As a parent, do you worry about your kids hurting their backs carrying around heavy backpacks every day at school? Or have you noticed your child constantly looks down at their smartphone or tablet? At SportsPlus Physical Therapy & Chiropractic, our chiropractors specialize in taking a holistic view of kids’ health and well-being at all school levels.
Preventing pain and injury in school-aged children is not a common topic that is talked about until it is too late. Adults often don’t think about the effects of sitting at desks for extended periods and assume that modern school days are like “back in the day” when they went to school. Too often, the assumption is that kids can adapt to whatever challenges they face at school.
Unfortunately, our society has become far more sedentary and dependent on technology for schoolwork. Now, more than ever, young kids are lugging backpacks filled with books, laptops, and a hundred other supplies just to go home and spend hours sitting at a desk or table doing homework.
Too often, bad habits like prolonged sitting, poor postural habits, and incorrect lifting techniques can lead to life-long problems for kids. Studies have shown that only 1% of children experience low back pain, but by 16 years of age, nearly 20% of adolescents will have experienced low back pain, and this is just one condition that can start from the choices we make as children or young adults.
Fortunately, at SportsPlus Physical Therapy & Chiropractic, our team understands how to help resolve any ailment your child is dealing with and ensure they are ready to return to school feeling their best!
Request an appointment today to learn more about how chiropractic care can help your child prepare for their best school year!
How chiropractic care at SportsPlus Physical Therapy & Chiropractic can help prevent pain
At SportsPlus Physical Therapy & Chiropractic, our chiropractors understand how to make sure starting back to school goes as smoothly as possible. We will get to the root of your child’s aches and pains and teach the tools to minimize the risk of injury with a comprehensive program tailored to their individual needs.
To start with, we believe a little prevention goes a long way. Our team will guide you through effective strategies to prevent pain including the following six tips:
- Get proper sleep: Getting adequate sleep is one of the most important steps your child can take to minimize the risk of injury, recover after an injury and perform the best they can mentally and physically.
- Eat healthily: Nutrition helps you concentrate and eliminates the risk of inflammation and pain. Focus on eating plant-based meals with lean meats and healthy fats. Avoid processed foods and foods high in unhealthy fats, high sugar content, or deep-fried foods.
- Use Good Posture: Most kids slouch when sitting or standing throughout their school day—learning to counteract the slouch by lifting your breastbone towards the sky. This will naturally cause your spine to straighten out with your joints stacked properly on one another. This technique also helps align your hips, spine, shoulders, and neck.
- Limit Sitting For Too Long: Prolonged sitting is not good for your back or overall health. Although adjusting your posture while sitting can be helpful, a more effective option is to stand up periodically throughout the day.
Limit your sitting to 30-45 minutes at a time. The results will be noticeable.
- Carry your backpack the right way: Start by finding your natural posture (neutral spine). A simple tip for finding your natural posture starts by lifting your breast bone (i.e., sternum) towards the sky. This will naturally cause your spine to straighten out and create a natural lower back posture (i.e., lordosis).
Keep your spine straight (i.e., use this neutral posture) while carrying a backpack to avoid straining your joints and shift the load onto your muscles to perform the task.
- Use Exercise and Strength Training: When you stay active and engage your muscles, you can better complete the physical demands of the day without noticing pain.
Muscles protect you from injury and allow you to stay active and healthy. You can keep them strong by lifting weights, running, and swimming.
Our (town) chiropractors will always do their very best to handle any concerns you may have so that you feel comfortable and satisfied when you leave your appointment. Our team will use various techniques to improve your child’s overall health and well-being.
Request an appointment today!
If you have been living with back pain or want to avoid potential back pain, don’t hesitate to contact SportsPlus Physical Therapy & Chiropractic today and request an appointment with one of our skilled chiropractors.
We emphasize the importance of education to help you understand what is causing your pain and how to resolve it. Your chiropractor may employ spinal manipulation, manual therapy, or modalities and taping techniques. Your chiropractor may also recommend making changes at home and doing specific exercises or changes to your nutrition to reduce pain and inflammation.
Our chiropractors help school-aged kids alleviate their aches and pains and learn how to take proper care of their bodies to focus on school and having fun rather than dealing with pain or injuries.
Sources:
- https://www.jac-chiro.org/pdf/WHOguidelinE.pdf
- https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpain.2021.765921/full
- https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/acm.2020.0107
- https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0203029
- https://content.iospress.com/articles/work/wor2243
- https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2604754#:~:text=At%207%20years%20of%20age,have%20experienced%20low%20back%20pain.
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2200681/
Tags: Physical Therapy, Physical Therapist, Chiropractic care, Pain Relief, chiropractor, physical therapy clinic
