AMI Chiropractic Clinic Blog

Lets Get Familiar Again  Lets Keep Safe Together!

COVID-19 Pandemic  In line with the latest update from the UK Government - The AMI Chiropractic Clinic is now closed for the foreseeable future.  Everyone stay at home and keep safe.  Remember we are here to help support you as much as we can over the phone and email.  Please do no hesitate to contact us.  Info@amiclinics.co.uk  01234 307565 / 07882156839

What Happens to My Body During a Car Accident? Bottom Line: Your body wasn't designed to deal with the forces that occur in a car accident. Even though modern cars have an array of safety features, the damage from an accident can range from small aches to life-changing injuries. The force that both your vehicle and body absorb while driving along the road is known as kinetic energy. Your vehicle has been carefully built to displace the (kinetic) energy that occurs during an accident. However, no matter what type of car you have, your body will still absorb some of the impact. Why it Matters: The powerful forces during impact can cause injuries to your body. A few of the most common injuries that occur after a crash include: Whiplash: when your car is rear-ended, your neck gets thrown back from the impact and then rebounds by flexing forward. Whiplash commonly injures the tendons and ligaments in your neck and can cause severe pain, and it’s estimat...

Fixing Low Back Pain Bottom Line: Restrictions and limited mobility of your lower back may be causing your pain. If your low back doesn't have a full range of motion, then you are setting it up for future injuries. Bending forward and back (flexion/extension), side bending (lateral bend), and turning side to side (rotation) are the three movements that make up a full range of motion. You have to use it, or you'll lose it. Neglecting your lower back and not actively improving and maintaining a full range of motion can cause restrictions, reconditioning and increase your chance of injury. Why it Matters: The care given in our practice is specifically designed to address both aspects of improving your range of motion, segmental, and global. That means our chiropractic adjustments work the specific joints of your spine that are "stuck" or restricted. This begins the process of improving your range of motion and often provides quick relief from ...

DEVELOPING A HEALTHY CHILD Bottom Line: “It takes a village to raise a child.” You’ve probably heard that quote in the past, and there is a lot of truth behind it. During childhood and adolescence, our bodies and minds grow at an unprecedented rate and set the foundation for the rest of our life. Our development is forged through the challenges and new experiences we encounter growing up. Top researchers have discovered that our experiences around food, movement and exercise play a massive role in our future health and even our susceptibility to disease processes as we age! Why it Matters: Developing a healthy child isn’t easy. The ease of modern living includes everything from food delivery to instant downloads of the latest video games. Yet, if you’re like me, there still never seems to be enough time!   It can be challenging to encourage healthy habits for ourselves and our kids. However, a little bit of effort today can pay huge dividends down the roa...

GROWING UP WITH GOOD POSTURE Bottom Line: “Sit up straight!” We’ve all heard it before, but many people aren’t aware that poor posture as a child can create health challenges later in life. Rounded shoulders, swayback and a hunched upper back are all postural imbalances that place a tremendous amount of stress on the spine. The muscles supporting your spine consequently must work harder to support your body weight which can result in pain. These types of abnormal postures have been linked to everything from depression to decreases in energy and headaches to carpal tunnel syndrome. Why it Matters: Poor posture is usually caused by what kids aren’t doing instead of what they are doing. If your child is on their phone or playing a game on their tablet, they probably may not be moving and stretching very often. One of the most important things you can do to encourage good posture is to set a timer and have them stretch and change positions every 15 minutes. This...

How Heavy Is That Backpack? Bottom Line: Even though an iPad can store an entire library worth of books, most children still attend each day carrying an oversized and overweight backpack filled with heavy textbooks. While it may not seem like a big deal, recent studies have shown that carrying the weight of a typical backpack is one of the top reasons why children suffer with back pain. A vast majority of children wear rucksacks every day that, on average, weigh 15 lbs or more. That’s a heavy bag for a small child! Over time the stress of the load can result in back pain, a rounding of the shoulders and postural changes. The spinal compression caused by a heavy school bag often has children leaning forward to compensate, which begins a vicious cycle of postural issues, compensation and pain. Here are a few key facts: Up to 30% of kids may suffer from back pain due to carrying a heavy backpack. Limiting the total weight of the backpack to less than 10% of yo...

Headaches Everyday? Read This! Bottom Line: Life can be busy and stressful. Sound familiar? If so, you may likely start experiencing headaches more frequently, and they may be more severe. Chronic headaches are a good indication that your body needs attention, whether that’s related to a lack of quality sleep, nutritional challenges or even postural issues, all of which can contribute to a developing a vicious cycle of daily headaches. Those daily headaches are a signal from your body that something needs to change. While researchers have struggled to place an exact cause on every type of headache, they have discovered an array of risk factors that can lead to the development of chronic headaches. The foods you eat, the stress in your life, and even how you move your body and spine, can either increase or decrease the likelihood of experiencing headaches. These daily headaches aren't something you "have to live with." Top research publications in...

HEADACHE TYPES: THE FACTS YOU NEED TO KNOW Bottom Line: Almost everyone will experience a headache at some point in their life, and over 50% of people will deal with the effects of headaches in a given year. Fortunately, headaches are rarely life-threatening. However, for people dealing with chronic headaches they can dramatically impact your quality of life. Why it Matters: The International Headache Society has classified over 150 different types of headaches. The most common being migraines and tension headaches. Migraines are triggered by chemical imbalances within the body and can cause a pulsating or throbbing pain often felt at the front or side of the head. You can identify a migraine through the symptoms experienced before and during, these symptoms can include: nausea, vomiting and sensitivity to light, sound and smell. Migraines can very between a few hours to few days! Tension type headache are often caused by stress, anxiety, dehydration,...

YO UR BODY IS DESIGNED TO MOVE Bottom Line: Your body is built to move. Every spinal disc and joint is designed to help you sit, stand, run and well…move! Your discs are soft enough to flex as you bend forward and back. The spinal facet joints slide as your turn and twist, the ligament-connected spinal bones keep you supported as your muscles push and pull.Your body is an incredibly strong and resilient system! Why It Matters: New research has started to give us a glimpse at just how important movement is in our life. For example, movement of the spine has been shown to stimulate and accelerate the healing process. In fact, movement is so crucial in the healing process that even people who have spine surgery are encouraged to get up and to move as quickly as possible after surgery.         All the bones, muscles, ligaments and joints of your spine are specially designed to support movement.       Movement of the individual ...

The Brain And Spine Connection Bottom Line:   Every thought and movement in your life occurs through your brain and spinal cord, which is collectively known as the central nervous system. Your spinal column acts as the armor and pathway for your spinal cord to travel down and split into the nerves that reach every cell of your body. Every moment and millions of messages and bits of information are moving along your spinal cord this very moment to maintain the delicate balance between your brain and body. Why it Matters: Recent research has shown that the type of movement which happens during a Chiropractic adjustment can change the chemistry of your brain. Pretty far-out right? Chiropractic adjustments can alter the biochemical markers in your brain. These changes can result in everything from increased endorphin release (a feel-good hormone) to pain relief. Emerging research has even indicated increased strength (or cortical drive) following an adjustment! ...

Facet Joints:  Gliding Your Way To Better Health Bottom Line: So, what are facet joints? Facet joints are the tiny joints within your spine. There are 24 individual vertebrae that are connected to one another by facet joints on either side. Each facet joint is lubricated by synovial fluid. It is the lubrication and alignment of the facet joint that allows the normal slide and glide motion to occur. These joints that enable us to move our spine forwards, backwards, side to side and rotationally. These joints are special and they are unique and have a key responsibility in each part of the spine. The angle of the joint’s changes in the spinal structure to help manage its weight loading ability, and the degree of movement and stability required at that particular level. For example: In your neck the cervical spine the joints are angled at 45 degrees. In your mid back, the thoracic spine, the joints are angled at 60 degrees. In your lower back, the lumbar ...

The Bowling Ball and the Pin: How Poor Posture Causes Neck Pain Bottom Line: The average human head weighs about 8-10 pounds. Each day we all walk around with a bowling ball (our head) balancing on a pin (our neck).  Driving a car, working on the computer, and using a tablet/phone all usually result in less than ideal posture. With every inch our head learns forward an addition of 10 pounds of weight is added on our muscles, joints, tendons ligaments, discs and nerves etc. The more the head leans forward, the more the pin is under stress! Unfortunately, the neck is not designed to hold this extra weight and this is where the problem starts… As your head leans forward the shoulder start to roll with it causing stress in the shoulders, upper back and mid back. It is crazy how poor posture can lead to so many health problems! How We Can Help: Here at the AMI clinic in Bedford we see lots of patients complaining of neck pain that is a result of an anterior...

Taking Control of Your Health: Slowing Down the Degenerative Process Bottom Line: We are all subjective to the law of breakdown - whichever way you look at it! Degenerative changesare inevitable but occur at different rates amongst us all; otherwise, we all would have the same problems at the same age! Unfortunately, it is a process we cannot revert but we can take control and slow it down. Why it Matters:   Just because all of us will experience degenerative disc disease as we age doesn’t mean that process is the same for everyone. Research has shown that by taking a pro-active approach with your spinal health, you may be able to slow down the degenerative process. Degenerative changes are part of the normal aging process due to the weight of gravity, injuries, and repetitive stress on your spine. Researchers have found a correlation between the amount of arthritis in the spine and the severity of degenerative changes. Stretching, exe...