In my San Diego Chiropractic clinic, I provide treatment for many types of injuries. Typical injuries that result in neck pain, back pain, chronic headaches, sciatica etc., include auto accidents, work related injuries, injuries caused by domestic chores and sometimes things as simple as sleeping in an awkward position.

Of the patients suffering from neck pain, back pain and other injuries, I would say that at least 50% of them ask, “what can I do for myself to make sure that this doesn’t happen again?” This question served as the inspiration for this article and I will address in this post.

To begin with, neck pain and back pain are great motivators.

When people are in pain they take a proactive approach to their health. People often inquire about what kind of stretches or exercises that they can start right away. Unfortunately, the best thing that you can do while your injury is new is to apply ice packs to the injured area and rest. I indicated that this is unfortunate because when injuries are new, motivation for proactive behavior such as exercising is high - later on, when the pain has decreased, so does the motivation.

Over my 15 plus years in practice I have seen a large percentage of enthusiastic patients ignore this advice and end up giving their conditions a major set back. The time to start exercising and stretching your back for most of us is when you are out of the acute stage of pain.

My biggest struggles in practice have been dealing with my patients exercise and diet habits. Exercise is one of the few things that a patient can do at home, outside of chiropractic care, to help prevent or diminish the chances of developing back pain in the future.

After an injury, you should approach exercise cautiously - almost to a point where the exercise that you are performing feels like it is doing nothing. If you can get through a few low intensity exercise sessions like this without aggravating your condition, you should slowly add resistance, repetitions or time to your workouts, allowing you to build confidence and strength at the same time.

You have to remember to incorporate a sensible approach to exercising after a back injury. Be sure to exercise and stretch under the advise of a health care professional. Strong and flexible muscles add strength and support to your spine and will provide much needed stability.

I have always tried to help the patients of my San Diego Chiropractic office with their neck pain and back by encouraging stretches and exercises. The combination of chiropractic care with stretches and exercise allows for quicker, more complete healing with decreased chances of pain in the future.

Dr. Steve Jones is a practicing chiropractor in San Diego California. He was licensed in 1991 and received his degree from Palmer College of Chiropractic - West. Dr. Jones has focused on the study and implimentation of ergonomics in the work place and holds a certification as a specialist in health ergonomics. Dr. Jones can be contacted through his websites at http://www.JonesPainRelief.com and http://www.ErgoNav.com

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