Chances are if you have blurred vision, your instinct is to see an eye doctor. While a completely natural reaction, did you know that vision problems can stem from problems in your spine? It’s natural to assume that an eye problem means that your eye is the problem. Most people assume problems in an area of the body have the root cause of the issue in the area of the body manifesting symptoms. However, this isn’t always the case. Here are some things you should know about how neck misalignment can lead to blurred vision.

How Do You Know If Blurred Vision Isn’t An Eye Problem?

Your first course of action when having any vision problems should indeed be to see an eye doctor. There are many potential causes for blurred vision, starting with the natural degeneration of eyesight and going through diseases, injuries, and more. An eye doctor will eliminate any such possibilities. If they do not find any issues with your eyes themselves, that’s when the focus shifts to the spine as a potential culprit for your blurred vision.

How Are The Spine And The Eyes Connected?

How you see is through the light beams that the photoreceptors in your eyes interpret. Your retina takes this information and relays it back through your optic nerve to the part of your brain that works with your vision – your visual cortex. Your brain then passes the information along through the spine to the rest of your body, so that you know what you see and how to react to it. So, why do you have blurred vision with neck misalignment?

What The Spine/Eye Connection Means For Your Vision

As you see, there are multiple nerves involved in how vision works. But why would your spine affect this process at all? The central nervous system is located in your spine and your eyes are a major part of your central nervous system. Ergo, problems with your spine can lead to problems with your central nervous system which can cause blurred vision. This is especially true for your neck, which is the closest part of your spine to your eyes, meaning neck misalignment poses potential problems for your eyesight.

If you don’t suffer from any spinal problems, you have good posture, and your neck and everything is in order, blurred vision probably isn’t related to your back. But if you get whiplash, like from a car accident, or your neck gets thrown out of alignment in another way, you may notice previously fine vision turn blurry. 

How Are Neck And Vision Issues Diagnosed?

If your neck got misaligned and the eye doctor didn’t notice any problems with your eyes, there are tests that can be done to get to the root of your blurred vision. You may undergo a physical exam and tests. Or, if alignment problems are suspected, you may be sent to a chiropractor. As the spine is part of a chiropractor’s center of expertise, they can tell you if there are any alignment issues potentially causing your blurred vision.

How Can A Chiropractor Help Blurred Vision?

After identifying any alignment issues that may be causing your blurred vision, a chiropractor can then come up with a treatment plan for you. Through realignment, a chiropractor can restore impacted nerve functions so that your vision can improve. Chiropractors utilize the body’s natural healing abilities with movements that restore its functions and improve blood flow. If your neck is misaligned and causing vision problems, a chiropractor can realign it. After that, you should notice improvement in your vision.

Want To Know More About Misalignment and Blurred Vision?

For more information about neck misalignment or any other chiropractic concerns, contact us at Carlile Chiropractic today! We’re happy to answer any questions and to set up an appointment for any of your chiropractic needs.

Tips To Care for Back Pain 

Do you experience a lot of back pain? Have you been to many doctors and can’t find any results you wanted? Many Americans experience back pain, and many visit a chiropractor to help with their back pains. About 35% Americans are seeking relief from various causes like sports, heavy lifting or an accident. Here are some tips you can use if you are one of the many Americans that suffer from back pain.  

Chiropractic Care 

Visit a chiropractor. Seriously, this is probably the best thing you can do for your back instead of surgery. Don’t think you need to rest in bed if your back hurts, it’s probably the worst thing you can do.  Chiropractic care has hands-on treatment and other alternative treatments to get rid of the pain. Proper alignment of the musculoskeletal structure will enable the body to heal itself without surgery or medication. Sounds a lot less stressful, am I right?  

Here’s some other tips you can do at home if you can’t make it to a chiropractor right away. 

Remember when I said don’t rest in bed? This is still the best thing you can do, but don’t do any physical activity while in strenuous pain either. Just take it easy until you can see a chiropractor. Taking things easier, like not doing any heavy lifting, bending over, twisting or standing without support for long periods of time will help your symptoms and reduce the swelling. You can also apply some heat to the sore area. For best results use ice first for a few hours then apply heat.  

When you do go to sleep in your bed, make sure to curl up in a fetal position with a pillow between your legs. This will help reduce that pain a little less when you are sleeping. If you sleep on your back, place a pillow under your knees. Keeping your legs elevated will loosen your back muscles and help them relax.  

Exercises To Prevent Future Back Pain 

If you already have back pain, please avoid exercises. You don’t want to make your pain any worse. To avoid any future back pain, exercise is a great way to prevent it. Through exercise you can improve your posture, strengthen your back and abdomen, lose weight, and avoid falls. If you have a smart phone, you can download thousands of exercise apps to help strategize what you can do for preventing back pain. Exercises include walking, swimming, or riding a bike. Don’t forget to stretch your body before and after your exercise to avoid your muscles being extremely sore the next day. Also drinking plenty of water will prevent soreness.  

Did you know that osteoporosis is a common cause of back pain later in life? Doing exercises isn’t the only thing to help prevent this from happening; taking plenty of calcium and vitamin D will keep your bones strong. Calcium is in milk, yogurt, greens and vitamin supplements. Vitamin D is in fatty fish, egg yolks, beef liver, and cheese. 

If you’re working at an office, make sure you have the right support. Good posture techniques while sitting will help prevent strenuous back pain. Choose a good quality chair that provides lower back support, arching it, helps you keep your back straight and not slouched over. Make sure your knees are higher than your hips and your feet are firmly on the ground. Move around the office if you are sitting for too long. Getting up and walking around a little will also help those muscles from getting stiff.  

For more information on back pain or to schedule an appointment with Carlile Chiropractic, contact us on our website or over the phone today!