mental-health

6 Unexpected Mental Health Benefits of Exercise

6 Unexpected Mental Health Benefits of Exercise

Who said that working out is only good for your body? You better believe it’s not the case when scientists say that working out is good for your mind as it is for your body. They’ve found a link between improved physical fitness and good mental health, proving that “Look good and feel good” is more than just a catchphrase.

Boost endorphins

While you’re working up a sweat on the treadmill, you’re also releasing endorphins, which create the feelings of happiness and euphoria, which is good for your mental health! People suffering from depression or anxiety are prescribed by their doctors to hit the gym frequently because studies have shown that exercise can alleviate symptoms among the clinically depressed. As little as 30 minutes spent exercising a few times a week can get rid of the blues. In another research, it was found out that exercise is just as effective as antidepressant pills in treating depression.

Improve self-esteem

Knowing that you’re sticking to your gym schedule is enough to feel better about yourself. You’re working towards your goal – staying fit, losing weight, bulking up – can boost self-confidence and self-image. This extends beyond the gym and into your mental health. When you’re feeling good about yourself, you can be a positive ray of sunshine for people you interact with. 

Helps control addiction

Along with dopamine, the brain also releases dopamine, the “pleasure” chemical that’s released due to pleasure from high addictive stuff like drugs, exercise, sex, alcohol or food. Because dopamine is also released during exercise, studies have tried to find a way for addicts to derive pleasure from this instead of alcohol or drugs. And it works, at least in the short team. Short bursts of exercise distracted drug and alcohol addicts and curbed their cravings. And because alcohol disrupts the sleeping patterns,  alcoholics resort to drinking to sleep. Exercise reboots the body clock so it instinctively knows when it’s time to hit the hay. 

Slows down cognitive degradation

As we get older, diseases like Alzheimer’s kills off brain cells that perform vital brain functions. Such is the way of life. However, frequent exercise and a healthy diet can slow down the decline that happens after your 45th birthday. Working out between 25-45 is crucial because it boosts the hormones that prevent the degradation of hippocampus, the brain’s center for memory and function.

Stress relief

After a bad day at the office, the best way to let off some steam is by hitting the gym. Getting yourself to work up a sweat increases the presence of norepinephrine, the brain’s natural response to stress. Plus, unlike eating out or a round of drinks, working out won’t cost you much or give you a hangover the next day. How’s that for benefiting your mental health? 

Be more productive

How has a walk around the block solved the question that stumped you at work? Exercise gets your brain juices flowing because of a simple reason: when you’re working out you’re pumping oxygen-rich blood throughout your body, especially to your brain. And that’s not just it. 

According to research, people who take the time to exercise regularly are more productive and energetic than those who don’t. If you find it hard to squeeze in gym time before leaving for work, doing it in the evenings might be better for you.

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Boosting Your Immune System with Chiropractic Care

Boosting Your Immune System with Chiropractic Care

Though Spring often brings milder temperatures, it also brings with it a host of allergies, colds, and other illnesses. These can make us question whether our immune system is working the way it should. Our lifestyles can play a large role in how healthy we feel through the the year. Staying on top of annual physicals and incorporating regular chiropractic visits can be the key to feeling your best.

And, to do this will require you to pay particular attention to your immune system.

What is the role of the immune system?

To stay in great health, your immune system must work quickly to eliminate any foreign particles or viruses that may get into your body. Its main role is to fight off infections and keep them from wreaking havoc on our other body systems. To do this, you want to be sure your immune cells are as strong as they can be. Because when they are not, your risk of getting (and staying) sick increases exponentially.

How can I naturally boost my immune system?

Your diet plays a large role in the health of your immune system. Getting ample rest and staying active through regular exercise are also ways that you can give your immune system a boost. recent Research points to chiropractic adjustments as being an additional way to ensure your immune cells are ready to protect you.

Although many people associate chiropractic treatments as only needed to alleviate back or neck pain, these treatments can actually help improve a host of conditions, including seasonal allergies, ear infections, even bedwetting. That is because chiropractic treatments adjust the spine to ensure that it is not misaligned. When the spine is misaligned, it disrupts the connections traveling between the nervous system to all of the other body systems. When this is corrected using soothing chiropractic sessions, the nervous system is able to restore these critical connections. And, when your nervous system is functioning properly, you are able to increase the number of immune cells and their response rate to ensure you are able to fight off any infection, bacteria, or virus you may encounter.

It is recommended to visit your chiropractor, once every three months. During these sessions, they will be able to assess your spinal alignment and recommend a course of treatment to keep your spine and posture in perfect alignment.

If you have not seen a chiropractor this year, then now is the time to make an appointment. With 7 convenient Atlanta-area locations, Corrective Chiropractic is able to offer its patients the highest level of quality care to keep them healthy all year round. Click here to schedule a free back evaluation session.

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Fertility: 3 Natural Strategies to Increase Your Odds

Fertility: 3 Natural Strategies to Increase Your Odds

Having a baby is one of the most natural things a man or woman can do. However, for millions of couples, getting pregnant can come with a host of challenges. Finding ways to naturally boost your fertility are not as easy to come by. That’s why at Corrective Chiropractic, we pride ourselves on keeping you educated about ways you can improve your health outcomes and conditions with all-natural interventions. Here are three natural strategies you can use to enhance your fertility and increase the odds of getting pregnant.

Acupuncture to Help Fertility

This traditional Chinese medical practice can help to alleviate a wide variety of health ailments, including fertility issues. By inserting thin, hair-like needles into specific acupuncture points, acupuncturists are able to get your body to relax and balance your body’s energies and hormones. Acupuncture is thought to help kickstart your endocrine system. This may be linked to helping your body produce more reproductive hormones needed to produce reproductive cells.

Meditation for Stress 

Your body is a machine, that functions when it has ample rest, a healthy diet, and low levels of stress. Many fertility challenges are often traced back to an imbalance in hormones, that can result due to genetics or stress. By implementing a regular mediation schedule that allows you to activate your body’s parasympathetic nervous system to calm your body, you may be able to restore your hormonal balance. With your hormones on track, your body can produce an optimal environment for a baby, thereby increasing your chances of getting pregnant.

Chiropractic Adjustments to Help with Fertility

Your nervous system is your body’s control center. When it is functioning well, your body’s systems, including your reproductive and endocrine (hormone) systems are working in synchrony. However, when your spine is misaligned, throwing your nervous system into a tailspin, your reproductive and endocrine systems are also thrown off balance. Without your hormones and reproductive system working in tandem, getting pregnant and maintaining a healthy pregnancy can be difficult. However, getting regular chiropractic adjustments to address any spinal misalignments you may have can be an all-natural and non-invasive way to give your body the added fertility boost it may need.

Are you or your partner struggling to get pregnant?

We invite you to visit one of our highly-experienced chiropractors at one of our seven offices. We specialize in helping you reach your optimal health by using the latest chiropractic techniques. Visit us online here to learn more about our award-winning practice.

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Does Your Child Have Text Neck?

Does Your Child Have Text Neck?

According to Pew research, for 21st-Century teens, having a smartphone and spending upwards of 9 hours a day on it, has become the norm. Though this trend is no different from the addictiveness that adults have with their cell phones as well, the damage to the neck muscles can be greater for the younger demographic. This is called “Text Neck”. As your child’s body changes, having improper posture can put undue strain on the muscles, the bones, and in turn the spine.

As the number of hours spent on mobile devices is expected to increase, it is essential for parents to put a back care plan in place to counteract the health effects that prolonged technology use can cause.

With extended cell phone use, a physical condition, being referred to as “text neck” is emerging and proving that teens and young adults are at the greatest risk.

What is “Text Neck?”

When your child spends time on their phone, they are often looking in a downward posture, keeping their head, neck, back, and spine in one, often uncomfortable position. Though it may feel comfortable, in the moment, holding this craned-neck posture for hours or frequently throughout the day inadvertently puts the cervical spine at great risk. The cervical spine supports the neck and head and is positioned at the top of the spine. Having incorrect posture puts this portion of the spine out of alignment. When that occurs, chronic neck and back pain can quickly make simple movements very painful and inhibit your child’s growth and physical development.

It is difficult to predict what the long-term effects of having a prolonged craned-neck posture can have on overall health. However, medical researchers speculate that the increased use of mobile devices may come with a future increase in early-onset arthritis of the neck.

Despite the evidence pointing to long-term effects, research studies have found that text neck can cause immediate health problems such as severe upper back pain, strained neck and shoulder muscles, and pinched spinal nerves. And, children and teens are the most at risk of developing these debilitating conditions, as their mobile device usage is nearly two times greater than adults.

How do you prevent text neck?

The short answer is to limit cell phone and mobile device use per day, limiting it to no more than 1 hour a day. However, the longer term solution to prevent chronic back and neck pain is to maintain a straight posture when viewing a mobile device. Making regular visits to an experienced pediatric chiropractor can be the most effective way to address spinal misalignment at its source and correct any muscle and spinal issues before they evolve into a more long-term issue.

The welcoming and knowledgeable chiropractors at Corrective Chiropractic are specialized in correcting text neck, even in the smallest of patients.

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Chiropractic Treatments Can Help Ear Infections

Chiropractic Treatments Can Help Ear Infections

When it comes to treating your child’s ear infections, most parents will agree that the fastest and safest option is preferred. Being one of the most common childhood illnesses in the world, ear infections can be helped with a host of all-natural remedies, including by your local chiropractor!

Generally, an ear infection starts with soreness in the ear or side of the head region. It can also be followed by a fever, fluid draining from the ear, trouble sleeping, and loss of appetite.

As the fluid begins to build up in the middle ear, the symptoms often get worse and can include:

  • A popping or ringing sensation in the ear.
  • Extreme pressure buildup or a pushing feeling on the ear and head.
  • Difficulty hearing or sensitivity to loud sounds
  • Balance problems, dizziness and coordination problems

If your child suffers from frequent ear infections, having these symptoms persist for days or continuously over a long period of time makes it hard for antibiotics or other medications to treat.

That’s why more and more parents are turning to chiropractic to help their child’s ear infections.

Here’s the science behind it…

In 15 cases evaluated by medical researchers, a study found that having frequent chiropractic adjustments measurably decreased the symptoms and severity of ear infections.

When your spine is misaligned, this negatively impacts your nervous system, which, in turn, affects how your body functions and how it can ward off infections. With regular alignments, even performed once every few months, your nervous system will be primed to perform at its best and will enhance your child’s immune system to be able to fight various infections, including ear infections and allergies.

But, that’s not all!

Research has attributed chiropractic treatments to helping reduce or reverse sleeping issues, digestive problems, even helping to regulate mood and behavior.

If you’re considering having your child visit a chiropractor, be sure they have a proven track record of experience working with the littlest of patients and are associated with the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association (ICPA). The kid-friendly and experienced doctors at Corrective Chiropractic specialize in pediatric adjustments and would be happy to discuss your child’s needs during a free phone consultation. Click here to schedule your appointment.

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Manage Your Pre-Holiday Stress By Visiting a Chiropractor

Manage Your Pre-Holiday Stress By Visiting a Chiropractor

As the weather changes and the daylight hours get shorter, work responsibilities begin to pile up. The chaotic hustle and bustle of the holidays start to creep in. We all naturally get stress.

In fact, according to psychologists, the average level of stress during the Fall months is the highest of all seasons. And, with more stress comes more strain on your body. How you handle that wear and tear on your body can mean the difference between making it to Summer feeling rejuvenated or nursing discomfort and pain that seems to be getting worse.

Here are the top three reasons why visiting your chiropractor is the best way for you to handle the pre-holiday stress:

Eliminate Muscle Tension from Stress

When you encounter stress, your muscles naturally tense up. This can impact how you walk, sit and perform tasks throughout your day. And, if left uncorrected, this can start to wreak havoc on your ability to sleep, exercise, and just enjoy life. Having a chiropractic alignment helps to restore your body’s natural functioning. It also loosens the tension building up in your body.

Get Your Body Back on Track

Your body’s functioning is rooted in your central nervous system. And, if your spine is not in alignment, your nervous system is negatively impacted. This can manifest itself in digestive, respiratory, immune, and even sleep issues that may not be easily corrected. An experienced chiropractor will be able to perform non-invasive and all natural procedures to get your spine back in alignment and your body running on all cylinders.

Fix Your Posture for Improved Health and Less Stress

With mobile devices being an integral part of our day, how we sit and the length of time we spend sitting have played a role in how our muscles and skeletal system function. “Text neck” puts extreme strain on your neck muscles and can lead to crotched posture and further back discomfort. Having the proper posture as you may spend more time seated, through the Fall and Winter months can be the best way to help you manage your spine health. A well-trained chiropractor will be able to evaluate your posture, adjust it, and help you stay healthy and energized through the holidays.

When is the last time you visited a chiropractor? 

If it has been longer than 6 months, then now is the time to schedule an appointment! The friendly doctors at Corrective Chiropractic will be happy to give you a free phone call and answer any questions you may have.

You deserve to be stress-free (or at least pain-free) now and through the end of the year!

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Skyrocket Your Productivity By Improving Posture

Skyrocket Your Productivity By Improving Posture

Working smarter, not harder is a mantra we have all come to live by. If you’re finding you’re still not performing at your best, your posture could be to blame. How do you dramatically improve your productivity at workplace? What about at home or at anything you do? Read more to know that improving your body posture is the simple and best way to do it.

Posture in Sitting

How you sit can mean the difference between your body being energized or feeling sluggish.  In fact, recent research has found that slouching can decrease your oxygen intake with each breath by 30%. That means less oxygen going into your body and less energy your body can crank out to keep you running on all cylinders.

Slouching can also indirectly affect your overall health. By putting more strain on your upper body and back, your spine can be pushed out alignment. This can lead to more tension and pain in your upper body. In turn, that can result in poor sleep, and continued feelings of sluggishness. And, this effect can take its toll on your personal and workplace performance. According to a recent Gallup poll, depressed moods and lower employee health outcomes result in over $300 billion lost in productivity.

Correcting the Problem

Correcting and improving your posture is one of the quickest ways to naturally boost your productivity level, without the use of medication or energy drinks. The key to an improved posture is to identify the root cause of why you may be slouching and what you can do to correct the issue.

At Corrective Chiropractic, we take a proven and award-winning approach to helping you manage your posture and your overall health. Our experienced doctors will meet with you and assess your current posture and work with you to determine the best way to correct and maintain your posture moving forward. We can also partner with you to enhance your nutritional intake to ensure that you are getting both the nutrients and energy you need to take your productivity to the next level.

Helping you get the most out of life is our highest priority at Corrective Chiropractic. Our expert posture correction services will ensure that your spine is properly aligned and you are well on your way to performing at your best.

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Improve Digestion with Proper Posture

Improve Digestion with Proper Posture

Boosting your digestive system doesn’t start with your gut – it starts with your posture. Checking your (proper) posture is one of the easiest ways that you can manage your digestive system. When you go from a standing to a seated position, your body has to quickly compact itself into a smaller space. If you slouch or have poor posture, your body has to contort itself that much more. This often slows down important body systems.

Posture at the Workplace

If you’re like most working professionals, you may spend a lot of your week sitting. You likely spend an average of 13 hours per day in a seated position. That means for more than half of every day your intestines are constricted into a smaller than normal space.

Sitting up straight could aid better digestion. In order for your digestive system to function at its best, your stomach and intestinal walls must contract through a series of coordinated movements called peristalsis. It is this process that enables our food to travel throughout the digestive system, delivering nutrients to keep us energized. When you sit up straight, this process is naturally slowed down, but when poor posture is factored in, it nearly grinds to a complete halt.

Imagine trying to navigate your way through a long, dark hallway, as the ceiling is collapsing on top of you. It becomes very hard, very quickly, when the space you’re traveling in is getting smaller and smaller. This is exactly what happens to the food in your digestive system when you sit with poor posture. A decrease in food digestion often leads to a decrease in energy, as your body struggles to process foods and absorb nutrients. This can also lead to the production of gas, painful constipation, and acid reflux.

But, the good news is…

Poor or slouching posture can easily be corrected. The award-winning posture specialists at Corrective Chiropractic are experts in assessing spinal misalignments and using proven, pain-free techniques to help you feel your best. Our non-invasive procedures will help restore your posture to near perfect alignment, so you can live a happier and healthier life.

If you would benefit from having more energy, less stress, and an improved digestive system, then contact the trusted chiropractors at Corrective Chiropractic today to schedule your first appointment.

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Breathing and Posture

Breathing and Posture

Sitting up straight could be your most effective way to manage your health. Shocking, but true! Having an improved posture can help to not only alleviate stiffness in your neck and back, but it can also play a vital role in your mood, stress level, your breathing. In fact, the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation found that patients with poor posture, characterized by slumped shoulders and a tendency to lean forward while sitting, had 30% lower lung capacity.

Proper Posture is Important for Breathing

When you sit naturally, your organs are compressed into a smaller space. And, the organ that becomes the most compressed is your lungs. This is how proper body posture is important as it affects your breathing. Your lungs are designed to be flexible and continually expand and contract. However, with poor posture, the space that is available for them to expand as you inhale is severely restricted. This results in lower lung volume, meaning you draw in less air with each breath. When you slouch, you also decrease the movement of your diaphragm. The thick muscle at the base of your lungs. This is responsible for regulating how your pleural cavity contracts and expands.

Your lungs will not be able to take in the maximum amount of air. They also will not be able to energize your body cells with the high levels of oxygen it needs. When your body is seemingly starved of oxygen, your body’s natural stress responses are put into overdrive. This often results in shortness of breath, which can lead to mental fog and decreased energy levels. Slouching also puts more muscular strain on your chest, neck, and shoulder muscles, and, if left untreated could lead to chronic pain.

How a Chiropractor Can Help

The exact cause of poor posture can vary, but working with an experienced chiropractor can be one of the most effective ways to pinpoint the issue and correct it without the need for medication or surgery.

At Corrective Chiropractic, our focus is on alleviating your stress areas and ensuring your body is in proper alignment to help you feel your best. We will do a thorough and pain-free spinal assessment and work with you to identify those trouble areas that may be contributing to your poor posture. With regular chiropractic adjustments, our clients are able to both improve their posture and boost their entire respiratory system functioning.

To schedule your first appointment or to explore how our expert chiropractic services make the difference in our patients’ lives, click here.

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Chiropractic Care and High Blood Pressure

Chiropractic Care and High Blood Pressure

American adults are on a path to set a startling record for high blood pressure. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), two out of every three Americans have high blood pressure or hypertension. And, the most common form of treatment, comes courtesy of Big Pharma, in the way of expensive and health-damaging blood pressure medications. However, recent studies are pointing to a unique chiropractic adjustment that can be used to effectively and significantly lower high blood pressure – naturally, without medications.

When performed correctly, the adjustment has been found to be the same as or more effective than taking medications for hypertension. Doctors, in a 2007 study, have also cited no adverse side effects or long-term health risks associated with this chiropractic treatment to manage hypertension.

The success of this chiropractic adjustment is rooted in the realignment of the Atlas vertebra, a doughnut-shaped bone located at the base of the skull and the top of the spine.

Patients that underwent this pain-free alignment, saw a 14 mmHg drop in their systolic blood pressure and an 88 mmHg or greater drop in the diastolic blood pressure. This means, a patient with a BP of 130/90, could see immediate effects from the procedure and have their BP naturally lower to 116/82, back within healthy range.

 

How is the Spine Related to High Blood Pressure?

The proper spine alignment adjustment is essential in how the body and brain function. When the Atlas vertebra is misaligned this can cause muscular stress in the surrounding area. At the base of the brain, are critical muscular control areas that, if pinched, misaligned vertebrae could disturb blood flow through the arteries, resulting in hypertension. By performing a non-invasive Atlas adjustment, chiropractors are able to relieve the stress at the base of the brain and help the body naturally regulate its blood pressure levels.

If you’re struggling to control your blood pressure or want to explore the health benefits that a chiropractic adjustment can provide, click here to contact the experienced doctors at Corrective Chiropractic.

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