Commuting can be harmful to body and brain. 

Car seats are hardly made for comfort and they often fall short in supporting good posture; combine this with the fact that humans instinctively move their head forward toward the windshield, creating an imbalance atop the spine and you have a recipe for pain that compounds over the days of commuting back and forth. Furthermore, commuting hardly lends itself to peace of mind- sitting in traffic often contributes quite a bit to the make up of stress that we carry with us throughout the day. But for many of us, commuting to the office by car is an inescapable reality, so let’s rethink it rather than fight it! 

Making the commute more comfortable

• Posture: Sit up straight with hands at 9 and 3. If you can, use a rolled up jacket to maintain the lumbar curve and remember to keep your head centered atop the spine as much as possible. 
• What to listen to? News can add to stress. While it is important to keep up on daily events, try mixing it up with a bit of relaxing music or a podcast that engages your brain on a favorite subject. 
• Take a deep breath: driving is a great time to practice deep breathing patterns and the extra oxygen will nourish brain cells and keep them more resilient to stressful stimuli.

We can help you reverse the damaging effects of commuting

Muscles tense as a natural response to stressful stimuli, whether it be physical or psychological. If we don’t address this tension on a case-by-case basis, it often builds on top of itself creating layers of tight muscle that will eventually cause pain. We start by looking for problem areas known as trigger points of tension and releasing them to allow the healing process to begin. This has an immense effect not only on your physical well-being but also your mental outlook. We also seek out and correct subluxation and the resulting nerve impingement that could be interfering with fluid functioning of the body. If you want to change your experience with the daily commute, give our office in Fremont a call to schedule an appointment today. 

Dr. Francis Scorca, D.C.