Chiropractic For Spinal Health Near You in Midtown East, NY

It’s no surprise that chiropractors, as specialists in spinal and nervous system health, are the ultimate sources and guides for understanding spinal hygiene. Modern science has shown that there is an ideal posture for our spines to best adapt to the lifestyle that affects our bodies. You can think of the spine’s curves as a shock absorber for all the stresses we experience in life. When these curves become deformed, they can stress the sensitive spinal cord. Spinal cord stress is directly related to dysfunction and disease in the body.

There are millions of different ways the vertebrae in our spines can shift out of place, but we will cover what we see most here in New York City. The most common deformity we see and help correct is called Tech Neck. In our fast-paced environments, you will see people every day using phones on the subway and computers at work, slowly losing the proper curve in their necks. This forward movement of the head over the shoulders puts immense stress on the spinal structure, which, in turn, twists and distorts the shape of the entire spinal cord. On the average human, every inch the head moves forward adds approximately 10 pounds of load to the vertebral column. It is for this very reason that an ergonomic workstation, regular chiropractic care, and therapeutic exercises are essential to protect the neck curve.

Another common postural misalignment we see in tandem with Tech Neck is mid-back rounding, also known as thoracic hyperkyphosis. When the head shifts forward, our shoulders and ribs tend to round forward as well in a coupled motion. All of our vital organs that sit in the chest cavity are affected by this posture, not only physically but also neurologically. The nerves that control the heart and lungs are housed in the vertebrae, which are connected to the ribs. When nerves become blocked, the energy from the spinal cord cannot reach these important tissues and organs, leading to weakness and overall health deterioration. We want to keep that space upright and open so our brain can communicate with the rest of the body.

An important factor in spinal hygiene is the ideal spine – what is the goal we are trying to achieve in terms of spinal health? To begin, as a general rule, from a frontal or side view, we want the centers of mass of the skull, thorax, and pelvis to be aligned (i.e., positioned on top of each other in a vertical line). When looking at a person’s spine from the front, we want to see that the spinal column is a straight vertical line. From the side-view, there are three primary curves we expect to see: a neck (cervical) lordosis, ribcage (thoracic) kyphosis, and a lower back (lumbar) lordosis.

The Chiropractic Biophysics technique has pioneered the profession with its extensive research on spinal anatomy and positioning. When we talk about the expected spinal curves from the side, research can now tell us what the ideal degrees of spinal curvature are. While there are some variations to these curves depending on some unique individual factors, in general, we would expect the neck lordosis to be circular and measure -42 degrees, the ribcage kyphosis to be elliptical and measure +44 degrees, and the lower back lordosis to also be elliptical and measure -40 degrees. The significance of meeting these geometric requirements is that they allow openable body geometry and weight-bearing while allowing the spinal cord to rest relaxed in the spinal canal.

Just as with other factors in health and hygiene, it is important to remember that consistent, early efforts yield significant benefits for your future. At Rowe Chiropractic Offices, we see patients of all ages and encourage young families to bring their children in, even for a chiropractic evaluation, to establish lifelong good spinal hygiene habits. We see many young professionals who are not even experiencing pain symptoms yet because they understand the value of their health and how preventative measures allow them to live the ideal lifestyle they desire.

It’s important to note that even if you are not experiencing pain, there may still be issues occurring with your spine that are otherwise hidden unless examined by a chiropractor. Only a small number of the nerves in your spine are pain sensitive, which means a spinal or postural misalignment can be affecting your nervous system without your conscious awareness. Additionally, we typically only feel pain when significant inflammation has built up in the area of subluxation. This again means that a spinal issue may be building and worsening over time without you knowing until your body is in crisis. Current research shows that early spinal degeneration can begin in adolescence or early adulthood if spinal issues are left unaddressed.

At Rowe Chiropractic Offices, we use a tailored approach tailored to each patient’s needs and posture, since everyone is different. This analysis technique, called Chiropractic Biophysics, helps us quantify specific spinal and postural misalignments. This technique’s analysis relies heavily on objective measurements, such as X-rays and alignment models rooted in physics and geometry, which allow us to see the effects of our lifestyle on our spine.

Once the chiropractors at Rowe Chiropractic Offices have analyzed and determined your unique postural subluxation pattern, we use a very specific approach for correction. In our office, the corrective course includes a combination of specific spinal adjustments, individual therapeutic exercises, in-office traction therapies, and at-home traction devices. Additionally, we will provide you with specific ergonomic advice tailored to your daily activities.

Therapeutic Exercise and Corrective Rehabilitation

The benefit of utilizing CBP-specific Mirror Image exercises prescribed to you by your CBP chiropractor over the generic one-size-fits-all exercises one might find online is that the CBP Mirror Image Exercises are tailored to your unique spinal postural problem. There is a lot of information out there, and the problem is that it’s designed to accommodate most spines, not yours. Sometimes, generic exercises you try can provide symptomatic relief for a period of time, but are they truly correcting your spinal issue to give you lasting relief? Part of ensuring our patients get the best possible results is monitoring their progress as they move through our corrective program. This involves daily spinal postural checks and periodic 3-D Posture Screen analyses to show your measurable results.

A Mirror Image Exercise (sometimes also referred to as a therapeutic exercise) is an exercise or series of exercises your CBP chiropractor will teach you to correct your specific spinal postural subluxation. One of the simplest examples is that if your head is shifted to the left, your chiropractor will teach you how to shift it to the right properly. In reality, though, individuals often have multiple of these postural misalignments. It is the CBP doctor’s responsibility to accurately assess what your subluxations are and give you the most effective exercise routine for correction.

While the modern age forces us to accept certain technologies and lifestyles, our bodies weren’t necessarily designed to accommodate these changes. Especially in an urban environment like the one where we practice in Manhattan, our patients are frequently working extended hours on screens in sitting positions or on phones. Unhealthy postural hygiene can be created and sustained through our modern lifestyles, including the over- and under-activation of certain muscle groups and the structural remodeling of our bodies over time. For example, frequent phone and computer screen usage can lead to a condition called Tech Neck. This abnormal forward positioning of the neck causes dramatically increased physical load to the cervical (neck) spine and can cause symptoms like headaches, muscle tightness, and tingling/burning in the neck and arms. Proper spinal hygiene is essential for performing our daily tasks while keeping our spines and bodies healthy.

It will help with understanding a Mirror Image exercise if we illustrate a common postural issue we see and how we would correct it. One of the first exercises you may be given is an exercise to correct rotation in the spine. To visually determine the spinal rotation, your doctor at Rowe Chiropractic Offices will ask you to align your feet evenly on the floor for an accurate analysis. Then, the doctor will use their observations to determine how the different parts of your body are positioned relative to each other. For example, if the chiropractor determines that your pelvis is twisting left in relation to your feet and that your ribcage is twisting right in relation to your pelvis, you will be asked to perform an exercise that does the exact opposite of those postural subluxations. In this example, the doctor would teach the patient how to properly mirror-image exercise their pelvis to the right and their ribcage to the left. Again, this is a simple example, but it illustrates the process of analyzing and performing a Mirror Image Exercise.

Your CBP chiropractor will monitor the progress of your spinal postural subluxation as you continue in care. Some of that is done visually during the daily visit, and some is measured with the 3-D Posture Screen analysis, which is performed every 10 visits. This program uses AI-assisted vision analysis to measure the angles and linear distances of your body. It allows the doctors to compare your postures at different moments throughout your program with us to determine your progress.

CBP Spinal Traction

Another important part of your care plan at Rowe Chiropractic Offices includes in-office spinal traction. The postural mirror-image traction used in our office was perfected over time by the founders of the CBP technique. The basic concept of traction is again to put your posture into its corrective state and to apply mechanical force to reinforce it. Once your doctors have determined your spinal postural subluxation pattern, they will develop a tailored postural mirror-image traction protocol to be performed in our traction facility. These tractions can be performed in all areas of the spine, and the result is visco-elastic corrective changes to your spinal ligaments, muscles, and spinal discs. In clinical studies, these traction techniques are the only proven technique that can provide dependable postural curve correction without surgery.

At Rowe Chiropractic Offices, we have the most state-of-the-art facilities for performing CBP postural mirror-image traction therapies. We have specific traction devices designed to correct spinal postural problems in the cervical, thoracic, and lumbar areas in all planes of motion and can therefore accommodate all spinal postural issues. Your typical traction session would include first performing your warm-up therapeutic stretches and exercises under the professional guidance of our doctors or traction technicians, followed by an individualized session in one of our traction machines. Typically, these sessions will last about 10-20 minutes (up to patient tolerance),e) which is the amount of time shown to result in the desired viscoelastic changes in the spine.

The Denneroll

The Denneroll is a unique CBP technique, a patented orthotic device that allows patients to continue their spinal correction in the comfort of their homes. The Denneroll is a vital aspect of your spinal corrective program because the viscoelastic changes of spinal correction require repeated, sustained corrective forces to achieve lasting change. There are specific Dennerolls designed for different areas of the spine and for different postural subluxations. The CBP Dennerolls are precisely designed to provide a peak or fulcrum to create your spinal correction while promoting stability to that region of the spine. Through CBP research, we have determined that the most effective lasting changes in ligaments, muscles, and tissues occur when the device is used for 10-20 minutes at a time. Your chiropractor at Rowe Chiropractic Offices will provide professional guidance on the placement and use of your Denneroll, which our traction technician will reinforce during your visits.

It helps illustrate what using a Denneroll spinal orthotic is like, so you can better understand how it will benefit your spinal correction. Here, we will use the example of a cervical (neck) Denneroll. The doctors and traction technicians at Rowe Chiropractic Office will spend as much time as needed to ensure you understand how to properly place your Denneroll before taking it home for use. We will teach you the proper positioning and orientation. For example, if you are doing your cervical Denneroll at home, we advise you to start by finding a firm but comfortable surface (e.g., a lightly carpeted floor or hard flooring with a yoga/exercise mat) with enough space to lie down. Often, it is best to keep the Denneroll in place; it should not need to be moved once you lie on your back. As you settle into a comfortable position on your back, adjust the Denneroll slightly to ensure it is perfectly positioned. Initially, you will lie on the Denneroll for less time as you build tolerance, but your eventual goal will be to lie on the device for 10-20 minutes. Once you finish your Denneroll session, it is best to rotate to your side and take a moment before coming back up to sitting. It is common during Denneroll use to feel a stretching sensation, tightness, some light discomfort, or burning/tingling. These symptoms often improve as you continue to build your tolerance to the Denneroll, but we encourage you to always share your experience with us during use.

The effectiveness of proper Denneroll use is extremely encouraging. When used as per your CBP chiropractor’s instructions, the Denneroll allows you to have faster, more effective spinal corrective change and can be done anywhere at your convenience. There have been numerous studies examining the effectiveness of Denneroll use, and they have shown that it provides faster results, with patients experiencing decreased symptoms and improved movement and function. Over the course of your care plan with us, we will utilize both 3D computerized postural analysis and, after your care plan, a spinal comparative x-ray to provide objective evidence of your spinal correction.

Given the Denneroll’s impact and effectiveness, the orthotic must be used correctly. We urge everyone to learn the Denneroll use under professional guidance. Improper placement and use could lead to worsening spinal issues and symptoms. It is also important to give feedback to your chiropractor so that, if any difficulties arise, they can troubleshoot solutions with you and help you still get the correction you desire.

Daily Stretches and Exercises for a Healthy Spine

Daily movement and the resulting functionality of the spine are very important to both your spinal hygiene and the future of your body’s health. If your spine and the supporting ligaments and tissues are not moving through their full range of motions on a regular, daily basis, the spinal joints and discs begin to break down and degenerate. With the anatomical design of the spinal joint, you need imbibition, or fluid pumping, to promote healing and blood flow, so the spinal discs remain healthy.

Your chiropractor at Rowe Chiropractic Offices will advise you on the types of stretches that are best for your specific postural issue. These are not generic recommendations – each is a carefully thought-out regime. For example, in the neck (cervical spine), if you have a kyphosis or reversal in a portion of your neck, there are specific stretches you can do on your own or with the help of stretching devices to encourage neck correction. We often recommend these stretches throughout the day, especially for patients who spend most of their workday sitting and not staying mobile.

The exercise and stretching program that we use at Rowe Chiropractic Offices is directly connected to the CBP correction we are working towards with you. These stretches and exercises are being utilized in the same mirror-image postural alignments that we are working on in the office. This helps to reinforce your healthy spinal alignment.

Desk Ergonomics for a Healthy Spine

The unfortunate truth is that the ergonomics of modern life are not designed to accommodate our body’s ideal spinal health. As a population, we are becoming more aware of the downsides of modern daily activities, such as the amount of time spent sitting at a desk for work and the lack of movement. Prolonged sitting in poor posture is extremely harmful to the spine and your overall health. It can lead to nervous system stress, often associated with symptoms like neck pain, back pain, decreased energy, and headaches.

From an ideal ergonomic perspective for the spine, there are several tips we can use to encourage the healthiest posture possible while sitting. The best situation is for the spine to maintain its proper lateral curvatures, which are in a “S” shape – a lordotic circular shape in the neck, a kyphotic elliptical shape in the midback, and a balancing lordotic elliptical shape in the lower back. Importantly, as well, it is important to avoid translation (i.e., forward or backward movement) of the spine, for example, letting your head creep forward while you’re looking at a computer screen.

To help achieve an ideal sitting position, here are some general tips for good chair and desk ergonomics. Ideally, your feet are flat on the floor, with your hips slightly higher than your knees. Proper lumbar support at the lower part of your chair helps maintain your lumbar curve and reduce pressure on your lower back. The best position for your arms is with your elbows at a 90-degree angle when using a keyboard, and the ideal is for the center of your computer screen to be at eye level. These are the best general recommendations, but your chiropractor may advise you to change these suggestions slightly to accommodate your spinal postural subluxation pattern.

One significant consequence of prolonged sitting at a computer or phone usage is a condition called “tech neck.” This “tech neck” term describes when your head starts to translate (move) forward from where it should be ideally positioned, right in alignment with your shoulders. This postural misalignment can lead to chronic wear and tear on your neck structures, joints, and ligaments if it is not corrected. When you come into our office, we will closely analyze all aspects of your posture, including your neck posture. Part of that analysis will include visual, 3-D, and X-ray analyses to provide objective measurements of the severity of your tech neck. The reason forward head posture matters so much is that studies of forward head positioning in the Journal of Spine have demonstrated that for every inch of forward head movement, the effective weight of your head on your neck increases by 10lbs.

It is best to take micro-breaks during prolonged sitting. Spinal movement is important for spinal health, and especially proper movement helps achieve spinal wellness. If possible, it’s best to take a short, 1 to 5-minute break every 30 minutes, and the best stretches and exercises to do at that time are mirror-image exercises that work to correct your posture. Your chiropractor will work with you to determine your specific mirror-image exercise routine.

There are some simple, general recommendations for devices and tools that can improve sitting ergonomics. In general, it is ideal to have a combined sitting/standing desk to allow for better spinal alignment and muscle balance. While sitting, a correctly placed lumbar support can help maintain a healthy lumbar curve and reduce pressure on the lower back. A monitor that can be adjusted to your ideal height is ideal, with the center of the screen at or slightly above your eye level. When working at a desk, it is best to keep your elbows bent at 90 degrees to avoid strain on your arms, neck, and shoulders. There are more ergonomic keyboard and mouse options as well for prolonged use. Under your chiropractor’s guidance, they may advise you to use your Denneroll or other supportive devices when sitting as well. All of these devices and corrections not only help maintain healthy spinal curves but also promote your overall health. It is important to remember that your nervous system is the foundation of your body’s health and strength, and that postural misalignments directly stress your nervous system.

It is important to remember that you may be dealing with a less-than-ideal ergonomic setup and still experience no discomfort. Typically, we will only begin to feel discomfort or other symptoms when there is enough irritation and inflammation to the nervous system that it begins to send a pain signal to your conscious awareness. We recommend that you take a photo of your set-up to share with your chiropractor to critique, or keep our tips in mind while analyzing yourself.

The Best Sleep Position

The best sleep positions, in order from best to worst, are, in general, on your back, on your side, and, lastly, on your stomach. Sleeping on your back with a pillow that supports your neck’s natural curve is ideal ergonomic positioning. Our CBP technique has developed unique Denneroll sleeping pillows that deliver maximum benefits while sleeping. Sleeping on your side is generally acceptable, but your CBP chiropractor may make individual suggestions based on your unique postural subluxation. Additionally, if you experience pain in certain positions, your chiropractor can help you troubleshoot the issue. The worst position is to sleep on your back. This position does not promote healthy spinal curvatures and can cause long-term neck and shoulder issues, and is generally not recommended.

As chiropractors focused on sleep ergonomics, we often receive questions about mattresses. The general recommendation is to choose a medium-firm mattress if you are a back sleeper. A mattress that is too soft will allow for excessive sinking and deformation of your spinal curves. If you are a side sleeper, however, you will need a mattress that is slightly softer to better contour to your body. In general, we recommend looking for a mattress free of harmful chemicals, as many chemical additives can be used in mattress production. Organic fibers and materials are best, as you will be breathing in off-gasses and your skin will be exposed to the mattress materials over time.

We also receive many questions concerning pillows and the ideal pillow design. A pillow and the shape will not generally help correct your neck subluxations, but can provide more support and encourage health. Our current best recommendation is to use a patented Denneroll pillow designed by CBP. These pillows are hygienic memory foam pillows. What makes these pillows unique is that they provide contoured head and neck support, unlike other pillow designs, for both back and side sleepers. It can be ordered and adjusted to different sizes and densities to accommodate your unique spinal alignment.

Sleep position is important because it is a significant period during which you can affect your spinal posture and alignment. While we sleep, we relieve the load pressure and stress caused by the weight of our bodies and gravity. This allows our spinal joints to relax and discs to re-hydrate and heal. If our sleep position is stressed, it can promote misalignment of our posture and spinal curves. The hours we sleep provide an opportunity to help improve our spinal health.

Best Posture for Drivers and Commuters

For our patients who engage in sustained sitting for other purposes, such as in a car or on the subway, we can also make recommendations. For sustained sitting in these conditions, we focus on the health and strength of the lumbar spine. Poor sitting posture over time can lead to increased pressure on the discs of your spine and a loss of the healthy lordotic lower back curve when unsupported. Slouching or poor sitting posture will cause your tailbone to tuck under the lumbar spine, promoting lumbar kyphosis and loss of healthy curve. When we consider the amount of time spent commuting, the cumulative effect can be substantial.

Ideally, we recommend that our patients who sit to commute properly support their lower back. The ideal car or subway sitting position aims to maintain the healthy “S” curvature of your spine. Ideally, your hips should be slightly higher than your knees. You should maintain good lumbar support, and you can ask your chiropractor for advice on whether a portable lumbar support may be recommended in your case. In a car, it is also important to have a properly positioned headrest that supports your neck. In contrast, driving and, in the unfortunate case of a car accident, helps mitigate whiplash injury. Ideally, for drivers, your seat is in a vertical position and not reclined, and your steering wheel is at a 90-degree angle to your elbows.

There are some simple devices to improve your ergonomics while sitting in a car or on the subway. To improve the relative position of your hips and knees, you can buy a seat wedge to raise your pelvis and incline your knees. We recommend lumbar support when your lumbar spine is in a compromised position or not adequately supported. We may also recommend devices to help with your neck positioning while driving if you are unable to get it into an ideal position.