How great would it be if getting adjusted alone was enough to fully let the body heal? It is the most important ONE of the five essentials, but not the only one. If responsibility to move the spine isn’t taken, then the results of healing will more than likely be less than expected. Home care exercises are designed to help strengthen and stabilize the muscles surrounding the spine into the correct position to better hold the adjustment.
Often times, it is easy negate performing these exercises daily because of the busyness of life. However, movement of the spine is a key component in promoting healing. If your job involves you working in an office setting, there more than likely is a commute to work whether short or long. So it is safe to say that sitting happens for AT LEAST a period of 30 minutes to an hour throughout a day OR there is a time where minimal movement is taking place in a days work. This leads to stress on the spine.
We have two types of muscles that we tend to switch between engaging. During activity we use our phasic muscles, during moments of rest we use our postural muscles. But what tends to happen over a period of time when holding the same position for a long time, is compensation. We start recruiting muscles that should be resting to work, and muscles that should be working to rest. And that can distort the function of muscle groups which lead to patterns that should have never been created in the first place.
That’s where home care exercises come in. Yes, you should definitely be consistent with keeping up with your adjustments. However, if you’re not consistently doing your home exercises daily, the reality is, you are prolonging your healing. Muscles have memory and getting them to learn the new positioning that they are transitioning into with the adjustments is not an overnight gig. It is a repetitive training process that needs to be engrained and learned.
If you know you have long days where you don’t have energy to do your home care exercises after work, take your home care equipment with you to work. Many patients find leaving their equipment at work is more convenient to fit into their schedule. So plan to get your exercises in on your lunch break or a quick 10-minute mental break. It is essential that our spines move daily. And it’s not something that can be done for you.
So I challenge you, alongside keeping consistency with your adjustments and implementing the other 4 essentials, step up your home care game. The prize is in the process.