Show your back some love this Valentine ’ s Day
February is well underway, and as we all know it’s Valentine’s Day on the 14th. Instead of writing another hallmark inspired blog focusing on romantic love; I am going to instead suggest this Valentines Day you show yourself a little love and care and share some suggestions on how to better look after your spine.
Here are my top 5 tips:
Drink Plenty of Water
Between each vertebral bone we have spinal discs. These amazing gel-like structures are made predominantly of water. They are incredibly important in maintaining strength and flexibility of our spine and play a big role in shock absorption. Keeping ourselves hydrated helps keep our discs hydrated too.
A general guide for water consumption is for every 25 kg of body weight drink 1L.
2. Move your spine through it’s full Range of Motion
It is not uncommon for us to find out some of our patients have not moved their spine through all ranges of movement in months or even years! A lot of us live our lives only moving our bodies in the same way day in and day out. This can lead to poor motor patterns, tight joints and pain.
Our spines are designed to flex forward, extend backwards, lean side to side and twist and rotate.
Moving our spine is very important for a number of reasons. It can:
- help deliver nutrients to our spine
- Stimulates our brain and nervous system in a positive way
- Lubricates our joints and helps to maintain our range of motion
- Prevent Pain
- Improves balance and posture
If you have trouble moving your spine in one direction this may be a sign that something is not quite right and may be time for a check up.
3. Deep Breathing or Meditation
Deep, nasal breathing where the diaphragm is moving down during our inhalation and up during our exhalation is incredibly healthy for our spine. A few of the many benefits to diaphragmatic breathing include:
- stimulating cerebral spinal fluid movement (CSF delivers nutrients and cleans out impurities from our brain and spinal cord)
- oxygenating our tissues
- gently moving our ribcage and gently stretching all the little muscles around our ribs and spine
- stimulating our parasympathetic nervous system (stress relief)
- Who would have thought taking a deep breath would be so good for you?
4. Eating for Spinal Health
Our spine requires nourishment from our food to be healthy. Some key nutrients to include in your diet to support healthy bones, connective tissues, nerves and muscles include:
- Calcium, Vitamin D for bone Health
- Magnesium for Nerve Function and Calcium Absorption
- Omega 3 Essential Fatty Acids for Nerve function and improve inflammation
- Protein for building and repairing tissue such as muscles and ligaments
Examples of foods you may wish to include are:
- green leafy vegetables
- dairy products
- fatty fish such as salmon, mackerel, anchovies
- proteins such as meat and eggs
- healthy fats such as nuts, avocado, olive oil
- Gentle exposure to the sun in low UV is also recommended to help get your much needed Vitamin D.
5. Support your spine in sleep
- Improving your sleep can improve your spinal health. Key areas to focus on include:
- getting enough sleep
- having a supportive and comfortable pillow
- having a supporting and comfortable mattress
- using support pillows as needed – often placing a pillow in between the knees and sleeping on your side can be very helpful for back pain
Hi, I’m Amanda. Chiropractor, mum, human body nerd, keen walker (with stroller of course) and social butterfly. I work with mothers and babies to help with underlying musculoskeletal issues of pregnancy, birth and breastfeeding; so that mothers can gain confidence in their body for their birthing and breastfeeding journey.
