Chiropractic Care to Improve Proprioception

Amber Erickson, DC, MEEBW

Can you close your eyes and touch your nose?  Can you stand on one foot?  Balance is very important, but it is something that we often take for granted.  This is the ability to maintain an upright posture without leaning.  Proprioception is knowing where your body joints are in space, without looking.  Your body depends on proprioception for everything that you do, from work to play.  This is the reason that you know where your foot is when you step without actually watching it step.  Joint receptors both in the foot, leg and back will send input in the motion back up into the brain to be processed.  Both can be improved and strengthened, with purposeful exercises and with chiropractic care.

The proprioceptive system is composed of nerves which are found in joints and in the muscles and ligaments that surround all joints.  The function of these nerves is to maintain tone and to sense when stretch is applied to the joint capsule.  They then transmit this information up to the brain where it is then processed, so that the body can then be instructed on how to respond.  The brain will then send nerve signals down to the appropriate muscles to either contract or relax the relevant muscles and to produce the dictated movement.  This happens at a very rapid speed, without conscious thought on our part.  This is in part how a reflex works, often the motion is often completed before we are even aware that we are moving.

Good balance is a direct result of a properly functioning proprioceptive system, and a joint injury or restriction can lessen the effectiveness of the entire system.  This may be from an acute injury, or from chronic stress and a repetitive injury. As we age, our balance tends to deteriorate.  This can lead to an easier chance of injury, and can make us more prone to re-injury of healed locations.

It is possible to increase the proprioceptive feedback from your body to your brain, and this can help an athlete to recover more quickly.  It is also possible to improve posture, and to increase our balance so our day to day activities cause less discomfort as we age.  The proprioceptive system can be trained and strengthened, both through specific exercises and with chiropractic care.  Chiropractors use neurological testing to monitor and test the proprioceptive system, and then to improve on any deficits noted.

There are many exercises designed to improve balance and proprioception.  All balance exercises should be began on a flat, even surface.  Begin by standing on one leg, and holding your foot at the level of your ankle.  Hold this up for five to six seconds, and then repeat ten to twelve times.  Once you feel stable doing this exercise, proceed to doing calf raises and mini squats, as well as leg abduction (taking the leg away from the midline) and leg adduction.  Lunges are also a great way to strengthen the lower body.  Following this with use of a wobble board can then be very beneficial, but requires core strength and practice. All of these exercises can then be performed on the wobble board, as long as stability and balance can be maintained.  More advanced exercises include running a figure eight pattern, and walking while crossing over your feet.  Regular chiropractic care can also significantly help to improve both balance and proprioception to restoring joint motion and improving muscle tone.  Kinesiology taping can also be a great way to increase proprioception.

Bodywork at home, on your own horse

The horse is an athlete like none other and we strive to be a team with our horse.  Bodywork and chiropractic care can be very beneficial for both members of your endurance team; horse and rider need to be moving at their best to achieve top performance.  However, there are easy bodywork techniques that can be done daily at home to improve performance as well.   

Who hasn't felt the muscle ache from over-used, tight muscles after resuming a workout schedule?  Well our horses can feel this tightness too but they can’t help themselves through it like we can.  Many times the rider many not even realize the horse has back tightness, or a joint problem, until it has become advanced.   A simple way to prevent problems is to perform massage and stretching techniques on your own horse, in addition to getting regular chiropractic care.  Maintenance chiropractic care can help prevent many problems, and can bring out the very best performance in both horse and rider.   

Another reason to do simple massage techniques on your own horse is to learn what normal feels like.  If they become uncomfortable with a massage move that they had previously loved, this may indicate the beginnings of a problem.   A bodywork session can also be a nice way to reward your horse for a job well done.  Some words of caution before we begin.  Never tie your horse while doing bodywork, he may panic if you hit a sore muscle and pull back.   You want these sessions to be calming and safe so chose a quite location and watch reactions closely.  Always use light pressure, if you are in doubt watch your horse!  Finally never work on an acutely injured area, and always keep an eye out for hot and swollen areas. 

I will post easy moves that you can do at home later this week, so stay tuned!

Winter can go away...

I find myself having trouble focusing today.  I spend most of my time day dreaming about warm summer days.  I went out to check my horses this morning before work.  They are all four still unblanketed, I had pulled blankets off when it warmed up last (feels like weeks ago) and they were all warm today.  A nice layer of snow and ice over their backs helps to insulate, and of course no one is hurting for weight...

They are demolishing a round bale, but at least everyone seems to be warm.  

Back to dreaming of spring time :)

Bodywork in Winter

For me, winter time means quickly throwing hay to cold horses with a quick pet and then back into the house!  I'm always surprised when people actually still ride in winter, as for me the risk of falling on the ice isn't worth the little bit of fitness gained.  However, those of you lucky enough to have an indoor arena probably ride all winter with ease.  Exercise is just as important in winter, but hard exercise should be approached with caution as this will lead to sweat.  A wet horse is a cold horse, and no one wants to spend three hours cooling out from an hour ride!

This brings me to blanketing.  It used, blankets MUST fit correctly, and be the correct fill weight for the weather conditions.  A too thin blanket does worse than not blanketing at all, and can cause severe frostbite. I choose to blanket for several reasons: a thin horse who can't seem to stop shivering, an elderly horse or a sick horse, and for a horse who is continuing in hard work.  I did blanket for a few weeks this winter so far, as I've been trying to stay ahead of any freezing rain.  My horses are without a blanket today, but we will see how everyone is tonight when I get home.  I feed a lot more hay with unblanketed horses, so it becomes more cost effective for me to throw blankets on.

I do see many bodywork muscle problems from blankets, so they must fit properly.  A heavyweight blanket will add a fair amount of physical weight, especially to the horse's upper back and neck.  Unless it fits really well, many horses will become very sore in these regions then.  Also, a blanket that is causing restriction and/or rubs anywhere will be causing the horse to change how he moves.  This can lead to soreness throughout their body, especially if this is compounded by walking through deep snow and across ice.

I am frequently asked about continuing with a horse's bodywork and chiropractic treatment plan in winter.  If the horse is blanketed and still in relatively normal work, they should continue with bodywork care. If they are being mostly rested and they seem comfortable, it often is fine to take several months off from care.  This depends on the horse, but many seem to do well with a nice winter rest.  Spring training is often the perfect time for a tune-up!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!

We are having a lovely vacation in North Dakota for Christmas.  However, I'm getting a bit homesick for my horses.  Also quite sick of cold weather.  The past few days have been warmer though, which makes me want to ride my horses even more!!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all of the horses and riders out there!  I hope that everyone has a safe and warm holiday.  Enjoy your families today!
I'll be home with a sick kid today, so I will be thankful for all of the gifts in my life from home.

Weird Horses!

Today I had quite a scare.  It was cold when I woke up, in the single digits.  My horses had finished their round bale yesterday, I had dumped out all of the wet hay in the bottom last night.  ELEVEN days that bale lasted, pretty great!  Anyways, so I ran out to feed the horses a square bale.  They all four dug right in, just like normal.  About ten minutes later, once I finished getting ready for work, I came back outside to take off for the day.  I see three horses eating hay, and my old mare (Abbie) up on the hill.  She whinnies when she see's me, and comes booking down the hill.  She then wanders around by the shelter, and over to the level (rather sandy) place where the round bale was.  Then she lays down, and just lays there.  Freaked me out, but I was late for work so off I went.  Came home tonight, she's perfectly fine and ready for dinner.  Apparently she just wanted me to worry all day.  WEIRD horses...

Pictures are after eleven days of eating on the round bale.  Everyone seems to be in great weight lol!