Camp with Health in Mind

Heading to the great outdoors this summer? Bring along these great health and well-being camping tips from Franklin Chiropractic & Accident Clinics, Inc. for those beautiful nights spent cozied up next to a campfire.

Bring along healthy snacks. It’s easy to grab bags of chips and other salty snacks to bring with you—but these will only dehydrate your campers. Nuts and dried fruit are great for a quick bite and a boost of energy while hiking or in between meals. Bananas and apples are also great camping foods because they don’t need to be refrigerated.

Keep hydrated. As always, it’s so important to stay hydrated—especially when you’re spending a few days or more outdoors. Each person should be getting 64 ounces of H2O a day, which is roughly a half gallon a person. If you’re hiking in a few miles or more, consider buying a water filter specifically made for hiking and ensure there will be a clean water source available to you.

Put on the right backpack. This tip is especially important if you’ll be hiking to your camping spot or heading out for a day trip. Make sure that your bag has padded straps and keep them tightened comfortably so your pack isn’t pulling on your back and shoulders. You can also look for a backpack with a waist strap—this helps distribute the weight of the contents in your bag.

Choose the right shoes. This is important no matter where you are. Wearing shoes with socks or hiking sandals instead of flimsy sandals helps prevent injury to your foot and provides extra comfort if you’ll be hiking. Be sure to pack at least two pairs of socks and if they get wet, dry them completely before putting them back on.

Sleep with a pad. There are specially designed camping pads made to go underneath your sleeping bag. This comfort-providing gear will help support your spine and ensure a better night’s rest, especially since most people aren’t used to sleeping on hard surfaces.

Be aware of wildlife. Seeing wildlife on a camping trip can be quite thrilling. Depending where you are in the United States, you may encounter all different kinds of animals. Check with the park or forest preserve in which you’re traveling for specific safety tips or answers to wildlife related questions.

Make a first aid kit. While no one expects to have an injury, you never know what can happen. Purchase or build your own first aid kit so you’re properly prepared. The Red Cross recommends including items like compress dressings, gauze pads, bandages, cloth tape, antibiotic ointment, antiseptic wipes, aspirin, instant cold compress, hydrocortisone, roller bandages and a first aid instruction book.

Check the weather. While the weatherman isn’t always right, it’s important to check the forecast for your trip. If rain is a possibility bring the necessary items like raincoats, a tent fly and a tarp. Also, in many places the temps can drop at night, so bring along warmer clothing for your evenings under the stars.

4 Ways to Get Your New Year’s Resolution Back

If you kick-started a resolution for 2020, it’s time to check in with yourself. No matter what your resolution was—work out more, kick a smoking habit, eat healthier, spend more time with family, get organized, you name it—it’s easy to have a lot of motivation at first but then lose steam as time goes on. If you really want to make your resolution work, set aside some time each month to take stock of what you’ve accomplished and where you might need some nudging. Here are some tips to get you there:

Make Sure it’s the Right Fit

Are you struggling big time with your resolution? Did you make a few days and leap off the wagon? Maybe this resolution isn’t for you right now. Reevaluate why you chose this goal: Is this really what matters to you in this moment or are you just choosing “lose weight” because you always do?

Think long and hard about what’s important to you, and think outside the box! A resolution doesn’t have to be something involving eating better or working out—it could be committing to reading one book a month, a weekly dinner date with your partner or laughing more. Make it about whatever matters to you.

Baby Steps for Success

Take a second look and see if you bit off more than you can chew. For example, if you really wanted to start working out and your resolution was to hit the gym four times a week for hour-long sessions—you probably made too big of a jump to start. Instead, commit to walking 5 miles a week for the first month or 20-minute gym sessions three days a week. 

It’s much easier to make smaller, easy-to-swallow adjustments at first and then move onto bigger goals. You’ll feel good as you meet your own expectations, making it easier for you to up the ante as you go.

Cut Yourself Some Slack

Sometimes it’s easy to be hyper critical of yourself—but often no good can come from this. When you feel like you slipped on your resolution, it can feel like you failed altogether, and this might cause you to head back to old behaviors. If you slacked a bit on your goals, who cares?! Your resolution, your life, your rules. Give yourself a break and give it another chance. And, like we said, make sure you’ve chosen a goal you can achieve.

Get Specific About It

Research has found that the more detailed and specific you are about your goals, the more likely you are to stick with ‘em and achieve ‘em. Ask yourself questions like: What do I want to accomplish? Who does this benefit? Where will I work on my goal? When would I like to reach my goal? Why is this goal important to me? If you struggle answering some of these (especially your “why”), then maybe it’s time to head back to the drawing board.

Should I Use Heat or Ice for Pain?

Did you get hurt during your workout? It’s time to grab the heating pad… or the ice pack… or both—who even knows! There’s a lot of confusion when it comes to using heat or cold to help treat common exercise injuries like strains, sprains, pulled muscles, shin splits, knee injuries and tenderness. Let’s put an end to it once and for all! Here’s your temperature care breakdown, so you know when it’s time to sing a song of fire or one of ice.

Ice, Ice, Baby

As a general rule, always choose ice for injuries and inflammation. Cold restricts blood flow and reduces inflammation and swelling. Whenever there’s bleeding in underlying tissue—think sprains, strains or bruising—ice treatment is the way to go. You can use cold therapy in two ways: immediate or rehabilitation.

Immediate treatment: helps prevent the injured area from becoming stiff by reducing tissue fluid.

Rehabilitation: aims to restore normal function to an affected area by reducing pain and spasms, which in turn allows for better movement.

If you have bad circulation, then cold therapy probably isn’t for you. If you apply ice for too long (or directly!) then skin, tissue or nerve damage becomes a possibility. Folks with cardiovascular disease should always consult with their doctor before using cold therapy.

Turn Up the Heat

Usually, heat is the best method for relaxing—whereas ice restricts blood vessels, heat opens them, increasing blood flow to an affected area. This is perfect for most aches and pains, and it’s also really great for repairing damaged tissue since increased blood flow stimulates healing. Minor stiffness and tension can usually be relieved with about 15-20 minutes of heat therapy.

Do not feel the burn! When using heat therapy, you want to keep a nice, even warmth. If you have swelling or bruising, heat isn’t the right call. Never use it near open wounds, and for people with heart disease or hypertension, always ask your doctor before using this treatment.

The Ultimate Treatment

When it comes to injuries caused by physical activity, cold and heat are super beneficial, but they’re not long-term solutions. A healthy musculoskeletal system is critical to overall health and healing, affecting how the entire body functions. Regular adjustments of the spine help return the body to a normal state, reducing tension and pain by utilizing the body’s natural healing process. Choosing chiropractic as the first line of defense once injured decreases the likelihood of surgery and further injury!

How To: 3 Breathing Techniques to Help Relieve Stress

The way you’re breathing says a lot about how you feel. If your breathing is shallow, you may be angry. If it’s extremely heavy, you may be worn out from a hike or other strenuous activity. And when you experience shortness of breath, it may be that you’re anxious, which should be addressed right away, before it accelerates from concern to panic.

The good news is that you can regain control with something as familiar as your breathing. An online fact sheet from the American College of Cardiology advises you to interrupt the buildup of anxiety in order to avoid more serious reactions and, ultimately, damage to your health. For starters, the article instructs you to lie down, if possible, or at least be seated and relax your shoulders.

Then you may want to try some of these suggested breathing techniques designed to reduce stress:

Diaphragmatic Breathing

While lying on your back, place one hand on your chest and the other hand on your belly. Breathe in, pushing up on your belly, paying attention to the rise of your belly hand. Then, as you exhale, feel the hand on your belly sink as the air leaves the lower lungs. With experience, you can learn to do diaphragmatic breathing from a standing position.

Pursed Lip Breathing

Place your arms in front of you on top of a table or desk and lean forward. Keeping your lips pursed and fairly closed, breathe in through your nose for approximately 4 seconds, and exhale out your mouth for 6 to 8 seconds.

Alternate Nostril Breathing

Placing a finger over one side of your nose, close one nostril and begin by breathing out, then in the same nostril. After each breath cycle, which is one exhale followed by one inhale, switch sides. Perform 5 to 9 rounds of this exercise, always inhaling through the same nostril you just exhaled through.

Air it Out in Advance

You don’t have to wait until anxiety gets the best of you to reap the benefits of relaxation techniques. Deep breathing is effective as a daily practice, regardless of your circumstances. When you make it part of your routine, you’re more likely to return to a calm inner place when you encounter discord with the boss or a family member, or find yourself caught in a traffic jam.

An article in Harvard Health points out the benefits of breathing techniques to inhibit natural reactions such as the “fight or flight” response that occurs when everyday problems such as money issues or getting cut off on the freeway are unavoidable. Individuals who don’t foster a calm surrogate for stress may be, instead, fostering illness. High blood pressure, which is a major risk factor for heart disease, is one of the detrimental results of a life filled with anxiety.

“The stress response also suppresses the immune system, increasing susceptibility to colds and other illnesses,” the article says.

Practice the techniques 10-20 minutes per day, Harvard experts suggest. Your goal is deeper, calmer rhythms directing your focus. And it exceeds the need to just reduce physical responses to negative emotions. Breathing exercises also can serve to feed your soul, made plain by an attitude poised by acceptance and calm -- not overreaction and hostility.

You can further minimize the effects of stressors with practices such as yoga, meditation, acupuncture and chiropractic care. Taking a holistic, multi-pronged approach to your health is an effective means to address the complex nature of anxiety without the need for medication.

Just as stress and anxiety are forces of nature, the best way to handle them is with the natural tools you can access from regular visits to your chiropractor. When you apply the expert advice you get from your practitioner and practice regular breathing exercises, you avert the health risks resulting from long-term anxiety and you stand to improve your attitude by airing out a growing level of negative emotion.

If you haven’t taken early steps to make relaxation a part of your life, you can hope for fast-acting results that includes accepting things as they come. But don’t hold your breath.

3 Quick and Easy Exercises to Help You Avoid Low Back Pain

Did you know that low back pain is one of the most common reasons for missed work?

Luckily, there are three quick and easy core strengthening exercises you can do to avoid that debilitating low back pain.

Forward Knee Plank: The knee plank helps strengthen your low back. It also helps build foundational strength for more complex plank exercises that are found in the forward plank.

Bird Dog: Despite the strange name, this exercise works by engaging your posterior chain. Strengthening this muscle group can help improve your posture and may also help alleviate pain in both the upper and lower back.

Forward Plank: The last core exercise is a more complex version of the forward knee plank. The forward plank helps strengthen the main support muscle for your lower back.

Remember to perform all these exercises as advised by your chiropractor.