Wobble Discs benefits in and outside the clinic to support your overall health

Wobble Discs for our practice members before getting spinal adjustments

When patients come to the clinic, they don’t sit passively waiting to see the doctor. They prepare for their chiropractic adjustment by doing warm-up exercises using our Wobble Discs.

The Wobble Disc exercises hydrate the disc.  By completing the Wobble Disc exercises prior to your adjustment, you are helping to enhance blood flow and oxygenation through spinal discs, you are actually changing the viscosity of the fluid in the discs and by putting the soft tissues (muscles, ligaments and tendons) through a series of loading and unloading cycles, prepares the spine for an easier and gentler correction that will hold. 

In addition to enhancing your chiropractic adjustment, the Wobble Disc exercises strengthen your ‘core’ muscles that aid in support of your low back, as well as prevention of adhesions during healing, and improved joint integrity of healed joints.

The amount of time spent wobbling is CRITICAL. At around 7-8 minutes of wobbling, you create enough motion to “heat” the disc and ligament tissue enough to begin to change its state from a solid to more of a liquid. This is when you begin to remodel the disc and ligament tissue, healing and seal up cracks and tears in the disc and ligaments. As well as lubrication for spinal joints and nourishment for their cartilage.

5 Benefits Of Using A Wobble Disc

Reduces Stress

Everyone goes through some form of stress daily. For most people, this stress is physical and can have a significant impact on the body. For instance, sitting on non-ergonomic chairs for long periods can have notable effects on the lower back. You begin to note some stiffness and discomfort in the lower back, and one of the ways to handle this pain is by using a wobble cushion.

The chair’s movement improves blood flow and oxygenation through your spinal discs, helping to relieve stress in the process.

Heals Damage

In the event of any injuries from spinal exercises, wobble cushions can be an amazing option in the rehabilitation process. The higher the level of flexibility in the spine, the lower the chances of recurrence for an injury. With a wobble cushion, you can improve spinal flexibility through the rehydration of the lumbar discs and the improvement of cerebrospinal fluid circulation. Since there is no direct blood supply to the spinal discs, movement helps pump in healthy fluid and remove waste.

Reduces Pain

Chiropractic care and regular exercise that encourage movement are known to help reduce lower back pain. The use of chiropractic wobble exercise is currently a major approach to pain reduction

Improves Core Stability

As mentioned earlier, wobble cushions help to improve your core stability with some sitting and standing sessions over some time.

Help Balance and Concentration

Wobble cushion exercises can also help improve your balance and concentration.

FFCC Wobble Discs for use outside the clinic

Our wobble discs (sometimes called stability disc/ balance cushions) are small round inflatable cushions, strong enough to sit or stand on.  It is made from flexible PVC-free material that contains no latex or phthalates.  They have a small valve in the back so the cushion can easily be inflated by blowing directly into the valve (they don’t take much to blow up) using a ball pump.   

The cushion can be inflated as much or as little as required.   Don’t overinflate the cushion – it requires enough air to make in wobble when you sit or stand on it.

When sat on the inflated cushion creates instability (a wobble!) encouraging the user to engage their back and core muscles. The cushion can be used on a chair or on the floor.  They are strong enough to be stood on to build core strength and practice balance.

Sitting on a wobble cushion is similar to sitting on a therapy ball – only smaller, portable and more convenient.  The instability engages the core muscles improving posture and core stability.   The wobble effect makes sensory seeking children focus on how they sit, reducing fidgeting and helping to improve focus on the task in hand; and for adults, encourages the postural muscles to be activated, providing small but beneficial movement to train the muscles of the lower back, core and pelvis.

Wobble cushions are often smooth on one side and has raised dimples on the other for additional sensory input.  Wobble cushions are not meant to be too comfortable!   They are meant to be unstable and slightly uncomfortable to make sitting down a physical exercise – they will never be as comfortable as slouching!

It is recommended that the cushion is not sat on all day – about ½ hour at a time is long enough.  Put it to one side for a while and then use it again at regular intervals throughout the day.

The cushion can also be great fun to stand on to build muscle tone and help balance and concentration.   Stand on both legs, one leg, make a tree shape etc…..be creative and have fun!