Whether a person owns a Cat C licence which gives them access to medium size trucks or CAT C+E license, which allows them to drive eighteen-wheelers, truck driving puts a lot of stress on the body. But it doesn’t have to if you have an enjoyable experience with your truck. You should check out Offroad Trucks Australia (OTA) if you are in need of a comfortable, effecient truck that wont give up on you! Custom truck fitout is just one of many customizable features that OTA offers, their range is appreciatable, so do check them out and as always drive well. Just spending hours behind the wheel can take its toll no matter what type of vehicle you are driving. When you factor in the shifting, steering, clutching, and constant monitoring that is required in a big truck, you have increased risk of neck, back, arm, hip, and leg pain. If they drive a type of truck that requires loading, unloading, or tying down a load, the probability increases even more. Many drivers experience pain, difficulty in mobility, and decreased flexibility. This can impact how well they perform their job as well as how much they enjoy their down time.

How Truck Driving Takes a Toll on the Body

Drivers spend a lot of time doing just that – driving. That is hard on the body in and of itself. With professional drivers, they do it every day for hours on end. Even local drivers who are home every night put in a lot of miles.

Often, drivers must also perform certain functions regarding what they are hauling. Some have to secure their load with straps and tie-downs, or have to handle heavy hoses and equipment to load and unload tankers.

Some drivers have to load and unload (known as “lumping”) their freight themselves. It can involve heavy lifting and repetitive movements. Loaded tanker trucks can be challenging to drive because of the slosh. Most big rigs require a lot of shifting. They may have to shift through 10, 15, or even 18 forward gears.

Team drivers have the added stress of being in a vehicle that is constantly in motion. Even while sleeping in the bunk, they can be subject to the constant vibrations and bouncing as the truck travels over the road. This can lead to impact trauma, often to the shoulder as the driver in the sleeper lays on his or her side. Roads that are poorly maintained can cause impact trauma to both the driver and the person in the bunk.

For all the physical exertion and exposure to a rough environment, though, drivers get very little exercise. They spend a lot of time sitting behind the wheel and making the same movements over and over.

This limited mobility can lead to structural problems like pain in the back, hip, knee, shoulder, arms, and legs. This is compounded by the fact that many prescription medications that are typically prescribed for these issues have side effects that can be dangerous for someone getting behind the wheel.

How Chiropractic can Help Truck Drivers

Chiropractic care provides truck drivers with a non-invasive, drug free way to treat injuries, manage conditions, and relieve pain. Regular chiropractic care can help correct postural habits that can expose the body to injury or move the body out of balance and the spine out of alignment. Often, it can identify emerging issues before they become a problem.

When a driver first visits a chiropractor’s office, he or she will go through a thorough check up and assessment to determine their needs and goals. The chiropractor may recommend certain lifestyle changes and show them some exercise they can do in the truck or while they are on the road as well as ways to minimize the effects of the activities their job requires.

Some of the larger truck stops are now offering drivers access to medical and chiropractic services which allows them to get treatment when they need it. Sometimes a driver is out for several weeks at a time and may not be able to get to their regular chiropractor for an adjustment. However, it is still a good idea to have a regular chiropractor at home and keep regular appointments so you can stay healthy and on the road.

Contact our office and schedule an appointment.  We are eager to help you start living your life again.

Teachers go through a lot in a day. They spend hours on their feet. They bend, stoop, and lift, hunching over students’ desks helping them and carrying heavy books. They sit at a desk, grading papers. It’s no wonder so many of our educators complain of neck and back pain! The good news is, regular chiropractic care can help alleviate those symptoms so that teachers can keep doing what they do best – sculpting young minds.

Research shows that back pain is a common complaint for teachers. When you factor in the mental stress as well as the physical demands, it is easy to see how they could have problems with aches and pains. Chiropractic care offers a proactive approach to health care and overall wellness to keep teachers pain free.

Why Teachers should Seek Chiropractic Care

When you are juggling home, family, and career, it is easy to put your health on the back burner. You may start out ignoring that twinge of pain in your lower back, or those headaches that you get now and then. But if left untreated, these problems can worsen.

That occasional back pain could turn into a full-time ordeal, affecting your arms, legs, even your feet. The occasional headaches could steadily increase in intensity and frequency until it seems you can’t go a day without one.

When your body is bombarded with pain it affects every aspect of your life. Even low-level pain that is constant can lower your performance on the job and at home. It can cause irritability, difficulty concentrating, and fatigue. Your students suffer; your family suffers. It is really worth it?

Chiropractic care is a proactive approach to better health both mentally and physically. It will help you stay on top of your game so that you function better in the classroom as well as at home.

When you feel better you will have more energy to do the things you enjoy. Even once a week or once every two weeks in a chiropractor’s office can make a world of difference in how you feel and how you function.

What Chiropractic won’t do for Teachers

Chiropractic is a natural approach to health care. It provides patients with a non-invasive, medication free way to manage their pain. The teacher who seeks out chiropractic care will not be prescribed mind-numbing medications that upset the stomach and inhibit your performance in the classroom.

It won’t prescribe invasive procedures that require time off work and out of the class while you recuperate. Medical doctors often just treat just the symptoms without every addressing the root of the problem. This is an almost sure-fire guarantee that your problems will return because they were never resolved.

Chiropractic seeks to find the cause of the problem so that the pain can be managed, not just temporarily relieved.

How Chiropractic Benefits Teachers

When you visit a chiropractor, he or she will do much more than just adjust your neck and back. They may discuss with you the activities you enjoy, what your schedule is like, and how you spend your day.

While they will realign your spine and bring your body back into alignment, they will also help you in other areas as well. This translates to fewer sick days, less pain, and increased effectiveness in the classroom.

Chiropractic provides a whole-body approach to wellness. It sees the patient, treating  the underlying causes, not just the symptoms.

Your chiropractor may offer nutrition and dietary advice, advising you to lose weight, eliminate certain foods from your diet, or add certain foods. They may recommend lifestyle changes like quitting smoking or incorporating exercise into your daily routine.

You may be given supplements that support your immunity, joints, or overall health. By treating the whole patient, chiropractic is more effective and will greatly improve the patient’s quality of life.

Contact our office and schedule an appointment.  We are eager to help you start living your life again.

Every day construction workers lift, stoop, bend, reach, push, pull, twist, and climb. It’s no wonder that 25% of construction worker injuries are to the back. An estimated 1 in every 100 construction workers misses work because of a back injury with an average of seven missed work days. Many just power through the pain which isn’t healthy and can lead to further injury and pain. Others get a personal injury lawyer to help them handle their situation legally. In doing so, they often are awarded coverage for our services in order to recover, which is when they come to us for help. Barring unavoidable accidents, it bares mentioning that repeated back injury and failure to take care of the back by taking proactive steps to prevent injury, can lead to permanent damage, even disability. That can end a construction worker’s career.

Chiropractic care can help keep the spine healthy so construction workers can stay on the job and be pain free. Regular treatment can offset the stress that is put on the body each day in this rigorous, physically demanding profession. There are several benefits that a construction worker can gain from seeing a chiropractor on a regular basis.

It helps to maintain mobility

When muscles are stiff and sore, it is natural to try to avoid moving too much. When a person has pulled muscles or they have muscle strain, their first instinct is to protect that area. This can lead to stiffness and lack of mobility, especially if the pain is in the back. A painful lower back can make it difficult to move your legs, bend, or even move about normally. Chiropractic helps to relieve the pain and reduce the stiffness so that mobility is restored.

Range of motion is improved

Stiffness can lead to a limited range of motion. If the spine is out of alignment, it can decrease flexibility and significantly limit the joint’s range of motion, whether it’s the back, shoulders, legs, or neck. Chiropractic brings the spine into the correct alignment which improves range of motion.

Chiropractic helps to relieve back pain

Studies show that chiropractic is very effective in relieving back pain. It can significantly decrease the pain, but in most cases it completely alleviates it.

In one study, 73% of the participants reported an improvement in their back pain. This means fewer missed days of work and much more productive on the job. This is one of the most common reasons that people seek chiropractic care, but it isn’t the only reason. It can help with so much more.

Corrects muscle imbalance

Workers who perform repetitive motions can experience muscular imbalance. This means that some muscles are tight (the ones being used) and others are not being worked as hard. It can cause pain in the area of the muscle as well as in other parts of the body.

A chiropractor can perform a technique called myofascial release to loosen the tight muscles. At the same time, they will recommend exercises for the muscles that don’t get worked as often so that the body can come back into balance. Muscular imbalance can also cause spinal misalignment so the chiropractor will also do an adjustment to bring the whole body back into balance.

Helps the body heal from injuries

Construction injuries are fairly common on a worksite. Most are fairly minor and tend to be ignored by the person until they are in so much pain they can’t function properly. Back strain is a common ailment among construction workers and it can put someone out of commission for a week or more.

Chiropractic care helps the body heal faster and more efficiently by focusing on the whole body instead of just the part that hurts. The patient receives the treatments at the chiropractor’s office then goes home with advice on lifestyle changes, supplements, and exercises to facilitate and speed healing.

For anyone in the construction industry, especially if their position is physically demanding, regular chiropractic care just makes sense. It keeps the spine healthy and the body moving as it should. It is a simple, natural, effective way to help the body function correctly – because pain is not normal. If a construction worker recently got injured, he must seek the legal help of a professional for those LTD settlements.

Teachers do a lot in a day. They stand for long periods of time, they stoop and bend, pick up children, carry stacks of papers, and sit for long periods while they grade papers. It’s no wonder that so many teachers end up with aching backs! While low back pain is the number one cause of disability worldwide, it’s easy to see how teachers may be more susceptible to experiencing it.

Chiropractic care can help keep teachers standing upright and moving about – as well as other great benefits. A teacher with back pain can’t be as effective as they would be if they weren’t in pain. It makes it harder for them to do their job. Regular chiropractic care can help offset what their body goes through in a day and relieves the pain so they can do what they love – shape young minds.

What Teachers Really Do

Teaching is a tough profession. The typical teacher arrives at school before it starts (usually between 6:30 am and 7:30 am) and they don’t leave until well after the last bell has rung (often between 3:30 pm and 5:30 pm). They grade exams during their vacations and spend hours preparing lessons, quizzes, activities, and tests. In middle and high school, they teach five or six classes a day which means a lot of talking and a lot of standing. Combine the stress with the physical demands of the job and it’s no wonder aching feet and backs are the bane of a teacher’s existence.

The Impact of Teaching on the Body

There have been several studies that explore the effects of the physical demands that are put upon a teacher. One study analyzed the incidence of musculoskeletal disorders in special education teachers and teachers’ aides. It found that the three areas most affected were the wrist, shoulder, and back. It found that 86% of the teachers who participated had physical pain and musculoskeletal condition. Another study examined teachers in a municipal school network in Brazil. It found that:

• 41.1% complained of foot, leg, and knee pain (lower limbs)
• 23.7% complained of shoulder, neck, and wrist pain (upper limbs)
• 41.1% complained of back pain

A third study that assessed teachers in Malaysia reported that 62.5% of the teachers surveyed complained of low back pain.

How Chiropractic Care Helps Teachers with Low Back Pain

Several studies show that chiropractic care is a very effective treatment for back pain. The chiropractor will perform a spinal manipulation to bring the spine (and body) into proper alignment. He may also offer advice on exercises, stretching, and ways to improve posture as well as recommending lifestyle changes and what to look for in supportive shoes. Chiropractic’s whole-body approach not only helps relieve back pain, it helps prevent it as well.

Additional Benefits Teachers can Gain from Chiropractic

While less back pain is great news for teachers, there are other benefits they can reap form chiropractic as well. That’s because it doesn’t focus solely on the back or pain, it looks at the whole body. Every day teachers put a lot of stress on their bodies, bending over to help a child with their work, standing to give a lecture, sitting for hours grading papers, and reaching to write on the blackboard. All of this can take a toll on the body, not just physically, but in other ways as wall. It can result in headaches, insomnia, and even frequent illness. A chiropractor can address all those things and make recommendations regarding lifestyle and diet as well as spinal manipulation.

This allows the patient to gain whole body benefits from chiropractic.

• Improved mental clarity and cognitive function.
• Healthier posture.
• Improved quality of sleep.
• Stronger immune system.
• Fewer migraines and headaches.
• Healthier spine.

If you are a teacher, chiropractic care is one of the best ways you can be good to yourself – and you deserve it.