By Lisa Arkowski, DC at Gonstead, Stangl & Arkowski Gonstead, Stangl & Arkowski Once again, cold and flu season is upon us. There’s an endless list of things that we can do to keep ourselves healthy this time of year. Maintaining good sleep, drinking water, and keeping sugar intake and stress levels down are all things we often know we should be doing. Making sure we’re eating our veggies and possibly adding some supplements can all help us stay healthy through the winter season. But could chiropractic play a role in this too? Chiropractic care is often thought of when your back “goes out,” when you sleep funny, get a headache, or if your hands or feet start to tingle. But how can it help you get through the winter season? This time of year we tend to go into hibernation mode—we’re inside more, outside less. We bundle up when we go outside (and sometimes inside), and often we just start to feel tight all over just from the thought of the first snowfall. Spending hours in the kitchen cooking big meals for large family gatherings, sitting in the car to drive to see the ones you love, or even just sleeping in a different bed than usual are all activities that are necessary to see the friends and family we care dearly about. Unfortunately they can also lead to their own aches and pains down the line. Sugar and stress often take more of a toll than we realize, leading to inflammation in the body. This in turn may make us more susceptible to both those holiday aches and pains as well as the more acute neck and back pain injuries. Once the holidays are over we still don’t get off easy. The snow keeps falling and you have to put it somewhere. Icy sidewalks and parking lots create a slippery surface that creates extra work just to keep yourself up on your feet. Even those winter illnesses lead to more problems. Starting to get that cough going around the office? After a little while you may start straining your ribs and back, and you’ll get a quick reminder of just how many muscles and parts of your spine are involved in something as simple as a cough. Chiropractic care can have a large impact on how comfortably you make it through this season. Chiropractors address the body as a whole, which leads to improved function, alleviated pain, and support for the body’s natural ability to heal itself. They evaluate the body and spine to see what’s working, and more importantly, what isn’t. In addition, chiropractors can teach you ergonomics so you’re moving right when you’re clearing those snow piles and skidding across those icy patches. They can give advice on what to do with all the driving and travel. Many chiropractors have additional training in nutritional counseling so they can help you get your body what it needs to stay healthy. They can help you address your health top to bottom, inside out. Whether it’s staying proactive and taking care of yourself before those holiday aches and pain set in, or after you get through those activities and your body starts to tell you how much you’ve put it through, chiropractic can help you feel your best so you can focus on enjoying the season. Which is what it’s all supposed to be about anyway!
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