How can I align my spine without a Chiropractor?
It is all very well coming to a Chiropractor and getting your posture in a good position and helping your spine function well, but surely our clients must be able to do some things themselves to help with this?
This is possible but it depends on what your issue is and why your spine is not in alignment?
If you are in your 70’s and your posture has been bad for 50 years or you have a severe scoliosis there is probably little you can do yourself in order to try and change that, it will need help from a professional.
One of the most common spinal alignment issues is a forward head carriage. This is where the head moves forwards in front of the shoulders, this can be caused by:
-Poor posture
-Sitting behind a desk for long periods of time
-Using a smartphone and looking down
-Whiplash injury that isn’t treated
Other common spinal misalignments would be a scoliosis, this is where there is a bend in the spine when you look at someone from the front, it is curved rather than straight.
A short leg can be caused by an anatomically short leg or a functionally short leg where the pelvis is rotated and this can make the leg appear that it is shorter.
How to align your spine?
- Forward Head carriage- to reduce the forward head carriage you need to reverse this by pulling the head back. You can address your posture when sitting by ensuring you are pulling your shoulders back and down, and aligning the screen with the eyes. Place the feet flat on the floor and make sure the knees are lower than the hips.
Movements you can do yourself are chin tucks where you tuck your chin by retracting it, it will give the appearance of a double chin but it doesn’t stay like this, you can do this when driving as it is safe but also when you are sitting for long periods.
Also head tilts, by pulling your head back this can help to take pressure off your neck, you do this by looking up and extending the neck backwards, this will take pressure off the neck and retract the shoulder blades.
You can use a traction wedge at home, this helps to bring the curve back in the neck and remove pressure off the shoulders and neck. Lie on this for 15 minutes for best effect, you can watch us using it here.
Doing push up plus or scapula push ups helps to take pressure of the thoracic spine and engage the lats to bring the shoulders back, watch here
2) A scoliosis is tricky to correct. It usually happens at a young age when the body is growing and developing, more commonly in young females. Belo 20 degrees and the curve is monitored, 20-40 degrees they would be a candidate for a scoli-brace which they need to wear to try and straighten the spine, 40 degrees and above can be a candidate for surgery.
There are exercises to try and help this, but really you may need some help from a Chiropractor that specialises in scoliosis correction.
3) Leg length abnormality-if this is a an anatomical short leg from birth you will need a custom made orthotic or a lift to help with this. If it is a structural issue caused by the hips or pelvis then you can do a clam exercise to help stabilise the pelvis on the side that is needed. Usually it is the shorter side that will need the stability training, you can watch us doing it here.
The other exercise is the glute bridge to help strengthen the glutes and bring the pelvis in to alignment and help take pressure off the legs. Watch here
How to align your spine in bed?
The best position has been a topic of debate for years now, it does depend on your condition and body type but the research suggests that:
-On your side
-Legs at 45 degrees
-Pillow under your head that is level with the neck and shoulders
-No rotation through the hips-use a pillow between the legs to help with this
This allows you to stay neutral in the spine and avoid rotation through the spine which can cause you to be stiff when you wake up in the morning.
If you do know someone who wants more advice, please send them our details. You can send them this blog and they can request a free copy of our book which has posture related exercises in it as well. Click here for FREE book.
