Sport & Spine HK | Dr. Ben Bluestein

I’m Stiff…

Joint stiffness is one of the most commonly reported symptoms in my practice. Many patients complain that most stiffness occurs within the neck, back, hips, knees and shoulders. Both athletes and the general public report joint stiffness impacting their lives daily. Feeling stiff is your body’s way to tell you your joints are not functioning optimally.

Something that is under emphasized is the idea of long term joint health. As a Chiropractor, I always emphasize on the importance of preventing stiffness and maintaining articular health throughout life.

Will joint stiffness, regardless of reported pain, impact the way we live?

Thakral et al. 2014 (“A stiff price to pay: does joint stiffness predict disability in an older population?”) studied whether or not reported stiffness to predict disability in an older population (>70 years old). 400 of the adults participated reported morning stiffness, with half of them reporting one area of stiffness and half with multiple areas.

The study showed that 64% of people with multisite stiffness were at greater risk for developing new or worsening mobility AND declined in physical performance.

Mobility Program

Integrating joint mobility programs to adults at an early age to address any stiffness will help prevent further progression of joint stiffness and improve mobility throughout life.

Before attempting a mobility program, you should first find out if your joints are moving the proper way. Some individuals cannot move themselves on their own or do not know how to. Health professionals such as Chiropractors are specialists at diagnosing and treating the joints of the entire body, not just the spine. Perhaps your body requires more than exercises to maintain your health such as needling, manipulation, mobilization, or taping etc.

Chiropractors are able to assess the integrity of your joints and articulations of the body (spine, knees, ankles, shoulders etc.) and will provide advice on how to decrease joint stiffness, improve mobility and physical performance.

Do you do daily mobility exercises to prevent stiffness? What exercises do you do? Are you truly changing the structures of your body?

What is the best or most proper posture?

Patients, especially office workers and students, always ask me, what is the most proper posture for sitting? I will start off by stating there is no one posture that you should be holding constantly for long periods of time. The human body is made to move and humans should be changing positions semi-frequently by having microbreaks. Depending on your job and setup will dictate the frequency and duration of your microbreak position change.

How does your sitting position effect the spine?

Sitting puts more stress on the anatomy of your lumbar spine (lower back). Varying your posture will change the spinal load on the passive structures (bone, ligament, disc). The sitting position with the most spinal load occurs with a flexed lower back and forward body posture.

Tips for easier sitting

Try to sit on your ischial bones or “sits” bones, instead of sitting on your sacrum (lower spine). People who suffer from lower back and neck pain will benefit from this type of sitting. Sitting on your ischial bones will keep you in a more upright posture and will keep you on your cushy bottom rather than the boney part of your back. Using a lumbar roll, pillow or rolled up towel behind your back will remind you to sit upright and maintain a relaxed, neutral spine.

Sitting more upright will also reduce your forward head posture. Holding prolonged forward head posture can cause headaches and a stiff tight neck. This is a good case where treating away from the site of pain can help reduce symptoms.

What can a Chiropractor do for posture?

If you tend to hold poor postures during your daily life or have pain in your lower back, mid back or neck, go and see a chiropractor. Chiropractors can diagnose which segments are problematic before the pain begins, or decrease pain and improve functioning if a problem arises.

-if you would like get a copy of some of the research articles used, do not hesitate to contact me 🙂 –

Disclaimer: Remember that any information on this blog should not be a substitute to your healthcare professionals examination. I have not examined you; therefore, the above should not serve as medical advice. Research is also changing constantly and some information may change at a later date due to new available science.