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CHICAGOLAND CLINIC OPENING!- Wednesday, May 21, 2014

CHICAGOLAND CLINIC OPENING!

The Back Safety & Wellness Consultants are pleased to announce that they are opening Back Safety & Wellness Center in Homewood, IL. Back Safety & Wellness Center will feature chiropractic, acupuncture, massage, nutrition, and of course, back safety education.

Each patient has the opportunity to learn Dr. Josh's secrets to preventing back and neck pain as part of their treatment plan. This presentation contains the same information that Dr. Josh uses during his presentations to businesses and goverment agencies, and as a patient, you can learn it for free!

Back Safety & Wellness Center is scheduled to open in early-mid June. Stay tuned!

ONE THING YOU DO EVERYDAY THAT’S KILLING YOU- Monday, April 7, 2014

ONE THING YOU DO EVERYDAY THAT’S KILLING YOU

I frequently discuss in my book and social media posts the dangers that sitting places on your spine. Excessive sitting is a known cause of low back disorders, particularly disc herniations, and a number of other undesirable problems. Sitting begins to harm your back after about 45-50 minutes of staying in the sustained sedentary position. However, additional research finds that sitting is hurting much more than just your spine; it’s affecting your morbidity.

In one study that looked at 93,000 women’s sitting habits, it was reported that women who sat for a total of 11 hours a day had a 12% increase in an early death from cardiovasucular disease. Additionally, this same study reported that increased sitting may result in up to a 27% increase in an early cancer death (1).

A different study found that people with a forward, flexed posture—which occurs during sitting—are linked to a 1.4 times greater risk of death compared to people that do not have forward posture (2). Poor posture hurts your spine, your overall health, and makes you look bad. Straighten up, people!

1. https://shine.yahoo.com/healthy-living/thing-day-may-cut-life-short-194100937.html

2. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/mobile-phones/10721014/Texting-for-long-periods-could-lower-life-expectancy.html?placement=CB3


THREE BACK PAIN MYTHS AND THE TRUTH BEHIND THEM- Friday, February 28, 2014

THREE BACK PAIN MYTHS AND THE TRUTH BEHIND THEM

  1. "I'm too young, and in too good of shape, to get back pain." Each time I speak to people about back pain, I get the same reaction. People aged 45 and older pay attention to what I say. The people aged 44 and younger couldn't care less. Why? Because most people believe that back pain only affects the elderly or out-of-shape population. This belief cannot be further from the truth. Low back pain is the number one reason people aged 45 and younger seek health care services. The spine is the most frequently injured part of the body in most workman's comp cases. The discs in between each vertebra, that cushion your spine and provide movement, can start to degenerate before you hit puberty. Now, close your eyes and think of ten people. It doesn't matter their age, race, gender, whether they're in shape, or out of shape, rich or poor. Eight of these ten people will experience back pain at some point in their lives. Pay attention, because it doesn't matter your age or whether you're in good shape. You are at risk for back pain.
  1. "My back pain will just go away on its own." Patients entering my clinic frequently come in with the mindset that something very serious is happening to them because they've had lingering back pain that won't go away. Why? Because the majority of people believe their pain will go away on its own. And, if it doesn't, it must must be something more serious. Right? Wrong. Low back pain is typically not self-limiting--it won't just stop on its own. In fact, almost 50% of people that have back pain will still have pain after one year. And if you've already had back pain, you have a 40% chance of getting pain again within the same year. On a side note, 90% of back pain is usually just a simple backache. Less than two percent of back pain is from a serious spinal problem. Get your back pain fixed. It's probably not going away.

  2. "There was one thing I did that caused my back pain." Patients ask me all the time, "What did I do to cause my pain?" And I'll say, "Probably what you're doing now." Of course, the patient will look at me confused because he/she is just sitting. So why do I say this? Because the majority of back pain (approximately 86%) is caused by repetitive misuse, or doing things the wrong way for a long time. It's likely your pain is from performing the same tasks the wrong way for a long time. Think of the spine as a long row of dominoes. Each time you perform a task the wrong way, you knock down one of those dominoes until they all fall. When this last domino falls, your back "goes out." It didn't "go out" because you bent down to put on your shoes last night. Your back went out because you've bent down to put on your shoes the wrong way for five years. Your back "went out" because you sit for eight consecutive hours at your job every day. Your back "went out" because you pick up children improperly at a day care every day. Get the point? It's imperative that you learn the proper way to perform daily tasks and activities so you don't play dominoes with your spine.

BACK-TO-SCHOOL BACK SAFETY- Friday, September 6, 2013

BACK-TO-SCHOOL BACK SAFETY

Children attending school frequently suffer from back and neck pain. In fact, injuries related to backpack use have risen almost 300% in the past 10 years. Let's review some basic steps that your child can use to prevent a back and neck injury while attending school.

Step 1: Ensure your child is wearing a proper backpack

Your child's backpack should not be larger than your child's torso; the width and length of the backpack shouldn't exceed the size of your child's back. Specificially, a backpack shouldn't hang lower than 4 inches below his/her waist or extend beyond the width of his/her shoulders. In addition, the backpack should have two, padded straps that allow the backpack to fit properly in the center of his/her back.

Step 2:  Make sure your child carries less than 10% of his or her bodyweight in a backpack

Children are likely to suffer from upper and mid back pain if they repeatedly carry greater than 10% of their body weight in backpacks over their shoulders. There is a correlation between backpack weight (greater than 10%) and an increase in missed school days. And, as mentioned, children with back pain are more likely to develop back pain as an adult. Luckily, there is an easy solution:  keep less than 10% of your child’s bodyweight in the backpack!

Step 3:  Carry backpack loads correctly

Evidence shows that there is a particular way to carry objects in your backpack based on the environment in which you are walking. If you are walking over “rough ground,” you should carry the load of your backpack at the very bottom of the pack. If you are walking over “smooth ground,” carry the load high in your pack. The different walking environments produce varying stresses on the body. Placing the loads to accommodate the terrain can prevent back problems. Obviously, your child is walking over “smooth ground” at school, so keep the loads high in the backpack. And, don't forget to keep the larger, heavier objects closest to your child's body.

ARE YOU TAKING THE BEST SUPPLEMENTS AND VITAMINS?- Sunday, June 9, 2013

ARE YOU TAKING THE BEST SUPPLEMENTS AND VITAMINS?

The vitmain and supplement industry is a massive, multi-billion dollar industry. People take supplements for everything from weight-loss to weight-gain and eye support to improved hearing. If there is malady, there is someone telling you they have a vitamin or supplement to cure it. Vitamins and supplements can be great; I take over half a dozen a day. However, some vitamins and supplements are a waste of your money. 

Two specific vitamins and supplements that I see patients taking regularly that you should avoid are ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and protein concentrates. Ascorbic acid is a synthetic version of vitamin C and your body does not readily absorb it. You basically pee it out. Instead, try whole food vitamin C supplements. Whole food vitamin C comes from a natural, food source and your body does readily absorb it.

Similarly, protein supplements from concentrate are not readily absorbed by your body either. Make sure your protein supplement is from a natural, food source and is an "isolate," not a "concentrate."

Additionally, please read this article from Huffpost Healthy Living. It discuss five foods to stop taking and alternatives to each one. It's worth checking out!

Yours in health,

The BSWC

3 Tips to Protect Your Spine While Working in the Yard- Tuesday, May 28, 2013

3 Tips to Protect Your Spine While Working in the Yard

The end of Memorial Day marks the unofficial start of summer: nice weather, cool breezes, sunny skies....and yard work! Here are three tips to protect your spine while working in the yard.

1.  Garden properly -- Don't flex your back i.e bend incorrectly, while you garden. Instead, wear knee pads or kneel on a towel, or other padded item, to protect your knees. Kneel on one knee. Keep a neutral (straight) spine and use hip rotation (demonstrated in Dr. Zumstien's book) to lean forward. Switch knees every few minutes or less depending on your comfort. There isn't a set rule for how long you should kneel before switching knees. It's based on comfort. It's important to remember not to flex your spine and to keep your back neutral while you garden.

2.  Properly push the lawnmower -- Research indicates the best way to push an object, such as a lawnmower, is with the force directed through your low back. The low back is qualified as the area between the bottom of your rib cage to the top of your pelvis. As a result, the handles of your lawnmower should be located within this low back region.


3.  Use a wheelbarrow correctly -- To prevent injury, ensure you're lifting the wheelbarrow correctly: use a squat and rotate your hips forward. Do not flex (bend incorrectly) your spine. After properly lifting the wheelbarrow with your legs and not your back, push it with the force directed through your low back, as you would with the lawnmower. Finally, set down the wheelbarrow using a squat and hip roation again. Do not bend your back to lower it.


12 FOODS FOR YOUR SKIN AND HEALTH- Saturday, April 13, 2013

12 FOODS FOR YOUR SKIN AND HEALTH

Men's Health Magazine has posted a great story about nine foods they believe are essential for keeping your skin looking good and you feeling great. I'm re-posting the story because it is one story that I agreed with almost entirely. Every food that Men's Health lists is great for your skin and your overall well-being. However, I want to add to that their suggestion of low-fat dairy products is nice, but please be sure to have organic, low-fat dairy products as hormone-infused dairy isn't good for anyone. Secondly, water is great for your body, but I do encourage purified water.

Men's Health lists nine foods, but I'm going to add three more to the list for a total of 12 foods that everyone needs for healthy skin and well-being: flax seeds, red grapes (or alternative source of resveratrol), and echinacea.

To parody Dos Equis, stay healthy my friends!

The 9 best foods to keep your skin looking and feeling great

WGN-TV MIDDAY NEWS SEGMENT- Friday, April 5, 2013

WGN-TV MIDDAY NEWS SEGMENT

Dr. Zumstein recently appeared on WGN-TV in Chicago to promote his book and teach Chicago viewers his three favorite steps to preventing back and neck pain. We hope you enjoy this clip:

WGN APPEARANCE

When do you need new running shoes?- Monday, February 18, 2013

WHEN DO YOU NEED NEW RUNNING SHOES?

While earning my master's degree in sports rehab and exercise science, teachers recommended changing running shoes every 200-300 miles that you ran. Although that information I received was probably up to par at the time, the latest research is proving otherwise. In fact, a New York Times article mentions a significant study performed on runners that showed no clear relationship between how many miles they ran in their shoes and a higher risk of injury. To quote the aformentioned article, "No one really knows" when you should retire a running shoe.

Read for yourself, and please share your thoughts on when you think you need new running shoes!

WHEN TO RETIRE A RUNNING SHOE

9 Foods You Should Avoid- Tuesday, February 12, 2013

9 FOODS YOU SHOULD AVOID

I hope you enjoy this article as much as me. Anyone, who cares about the food they put into their bodies, must read this article. Here is your knowledge for the day:

9 INGREDIENTS NUTRITIONISTS WON'T TOUCH

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