Nervous System Health and Performance from Dr. Tuzzolino

Lance Armstrong has won the Tour de France seven consecutive times. There are many reasons for his victories, but a major influence is a 100% functioning nervous system. How is it that a man dominated the race this perfect? It is my opinion that one of his greatest assets is a healthy nervous system. Gray’s Anatomy states that the nervous system is the master controller of the body, which controls every gland, organ and tissue in the body. Any interference in the nervous system will decrease the function of the body therefore causing abnormal function. On tour Dr. Jeff Spencer, D.C. was Lance’s and his teams personal Chiropractor.

Dr. Seth Sharpless, at the University of Colorado, showed that it only takes the weight of a dime on a nerve to decrease its function by 60%. In the nervous system, 90% controls functions (movement and function of organs, glands, vessels, etc.) and only 10% controls sensation/pain. For the majority of people, pain has been the only reason that they see a doctor. It has been my own experience that health and performance are based on the optimum level of all nerves functioning together.

Lance Armstrong has realized the importance of chiropractic care in his career. It has been an essential part in his training, injury recovery and peak performance. Research has shown that athletes under chiropractic care perform 5% better than non-adjusted athletes.

Chiropractic care helps not only athletes perform better, but also everyday people by removing interference in the nervous system, from misaligned vertebra called “subluxations.” When the nervous system is free from pressure, the body operates at its optimum level.

My office uses the latest technology (Thermography, Surface EMG, Posture Analysis, Muscle Testing and X-Ray), specific techniques to increase performance through proper spinal mechanics and reduce injury “downtime” through chiropractic care.

Many of the world-class athletes and professional teams, like Lance Armstrong, use chiropractic care.

For additional information, please call North Scottsdale Family Chiropractic at

(480) 588-5111.

8080 E. Gelding Drive

Suite D101

Scottsdale, AZ 85260

Posture- the importance of thoracic mobility and scapular strengthening

Posture is a major contributor to our overall health as proper posture represents muscular balance. We are all familiar seeing people who have rounded shoulders and a forward head posture. This represents chronic tightening of the chest and anterior (front) shoulder muscles, along with weakening of the shoulder blade muscles (mainly the trapezius muscle group). Chronic poor posture will cause stress and fatigue which can affect our mental health.

An area that is often neglected when it comes to posture is thoracic mobility. Your thoracic spine runs the length of the rib cage, hence there are 12 ribs and 12 thoracic vertebrae. Due to the stiff nature of the ribs, the thoracic vertebrae do not have much room to move. However chronic overuse of the crunch exercise along with too many upper body pushing exercises will promote thoracic kyphosis.

One way to prevent this from happening is to use the Foam Roller and perform thoracic extensions. This will mobilize the thoracic vertebrae, preventing the upper back from rounding forward excessively (kyphosis). I typically have people hold the extension for 5 seconds and repeat 3-5 times, and to do this at three levels of the spine (top of shoulder blade, middle of shoulder blade, and below the shoulder blade).

Note: Do not perform this if you have arthritis of the spine or if you have a spinal fusion. If you are unsure, contact a medical doctor before performing this exercise.

When it comes to resistance work, especially upper body, I encourage 70% or more of our efforts to be on pulling exercises and less than 30% on pushing exercises. Focusing on our scapular retractors during resistance exercise, will allow our body to have increased success at holding a taller, more effective posture throughout the day. Please remember that developing good posture is not done exclusively at the gym. Practicing postural drills throughout the day will ensure our key postural muscles stay active. I will go over how to achieve this in my next blog topic on ergonomics and desk exercises.

The main thing to remember is that if you exercise with bad posture, you are making your key postural muscles weaker, and encouraging the body to adopt a poor posture which will lead to injury and overuse of certain tissues and/or joints.

For more information on how to develop an exercise program focused on improving and developing posture please contact Graham on (602)-923-6600 or gjaeggi@foothillsrehab.com

Dr. Tuzzolino on Posture!

Mirror, mirror on the wall…who has the best posture of them all? Through an old fairy tale I try to bring together what we may not notice in the mirror and a better health experience. Every day when we look at ourselves in the mirror, we look at our posture. Our posture, whether good or bad, is the window to our health. As part of my daily life, I enjoy looking at people’s posture. Depending on his/her posture, I am enlightened to the health of the patient.

Historically, poor posture has been associated with a variety of health-related conditions. Research shows the relation to posture and general health (1). Another researched study also suggested that poor posture was associated with many pathological processes and that good posture could prevent disease processes (2).As part of the current assessments, our office uses posture analysis. Major spinal deviations in your posture are then identified, and the proper corrective exercise program is given to the patient to correct his/her imbalances. Better posture means better health, less fatigue, and builds resistance to infection (3).

The research shows that proper posture decreases the susceptible athlete to injury (4-8), while improving performance. The ability to maintain proper muscle tone requires a nervous system free of interference. Restoration of tone is dependent upon correction of vertebral subluxations. The beauty of this machine is that it incorporates modern technology with two basic principles:

1. The body is self healing and self-regulating;

2. The nervous system is the master controller of the body.

Incomplete as this summary may be, it strongly suggests that aberrant posture may adversely affect health-related quality of life (9). Better posture is for everyone. It will allow you to live your life to the fullest, and open the window to your health.

For additional information, please call

Dr. Thomas Tuzzolino at (480) 588-5111.

8080 E. Gelding Drive, Suite D101, Scottsdale, AZ 85260

References

1. Jenness ME: “The role of thermography and postural movement in structural diagnosis.” In: Goldstein M (ed): “The Research Status of Spinal Manipulative Therapy.” DHEW Publication No. (NIH) 76-998. 1975.

2. Kuhns JG: “Diseases of posture.” Clin Orthop 1962;25:64.

3. Garner JR: “Posture and fatigue.” International Journal of Medicine and Surgery 1932 (Jan);45:27.

4. Watson AWS: “Sports injuries related to flexibility, posture, acceleration, clinical defects, and previous injury, in high-level players of body contact sports.” Int J Sports Med 2001;22:222.

5. Shambaugh JP, Lein A, Herbert JH: “Structural measures as predictors of sports injury in basketball players.” Med Sci Sports Exercise 1991;23:522.

6. Powers CM, Maffucci R, Hampton S: “Rearfoot posture in subjects with patello-femoral pain.” J Orth Phys Ther 1995;22:155.

7. Watson AWS: “Sports injuries in footballers related to defects in posture and body mechanics.” J Sports Phys Med Fitness 1995;35:289.

8. Cowan DN, Jones BH, Frykman PN: “Lower limb morphology and risk overuse of injury among male infantry trainees.” Am J Sports Med 1996;24:945.

9. Chiropractic Journal. June 2001.

10. Gray’s Anatomy. P.54.