Hundreds of thousands of people in the United States suffer from back pain on a regular basis. But did you know that there's a lot you can do to not only treat back pain, but also prevent it from happening in the first place? Here at Advanced Chiropractic Group in Santa Barbara, we want to help you learn what to do to keep back pain from holding you back.

Attend to Posture to Reduce Lower Back Pain

Rather than turning to back pain treatment only after you start feeling problems in your lower back, pay attention to your posture as you go through your daily activities. Most people these days work at desks, and the way you sit for 40 or more hours each week will have an effect on how you feel. Adjust your chair to provide adequate support, sit up straight to maintain your back's natural curve, and pull your shoulders back to promote healthy alignment. Taking breaks to stand up and walk around for a few minutes every hour also helps decrease the chance of experiencing lower back pain.

Get Regular Chiropractic Adjustments

Our team of Santa Barbara chiropractors is ready to provide adjustments to help you prevent problems before they occur. In addition to making you feel better overall, spinal manipulation can bring problem spots back into alignment before they start causing you pain. The longer you wait after you notice something that feels off, the more likely it is to cause a larger problem down the road.

Participate in Healthy Activities

Staying active is one of the best ways to keep your back healthy. The stronger your core muscles are, the less likely you are to injure yourself in a way that will cause you ongoing back pain. Once you get a herniated disc that leads to sciatica, you'll have to go to chiropractors to help treat the back pain. But if you do yoga, Pilates, and other activities, you can strengthen your muscles before you experience problems.

What other ways have you found to prevent back pain?

Dr. Hergenreother is expanding his knowledge and improving his clinical skills, at an Impulse Adjusting Instrument Semiar in Seattle, WA May 11th and 12th.

Born Out of More Than a Decade of Research and Engineering, The Impulse Adjusting Instrument Features New Wave Technology Tuned in to the Natural Frequency of the Body, Resulting in More Efficient and Effective Chiropractic Adjustments.

Dr. Cochran will be attending the Yardi Health & Wellness Fair today from 11-2. He will be presenting healthy living opportunties - chiropractic care - to their employess. 

At Advanced Chiropractic Group, our Santa Barbara chiropractors are dedicated to helping you achieve all of your health and wellness goals. Whether you come to us for back pain therapy to relieve upper and lower back pain you may be experiencing from a personal injury accident, or if you’re looking for a healthier alternative to your current lifestyle, our doctors are happy are here to help you achieve your individual goals. One way you can be at your very best every day is by making sure your body has all the nutrients it needs to support healthy musculoskeletal and nervous system functioning. That is why we are pleased to offer Metagenics nutritional supplements to our patients.

These products provide solutions to patients that suffer from chronic health conditions. Our chiropractors will provide solutions through hands-on adjustments and chiropractic care, as well as address the causes through science-based nutrition.

Help is Available Through Metagenics

Some of the chronic illnesses these products address include diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease and obesity. Frequently these conditions are caused by poor diet, stress, and lack of regular exercise. Our Santa Barbara chiropractors can provide stress management and lifestyle advice, but we also recommend use of these products to restore needed nutrients to your body. We’re working together with you to help develop healthy, life-long habits that will reduce the effects of chronic illness.

The company has performed extensive research in the science of nutrigenomics - the fundamental belief that what we take into our bodies is expressed positively through health and negatively through disease. Based on this knowledge they have developed natural compounds with therapeutic applications that can be used to maintain healthy blood sugar levels, support healthy blood lipid levels, improve gastrointestinal health, boost immune function and promote bone density, among many others. Ask one of our healthcare providers at Advanced Chiropractic Group if these products could be a healthy addition to your life.

Have you reaped the benefits of nutritional supplements?

Experience Relief From Chronic Conditions

No one plans to be involved in an accident that can keep you from enjoying the activities you love most. Many injuries and chronic health conditions such as automobile accident injuries, personal injuries, sports related injuries, sciatica, and disc herniations respond to the healing power of a customized rehabilitation plan. Our experienced Santa Barbara chiropractors are ready to move you beyond pain with the latest techniques and advancements in chiropractic care and physical rehabilitation.

Dynamic Chiropractic Care is in Your Reach

Rehabilitating from injury or chronic conditions can help you reclaim your everyday health, functionality, and mobility. Our chiropractors will develop a dynamic plan to suit your personalized needs which may include aspects of customized corrective exercises, neuromuscular reeducation, back pain therapy, orthopedic supports, foot orthotics and athletic taping. While an injury may be chronic, your healing time can be improved by utilizing a combination of these rehabilitative techniques.

Our rehabilitating programs often incorporate neuromuscular reeducation and corrective exercises that have been shown to improve overall healing time. New to how these techniques work? Neuromuscular reeducation is used to enhance coordination, balance, spinal posture, and range of motion. As you perform your prescribed exercises, proprioception is restored, facilitating the connection between mental perception and physiological health. The combination of these treatments removes interference in mind-body communication, resulting in reduced pain and optimization of wellness.

In some cases we'll prescribe custom orthotics, orthopedic supports and athletic taping. Each of these resources further supports neuromuscular reeducation and corrective exercises as well as enhancing your experience of rehabilitating from injury. Athletic taping is an excellent choice to assist in supporting weakened joints and stressed tissues. These additional supports are tailored specifically for your recovery needs, to improve your response to neuromuscular reeducation and to reduce your dependence on physiological compensation.

Our experienced Santa Barbara chiropractors take your recovery seriously. Ready to experience relief? Cal us at Advanced Chiropractic Group today.

Have you recently undergone rehabilitation for an injury or chronic condition?

About Spinal Manipulations

Here at Advanced Chiropractic Group in Santa Barbara, we employ a variety of chiropractic care methods. We use non-invasive care methods ranging from the Activator Method of chiropractic adjustments to rehabilitation methods like percussion massage, trigger point therapy, low-impulse electrical stimulation, mechanical traction, and myofascial release. Although we offer a wide range of therapies for our patients, we still use spinal manipulation on a regular basis.

Santa Barbara Spinal Manipulations: How They Work

Spinal manipulation is a standard chiropractic care method that involves the hands-on manipulation of the spinal column. When one of our chiropractors performs a spinal manipulation adjustment on your back, the goal is to correct imbalances and to help return a misaligned spine to its rightful position. Spinal manipulation therapy is a gentle type of care that involves palpating the area causing the pain, and occasional pulling, kneading, and tugging adjustment movements as the back is coaxed into alignment.

We also use the Activator method, which utilizes an instrument designed by chiropractor Arlan Fuhr. The Activator method is a type of spinal adjustment that uses the Activator device to gently move misplaced vertebrae into place. The Activator method may also be used on the extremity joints causing problems as well.

Our team of chiropractors includes Dr. Michael P. Hergenroether, Dr. Michael S. York and Dr. James A. Cochran. All of our chiropractors are trained to provide spinal manipulation treatments to patients who are suffering from lower back pain, or as back pain treatment for upper or middle back pain. We encourage anyone in the Santa Barbara community who is experiencing lower back pain, or who needs back pain treatment of a non-invasive nature, to call us to set up a consultation.

Do you have any questions about spinal manipulation? We will be happy to answer any questions here on the blog!