Back Problems in Teens

Will a chiropractor ever treat an adolescent during his professional career? Junior took a baseball right in the back. Julie fell off the human pyramid during cheerleading practice and landed on her back. Needless to say, parents of athletic adolescents are usually first in line at the chiropractic office.

Can Teens Suffer from Back Problems?

While back problems are more common in adults, they are a rarity in teens since the latter is more flexible and agile. That is why any backaches that accompany any athletic event (such as contact sports) should be immediately checked by a chiropractor.

Back Conditions in Teens

Back conditions that can affect teens or kids include –

Any pain that worsens by performing gymnastic activities such as handsprings or the butterfly stroke in swimming may be indicative of spinal conditions such as Spondylolysis. Younger athletes have more chances of developing the condition than older kids who take part in sporting activities. The condition is often caused by over-use that causes constant trauma and is one of the most common causes of back pain in kids.
This is also why the condition has more chances of occurring during a teen’s growth spurt, which is also why it is more common in boys rather than girls. A chiropractor might diagnose Spondylolysis in teens who are aged between 15 and 16.
Any type of backache that causes compromises a teen’s balance or coordination may be caused by a problem in the spinal cord.

Adolescents and teens might put themselves in dangerous situations more than the average five year old, but the fact remains that they are still kids. In other words, they tend to be more aggressive in their activities than younger children. A four year old will probably not stick his hand in a light socket if he has been electrocuted once. However an adolescent will have to keep stressing his back especially if he is pressured to make a tackle or prevent a touchdown in order for his team to win.

Parents cannot stop commercial advertising or peer pressure that expects their kids to push the envelope, but they can educate on taking better care of themselves. A teenager can always be grounded if he/she doesn’t comply to the rules, but parents will be helpless if a backache worsens or worse, ends up paralyzing their child.

Image used under Creative Commons Licensing: Heelstretch Pyramid.jpg

Chiropractor Monroeville shares intermediate level abdominal exercise.

Involves no equipment.

This exercise works the abdominal, oblique internal/external, iliopsoa muscles.

The purpose is to increase abdominal strength and muscular endurance.

The benefits include improved stability, functional strength and injury prevention.

Begin lying on floor.

Lift knees so that a 90º position is attained at hip and knees. Place hands beside ears. Activate core.

Lift shoulder off floor approximately 6 inches attempting to bring elbow toward opposite opposite knee so that both simultaneously meet.

Return to start position and repeat on opposite side. Continue alternating sides until recommended repetitions are complete.

Chiropractic Care to Relieve Symptoms of Pregnancy

A woman has to get used to the uncomfortable symptoms of pregnancy for 38 to 42 weeks. There are ways to relieve such pain through medication, but they can pose potential side effects on the mother and the child. Chiropractic care, on the other hand, has shown to have remarkably alleviated the symptoms of back problems associated with pregnancy. Therapy, nutrition and exercise are the basics of the treatment that makes chiropractic and pregnancy go hand in hand.

Chiropractic Care for Pregnancy

Chiropractic treatments are non-invasive and address the misalignment in the spine to alleviate pain. Studies have also shown chiropractic care to have no known side effects on pregnant woman and the innate child. It promotes development in the mother and the baby. The Webster Technique is commonly employed to treat pregnant women, as it tends to apply as less pressure on the abdomen as possible.

Common Symptoms of Pregnancy

Back pains are very common during pregnancy. Women put on extra weight during the period, thus increasing the pressure on the spine. This leads to nerve stress, which can halt the development of a child. Other common symptoms during pregnancy include:

Pelvic pain
Nausea
Vomiting
Morning sickness
Heartburn
Shortness of breath
High blood pressure
Swollen ankles
Hormonal changes

Complications That Can Arise

Dislocation of the vertebra, or better known as vertebral subluxation, can interrupt the nervous system and affect the ability of communication within a body. Subluxation can result in:

Nerve Tension – Muscles around the spine become tight and experience inflammation on areas with misalignment in the spine. This adds stress on the nerves, and these nerves lead to various parts and organs in the body, like muscles, glands and blood vessels. Neglecting nerve tension can cause degeneration in various body systems.

Body Imbalance – Subluxation in the neck can lead to head tilting on one side. The righting reflex in the brain causes lower cervical spine to bend on the opposite direction of the head tilt. This can cause one side of the pelvis to draw up, making one leg appear shorter than the other. The uneven distribution of weight puts more stress on the joints. Extremely painful for the mother, it may even cause problems for the baby to get into the right birthing position.

A visit to the chiropractor throughout pregnancy can help you get started with the treatment, and can make the pregnancy and delivery comfortable and faster.

Image used under Creative Commons Licensing: Pregnant woman2.jpg

Chiropractic Care During Pregnancy: The Benefits

Back pain is a common problem faced by women during their pregnancy. This occurs when pregnant women put on extra weight causing extra pressure on the spine. Receiving spinal treatments can reduce such pains through chiropractic, and pregnancy issues like delivery can be made more comfortable and faster.

Chiropractic Care

Chiropractic care is a conservative form of treatment that addresses the spinal cord, discs and related nerves without the use of surgery or drugs. It involves the adjustment of spine to align it back to its normal position. This reduces the spinal nerve stress which can cause various other health complications in the woman and later on in the child. Hence, chiropractic treatment addresses the whole body to promote health and well being.

Safe during Pregnancy

Many complications can occur during pregnancy that can be triggered by spinal problems. These complications can get transferred to the newborn, as they affect the nervous system of a mother. Babies can develop colic, breathing problems, allergic reactions, bedwetting, and neural disorders. The Webster Technique is commonly employed for pregnant women to reduce the spinal nerve stress and balance pelvis, ligaments and muscles.

Throughout the stages of pregnancy, specialized chiropractic care plans are devised to suit the patient. Research shows there are no known potential contradictions to chiropractic treatment during pregnancy. Chiropractic professionals are known to adjust treatments to better suit the body of a pregnant woman. They follow tables and employ techniques which avoid unnecessary pressure on the stomach.

Benefits of Chiropractic Care

Many medical experts recommend chiropractic care during pregnancy as it helps maintain pelvic balance. A balanced pelvis gives a baby more room to move into the correct birth position. This avoids some of the potential fallbacks of delivery. Other benefits include:

Reducing back, neck and joint pain
Reducing nerve stress to promote healthy development of the mother and baby
Relieving pressure from the spine and maintaining better posture
Restoring joints to ensure optimum range of motion
Reducing symptoms of nausea
Reducing time of labor and delivery
Stimulates optimal functioning of reproductive organs
Preventing potential cases of cesarean
Maintaining a healthy pregnancy

A visit to the chiropractic clinic begins with physical evaluations, and then a treatment plan is made, involving therapies, nutrition and exercise. Chiropractic care aims to provide comfort for mothers during and after pregnancy, and also ensuring their babies enjoy proper bone and neural development.

Image Used Under Creative Commons Licensing: Profile of a pregnant woman by Jason Pier in DC

Avoiding Fights with a Passive Aggressive Person

Passive Aggression – Avoid the Conflict

When I first heard the term “passive-aggressive” I thought the person was joking, giving me an example of an oxy-moron. I soon learned that not only was she not joking, but that I would have to learn how to deal with these tricksters in order to move ahead in life.

Passive-aggressive behavior frustrates everyone involved and doesn’t ever help anyone. Particularly the one who instigated the behavior. My first experience with a passive-aggressive personality left me feeling that I had lost my mind. “No one in their logical mind would behave that way!” I fumed.

And that should have been my first clue. Normal people do not behave that way. I met the woman at my son’s school. She seemed normal, gregarious, involved,if perhaps a little intense. We became acquainted because our sons were in the same class and had both joined Scouts.

Everything seemed fine until she began calling me and telling me things really bothered me, even though she sounded so sweet on the phone and claimed that, really, everything was fine, but she thought I would want to know.

Then as we began to become more involved, both in Scouts and with each other, I noticed even more peculiar behavior. I would ask her is she had completed a task she had agreed to do. “Well, no, I haven’t been able to do that. But it doesn’t matter. Just go on ahead. You don’t need that done.” Was she kidding? We were ready to start the annual fund raiser and she was supposed to have printed all the forms to pass out to the boys that night at the meeting. I felt as if she was playing with my mind.

Only later did I learn that passive aggressive behavior is “sugar-coated hostility” and she had no intention of doing what she had agreed to do. She wanted to see how I would solve the problem. She sounded so sweet over the phone, even in person. But I soon began to look beyond the words to see what was really going on. If she didn’t want to do something…she should just say so.

But that is not the way of the passive-aggressive personality. I learned that she would do anything to avoid direct conflict. I’m a very direct person, so we probably didn’t make for a very good pairing.

Soon we devolved into episodes of sarcasm, then the silent treatment, then she moved into sabotaging my efforts by not only making me late, but making it look like I hadn’t kept my word.

To this day, I don’t know if what she did was intentional. She had a home life I couldn’t even imagine living and perhaps she envied mine. All I know is that I learned quickly to ignore any hostility and assign a critical task to someone I knew would follow through. I began to set limits and when she exceeded those, I called her out on them. I had to be very specific about what was expected of her and when she held a critical assignment, I called her regularly to make sure she would come through.

I recognized her techniques. I have even found myself resorting to them occasionally. But once I saw how destructive they could be, I held myself to an even higher standard. Passive-aggressive sounds somewhat innocuous, but it can really ruin your organization. Identify those who participate in that behavior, and then take steps to stop it. You don’t have to be aggressive, but you do have to be assertive and be willing to confront the person.

Photo Credit: Charity Mugger – 2 via the justified sinner at Flickr

Passive Aggression – Avoid the Conflict

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