Say goodbye to thoracic spinal problems!

Do you feel that without knowing it your posture has changed over the years, or perhaps your joints are “popping” regularly? This is actually your body’s way of compensating for years of bad posture.

Working for a long time with your head down or only focusing your workouts on your chest muscles and ignoring your back muscles leads to weakening of the back muscles and locking of the ribs so that you’re unable to breathe deeply. When this happens, your neck muscles will take over and help you breathe, but this drags your head down, resulting in a vicious cycle of your shoulder, neck and back being super tight. Over time, as your shoulders curl forward, your shoulder blades stick out and your head moves forward. This affects the natural curve of your spine and may lead to “Upper Crossed Syndrome”. Chiropractors suggest that working out on a rowing machine or doing other exercises to strengthen your back and chest muscles may improve the problem.

As for the rumour that joints that crack will become loose, chiropractors explain that these noises don’t mean that there must be a problem; they may simply be the result of cavitation within the joints that causes gases and fluids to rapidly escape. However, if this happens more frequently, it could be that the body wants to lock the joints to prevent excessive activity and further damage. Therefore, we should pay more attention to those joints to see if there is any possibility of injury, and consult a doctor, if necessary.

In general, Hong Kong people don’t pay enough attention to spinal and posture problems. When serious symptoms occur, such as hands and feet getting numb; a tingling feeling; sensitivity to hot or cold; feeling weak or even having no feeling at all, it may be difficult to recover. So in addition to paying attention to your posture on a daily basis, you should do more spinal exercises. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, so let’s all learn some spinal exercises with Alvin Hsu D.C. of the Children Chiropractic Foundation!