A smile is the same in any language.

Every Tuesday morning a small group of people gather at the casualty entrance to Nkosi Albert Luthuli Hospital, a local government hospital in Durban, KwaZulu Natal, laden with a car load of bags, boxes, cases and trolleys.  When the full complement have arrived, we traipse along echoing corridors to the paediatric burns ward where we don hospital scrubs, disinfect with ‘doctor’s soap’ and get to work.  We gather any little patient who is not confined to bed and play. 

Calling Mr Sandman

Sleeping position is something I discuss a lot with my patients. We spend a third of our 24hour day sleeping, thus it affects our back and neck as much as any other posture we assume throughout the day.

Most people want to know what the best sleeping position is. The main thing to consider when sleeping is to keep the spine in as perfect alignment as possible.

The two best sleeping positions are lying on your side or on your back with pillows strategically place to help your spine.

1.    Side Lying

When lying on your side the top leg will automatically drop off the bottom leg, causing the spine to be twisted, this can cause certain muscles to spasm up and further irritate any existing conditions. To avoid this from happening place a pillow between the knees, this will allow the legs to stay in one position and prevent any twisting of the lower back.

2.    Back lying

When lying on your back, this causes the lower back to arch more and places strain on certain joints. To avoid this from happening place some pillows under the knees, to flatten out the lower back and prevent any strain from occurring.

The worst case scenario?

The worst sleeping position is lying on your stomach, when lying on your stomach you are forced to turn your head to one side this places strain on certain joints and muscles in the upper back as well as the joints and muscles of the neck causing mechanical issues, pain and headaches.

So pile up on the pillows in the right places as they will help you sleep better and alleviate most muscle spasms and pain.

Contact details:

Dr Angela Pasteilledes

96 Brand Road (inside TAP Kruger)

Tel: 031 201 1442

Cell: 083 233 1187

Email: chiropractic.angela@gmail.com

Facebook: I-Got-Your-Back-Chiropractor

Take the stairs!

I now work in a building on the 5th floor. The options to get to the office are the lift or the stairs.
Yesterday, i made a decision to take the stairs whenever possible or convenient. I know 5 floors seems a lot of stairs but given my age and health status (excellent), I can easily make the stairs every morning and afternoon. It also gets my heart going a little faster than the lift would without making me sweat.

I challenge you to take the stairs, however, there are exceptions or provisos to this challenge :

1. If you work on the 42nd floor - the stairs may be a little too much to handle as well as the lift is going to be quicker!
1. Suggestion: do a few floors and catch the lift from there in the morning.
2. take the stairs in the afternoon down and then take the lift.
2. If you are in any way affected by health issues - NB do not try this without consulting your doctor first!!!
3. If you have no stairs to work or the stairs are not available - obviously you cannot do this!
4. Next time you go shopping in a supermarket with more than one floor - use the stairs if possible.

Let me know how it goes!!