctor. If the examination shows that you have a scoliosis or have reason to believe that your spine is a little different, then you should see a specialist. The chiropractor will carefully look at the spine and take an x-ray to better understand the problem. They must look for common signs of spinal problems such as osteoarthritis, osteoporosis and disc herniation, all of which can lead to an abnormally curled spine.
   • Your doctor may also do a CT scan, MRI, bone scan, or a more detailed x-ray to accurately diagnose the condition of your spine.
   • Rarely is surgery to be used to treat illness or spinal abnormalities.

3. 

   Examination with a physician specializing in bones and joints. They are spine specialists, relying on natural methods to treat spinal or bone diseases in general, and do not use medicine or surgery. A chiropractor can assess spinal abnormalities, including abnormal curvature, limited movement, or tight lumbar muscle.
   • Although the spine in the chest area or the middle part of the back may be slightly bent forward, too much curl will lead to hunchback. The most common causes of hunchback are osteoporosis, rheumatism, tumors, and poor gait (sloping shoulders).
   • The thoracic spine can also be perfectly straight, actually considered abnormal and is sometimes called the "military spine".

4. 

   Look for a small side of the pelvis. The pelvis is made up of two bones joined together by ligaments. If one of the bones is smaller than the other, you will either stand or sit on your side toward the smaller bone. This condition causes the spine to curl and further problems with health and gait present. If you find that you usually sit on your side to one side, you should ask your doctor about the possibility of a small pelvis.
   • To fix a small pelvis you have to insert the alignment device into the shoe, and bring a book or magazine to sit on so that you do not tilt to one side.

Part 3 of 3: Applying Effective Treatment

1. 

   Osteoarthritis adjustment. Regular (perhaps monthly) treatment with a physician who specializes in osteoarthritis is not only effective for spinal pain, but also helps you to adjust your body to be more balanced. They use physical manipulation techniques to adjust the spine, to align or compress the surface of the vertebra. The spinal correction technique cannot reverse scoliosis but plays an important role in maintaining the normal curvature of the spine, especially after a major spinal injury such as an accidental impact. car.
   • Adjusting the vertebrae can make a cracking sound, as if you were “cracking” your knuckles. This sound is caused by a change in the pressure inside the joint, causing air bubbles to suddenly release.
   • You only feel a little discomfort during this therapy, not even pain at all.

2. 

   Meet with a massage therapist. Find a qualified masseuse to massage your back, shoulders, and neck. Massage reduces muscle tension, so it is very useful for aligning your spine if you have spasm of muscles around or in your spine. Massage also has a stress-reducing effect, which is a contributing factor to inappropriate body posture, especially in the upper body.
   • Massage can push lactic acids, toxins, and inflammatory compounds out of muscles and soft tissues and into the bloodstream, so you should drink plenty of water to flush them out when you massage.
   • Some massage therapists know the technique of foot reflexology, which is a method of stimulating points on the feet to improve health. So ask them to stimulate the points that are related to spinal health.

3. 

   Practice physical therapy. A physiotherapist shows you stretches and exercises designed to improve the health of your spine, and if needed they can treat the muscles of your spine with electrotherapy, such as super acoustic therapy or electric muscle stimulation. Exercises targeting the back extensors, neck flexors, and pelvic muscles are essential for building a well-proportioned body.
   • The continuous resistance training technique with weights can either halt or reverse bone loss, which is beneficial for health and prevents scoliosis.
   • If your muscles ache after exercising or massaging, take a bath with Epsom salts. The magnesium in the salt helps relax muscles and soothe pain.

4. 

   Get a prescription to buy medicine. If you have osteoporosis or have low bone density in your spine and you are concerned about the possibility of fracture or deformation, you can ask your doctor to prescribe bone health enhancement pills, now there are countless labels containing bisphosphonate osteoporosis treatment (Boniva, Reclast, Fosamax). Hormone medications that help increase bone density include raloxifene, calcitonin, and parathyroid hormone.
   • Bisphosphonate can increase the risk of fractures in rare cases, creating pain in the bones, joints, and muscles.
   • Teriparatide is a form of parathyroid hormone that accelerates bone formation, and is the first drug to be approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for its ability to treat osteoporosis and build new bones.

5. 

   Consider the possibility of surgery. In the majority of cases with spinal problems, surgery is considered only the last resort, but sometimes the first choice for scoliosis that rapidly disfigures the spine in children. . Scoliosis surgery is a spinal graft, akin to a "welding" process. The basic idea is to rearrange and connect the curved vertebrae so that they develop into a single bone mass. All bone joints require bone grafts, which are small pieces of bone that insert into the space between the vertebrae to fuse. The bones will then develop into each other, just like when a broken bone heals.
   • Doctors often have to insert metal rods to hold the spine in place until fusion occurs. Metal rods are attached to the bone by screws, hooks and / or wire, which are removed later.
   • Possible complications after surgery include infection, allergies to anesthetics, nerve damage, and chronic swelling or pain.

Advice

• For proper body posture it is important to pay attention to it. Look in the mirror and adjust your posture yourself, focus on how you feel and practice paying attention to your posture at all times.
• Spinal surgery is a high-impact treatment that involves moving some muscles and aligning the skeleton. After the surgery, some patients report very pain, others only experience mild pain.