Monta Vista Family Chiropractic

08/27/2025

Thank you to our amazing patients for trusting us with your health for the last 34 years. Our office is officially closed. We will miss you all terribly and wish you nothing but the very best.

10/25/2024

Good little write up on the benefits of combining LED therapy and chiropractic care. Ask your provider if this could work for you.

In today’s age, we’re constantly looking for a quick fix to any pains or aches that we may have in our bodies. Sure, there can be temporary solutions, but more often than not, you want something a bit more concrete. Of course, when considering your options, it’s better to take a step back and ...

09/30/2023

At the heart of things is a secret law of balance and when our approach is respectful, sensitive and worthy, gifts of healing, challenge and creativity open to us. A gracious approach is the key that unlocks the treasure of encounter. The way we are present to each other is frequently superficial. In many areas of our lives the rich potential of friendship and love remains out of our reach because we push towards 'connection.' When we deaden our own depths, we cannot strike a resonance in those we meet or in the work we do.

A reverence of approach awakens depth and enables us to be truly present where we are. When we approach with reverence great things decide to approach us. Our real life comes to the surface and its light awakens the concealed beauty of things. When we walk on the earth with reverence, beauty will decide to trust us. The rushed heart and the arrogant mind lack the gentleness and patience to enter that embrace. Beauty is mysterious, a slow presence who waits for the ready, expectant heart.

JOHN O'DONOHUE

Excerpt from his books, Beauty: The Invisible Embrace (US) / Divine Beauty (Europe)
Ordering Info: https://johnodonohue.com/store

County Clare, Ireland
Photo: © Ann Cahill

08/09/2023

03/03/2022

Say hello to our new floors!

After closing due to damage from a leaking water heater, we’re happy to announce that we’re back in our original, upgraded office space.

Please don’t hesitate to make an appointment. Call 408-255-2592 to schedule. We look forward to seeing you soon!

02/27/2022

A Slavic workshop of stylists and photographers called Treti Pivni have decided to bring back one of the more amazing Ukranian traditions by giving it a new meaning. They've produced a portrait series of modern Ukranian women dressed in traditional Ukranian floral headdresses.

01/04/2022

Urgent message!
On 12/26 Our clinic was significantly water damaged by an upstairs water heater that leaked its contents down into our office.

We are operating in the same building in a different suite until our normal suite is repaired.

Call 408-255-2592 for instructions or to make an appointment!

COVID SAFETY PROTOCOLS IN PLACE! (mask, health screening, sanitization).

02/19/2021

Good afternoon, MVPs! Hope your week has been amazing and you're all prepped and ready for the weekend ahead.

How have your mobilization sessions been going? Your February habit goals? If you're struggling, feel free to comment below or ask us at your next appointment.

For the last couple weeks, we talked about how to structure mobilization breaks and what to do within those breaks. This week, I wanted to tackle what to do when you get BACK from your mobilization breaks.

POSTURE CYCLING.

Too often we think of our bodies like hunks of metal, hoping that if we spend a long time curled forward, sitting at a desk with our heads down and our arms forward, we can bend it all back again and straighten it out by arching over a foam roller for 5 minutes.

Unfortunately, that's not at all how the body works.

If we spend too much time in any one position
- Our muscles can't get adequate blood flow, so they ache and develop knots
- Our brain starts "locking on" the muscles that are holding us in that position (think of trying to straighten out your fingers if you've been holding grocery bags for a long time)
- Our brain starts forgetting how to activate the muscles that are stretched/not contracting (like trying to walk after you've been sitting on your leg for too long)
- Our connective tissue that is chronically loaded starts getting irritated/inflamed

None of these things can be solved by shoving your body in the opposite position for any length of time. What they need is variety.

The more different positions you get into, the more you get to share the load/strain of different muscle groups. That's why sit/stand desks are so popular. You shouldn't spend 50% of your time sitting and 50% standing. You should vary your day between the two, and switch whenever you start feeling fatigue in either.

A good cue that indicates it's time to switch posture is when you catch yourself slouching. This doesn't mean you're lazy or weak. It means you're TIRED.

Even in perfect ergonomics, when you're upright, you're still contracting muscles in some configuration, and it will fatigue over time. If you judge yourself negatively for slouching and try to sit up straight, guess what? You're just forcing your muscles back into the same position they were trying to avoid due to fatigue and making the problem worse!

Take the time to stretch, massage, go for a walk, lay down, or just switch to another work position.

When you're upright, some muscles have to be active no matter what. They include your neck and shoulder muscles (to keep your head up) and your hip and back muscles (to keep your torso up). It's important to stretch these routinely because it's difficult to avoid postural muscle overactivation in just about any career you encounter in our modern world.

Conversely, there are other muscles that don't get a chance to be used much through the day - the glutes/core/midback - so it's important to make sure you include them in your exercise routines.

When you vary the load on your body through the day, mobilize the muscles that are building tension through overactivity, and exercise the muscles that aren't getting used much, your body will feel a whole lot better and your posture will improve on its own.

Another key to improving your posture (shameless plug) is GETTING ADJUSTED! Chiropractic adjustments have been shown to *double* the effectiveness of mobilization/exercise habits when dealing with pain or working through postural correction.

We can't do everything for you, but we can certainly help you get there and show you the way! As always, please don't hesitate to call and schedule with any of our chiros so we can help you along your life's journey.

Until we see each other next, be happy - be healthy - and enjoy your weekend! 💚

02/12/2021

Hey there MVPs! Hope you all are having a great week and have a fun Valentine's Day weekend in store! 💞💖💞

For this week's post, we want to expand on what we discussed last week, which was how to start adding mobility into your day. Hopefully, the method you chose to try worked, but if it didn't - so what?

Don't worry if the strategy you tried was unsuccessful. That just means it doesn't work for you. Try another strategy, and give it a go this upcoming weekend!

If you were able to successfully start mobilizing, now you're probably wondering how to optimally use your mobilization sessions.

The first place you want to start is anywhere that's symptomatic. Sounds obvious, but sometimes you might not even notice the tension or discomfort until you take a second to think about it.

When you start your mobilization session, take that opportunity to really check in with your body. Even if you are unsuccessful at releasing your tension in your session, it's a win from a neuromusculoskeletal point of view if you can build more mind-body awareness.

After you've identified the area(s) that needs the most attention, there are a few broad categories you may choose from when adding in your mobility: exercise, stretching, massaging, and gentle mobilization/range of motion.

Which one(s) you may choose will depend on how you feel:
- Exercise is good for the body if you're in little to no pain
- Stretching can help prevent muscle tension from building up if you're in moderate to no pain (but isn't great at relieving pain if it's gotten into the severe range)
- Self massage has a more powerful immediate effect on muscle tension, so we recommend using it if you're in moderate to severe pain. It isn't great at preventing tension from building up though, which is why we tend to recommend stretching when in lower levels of discomfort
- Gentle mobilization and rest is usually best to calm down irritation if you're in very high levels pain as stretching and massage may be too aggressive

Having said that, these aren't strict categories. There are definitely some blurry edges, so feel free to do a little bit of both when you're on the borderline between two different groups.

Also, on the subject of heat versus ice, we tend to recommend heat for stiffness and low level discomfort and ice for any pain levels above 5/10, as ice doesn't have the same risk of increasing inflammation that you can experience with heat.

Below is a graphic to help visualize what you may choose to do in your mobilization session. Hopefully you find it helpful when choosing what to do on whichever body part you're working on.

If there are any mobilization strategies you're unsure about, please make sure to check in with us at your next appointment! We'd be happy to help clarify anything you've been shown previously or teach you some new skills/techniques!

Until we see you again - be happy, be healthy! And happy Valentine's Day!💚

02/05/2021

Hey there, MVPs! Hope you've had an amazing week and are looking forward to your Super Bowl Sunday!

How are your goals/habits that you've set for February looking? It's still not too late to get on them!

For many of us, increasing our mobility is a big goal. I imagine that a lot of the people reading this are long-time patients who have been given many stretches and exercises and self massage techniques. Many of you may be wondering how and when you're supposed to do all these things you've been taught.

For February, I wanted to focus on how to incorporate mobility into your daily routines in a meaningful way. The first step might seem a little obvious, but sometimes it's important to start with the basics.

Step 1: DO SOMETHING

The hardest part of any routine is the creation of a new habit. Often we spend so much mental energy thinking about what we SHOULD do that we have a difficult time mustering up strength to do anything at all.

So if you're new to habitual mobilization and you don't know what to do, just do something. ANYTHING. Cycle through a couple stretches, take your lacrosse ball/foam roller/massager out, or go for a walk.

When you're trying to add mobilization to your routine, start by figuring out how to logistically incorporate sessions into your day. The longer you go between sessions, the longer the session should be. Mobilizing more frequently is preferred, but doing something is always much better than nothing, so do what you can.

GOOD: 30 minutes 1-2 times per day
- With exercise (massaging and active stretches before, passive stretching after)
- During a meeting with video off

BETTER: 5-10 minutes every 2-3 hours
- Create a 3-4 short stretching breaks per day in your calendar

BEST: 1-2 minutes every hour
- Create a habit. You can put a sticky note on your chair (not your desk) as a obvious reminder to mobilize every time before you sit.
- Use stand/posture alerts. If you have an Apple Watch/posture tracker, mobilize a little bit every time it alerts you to sit up/stand.
- Set an alarm on your phone or smart watch, and then hit "Reset" to start the timer again.

Give one of these strategies a shot, and then next week, we'll start discussing how to choose what kind of mobilization is the most appropriate.

Until then, let us know if you have any questions, and as always - be happy, be healthy! 💚