General tips on how to straighten your back
Poor posture leads to improper weight distribution. People begin to experience pain in the joints, problems with breathing, and problems with the nervous system. Therefore, it is very important to take care of your back and spine.
Watch your body position
We usually don’t notice how we slouch, since we are already accustomed to this body position. Try to correct the situation. Make sure your head, pelvis and chest are in a straight line.
Play sports
Do exercises to strengthen the core muscles of your back and abdomen. Do squats, push-ups, planks and lunges. As a result of training, it will be easier for you to maintain correct body position.
Practice yoga
Yoga prevents back pain and injuries to all parts of the body. It includes various stretching and strengthening exercises that will generally help maintain spinal stability.
Maintain a healthy weight
Excess weight leads to load imbalance. If you exercise and lose excess weight, you will reduce the stress on your joints and muscles. Despite this, experts advise not to stop there. Losing weight cannot completely correct the problem.
Consider a chiropractor
To correct the curvature, you need to straighten the spine. A chiropractor will help you diagnose the disease, make recommendations and prescribe a course of treatment.
https://youtu.be/lZ938REp9AM
Exercises to lengthen the spine
Exercises that lengthen the spine are performed to correct poor posture and strengthen the core muscles of the back. This helps develop overall body strength. In the next article, we'll look at selected exercises that focus on lengthening the spine. You can incorporate them into your regular workout and reap additional benefits.
- Sit up straight, don't slouch!
- Don't bend like that, bend your knees!
Have you heard something like this before? I have. Not just once. And I used to get tired of it. Now, I believe that these are the smartest things that anyone could have warned you about. Once you've ruined your posture and spine, there's not much you can do to fix it. But the spine accompanies your every daily action. We have collected certain exercises for lengthening the spine, which also help strengthen it. Why is it so important to include spinal exercises in your training program? Since the spine is an integral part of our body, it is responsible for most of the functions you can imagine. It connects the lower and upper body, allows us to rotate and bend our body, is involved in performing normal activities like running, walking, bending or lifting, and also ensures the correct shape of the body. The spine tends to curve, which can affect all kinds of functions in our body.
This is why incorporating exercises to lengthen the spine becomes very important. In this article, we will focus on some of the best spinal exercises to help you with this.
The best exercises to lengthen the spine
Spinal traction can be done in a variety of environments, using machines and alternative methods such as yoga. In the next section we will look at different forms of exercise.
Crossbar
- This is probably one of the easiest exercises for the spine to help lengthen it. This exercise works by stretching the back muscles.
- You'll need to find a pull-up bar at home or at the gym.
- Wear protective gloves to lighten the load. Grab the bar and bend your legs to hang.
- Hang on the bar as long as you can, your goal is to reach five minutes per set.
- Work on different techniques - wide grip (hands shoulder-width apart or wider) and close grip (minimum distance between hands).
- Aim for about 30 minutes on the bar per week.
Basic leg stretch
- This is also one of the most effective yoga poses for lengthening the spine.
- Sit comfortably on the floor and spread your legs as wide as possible in a “V” shape.
- The trick is to keep your knees as straight as possible and not arch your back.
- Now reach toward the toes of your right foot with your right hand, bending at the hips (not the spine), and place your head on your right knee.
- Place your left hand on your left foot, extending your arm toward your toes as far as possible.
- Stay in this position for about 15 seconds, during which you should breathe deeply. Then return to the center.
- Now stretch your left hand towards your left leg, bending at the hip area, and extend your right hand towards your right leg, as far towards the toes as possible.
- Place your head on your left knee and breathe deeply. Hold the position for 15 seconds.
- This completes one repetition. Perform five reps to strengthen and elongate your spine.
Stretch “Kitty”
- Get on the floor on all fours.
- Relax your stomach and breathe evenly. Your head should be straight and your gaze directed forward.
- Now arch your back upward and tilt your head towards your chest.
- Bend upward as far as possible, listen to yourself, you should feel a stretch.
- Hold this position for 20 seconds, then slowly lower and repeat 4 times.
Forward bends
- Stand straight with your feet shoulder-width apart.
- Now lean forward and clasp your legs behind the knee with your hands.
- Keep your knees straight, pulling your body with your hands and bend down as far as you can, trying to touch your chest to your legs.
- You will feel a stretch in your knees and hips.
- Place your head between your legs when the stretch allows.
- Hold the position for 15 seconds and return to the starting position. Repeat five times.
Cobra Pose
- Another yoga pose that is known to be quite effective in lengthening and strengthening the spine.
- Lower your arms perpendicular to the floor, palms flat on the ground, hips slightly raised, head upright, and weight evenly distributed across your fingers and palms.
- Now bend from the hips to achieve an inverted “V” position. Tuck your chin to your chest.
- Your toes rest on the floor and your feet are flat on the mat.
- Hold this position for 20 seconds.
- Repeat at least five times.
Along with these exercises, there are several machines that help elongate the spine and can be used for the same purpose. But if you want to start right now and not depend on the gym, above you will find quite simple exercises for lengthening the spine that will be no less effective.
How to give a firming back massage
You can improve a person's condition at home. It is best to have a massage done by a professional. But if you do not have professional training, do a light massage.
Massage location
Using a massage table is the best option. But there is an alternative. Use the floor, sofa, bed and even the kitchen table. Surfaces must be durable. Cover the surface with a soft towel (at least 5 cm thick). Place a disposable sheet or cover on top: most likely, the person will be naked or half naked. In addition, when using oil, you can avoid soiling the towel.
The room should be warm and not too bright. Turn on soft, relaxing music. You can light candles or incense sticks. Ask the person to undress so that he is comfortable. Massage with oil and lotion is best done without clothes.
Have an extra towel on hand to cover exposed parts of your body. Also cover your feet to prevent the person from getting cold. Fold the towel into a crescent shape so that the person can rest their head on it.
Massage technique
Warn the person that you are about to start a massage. Ask him to speak up if he feels pain or is uncomfortable.
Distribute massage oil onto your palms
Start with one teaspoon. Rub the butter until it warms. Good options for massage are organic coconut oil, grapeseed oil, jojoba oil, or almond oil.
Spread the oil over your back
Use light sliding movements. Start from your lower back and work your way up. Always head up because... this will improve blood flow. Apply light pressure, increasing it to medium pressure for 3-5 minutes. These movements will help warm up your back muscles. Don't forget about the shoulders and neck area.
Use the petrissage method
Short circular movements are performed with light to medium pressure (without professional training). This method uses the palms, fingertips and even joints. Perform movements over the entire surface of your back. The movements should be performed by you not thanks to the muscles of the shoulders, but the abs. This will help you not get tired.
Pat your back with your palm or fingers
Make short, light strokes with your palms or fingertips. The wrists should be relaxed and the movements should be fast. Do this massage for 2-3 minutes.
Stretch your muscles
The fingers are completely straight. Place your thumbs at the bottom and the other four fingers at the top. Grab the layer of muscle tissue in your lower back and begin to move upward, gradually grabbing the upper layers of muscle. Move up and down 2-3 times. Do not apply strong pressure. Everything should be smooth and slow.
Move to the "bloat" technique
Stand at the head edge of the table/bed. Place your thumbs on your upper back, just below your neck and on either side of your spine. Press them alternately, moving towards the lower back. Be careful. The massage should be done not on the spine itself, but on the areas to the left and right of it.
Breast cancer - how to fight it and can it be defeated?
The insidiousness of many types of oncology is that they clearly make themselves felt already in the later stages, when there is less and less chance of cure. In this sense, breast cancer in women is an exception. It can be identified at an early stage, and it can also be successfully combated.
That is, on the one hand, breast cancer is the most common type of oncology in women; every sixth representative of the fairer sex who dies from cancer dies precisely from a malignant lesion of the mammary gland.
On the other hand, this particular type of occultation can be treated, the main thing is to detect it in time. Specialists from the Voronezh Region Health Department and the Voronezh Center for Medical Prevention told us all about this.
Why does he appear?
Mostly, breast tumors are associated with women’s health factors. At risk are those women who have certain problems or deviations in the female part:
- early onset of menstruation;
- late menopause;
- late first birth;
- menstrual irregularities;
- uterine fibroids, endometriosis, polycystic ovary syndrome, endometrial hyperplasia;
- problems with ovulation as a cause of infertility;
Additional risks of breast tumors are generally the same as for other types of cancer:
- heredity (someone from the older generation had this type of oncology);
- previous oncological diseases - breast, ovarian, colon;
- smoking;
- exposure to chemical carcinogens, including from food;
- harmful radiation (electromagnetic, ionizing);
- diseases of the liver and thyroid gland.
How to diagnose it in time?
Starting from the age of 20, you should visit a mammologist at least once a year, even if nothing worries you. From 20 to 40 years old, you need to do an ultrasound of the mammary glands every two years, and after 40 years - mammography, also every two years. Another important point - no one knows her breasts as well as her owner.
Of the 10 women who had changes in the mammary gland, 9 identified them on their own. Therefore, you need to get into the habit of periodically examining yourself and if you find any new growths or unusual symptoms, immediately contact a doctor. So, what should you be wary of:
- Any lump in the mammary gland, even if it doesn’t hurt!
- Any nipple discharge unless you are pregnant or breastfeeding.
- Erosions or ulcers in the area of the nipple and areola.
- Deformation, swelling, causeless enlargement or reduction of one of the mammary glands. Common external manifestations of breast cancer are “wrinkled skin” on some part of the breast, “retracted skin”, “lemon peel”.
- Enlarged axillary lymph nodes.
If I am diagnosed with cancer, will I lose my breasts?
Many women delay going to the doctor for this very reason. In fact, modern treatment methods make it possible in some cases to preserve a woman’s mammary gland, but only if the malignant neoplasm is diagnosed at an early stage.
Moreover, the emphasis is now on this - to preserve as much tissue as possible, untouched by the tumor, preserving both the appearance of the breast and its functionality, that is, the ability to feed the child. This is usually possible if the size of the tumor does not exceed 2.5 cm.
A complex of different methods is used to treat breast cancer. They can be divided into methods of local action - this is radiation therapy and surgery - and systemic action - this is chemotherapy, hormonal therapy, and immunotherapy. Note that modern chemotherapy drugs have become more effective and at the same time do not have such a harmful effect on a woman’s body as a whole as a couple of decades ago.
In addition, rehabilitation plastic surgeries are gaining popularity, when surgeons reconstruct removed tissue for patients so that the breasts have an aesthetic appearance. The treatment protocol is chosen by the doctor taking into account the patient’s medical history - the size of the tumor, their number, the presence of metastases, and the general condition of the body.
And one more important note. In oncology, there is an indicator of the effectiveness of treatment - the so-called five-year survival rate. So, if a breast tumor is detected at stages 1 - 2, then 8 out of 10 affected women successfully overcome the 5-year threshold, and half of them - the 10 - 20-year threshold.
In the case of the third stage of cancer, 40-60% of women live for five years or more. However, here too, adequate medical care and modern treatment methods can prolong life as much as possible and make it more comfortable.