Shopping for Shoes

The balance of your feet can determine the balance of the rest of your body. We at the Carolina Chiropractic Center in Florence hope that our patients are keeping their lower backs in alignment. That’s a lot harder to do while wearing poorly-fitted shoes that encourage slouching or overcompensating by tensing up one side of the body, so we thought we’d provide some tips for when you go shopping.

Your feet need support under and on the sides of their arches. While high heels are terrible for your feet, flats—including most dress shoes and flip-flops—don’t help them, either. The best shoes are sneakers made of breathable material with a padded collar that will stabilize the ankle without restricting it. The bottoms should have a firm grip but not add a lot of weight to the shoe.

Shopping should be done late in the day, when the feet have flattened out slightly from bearing the shopper’s weight for hours. But shoppers should also give themselves lots of time to browse because shoes that still need to be broken in after being worn for ten minutes are probably not the right size. The toe box needs to be large enough that the toes won’t bunch up on each other and won’t be at risk of developing ingrown toenails. Shoppers should wear the socks they plan to pair with the shoes (and it is recommended that runners wear socks to wick away sweat). Shoes should be replaced when the treads wear out, which could occur after a few months if they are being worn during daily exercise. Although sneakers are the kind of shoe most often built for support, orthopedically-friendly sandals and dress shoes are becoming more popular. We can also provide patients with customized orthotics.

Dr. James Huggins operates the Carolina Chiropractic Center at 1627 Suite C, South Irby, Florence, South Carolina, 29505. To set up an appointment, call 843-665-9192 or visit Carolina Chiro Center and fill out a contact form.

 

Neck Stretches

Neck pain can often be treated through safe, minimally invasive means. At the Carolina Chiropractic Center in Florence, our treatments for cervical misalignments and the headaches and shoulder pain they cause include spinal adjustments, spinal decompression, and ultrasound therapy. But therapeutic exercise will likely be crucial to a patient’s recovery and continued well-being.

We don’t recommend that injured patients attempt to create their own workout routines, but it can be helpful for them to know what to expect from a visit to our office. Neck pain is often due to strain in the neck’s soft tissues as a result of an injury or overuse. We try to restore the neck’s flexibility through strengthening exercises and stretches. Some examples are slowly bending the neck forward or backward, rotating the head ninety degrees each way, and pressing the ear against the shoulder. The patient would need to hold the pose for a few seconds, with the length of time and the number of stretches gradually increasing.

Neck stretches should be a part of ordinary warm-up and cool-down routines. While it remains unclear whether stronger neck muscles can guard against concussions, they do help to take weight off the cervical spine and combat degenerative disease. Of course, there are other potential causes of neck pain, which is another reason why it is important for people to come in for a diagnosis as early as possible.

Dr. James Huggins operates the Carolina Chiropractic Center at 1627 Suite C, South Irby, Florence, South Carolina, 29505. To set up an appointment, call 843-665-9192 or visit Carolina Chiro Center and fill out a contact form.