intervertebral discs

Advantages of dynamic sitting

8. June 2017 von Redaktion Leave a Comment

In Germany, more than 17 million work in an office, number is increasing. Most people spend the majority of their working time in front of the computer. Often, this is connected with long and static sitting. Thus, stress on the musculature arises. Consequences: tensions in the back and neck. How do you spend your working day? Are you sitting in front of the computer the whole day long? Is your work demanding long sitting? If yes, pay attention to dynamic sitting to avoid back pain. Find here some facts concerning dynamic sitting.

What does dynamic sitting mean?

Dynamic, active sitting means “moving while sitting”. Here, you frequently change your sitting position, at least four times per hour. The advantages of dynamic sitting are manifold: the change of the sitting position leads to an activation of the back muscles. Thus, muscle loss and muscle shortenings are avoided. Therefore, dynamic sitting is an effective method to prevent from back pain.

Frequent position changes not only influence your muscles. It has a positive effect on your spine and intervertebral discs, too.

How does it work?

Especially the correct chair supports dynamic sitting. Your backrest should be adjustable. This enables to take different sitting positions (front, middle and back). Additionally, shift your weight from the right to the left buttock several times per hour. This leads to a natural strain and relief of your muscles.

Advantages of dynamic sitting

Advantages or amongst others:

Relief of musculature and intervertebral discs
Natural strengthening of the core muscles due to tension and relaxation
Improvement of performance
Stimulation of metabolism
Support of nutrient supply of musculature and intervertebral discs
Sufficient circulation of muscles
Prevents from stress on musculature and posture disorders

Take additional movement breaks

Besides dynamic sitting, additional movement breaks care for more power and concentration. Besides interim standing up and walking around, movement breaks can also be made while sitting.

Stretch your arms and your upper body.
Tilt your pelvis forwards and backwards.
Rotate your shoulders forwards and backwards.
Shake out your arms and legs.
Stretch your legs and lift them.

Imagesource: @fotolia

Slipped disc #3 – prevent a herniated disc

23. March 2017 von Redaktion Leave a Comment

The first step is prevention. To prevent a herniated disc it is important to strengthen the musculature. This ensures support and relief of the spine at the same time. And this in turn reduces the pressure on the intervertebral discs. Often, simple measures in everyday life generate prevention.

What else does help? Other measures to prevent a herniated disc

Movement: A lack of movement leads to shortened back and spine supporting muscles. Sports like hiking, Nordic walking, backstroke, yoga and special training for spine and back lead to a targeted strengthening of the corresponding muscles.

Ergonomic body posture at home and at work: Sitting for a long time is strainful for your intervertebral discs. Here, the gelatinous core is pressed under great pressure and the blood flow is impaired. This obstructs the nutrient supply of the intervertebral discs. Therefore, it is important to sit in an upright position and at the proper sitting height – at home and at work. When sitting longer, vary the sitting positions and stretch once in a while to prevent tensions.

Correct carrying and lifting: An incorrect carrying and lifting overloads the spine resp. the intervertebral discs. Therefore, care for spreading the weight evenly on both hands. When lifting, bend your knees and car for an upright back.

Proper bedding content: A perfect relief of the back, the spine and the muscles during night cares for a balance of the water loss in the gelatinous core. It is important to use an adaptable sleeping underlay; this enables the spine to take the same position like when standing upright.

In the next article you will find exercises for the abdominal- and back-muscles when already suffering under a herniated disc.

Imagesource: @istock

Slipped disc #1

21. March 2017 von Redaktion Leave a Comment

Back pains rank among the most common widespread diseases. Overweight, lack of movement, overstrain and stress are just some reasons for back pain. But, sometimes back pain is a sign of a slipped disc. Here, severe pain in the cervical- or lumbar-spine arise; this pain also radiates into other body parts (arms or legs).

Intervertebral discs

The intervertebral discs serve as connection between single vertebral bodies. At the same time, they damp vibrations and impacts. The intervertebral discs consist of a soft gelatinous core that is surrounded by an outer ring. During daytime, our vertebras are highly stressed and the water content of the gelatinous core is reduced. This leads to a smaller space between the vertebras; and to a smaller body height in the evening (up to 2 cm). At night during sleeping, the water content rises again. When laying, the vertebras are relieved.

With increasing age, a physical wear of the intervertebral discs is very likely. The elasticity of the gelatinous core diminishes, the outer ring becomes brittle. In case the outer ring breaks, the fluid of the gelatinous core might leak, protrude or shift. When the leaking gelatinous core puts pressure on the proximate spinal cord nerves and nerve roots we are talking about a herniated disc. With the precursor of a herniated disc – a disc protrusion – the outer ring still is intact.

Further causes of a disc hernia/slipped disc

Besides the age-related wear and tear there are further causes for disc hernia:

malpositions (e.g. long sitting)
lack of movement
incorrect loading (e.g. heavy lifting)
poor musculature in the back
overweight
sometimes injuries or accidents
genetically caused weakness of the connective tissue

Read more about symptoms, diagnosis and treatment in slipped disc #2.

Imagesource: @fotolia

Back pain caused by everyday life with children

4. November 2016 von Redaktion Leave a Comment

No matter whether it is at home, in kindergarten or daycare – in everyday life with children the back is really stressed. To keep a healthy posture when dealing with children you should relieve and protect your back as good as possible. The following hints contribute to a backfriendly working and relieves your back.

Bend your knees to bend down: when talking to children we should bend down to be on eye-level with them. Sometimes we are hunching our back and take an unnatural posture that harms our back. It is much more advisable to bend the knees. The same applies for picking up toys or other things. Use the power of your legs instead of harming your back.

Put your head into the neck: since children normally are smaller than we are we often look down during the day. This also leads to a hunched back and we let our heads hang down. This might lead to tensions in the neck. There is a simple exercise for counteracting these tensions: put your head in the neck for several times per day and look upwards. This stretches the possibly shortened musculature in the throat. Shortened muscles in the throat might lead to malpositions.

Sit upright: during a day, it will occur quite often that we sit at small chairs when playing with the children. Instead of forming a hunched back pay attention to sit upright. This will also have a role model function for the children.

Try to drink sufficiently: since 80 % of the human body is water, it is necessary to drink sufficient water to meet the metabolic needs. Too few drinking might also negatively influence our back. Did you know that our intervertebral discs largely consist of water? If they are not sufficiently supplied with water, it might lead to wear and tear of the vertrebral bodies and this leads to back pain. Take your time to drink a glass of water several times a day. For example, place a jug filled with water at a place you frequently pass (at your desk, in the kitchen etc.).

An upright position supports a healthy back and you will inevitably have a self-assured manner.

Receive further information in our sleep-healthy-guidebook “sleep yourself young, fit and successful”, free of cost.

Imagesource: @fotolia

Afflictions with the sciatica nerve

2. November 2016 von Redaktion Leave a Comment

The number of back problems is constantly growing and often the problems start in younger years. Besides too few exercise and constantly sitting, malpositions, too, or a trapped sciatic nerve might cause back problems. The sciatic nerve is one of the biggest nerve cords in the human body. The sciatic nerve is situated from the lower back downwards into both legs. Sciatic afflictions are also called lumbosciatica.

Typical symptoms of sciatic afflictions

Gnawing and burning pains in the lower back but also in the legs are typical symptoms of sciatic afflictions. Mostly, the course of the pain is lateral along the hip, via the buttocks into the outer, posterior range of the legs. Partly, the pain even might radiate into the leg. In especially painful areas the skin feels numb. Even few and small movements increase the pain, sneezing, for example. In an upright position a person concerned adopts a relieving posture – the painful leg is turned outwards and is bend slightly. Most of the time the hand is put into the hips for support.

Causes of sciatic afflictions

In many cases, problems with the intervertebral discs may cause afflictions with the sciatica nerve. Here, a herniated disc presses on the nerve root – the sciatica nerve is blocked. Furthermore, chronic tensions also might trigger a painful stimuli on the nerve roots and hence lead to sciatic afflictions.

Remedy

Besides medical treatment, physiotherapy, fascial release and sufficient movement your bed is playing a decisive role. Here, it is very important to care for an orthopedically correct positioning of the sensitive spine. On the one hand, tensions are prevented like this on the other hand intervertebral problems counteracted. An orthopedic pillow, too, significantly contributes to a proper positioning of the sensitive cervical spine and prevents a bend in the neck.

Receive further information in our sleep-healthy-guidebook “sleep yourself young, fit and successful”, free of cost.

Image source: @fotolia

An insidious danger – the fatal consequences of pain in the neck

9. February 2016 von Redaktion Leave a Comment

When our muscles are sore its a signal of our body that something is wrong. He is kind of forewarning before something more serious is going to happen and thereby gives us the possibility to react. The same thing applies for pain in the neck. When we fail to go to the doctor’s on time chronical head ache might arise – one, even pills often are not able to counteract. But: if you only treat the pain and not its cause (in our case tense neck muscles) it’s only going to be a temporary improvement and the more intense it is going to return. Furthermore, excessive consummation of pain-relieving medication may lead to kidney damages or head ache due to medication.

A further consequence of neck tensions on our body are disturbances in breathing and dysphonia. When your neck is tense, your airways, masticatory muscles and vocal cords knot. People who suffer under a painful neck often are only able to breath shallowly and pressed. This is an enormous impairment in a lot of everyday situations. Nighttime teeth grinding (bruxism) can be due to a tense neck. When the muscles in your neck start to soften again, your breathing as well as your teeth grinding start to improve.

When something is hurtful we avoid any movement that might worsen the pain. And this exactly is the problem: by avoiding any movement of the neck- and shoulder-area severe inflammations of the shoulder-joints might arise. This in turn leads to a susceptibility of calcium deposits in the tendons. A tense neck is not only harmful for head, neck and shoulders. Possibly, the pain in the neck might spread into the whole back. The tense muscles lead to an unnatural pressure on our vertebras. And this further leads to the fact that our intervertebral discs are not sufficiently supplied with nutrients and start to become thin and brittle.

Meanwhile, for most of us pain in the neck is unpleasant, yes, but still common. But it is very important to effectively do something against these tensions. Even if the pain is bearable in the beginning, they might lead to serious health risks and are harmful for our whole body, even up to things like blood pressure and heartbeat. Proper exercises, sufficient movement and the suitable pillow support the release of these tensions. Finally, you are able to say goodbye to your pain in the neck!