Golf and chiropractic are complimentary: golf gets people up and active which contributes to overall health, while chiropractic keeps them resistant to the types of injuries that accrue from the accentuated torsion of a golf swing. Furthermore, keeping your spine in alignment is particularly important for the golfer: a subluxation could put more pressure on one part of the body creating excess strain that leads to injury down the line. 

At Scorca Chiropractic Center, we offer golfers the following services:

• Spinal adjustment: improving spinal mobility and reducing pain.
• Core strengthening: focusing on adding stability to the core to create resistance against the strain that golf swings impart.
• Injury rehabilitation: focusing on improving the healing time of ligaments and tissue that may be strained on the course. 
• Dietary information: if you are struggling with an injury, adding anti-inflammatory ingredients into your diet could make a big difference in your recovery time.
• Swing advice: shortening the amount of rotation during your swing can reduce the amount of excess torsion that may be aggravating your back (it may make you more accurate as well)
• Pre-first tee stretching tips: stay tuned to the next blog to find out what kind of stretches should be performed to keep you limber and add strength to your game. 

Because golf season is in full flow, we are seeing more people come in with injuries of varying degrees from the golf course. At our office in Fremont, we have the treatment modalities and expertise to get you back on the course in no time.

Dr. Francis Scorca, D.C. 

Gardening season is upon us. For many people, this is an activity that brings us out of our winter skin and into the sun with quick bursts of activity for which our bodies may not be ready. Motions involved in gardening include twisting, kneeling, bending and pulling, all of which put stress on the structures and muscles of the body. So here are some tips to avoid injury and make gardening a pain-free, fun experience, like it should be.

• Stretch: does it seem funny to stretch before gardening? Even a few purposeful warm ups will keep your body limbered up against the repetitive motions involved in gardening. 
• Hydrate: you are out in the hot summer sun after all! You need to replenish your body with more water than if you were to be sitting under the air conditioner. Take rests often to admire your work and have a sip of water. 
• Get those knees dirty! (or not, if you use a kneeling pad): the point here is to kneel rather than bend, which exposes ligaments and muscles of your back to strain from overstretching. 

Above all: enjoy your gardening season! If you are feeling pain regardless of how much you stretch and hydrate, there may be an underlying spinal problem that is holding you back from your optimal well-being. Call our office in Fremont to schedule an appointment today.

Dr. Francis Scorca, D.C. 

When it comes to well-being, it is important to focus on the factors that are within your realm of influence. The two most tangible of these factors would be exercise and nutrition. I am going to focus on the second of these: nutrition is huge. It can influence everything from your emotional stability to body weight (which impacts spinal health), sleep patterns, skin complexion and athletic performance. You may not be what you eat, but you certainly can impact how you feel with what you eat. Living with less stress begins with the last thing you ate or drank. 

Drink water. Are you among the 80% of Americans that are chronically dehydrated? The number one way to start increasing the health of your brain, bones and nervous system is to stay hydrated. Everyone knows that the body is reliant on water for all its major functions, so it is shocking to see the amount of people who choose to spend money on more coffee and soda. Being dehydrated is directly linked to higher levels of the stress hormone Cortisol. 

The general rule is 1 quart of water per 50 pounds of body weight. This will mean that there is enough H₂O in the body for the functioning of all vital organs. We recommend getting yourself a cool looking reusable water bottle and making it your best friend. It is amazing how quick you can attach to something that brings you so many health benefits at so low a cost. 

At Scorca Chiropractic Center, we use nutrition to boost your biochemical well-being. Give our office in Fremont a call at (510) 656-9077 and see how we can make your dietary changes count. 

Dr. Francis Scorca, D.C. 

Strengthening the muscles of the body should only be done in tandem with a rigorous stretching routine. For people who are serious about improving the condition of their back, regular stretching is a must. Here are some simple stretches that promise to lengthen muscle fibers, increase circulation and inoculate you against muscle strain and other injury.

The simple twist

• Lay supine with knees bent.
• Let knees slowly fall to one side, keeping the rest of the body straight
• Hold 10-30 seconds and repeat 3 times each side.
• This is NOT a good stretch for people with herniated discs or other disc problems.

Hip flexor stretch

• Lay on the bottom of a bed
• Bring one knee up and grab it while the other leg hangs down over the bed.
• Hold 10 seconds, repeat with each leg 3 times.
• Stretch should be felt most keenly in the groin and hip region.

Knee to chest

• Lay supine with knees bent. Bring 1 knee to chest and pull it with your hands, holding for 10 seconds.
• Repeat stretch 3 times for each leg.

These stretches are most effective after other exercises because your muscles are supple and receptive. DO NOT perform any movements that make your pain worse. Calling our office in Fremont is the best way for you to get on board with an exercise and stretching routine that will address your specific condition. Give our office a call at to start letting go of your pain for good.

Dr. Francis Scorca, D.C. 

So many fitness blogs, magazines and shows will casually reference the core muscles and how important their integrity is to a life of wellness. Many people adopt the fallacious idea that the core is just muscles in the middle of the body, essentially the abdominals. In reality, the core is a complex network of muscle groups that includes just about everything besides muscles in the limbs. Almost every single movement that a human performs during the day will use some combination of core muscles.

The core muscles can commence movement, limit and stabilize movement, and transfer forces across the body. At Scorca Chiropractic, we seek to impart upon people the knowledge of just how important a healthy core is: training your core properly allows you to achieve core stability. Core stability is the ability of the core muscles to control the force we produce: a healthy core can be used to protect the spine and surrounding muscles from extreme movements. As we age and grow heavier, more burden is placed upon the discs that accentuate the vertebrae, making a stable core all the more important.

For people looking to strengthen their body to improve back pain or prevent it, the core is a great place to start. Simply doing crunches everyday may not be cutting it. You can make each movement count more by ensuring you have the professional knowledge we offer at our office in Fremont. 

Dr. Francis Scorca, D.C.

How much time do you spend commuting during the work week? The answer usually surprises people when you total the daily values: 30 minutes each way per day of the week adds up to 5 hours a week in which your sitting posture really counts. Unfortunately, very few car seats are engineered to support a healthy resting position for the spine. From our perspective, driving is a temporary activity and therefore we place less impetus on our posture in the car. This is unfortunate because the same rules apply to the car as to any other part of the day: sitting with consistently poor posture can leave the muscles and structures of your back in jeopardy. 

• Hands at 9 and 3
• Face forward, with head balanced over the spine. This may mean actually using your head rest.
• Sit up straight with your butt touching the back of the seat; keep your hips square. 
• Avoid leaning one elbow on the center console. 

Of course, strictly following this posture code for every minute of the drive will make you look like a robot, so make sure that your seat is adjusted properly to allow your shoulders to relax while your arms grip the steering wheel. Use a jacket or small pillow to support a healthy lordotic curve and above all, guard against getting stiff. This may mean adding minutes on to your trip by pulling over to stretch it out, but those minutes will be worth it at the end of the trip.

Posture is an easy way to influence your health. For more tips on how to boost the health of your daily life, give our office a call at (510) 656-9077  to schedule an appointment today. 

Dr. Francis Scorca, D.C. 

The answer is yes, absolutely. Headaches result from a complex mix of physiological and psychological reasons that can seem as limitless as the pain that they cause. These factors are further exacerbated by the lifestyles we lead: the foods we consume, activities we pursue and stresses we exert on our body each day. At Scorca Chiropractic Center, we want to stack the odds in your favor by defeating headaches through prevention. Because your headache reflects your lifestyle, it is worth looking at what you do to your body on a daily basis and how this contributes to your condition. One way to do positively affect headache pain is through conscientious good posture.

As hours pass you by in the office, intangible stresses are accumulating, leading you to lean your head forward toward the screen. The back now rounds and the shoulders tighten into a tense position. Rather than being centered and balanced above the spine, the head is now contributing exponentially more stress to the back, requiring muscles in the neck and shoulder to compensate. In this position, muscle spasms ensue and the pain is referred to the nerves in your head and voila, you have a headache.

Surely this is a simple example, but it is overlooked by many of us who spend or days deskbound. For ways to break these cycles of accumulated stress and headache, give our office in Fremont a call at (510) 656-9077.

Dr. Francis Scorca, D.C. 

Is there an ideal runner’s form? Well, looking at it from the other direction, there is very poor runner’s form. It is quite easy to distinguish someone who is running upright from someone who is obviously winded, but there are more insidious ways in which running can take a toll on your joints. Focus on these tips to ensure your body is not absorbing too much damage as you run across the world. 

• Face forward: Your head sets the tone that the rest of your body follows. If you are staring down, your shoulders will likely start caving forward and your upper spine will resemble a hunchback. Plus, you may miss some pretty sights. Face forward and stay upright. 
• Keep your shoulders loose. If you feel them tensing at any point during the run, take a break and shake them out to break the tension. 
• Remember that your hips are your center of gravity. Staying upright prevents your pelvis from tilting forward, which often causes low back pain. 
• Try to vary the surfaces you run on. Only running on concrete is very rough on joints in both the knees and back. 

This kind of running posture will save you a lot of trouble if you are a consistent runner. If you come home aching after runs, it is best not to push yourself further before checking in at Scorca Chiropractic Center. We screen your back for any underlying injuries that may be compounded by a steady diet of running and offer you the treatment that gets you back on your feet in no time. Call our office in Fremont at (510) 656-9077 to schedule an appointment today. 

Dr. Francis Scorca, D.C. 

Moving: as easy as a walk in the park. But modern lifestyles are causing us to lose sight of this. You may have to sit at work to make money, and you may feel like sitting at night to unwind from the day, but how can you recapture the moments in between: the moments when you are scrolling mindlessly through news feeds or staring absent-mindedly out the window. If you can get yourself moving, your spine will thank you. 

• Park far away. Gone are the days of finding the nearest possible parking place for your daily bit of shopping. Park in the back of the lot, and carry your bags to the car.
• Vacuum yourself. Gone are the days of the roomba sweeping up your crumbs. But this is simply an allegory for all kinds of activities: mowing the lawn, picking weeds, cooking and walking the dog. Don’t pay other people, or pay for a robot to do tasks that enable you to sit around immobilized. As long as you perform tasks with proper posture, your spine will strengthen and repay you.
• Don’t drive to every little place: consider alternate modes of transportation such as walking or biking.
• Stand up while talking on the phone. Maybe pace a bit.
• Challenge yourself to stretch once an hour. 
• Take the stairs (for reasonable amounts of flights). 

A healthy back care lifestyle is not a walk in the park: it is about changing a mentality. At Scorca Chiropractic Center, we can help! We have the knowledge and experience to help you heal your own spine, whatever its condition. If you want to get serious about sitting less and moving more, give our office in Fremont a call at (510) 656-9077. We believe that once you get a taste for how good your spine can feel, you will propel yourself.

Dr. Francis Scorca, D.C. 

If you are suffering from back pain, one of the best things you can do for your ailing spine is one of the simplest and oldest methods of therapy in the world: soak it! Taking hot baths for pain is a great way to restore the body and mind. If you can get into a warm-water pool to fully suspend the gravitational pull, all the better. While the bath can be as simple as plugging the drain and pulling the tap, there are some ways that you can maximize your bathing time to ease back pain, promote circulation, and relax your brain.

1. Warm>scalding hot. Baths approaching the scalding level threaten your body’s homeostasis and set your nervous system on edge, which can interfere with sleep afterwards. 
2. Your extremities as radiators: keeping your head, feet and hands out of the water can help your body shed heat, making the bath more enjoyable
3. Massage yourself, stretch your shoulders and neck and practice deep breathing. Baths are all about releasing tension!
4. Stay hydrated as you are sweating while you bathe. 

Baths are incredibly therapeutic for the back pain sufferer. If the pain is muscular in nature, as many low back injuries are, warm baths are great at easing the tension that builds up in trigger points. The next step is to use water for exercise! At Scorca Chiropractic, we believe in the power of water to help you heal and recover from back injuries of all kinds. At our office in Fremont, we evaluate the condition of your spine, converse regarding your personal health goals, and set a plan for improvement that could include a regime of regular bathing!

Call our office at (510) 656-9077 to schedule an appointment today.

Dr. Francis Scorca, D.C.