On Your Feet Britain Day – Stand Up to Your Right to Good Health!

Did you know that sitting down for more than 4 hours a day can put you at greater risk of developing obesity, heart disease, diabetes and even cancer?

That’s without the added pressure you’re putting on your spine!

But it’s not just our chiropractors here in Southend who are making a stand against sitting down; the nation is also at it! The 29th April is On Your Feet Britain day where people all across the UK will implement simple changes in their day to sit less and stand more!

Are you going to join in and stand up to your right to good health?

The changes you make on the 29th April could be as simple as walking to the shop instead of driving, standing up to take a meeting or going for a stroll instead of sitting in the canteen during your lunch break. These changes may be small but they may just be the start of positive habits that will go on to improve your health and reduce your risk of developing many serious conditions.

Go on, give it a go!

You can find out more details about On Your Feet Britain day here: http://www.getbritainstanding.org/

Good luck!

Working Together to Protect the Health of Our Children

back care advice for childrenThere used to be an age when getting the kids to spend time indoors would be as difficult as trying take a new puppy away from a toy. Whatever the weather, whatever the day, children would want to spend their free time playing outdoors in the fresh air –climbing trees and getting grazed knees, making dens from battered planks of wood, cycling, skating or just good old fashioned walking…

And then came along the internet.

No one can deny the amazing educational benefits that the internet brings for today’s children, but it can pose a danger to their physical health.

Here at our chiropractic clinic in Southend, we treat many children for back and neck pain (we’ve all heard of “text neck”!) and it’s impossible to ignore that the growing amount of time that youngsters spend online sometimes plays a major role in these often modern age aches and pains.

While limited and monitored internet usage can be advantageous for certain areas your child’s life, it’s important (now more than ever) that physical activity plays a major role in their free time.

Our award winning Southend chiropractor provides the following top tips to keep your child happy and healthy (without a single mention of the internet!):

1: Help them to discover a fun activity. The more your child enjoys an activity, the more likely they will be to stick at it. Talk to your child about how important physical activity is and play and active part in helping them to start something they’re interested in.

2: Remember to choose an activity that is developmentally appropriate and respect your child’s views if they think something is too young/ old for them or if they naturally grow out of something. For example, a child who starts ballet lessons at the age of 4 may not want to continue with that particular activity when they’re 12.

3: Ensure that you always plan ahead and make time for your children to exercise.

4: Be proactive in the toys that you buy by selecting ones that promote physical exercise. There are always plenty of new inventions on the market for older children (how much fun do Segways look?) and toddlers and younger children should always have easy access to balls, ride alongs and other active toys.

5: Be active yourself. If your child sees you regularly enjoying sports and physical activities then they are likely to follow in your footsteps. On the flip side, if your child sees you spending most of your downtime on your Smartphone, tablet or laptop then they will assume that is the ‘norm’.

6: Play with your child and plan family days out/ activities together. Why not arrange a family walk every Sunday morning where no technology is allowed? Not only will this benefit your child’s health and fitness but it will encourage you to communicate as a family (something that is also often hampered by too much internet usage).

To book an appointment with our award winning team of chiropractors, contact Cliffs Chiropractor in Southend on 01702 430430.

It’s The Month for Romance. But Do You Really Love Your Back?

It may be the month for love and romance but how much do you cherish your back? If you’re like a large chunk of the population, then the answer is likely to be “not enough”. According to our leading Southend chiropractor, not enough people take the appropriate measures to look after their spinal health – and chronic pain and discomfort is often the result.

Our trusted chiropractor in Southend has put together three simple-to-implement tips so that you can give your back the TLC it truly deserves (it is an incredible mechanism, after all!):

1: Get Your Posture Sorted
Don’t slump in your chair, don’t hunch over your desk and avoid walking or standing with those rounded shoulders. Maintaining a good posture is possibly the simplest way to achieve a healthy back and avoid developing long-term painful back conditions.

2: Get Moving
Exercise is one of the best ways you can strengthen your back muscles with walking, swimming and cycling being the most effective.

3: Get a Good Mattress
Visit a reputable mattress shop and get professionally advice on whether your mattress provides the right support for your weight and build and any back condition you have.

To book an appointment with our award winning team of chiropractors, contact Cliffs Chiropractor in Southend on 01702 430430.

Walking – the most underrated form of exercise. Cliffs Chiropractor Southend recommends getting out this summer

Walking is one of the most underrated forms of exercise and now that Summer is nearly upon us there is no excuse to get out there and experience some great areas for walking around the local area. We share a Cliff’s favourite below.

PS Have you got your own secret walking route you would like to share with our readers? Email us on info@cliffschiro.co.uk

If you are struggling to fit in exercise into your busy life or worried about going to the gym the great news is that walking is an ideal form of exercise regardless of your age or fitness level. It’s simple and free – what could be better!

Just keep in mind the following …

Before you start:

  • Wear comfortable shoes or trainers and loose-fitting clothes
  • For longer walks you may want to carry some water and some other emergency supplies like healthy snacks, a hat, sunscreen and waterproofs (for the UK weather)
  • If you have any known medical conditions or are unsure whether you should be walking please seek medical advice before starting

Starting out:

  • Build up your walking time so start out slowly.
  • You need to be walking fast enough to raise your heart rate and break into a sweat to get the health benefits from walking. A little test to see if your walking with enough intensity is to try talking the words of your favourite song – you should be able to do this but not be able to sing them!
  • Don’t overdo it – if you can only walk at this intenisty for a few minutes then break up your activity into chunks.

Keep at it:

  • Overtime you should be able to increase the time you are walking at the necessary intensity.
  • The easiest way to keep at it is to make it part of your daily habit.
  • Think of other ways to incoporate walking into your daily life. You’ll probably be surprised at how many there are.

And now a local walk idea for you …

Leigh-on-sea and Hadleigh Castle Walk

This is a great circular walk that takes in many of the local sights around Leigh-on-Sea, Benfleet and Hadleigh you can also stop off at a local hostelry for some light refreshment along the way! Just don’t take in too many calories and sit for too long – after all this is about getting some exercise in!

The route takes in the ruins of Hadleigh Castle a walk along along Benfleet Downs. You will get some great views from both. The circular walk is 11.5 kilometers so if you haven’t exercised for a while you may want to start by planning doing a shorter route.

You can far more details about the walk on the Essex Pub Walks website. It will provide you with the starting grid reference for the Leigh-on-Sea railway station and there’s a map to follow.

 

Get off the sofa this Easter. Cliffs Chiropractor Southend on Sea recommends some local walks

As part of Chiropractic Awareness Week (april 14th to 20th), we at Cliffs Chiropractor Southend on Sea are encouraging parents to limit the time their children spend using technology and instead encourage more active pastimes over the Easter holidays.

In a recent survey undertaken by the British Chiropractic Association (BCA) nearly half (46%) of parents questioned acknowledged that their children don’t spend enough time exercising, despite NHS guidelines stating that children and young people between 5 and 18 years old need to do at least one hour of physical activity every day.[1]

Our team of experienced chiropractors in Southend on Sea are seeing more and more people under the age of sixteen with back and neck pain and technology is so often the cause. Young people are becoming increasingly sedentary which is damaging their posture.

We encourage parents and kids to get some exercise this Easter and one of the best and most overlooked forms of exercise is walking.

The great news is that there are some great places to take walks around Southend on Sea.

Here is a link to the WalkinginEssex website which has a list of walks around the Southend on Sea area includding:

  • Benfleet to Leigh on Sea train walk
  • Hadleigh walks
  • Hockley walk
  • Leigh on sea walk
  • Rochford to Burnham on Crouch train walk
  • Southend on Sea to Hockley train walk

So come on all you parents and kids – get outdoors this Easter and take some exercise.

Research was commissioned in 2014 on a sample of 461 UK parents with children aged between 11 and 16 from a wider sample of 1000 parents.

* Statistics taken from 2014 BCA research of UK adults – sample of 152 adults from the East of England.

 


[1] http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/fitness/Pages/physical-activity-guidelines-for-young-people.aspx