With Christmas approaching you will not doubt all be busy at this time of year preparing for the holiday season. Follow these top tips to feel healthy this Christmas period:

Take care when rushing around the shops, wear comfortable shoes and regularly drop your bags back to the car so you are not carrying too much. Ensure that you balance the weight of the bags on each side the best that you can.

Take great care when putting up Christmas decorations, please don’t stand on the kitchen chair or stool, please use a proper ladder and don’t reach too far in order to put up that final card. It is much better to go down the ladder and move it nearer to the spot when you want to place the card, rather than risk injuring yourselves by overstretching and twisting.

Eating healthily is important during the winter period. A healthy diet includes fresh fruit and vegetables, these will provide vitamins which will help your immune system and they are also rich in anti-oxidants. Try to eat a variety of different fruit and vegetables each day and ensure you eat different coloured fruit and vegetables. Try home-made vegetable soup, or make yourself a smoothie by blending fruit with milk or a banana.

Christmas tends to mean excess ‘naughty’ food and drink for many of us. This increase of refined sugar and processed foods in our system may cause the inflammatory process to trigger and cause stress and pain in your organs and joints. Try drinking lots of water between alcoholic drinks and having healthier snacks of a raw vegetables  or dried fruit and nuts instead.

Remember to wrap up warmly when going out. This will help to stop the muscles intensely contracting to keep you warm, which can cause stiffness and pain in the low back and shoulders especially. It is better to wear several thin layers rather than one thick jumper. Wear a hat too, as this prevents heat escaping from your body – a waterproof one will also keep out the rain!

There is nothing better than a walk in the country on a brisk winter’s day or working in the garden for an hour or so. However, remember when your muscles are cold, they are tight and you are more likely to hurt yourself. So it’s always best to warm up for a few minutes before you do any strenuous activity. Warm up by a short brisk walk and a few stretches for your lower back and your hamstrings. If the weather is very cold and it is icy under foot, please ensure you wear footwear that has ridges on the base to provide you with the maximum amount of grip. We are here to help, but would much rather you didn’t get injured in the first place!

If you are unable to go out and you get snowed in please ensure you exercise by stretching or keeping mobile in the house.  Alternatively, try yoga, pilates or dancing to your favourite music. By keeping active and eating healthily you will provide yourself with best chance of keeping fit and well this winter.

The festive season is a time for families and friends, not a time to be nursing an injury or to be ill. Do take care of yourselves during this month of December and book in for a chiropractic treatment to help to alleviate stressors that can occur in body and nervous system when we get too busy and overdo it.