Wrightstown Health & Fitness (WHF) in-house chiropractor Dr. Patrick Donohue of Wrightstown Chiropractic & Rehabilitation has one word of advice if you want to see less of him: exercise. Sedentary lifestyles can cause weight gain, achy joints, and other musculoskeletal conditions, as the American Chiropractic Association recently noted. That’s why “Keep Moving!” is their theme for this October’s National Chiropractic Health Month.
Read our short Q&A with Dr. Donohue for tips on staying healthy year-round.
1. Have you seen a lot of issues related to people being less active since the pandemic began, and do they continue? What type of problems are common?
With technology taking over in general, people are more sedentary overall. The pandemic definitely made us less active. We have joints in our body because we were designed to move. The repetition and behaviors of our daily living are not aligned with our genetics.
2. What other issues are common right now, and what do you believe is the root cause?
When I look at physiology, I think of stress and how it can be categorized: physical stress (active or inactive), chemical stress (what goes into our body, food, drinks, medications) and emotional stress (what we can and can not control. We are either toxic or deficient in one, two or all three of these areas. This will play on the balance of our hormones in our body and how we function overall.
3. Many seek chiropractic care when the aches begin, but is it possible to incorporate routine chiropractic care into fitness and wellness efforts to prevent problems too?
Symptoms like pain are actually a good thing. They are the body’s way of alerting us that our body is in danger and we need to take action to improve our environment or our behavior. I just finished speaking with a patient about this. As stated earlier, we are meant to be active, not sedentary. However, we find ourselves working 8 hours a day sitting or standing at our jobs. Or attached to technology. The more you take care of yourself, the less you will have to see of me.
4. The American Chiropractic Association is encouraging people to incorporate more movement into their day. What are some ways people can squeeze more physical activity into busy schedules, and what are some key things they can do to help prevent problems down the road?
I am a huge proponent of exercises because muscles attach to the same bones I move. I encourage exercises for everyone who I care for otherwise people will deal with cycles of pain. In the upper back, I focus on opening up the chest and strengthening the posterior neck and spine. In the lower back, I focus on building the gluteal and abdominal muscles while opening the lower back. I teach exercises that can easily be done at the workplace to adjust to our busy schedule.
