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Relief from Commuting

I’m a regular commuter in a van pool. Any suggestions for our van pool group to keep our backs in shape?

Thanks,
Itchung and the Van Poolers

    DrWJODonnell
    Posted 9 months ago

    Itchung,

    The problem with driving is that the human body was not made for doing it! Throughout the history of the automobile, manufacturers have done better and better in producing ergonomically designed and comfortable ride experiences for the passengers. However, not all vehicles are made with such attention to detail, and even the ones that are still often fall short due to a “one size fits all” manufacturing process.

    I commend you and your fellow commuters for carpooling. It shares the load, decreases individual stress, and is good for the environment. Now it’s time to be good to yourselves.

    The first thing you’re going to want to realize is that any trip of greater than 30 min. in length really should be interrupted. My recommendation is that for every hour that you are on the road, you should try to get out of the car a minimum of one time. That doesn’t mean that you have to take a 20 min. break or that you have to go and do sightseeing. It simply means to stop the car over the side of the road, get out of the car, and do a little stretching.

    *NOTE* I have no idea what the laws in Oregon or any other state are with regards to pull it over to the side of the road, getting out of the car, and stretching, so be aware that I am not giving you any type of legal advice, only advice to keep your health sound.

    To continue,what I recommend is getting out of the car, And doing whatever stretching routine you feel is best. The fact is, any type of stretching that you do will be better than the static seated position that people often maintain while they are driving/riding in a car. Make sure that in your stretching protocol you try to stretch the muscles of the neck as well as of the low back. A sample routine might include stretches of your neck from side to side as well as forward and backward for anywhere between 10 and 30 seconds each. Neck circles are also a good idea once the neck muscles are warmed up in order to keep motion and mobility throughout your neck.

    For your low back I would recommend Similarstretches. Things like gentle forward bending as well as gentle back bending or stretching from side to side with your arms overhead (similar to what most people were given in gym class when you’re in grade school) can be effective. It is recommended to note that, because you have been in what is most likely a single position for greater than 30 min. (and possibly up to an hour), your muscles will be far from warm and so you should take care not to overstretch and not to move too quickly as this can result in injury, which is the exact opposite of what you want to do.

    After you have stretched walk around by pacing back and forth or take a lap around Yourcar! The whole the stretching routine should take no longer than 2 to 3 min. If you want, use the rest of your vanpool to motivate each other to stay in shape by doing this. It’s a great way to get out and see the great Oregon landscape. After you have done this, feel free to get back in your car and move on your merry way. Over the course of an hour you have delayed yourself an additional 3 min., but the effort that you put in now should pay dividends inavoiding the worsening of any conditions as well as possibly even improving upon some.

    One last piece of advice. Many people, for whatever reason, do not understand the concept of problems arising by sitting on objects. Namely, the wallet that often gets stuffed in the back of a man’s pocket. This wallet, cell phone, or anything else that you decide to put back there changes the level of your pelvis and over the time that you sit on it, can cause large distortions in the pelvis and can result in stretching of the various ligaments of the pelvis and the low back. This can lead to a lot of low back pain, and is one of the most preventable things.

    it’s also not a bad idea to get checked out every once in a while to make sure that your spinal alignment is correct as the repetitive micro trauma of bumps, potholes, and even road vibration, can cause problems from your low back all the way up into your neck. The best person to see for these issues, in my opinion,is a local chiropractor. Like the dentist who wants to see you every so often just to make sure that your teeth are clean and that there is no evidence of subclinical problems, the chiropractic physician likes to do regular checkups in order to maintain your spinal hygiene. I am sure you get your oil change in your car every 3000 to 5000 miles, and you should highly consider making sure that you get your spinal “tune-up” every so often as well.

    Finally, don’t do anything in order to be a danger to anybody on the road! I may be an auto accident specialist, but I don’t need people out there causing other problems, so please be careful!

    As always,

    be better

    William J O’Donnell, DC
    chiropractic physician
    http://www.VertebrataChiropractic.com

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