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Stability Ball Benefits

3 Reasons Why Sitting On A Stability Ball Is Good For Your Spine

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The workstation is one of the most damaging places you can spend your day when it comes to your spine. Office chairs are not designed to promote good posture or spinal health while desks and computer monitors are notorious for being too low or too high. The result can cause pain in your neck and back, headaches, and a variety of other conditions.

However, if you have a job that requires you to sit at a desk for an extended period of time, what can you do? Are you stuck with an achy, stiff neck and back because your work station doesn’t promote a healthy posture? You don’t have to suffer; you can work healthier and smarter. Using an exercise ball as your chair is a great way to combat the painful and even detrimental effects of the traditional desk and chair.

Stability Balls as an Office Chair

A stability ball, also known as a Swiss ball, exercise ball, or physio ball, is a large, inflatable ball that is used as training equipment. Regularly incorporating the stability ball into your fitness routine is effective in increasing pillar strength, improving your stability, and helping you have better balance. It is large, making it high enough that it can easily be used as a desk chair.

At least one company has combined the fitness benefits of a stability ball with some of the convenient features of an office chair (wheels, lumbar support, etc.). Gaiam Balance Ball Chairs are stability balls that are intended to be used as chairs. The ball needs to be inflated before use and may need to be re-inflated from time to time. It also has a 300-pound weight capacity. It is a somewhat pricier alternative to the plain stability ball.

How Sitting on a Stability Ball Benefits your Spine

There are at least three outstanding benefits you can enjoy by using a stability ball as your chair. Try it for just 30 days and see the difference for yourself. In that time you will see:

Your core muscles are toned. As you balance on the stability ball it forces you to engage your core muscles including those in your deep back, abdominal, and pelvic floor. It will keep your muscles engaged for extended periods of time but also encourage you to move for a little extra core work. This in turn will help to keep your spine properly aligned and stabilized.

Your back pain is relieved. Sitting on your stability ball improves your circulation, encouraging blood flow throughout your body. An office chair, on the other hand, does just the opposite. This is helpful in relieving pain. It keeps your spine aligned which also helps with any back pain you may experience. This is in part to the core strength you develop, but also because you are less likely to slouch or sit in a position that puts a strain on your back.

You have better posture. A better aligned spine just naturally leads to better posture. Sitting on the ball works your core, strengthening those muscles so that your spine is supported, resulting in better posture. You will find that you sit up straighter and over time you will walk taller. Better posture is very good for your spine, making it more flexible and stronger.

It should be noted that it isn’t healthy to sit in any position for too long. Stand up and move about every hour or so. While the stability ball causes you to change positions throughout the day, you also need the larger movements that include standing, stretching and walking.

Visit www.ocwc.ca to learn more about our clinic.

Workplace ergonomics

4 Case Studies That Support Going Upright in the Workplace

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If you are considering going upright in your workplace or workspace, you are not alone. Companies large and small are recognizing the benefits of this healthy, spine friendly way of working and they are incorporating it into their employees’ work stations. It places the body in an optimal position, between standing and sitting to provide an ergonomic solution to working at a desk that saves space too. Even home offices are getting in on the movement. These case studies tell the stories of four companies that incorporated upright workspace technology for their own organizations.

ShapeUp

Rhode Island based start-up company, ShapeUp, is a health and technology centered small business with just employees. It manages the design and implementation of socially activated wellness programs in the workplace. They were looking for furniture that was high quality and tough enough to withstand a workforce that was very active. At the same time, it needed to promote good heath to remain consistent with the company’s health oriented ideals.

Their first step moving in that direction was to purchase several community upright workstations. This would allow employees to get upright at various points during the day. The feedback from employees was so positive that upright workstations were placed in each employee’s work area.  They reported reduced back pain and increased energy, attributing it to the simple act of going upright.

FLUX

FLUX, based in San Francisco, is a small tech company with fewer than 50 employees. The venture backed start-up created software that “reimagines sustainable building design.”

In 2012, Nicholas Chim, the company’s founder, began searching for body friendly workstations that would help keep his energy level up and help him maintain his focus. He purchased an upright station for himself to keep in his work area. Many of the employees expressed great interest in this strange, new workstation. Once, Chim came home from a business trip and found that one of the employees had taken over his upright station.

Chim then realized he needed to purchase upright stations for all of his employees, if he was going to keep them happy and healthy. He now offers upright work stations to all of his employees; all they have to do is request it.

Katie Rowe Mitchell

Katie Rowe Mitchell has a home office where she runs her start-up, Unfold Yoga + Wellness with her friend and partner Nicole Elipas Doherty. The company brings meditation practices and accessible yoga to organizations as a wellness measure for the companies’ employees. She left her long time corporate job that left her feeling physically uncomfortable, overstressed, and overworked due, in part, to her sedentary work style.

She recognized the link between yoga and having more energy and better focus so she left her corporate job to start her own company that would bring yoga to stressed out workers. In her own home office, Katie wanted a more active work style and an upright work station was the answer. It keeps her engaged in mind, body, and spirit. She has a newfound sense of freedom that sitting behind a desk for hours every day did not provide. Going upright opened a whole new world for Katie.

Wikimedia Foundation

Tech non-profit Wikimedia Foundation is based in San Francisco and has 200 employees. It powers several collaboratively edited projects including Wikimedia. When the company decided to redesign their office space, they decided that they wanted to create a work environment that empowered and encouraged employees to work together. They chose a dynamic environment with an open floorplan – and they included several upright stations. These workstations were grouped together so that all of the employees would have an opportunity to use the stations at different times. The upright desks also proved to be space saving and took up less room in the work area than traditional desks and chairs.

Movement chiropractic work place

4 Ways to Incorporate Movement Into Your Workplace

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If you sit behind a desk all day with little or no activity, you could be compromising your physical health, mental health, and brain health which could impact your productivity at work. From a physical standpoint, it isn’t healthy to remain in one position for too long. It can lead to various health conditions including diabetes, heart disease, and even cancer. Experts advise getting up and walking around every hour or so or do exercises at your desk.

Healthy brain function can also be impacted by inactivity. If you sit at work without moving for long periods of time your brain could suffer. The lack of activity could cause it to enter into a state of slumber which can lead to a decrease in brain processing speed and short term memory loss.

It can also impact a person’s ability to learn or retain new information. This is why it is so important to create an organizational culture that encourages movement as part of their workday.

There are four areas where you can incorporate movement into your own workplace: policies, places, people, and permission.

Policies

Create written policies that encourage and advocate movement during work hours. Incorporate moving workstations, moving meetings, flexible scheduling, more breaks when meetings run long, and a movement friendly dress code.

Provide information and training to all employees and leadership underlining the importance of the policies and explaining the importance of movement as well as what they can do to support the initiative.

Places

Create workspaces that are conducive to movement, adjusting workstations so that they encourage active movement and incorporating active movement into current processes and workflows while minimizing the time employees spend sitting.

Seek out software and applications that encourage users to stretch or get up and move while they are working. Make stairwells more accessible and appealing, improve common areas, and encourage collaboration that requires moving to various workstations or common areas.

People

Identify employees who are good role models for movement and train them for leadership roles so that they can encourage other employees to make movement a part of their work day. Train them in the policies regarding movement and task them with helping to create a culture of health and movement within the organization.

Organize groups to walk during breaks or meet in common areas for light stretching and other types of movement. Sponsor contests and competitions with prizes for employees who achieve set goals.

Permission

Educate all employees and all levels or management or leadership on the benefits of movement and how it can positively impact personal production and performance as well as organizational outcomes. Stress that moving during the work day should become a normal activity and must be welcomed and allowed. Emphasize that it is the task of all employees to make a culture of movement the norm as opposed to the exception.

The benefits of bringing movement into the workplace extends far beyond healthier employees and increased production. Employees perceive themselves as valuable to the organization and morale is increased. This improves employee engagement on the job and they invest more into their work as opposed to just doing a job. They are happier, empowered, and more productive at work and take more of an active role in business outcomes as well as their own health.

Of course, employees will also enjoy individual benefits such as increased blood flow, as well as improved problem solving, better alertness, and enhanced creativity. A workplace that incorporates movement into its culture is a healthier, happier place to work with healthier, happier employees. You can’t afford to not implement this simple, effective strategy into your own organizational culture.

Visit www.ocwc.ca for more health and wellness tips! Call us at (780)455-2112 to schedule an assessment.

Health Ergonomics working posture

4 Health Benefits of Working Upright

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Sitting at a desk for extended periods of time is not healthy and can lead to a host of health problems. As more and more studies show the detriments of prolonged sitting, some companies are taking action to protect their employees’ health by installing upright work stations. These desks take the person from a seated position and move them into one where they are leaning. As a result, most of the workers are enjoying several health benefits.

It facilitates healthy postural transitions

Simply put, postural transitions are the body movements made when changing positions. There are large movements like going from sitting to standing, standing to leaning, and standing to sitting, but also small movements like adjusting arm placement or moving a foot.

Ergonomists suggest that a person should be making postural transitions several time an hour. They also recommend that people avoid any static position such as standing, sitting, or leaning for an extended period of time, instead advocating a transition or movement every 20 minutes when possible.

Static positioning has been linked to obesity, heart disease, and other health conditions. When the body is positioned in such a way that facilitates healthy movement, the body moves more often and in a more natural way. This is not likely to happen with static positioning, especially prolonged sitting.

It improves spine health

Sitting or standing for long periods of time is not good for the spine. When a person stands or sits without any healthy postural transitions the spine can begin to compact and the discs become hard. This undermines the spines ability to adequately support the body, leading to loss of mobility, decreased flexibility, and pain.

The spine is made up of small bones, vertebrae, which are cushioned by spongy, fluid filled discs. In a healthy spine, the discs are filled with fluid providing a good cushion for the vertebrae as they move and support the body. However, the discs need movement to encourage blood flow so they can continue working as they should. Working upright facilitates those movements, thus decreasing the likelihood of spinal problems.

It discourages painful posture

Standing and sitting for prolonged periods of time can cause pain and certain mobility problems. While they share some pain points, each brings its own problems. A strained neck and stiff, sore shoulders are often associated with sitting and standing, usually due to improper computer monitor placement. Poor leg circulation, tight hips, and lower back pain are also common problems of people who do a lot of standing or sitting on their jobs.

Using an upright workstation moves the body into a more natural, healthier posture that encourages natural, frequent movement. The spine is properly aligned over the hips, the hips are open, and the feet are adequately supported. It promotes posture that is completely contrary to being hunched over a desk – the typical posture for a sitting workstation.

It keeps core muscles engaged

When in a seated position, the core muscles are mostly lax and rarely engaged. Over time, these muscles can actually be trained to become weak, or lazy and not engage as they should. This means that they stop supporting the back and body which leads to poor posture, loss of balance, lack of mobility, decrease in flexibility, and pain.

Working upright encourages micro movements that engage the core. It’s not like crunches at the gym, but more like an ongoing mini-workout that keeps the core muscles toned and supportive. The results are a healthier spine, fewer gastrointestinal problems, better posture, and improved circulation.

Other health benefits of working upright include a decreased risk of certain cancers like colon cancer and breast cancer, improved circulation, better brain function, and a decreased risk of health conditions like diabetes, heart disease, and hypertension. Working upright is the most natural position for the body’s best function and health.

Visit www.ocwc.ca for more helpful health and wellness information and tips! Give us a call at (780)455-2112 to start your wellness journey today.

Occupational Injuries Chiropractic benefits

Injured at Work? How Chiropractic Can Help Some Occupational Injuries

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In 2014, there were 2.8 million occupational injuries. This crossed all industries, but 75 percent were in those that provided a service.

These injuries can lead to time lost at work, decrease in production, depression, and temporary (or permanent) disability. These injuries can be caused by slip and fall, vehicle collisions, electrocution, struck by hazards, and caught in or between accidents. However, work related injury can also be caused by sitting at a desk or hunched over a computer for extended periods of time. Chiropractic has been shown to help workers who have been injured on the job, so they can return to work faster.

Common Occupational Injuries

Occupational injuries are vast and varied with a host of causes and many different symptoms. They can range from minor annoyances to significant damage that can lead to temporary or permanent disability. Some may require surgery while others require extended physical therapy, braces, and intensive medical treatments.

  • Thoracic outlet syndrome – This injury is caused by flexing the shoulder, carrying loads on your shoulders, and extending your arms above shoulder height for a prolonged period of time. It is marked by swelling, pain, dull ache, weakness, or a burning sensation in the affected area.
  • Elbow tendonitis (Epicondylitis) – This injury is caused by forceful or repeated forearm rotation while simultaneously bending the wrist. It is marked by swelling, dull ache, pain, burning, and weakness in the affected area.
  • Carpal tunnel syndrome – This injury can be caused by several things including vibratory tools, repetitive motion, and secondary factors. It is marked by numbness, pain, tingling, wasting of muscles at the thumb base, and burning.
  • DeQuervain’s disease – This injury is caused by forceful gripping and repetitive hand twisting. It is marked by pain at the thumb base.
  • Tendonitis/tenosynovitis – This injury is caused by sustained hyperextension of the knee, repetitive motion, and prolonged load overuse. It is marked by numbness, pain, and swelling in the hands.
  • Back and neck pain – This injury can have a wide variety of causes from repetitive motion to accident to improper equipment. It is the most common work related injury.

Preventing Workplace Injuries

While a few work related injuries are unavoidable, many can be prevented with a little extra attention and care. The American Chiropractic Association recommends the following practices to reduce the risk of a workplace injury.

  • Get regular exercise. This helps prevent back injuries by keeping your body strong, fit, and flexible.
  • If you do desk work, get a chair that fits you. This means that there should be two inches between the backs of your knees and the front edge of the seat. Your knees should be level with your hips or slightly below, never higher.
  • When doing computer work, use a foot rest for support and keep your knees between a 90 degree and 120-degree angle.
  • If your job requires you to sit for extended periods of time, take breaks at least every two hours to walk and stretch.
  • When you lift something heavy or awkward, don’t bend over to do it. Bend at your knees and hips, squatting as you pick up the object and let your legs do the work and keeping the object close to your body while your back remains straight. Do not let your body twist while you are trying to lift.

Of course, you should also follow all recommended and required safety guidelines for your workstation and place of employment.

Chiropractic for Workplace Injuries

Chiropractic care can help speed your recovery, improve your posture, and restore your mobility and strength. Through various chiropractic techniques, many of the occupational injuries listed here can be effectively treated. Chiropractic is a proven method for managing pain for the back and neck, but it has also been proven to be very beneficial for conditions like carpal tunnel, elbow tendonitis, and knee injuries.

Chiropractic’s whole body approach helps injured workers not only manage their pain and help heal their injury through adjustments, it can also help with soft tissue rehabilitation and other noninvasive therapies that improve range of motion. In short, chiropractic can help workers get back to work faster so less time is lost from work and the financial impact is greatly decreased.

If you or someone close to you have been injured at work and would like to schedule an assessment, give us a call at (780)455-2112. Visit www.ocwc.ca to learn more about our clinic.

4 Tips Chiropractic Patients Can Use While Working At A Desk

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There are dangers in everyday life, from slipping in the shower to getting mowed down by the next door neighbor’s teenage driver. The risk doesn’t end once we are safely behind our desks, because… sitting is killing us!

Seriously, while not really trying to commit murder, our computer, desk, office chair and keyboard are not our friends. We spend hours each day sitting, typing, staring at the computer screen, and this inactivity is wreaking havoc on our health in a variety of ways.

First, most of us sit incorrectly

Goldilocks knew what she was doing when it came to carefully selecting the right chair. Most of us cause excess stress and pressure on our neck, shoulders, and back from the way we sit in our inadequate office chairs.

According to OSHA, a person who spends time at their computer needs to choose an adjustable chair that supports the back, buttocks, legs and arms. Be mindful of your posture throughout the day as well. An ergonomically adjusted chair minimizes the occurrences of awkward, strained positions that frequently cause injury.

Along with the way we sit, our office jobs are killing us because…

We have our desks laid out wrong

Even with a great chair, a desk that is the wrong height can cause a person to repetitively move and bend awkwardly during the day and injure themselves. Anyone who sits behind a desk needs to make certain it is the right height to comfortably reach the computer keyboard and all pertinent supplies are within a comfortable reach. Add a foot rest to decrease the stress on the lower back. Ergonomically positioning a desk offers greater comfort and less stress on a person’s body.

We also type wrong

Using the keyboard incorrectly can cause a ton of painful medical conditions from neck and back issues to carpal tunnel syndrome. The keyboard should sit at elbow height. Reduce the strain on your hands by keeping them in as natural a position as possible, holding your wrists up even with the backs of your hands. Avoid banging the keys by typing softly, which alleviates the stress on your fingers.

A computer mouse should be situated close to the keyboard, and it’s essential to keep the hand in a neutral position when using it. Avoid resting your hand on the mouse for an extended period of time.

Not taking breaks

According to the Mayo Clinic, sitting for long periods of time is linked to a variety of serious medical conditions from obesity to high blood sugar and cholesterol levels. Sitting in the same position for hours can put pressure on and result in back and neck pain.

Break up sitting every 30 minutes by standing and walking around and stretching if possible. Even standing for a couple of minutes at a time lessens the impact of a sedentary job.

In addition to taking the initiative to build an ergonomic office space, choosing to participate in chiropractic care is a great way to help eliminate pain from back, shoulder, and neck strain. Chiropractic treatment involves adjusting the spine, along with other techniques, offering better alignment in particular and a stronger, healthier body in general. A long-term benefit of chiropractic care is a body that enjoys greater mobility and fewer aches and pains.

An ergonomic office setup is critical in maintaining good posture that minimizes strain and repetitive motion injuries. By investing in ergonomically tailored furniture and setting it up to suit your specific needs, you will lessen the harm an office job does to your body.

If you or a co-worker suffer from symptoms related to an improperly positioned workstation, give us a call. Our Doctor of Chiropractic can help get the symptoms under control as well as guide you toward a more healthier spine and working environment.

This article is copyrighted by Blogging Chiros LLC for its Doctor of Chiropractic members and may not be copied or duplicated in any manner including printed or electronic media, regardless of whether for a fee or gratis without the prior written permission of Blogging Chiros, LLC.

What Chiropractic Patients Need to Know About Sitting While Working

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It’s no big secret that exercise is good for you. Many articles and books have been written and studies completed on the subject of physical fitness. However, lately it’s been discussed as to whether that five mile run or spin class is really enough. Is our work environment undoing any positive effort we put into staying healthy?

The short answer is YES. Human bodies were not built to sit for long periods of time. Our twenty-first century workplace — working behind a desk, typing on the computer, endless video conferences — unfortunately stacks against us to keep us on our… well, not our feet.

There are four harmful results on a person’s body that stem from sitting at work.

Sitting for many hours each day takes a toll on our backs.

Working at a desk for many hours a day causes employees to stay in one position for an extended length of time. This puts a great deal of pressure on their backs. Over time, painful back problems can develop and, if left untreated, continue to worsen.

Sitting also takes a toll on our waistline.

Obesity is at an all time high in Canada and at least a good chunk of the reason is our sedentary lifestyle. Sitting for a long period (8 or more hours a day) decreases our metabolism, causing us to burn fewer calories. The time at our desks can end up packing on the pounds.

Sitting can increase the chance of developing a life-threatening disease.

Studies show individuals with sedentary jobs have more health problems than their active counterparts. Cardiovascular disease and Type 2 diabetes are both examples of health issues that arise more often in people who regularly sit down most of the day.

Sitting can cause premature death.

This may sound melodramatic, but it’s true. As we talked about above, sitting for prolonged periods of time puts you at greater risk of diseases that may end up killing you. A study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, "found people who sat for over 11 hours a day had a 40% greater risk of dying within three years from any cause than people who sat less than 4 hours a day."

So, what should a sedentary office person do to improve their health and decrease the risk many hours of daily sitting causes?

  • Get on your feet! Schedule times during the day to stand up and walk around. If you can’t remember to do it, add an alarm on your cell phone. Even a couple minutes on your feet every hour will help balance prolonged sitting.
  • Learn to sit correctly. If you must sit, make certain your chair isn’t causing more damage. Select a chair that is height and angle adjustable. The seat should support your lower body, and the back should fit the curves of your spine. Special bonus points go to chairs with lumbar support and that rock.
  • Visit your chiropractor. Back problems brought on by a job behind a desk are not going to magically go away, and can get worse over time. Make a chiropractor appointment, get examined, and work to correct the issue.
  • Invest in a standing desk. A growing trend is to turn a sitting job into a standing job. Desks that are taller have the ability to keep you on your feet longer, which will provide many health benefits in the long run.

Good health is one of our greatest assets, and it pays to protect it. By understanding the risks of a sedentary working environment, we can be proactive in increasing activity and promoting our individual fitness.

If you or a loved one needs more insight on how chiropractic can guide you toward a healthier lifestyle, give us a call @ 780-455-2112. We’re here to help!