Atherogenic muscle inhibition is common after a joint injury As you move through the rehabilitation process after a joint injury, it is common to notice dysfunction in the muscles which surround the joint capsule. While there is no actual damage to these muscles, they are often unable to contract fully. This is a purposeful reaction…

The importance of protein No matter who you are protein is important. To keep hair looking healthy and nails growing strong; to maintain, repair, and build muscle; to make important body chemicals; protein is an indispensable building block. For athletes, the importance is twofold: without protein, your muscle-building efforts will be seriously hampered. And with…

Why does tightness in the hip flexors matter? A less thought of factor when it comes to back health, the hip flexors can play a crucial role in the presence of back pain. When we sit for long periods of time, or pursue activities such as cycling or even jogging, the muscle complex in our…

Sleep is your ticket to success at college By allowing your body to rebuild and repair, and preparing all your major internal systems for another day of activity and mental application, 8 hours of sleep is never more important than in college. But it is also the time when we see our young adults face…

Water is spinal therapy Floating in water is the closest we can approximate to suspending gravity within the earth’s atmosphere. By immersing yourself in water, the downward force of gravity is greatly mitigated, which means that the near-constant compression of your spine is also reduced. If you are suffering from back pain, it is worth…

What defines a high-impact sport? Even running can be considered high impact. From a chiropractic perspective, “high-impact” refers to any sport that causes excessive shock to the joints of the body. Sports such as football, rugby, and even basketball and soccer put athletes at risk for injuries including sprains and strains, ligament injury, and damage…

Sleep and chronic back pain don’t mix And while chronic back pain obviously prevents people from sleeping, the lack of sleep feeds back into chronic pain by heightening stress levels and preventing the body from getting the rest it needs to fortify itself against chronic pain in the first place. Once chronic pain starts to…

Chronic joint pain is a drain on quality of life  Joints are the workhorses of the human body; they are the structures where bone meets bone, providing the functions of range of motion and shock absorption. As an office of chiropractic, a set of joints we treat on a regular basis are the facet joints. Facet joints,…

Muscle tension often flies under the radar At our office in Houston, we define muscle tension as a condition where muscles in the body remain contracted or semi-contracted for an extended period of time. We also regularly see the damaging effects of prolonged muscle tension: the aches, pains, headaches, and stiffness that often accumulate into…

The importance of core stability You may as well equate core stability with spinal stability. Core muscles refer to the network of muscles in your stomach and back which combine to support your spine, maintain stability and prevent injury. Weakness in these muscles is a signal contributor to not only back pain, but the development…