Get Up, Stand Up... at your desk

Let's address the need for a sit-stand desk. This topic has become increasing popular for good reason. Many people have back pain! I frequently recommend a sit-stand desk for patients who present with impaired function, pain and degeneration of the low back. Today we discuss if you are a candidate for this type of load management strategy.

Why a Sit-Stand Desk? A sit-stand desk is important. Sitting increases the load on discs in your low back. The sit-stand desk is a workstation that allows you to do both, sit or stand at your work station reducing load on your low back. People who sit for four or more hours in a day have a 9x increase in low back pain, compared with people who sit for one hour(1). There are only 168 hours in a week. The average person spends 64 hours a week sitting(2). How much of your life do you spend sitting down?  Low back disc problem How does a sit-stand desk help me? This setup reduces the load on your lumbar spine. With my experience treating thousands of low back pain patients, reducing pain needs a specific plan. This plan requires a combination of restoring muscle function, improving movement, balancing strength and managing the loads on the low back.  I recommend that you sit for 30-45 minutes and stand for 15-20 minutes. It's time to switch to standing if you are uncomfortable and find yourself shifting around to avoid pain. In fact, I recommend that you subtract 20% off the time it takes to hurt and switch before your back begins to be irritated. Sit-Stand setup Do I need a Sit-Stand Desk? There are multiple factors that must be considered for you to be a candidate. First do you have impaired function, pain or a known diagnosis regarding your low back? Any request must be a reasonable accommodation request. Do you have a legitimate request backed by a note from a doctor? Would the request cause your employer undue hardship? Managing the load on the lumbar spine with a sit-stand desk is vital to maintaining health, slowing degeneration and minimizing both pain and missed time from work. If you suffer from low back degeneration, give us a call at 678-1362 to schedule a consultation. Occupational Evolution References: (1) Tucker, J. "Give your patients the ergonomic advantage." Dynamic Chiropractic, April 2017. (2) Yeager, S. "Sitting is the new smoking- even for runners." Runner's World, July 20, 2013.

Improving Your Patient Experience at Roc Spine + Sports Chiropractic

Improving Your Patient Experience Every day we hear about people frustrations with health care. We believe in a process of constant improvement to serve you better. This applies not only in the treatment room but with all aspects of our interactions with our patients. You may notice these changes in our new faces, new voices, streamlined patient experience and better results.

New faces: Meet Nikki Nikki recently started as an office assistant. One of her roles is to help our patients feel like royalty while in the office. She was born in England so she has first hand knowledge on what this means.  Nikki- Office Assistant New voices During business hours our phone lines will be answered by Lauri or Nikki. We  received feedback regarding frustration in reaching the office directly. This change will resolve the issue. Open hours can be found here.  Furthermore, all new patient consultations and initial examinations will have to be scheduled by calling the office directly at 678-1362.  New patients will not have access to these types of appointments on the online scheduling system.  Streamlined patient experience Dan, our clinical assistant has played an essential role in improving our Manual Adhesion Release treatment through improved focus, and precise motion bringing better results with every encounter. He is trained on how to perform all of our functional test measurements and rehabilitation exercises.  Dan will be entering the room to gather test results prior to Dr. Matt Buffan entering the room.   Better results We have added new equipment. The lumbar flexion bench enhances our ability to reduce adhesion in the muscles of the low back.  If you have a back pain and have not been treated in our office since the acquisition this equipment in June, your back is not as healthy as it could be.  We are improving function, solving pain, providing freedom. Give us a call today at 678-1362 to experience Rochester's only certified Manual Adhesion Release™ treatment provider with the best equipment available. Low back muscle treatment - Manual Adhesion Release