Therapy exercise ball and chiropractic in Everett

If you have been a patient even one time in my office you will noticed I sit an a therapy ball when I talk with patients and also I am always talking about the benefits of the therapy ball.  My name is Dr. Greg Beasley and I have been a chiropractor for 19 years, 12 of those here as a chiropractor in Everett Wa.

Why use a therapy ball for exercise.  I see low back pain daily in my office.  Most every patient I see with low back pain has some weakness in their core muscles of the spine.  The lumbar spine is a very vulnerable area.  The spinal bones do not give much support for you when you stand or sit. The support comes from the muscles that wrap around your waist, from the spine and into the abdominal muscles.  These are your core muscles. Think of a piece of paper.  If you stand it up and apply pressure to it, it will crumple.  If you roll it up and make it into a cylinder and then apply pressure to the top of it, it can withstand more pressure before it buckles.  That is what we want the core muscles to be like; a cylinder to support your low back (lumbar spine) to help prevent or get rid of low back pain.

There are numerous ways to exercise the core, I have found that the most efficient way is with small daily exercise that you can do any place at any time and then some on a therapy ball.

Here is one you can start today.  Stand up straight, but in a relaxed position and pull your belly button into your spine and then count to ten out loud. You should feel the muscles of your abdomen and lower back doing some work.  Then with the belly button pulled into the spine walk for about 3 or 4 minutes without looking at the ground.  You should feel as if you are standing taller and are a little tired after getting done. You can do this for 3o seconds or a few minutes. Do this multiple times a day and you will strengthen your core.

If you have a therapy ball and want a quick exercise just sit on the ball, pull the belly button to the spine and then slowly push one leg out in front of you while looking straight forward for about 15 seconds.  Do not let your body bend to either side as you do this.  Doing this a couple times a day with each foot a few times will start to strengthen your core.

If you are having acute low back pain or have had low back pain for years a good core work out program can help you.  My office is Advanced Chiropractic and I am located in Everett Wa.  If you would like to find out more about low back pain and the therapy call or about chiropractic please give us a call at 425-353-7246 and set up an appointment.

I have listed a couple web sites that also offer good therapy ball exercies.

http://www.ball-exercises.com/exercises/index.html

http://exercise.about.com/cs/abs/l/bl_core.htm