| Sylvia Skefich, D.C. |
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Here are some tools for your bag of health tricks. Airplane flight: Make a cushion out of one of the airplane blankets (by folding it up) or use one of their small pillows. Put it on the seat bed. Pull your “cushion” forward an inch or two before sitting on it. This creates your own sacral cut-out pillow, whereby your sit bones are on the cushion (elevated) and your spine is hanging in the recess you created by pulling the pillow away from the backrest. This will aid in your comfort, and reduce your jet lag. Sitting with pressure on the tailbone/spine can make you tired as your natural spinal pulse is dampened. Plus, airplane seats are designed as flotation devices, not as ergonomically proper seats, and often push up at the tail area creating irritation. Sleeping: When sleeping on your back, avoid a tall pillow. Tall pillows create a strain in the back on the neck that can have you running for your chiropractor. Even if it feels good as you sleep, the long-term stretch creates problems in the joints. Make it so that your face is parallel with the ceiling. That is, you want it so than your chin is not tucked or lifted. You can have a partner look at you side view to see if you are “facing” the ceiling squarely, or simply notice where your eyes go when looking straight ahead. (Your eyes should be pointing straight over you.) Additionally, when side sleeping, you want your head in-line with your spine (not too raised or lowered). Best pillow style will vary from person to person. Even the cheapo poly-fill pillows are good (Ross or Long’s) because they scrunch up, and can be formed to the height you want throughout the night. Some of the more expensive pillows resist deformation, and are then too tall for all sleeping positions. Tempurpedic beds are not the best choice for most people. Ideally, a bed that will straighten you out at night, counteracting what gravity has done all day is best (firm). The tempurpedic and soft beds cradle you in your malposition, and people frequently feel worse some weeks or months after purchase. For people with arthritic pressure points, tempurpedic can be effective to reduce pressure-caused pain, however. Supplements: Supplements need not be thought of as “extra” or as an unnatural addition to healthy eating. Think of supplements as the way to get back what we do not get through natural farming, through a life of stressed choices when eating, and through modern food choices that do not necessarily contain every part of the animal or plant. For instance, glucosamine sulfate and chondroitin sulfate are natural amino acid/protein building blocks to cartilage. We used to get this through a diet that may have included bone soups, head cheese, and other rustic types of food that made use of every body part of the animal. The supplement is therefore simply a replacement of the original diet deficiency. Herbs: Herbs are our friends. They bring in the energy of their spirit which can assist healing and transformation, beyond the simple biochemical processes that are involved. When taking herbs, it is nice to be cognizant of the helper spirit energy and to be grateful for the help.
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Doctor of Chiropractic, Sylvia Skefich – Santa Cruz, California 831-475-1995 |