OV Spine & Sport

OV Spine & Sport Discover Integrated Chiropractic Care at OV Spine & Sport in Oro Valley.

We empower every individual to achieve optimal health and wellness by addressing the brain & pain, soft tissues, and joints.

06/02/2026

Simple Lesson here: The Body follows the Eyes

What our eyes cannot do, the body compensates for. If your eyes have difficulty looking left, right, up, or down... the neck will do the work for them.

Give this a try:
1. Be seated and place your thumb roughly 7-10 inches from your eyes, about at the height of the top of your nose.
2. Place your hand on your chin so your head doesn't move (it moves without people knowing it)
3. Slowly, and I mean slowly, move your thumb left and back to the center

Notice whether it is difficult or easy to track your thumb through this movement.
If it is easy, great! If it is difficult, this plane of movement can be trained (IE: the eye muscles can be trained to have better dexterity.)

There are 6 muscles that surround the eye to help track objects and maintain visual function. If these muscles don't work well, your body will take up tension overworking for the eyes.

You can test left, right, up, and down with your hand on your chin to feel whether your eyes are working well or not.

Again, simple concept: the better your eyes function, the more relaxed your neck , shoulders, and other areas of your body can be.

Enjoy!

-Dr. Nate, OV Spine & Sport

05/29/2026

More Than Belly Breathing

Belly breathing or diaphragmatic breathing has been a hot topic and understood more and more over the past couple of decades.
It has a time and place, just like every other therapy or exercise.

This exercise is to test how symmetrical your ribcage moves, both side to side but also the lower and upper portions of the ribcage.

This exercise allows you to feel or test whether left or right ribcage moves better and also whether the lower or upper portions of your ribcage are mobile also.

This can be helpful for a multitude of issues, and it can help dissociate your ribcage from your shoulders, or it can help promote a better mind-body connection between areas of the ribcage that don't move often or well.

Give this exercise a test, and feel what moves well and what does move well, have fun!

- Dr. Nate, OV Spine & Sport

05/26/2026

Tip Tuesday . . . (s)Core!

A simple way to ensure your core is engaged is to make sure that your ribs do not flare out and that the pelvis stays flat (not poking your butt out).

By keeping the ribcage down and closer to the pelvis, and drawing the pelvis up towards the rib cage, this helps put the body in a better position to engage and integrate core during your movements.

If we do not involve core during our movements, this can increase risk of injury.

Positioning can make a big difference when it comes to engaging the core, and when the ribcage raises up towards your head and away from your pelvis, this disengages the core for potential injury or compensation.

Synopsis for memory: Keep your ribcage close to your pelvis, they are friends 😃

Happy Tip Tuesday! Choosing cleaner, less chemically treated foods when possible is one powerful way to support the body...
05/19/2026

Happy Tip Tuesday!

Choosing cleaner, less chemically treated foods when possible is one powerful way to support the body from the inside out.

Many conventional fruits and vegetables are treated with pesticides and herbicides, including glyphosate (commonly known as Roundup). Research has linked long-term exposure to glyphosate with potential health concerns, including disruption to the gut microbiome, hormone balance, inflammation, and an increased risk of certain cancers, such as Non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Your gut and brain are deeply connected. What we eat directly influences inflammation, immune function, energy, mood, and overall health.

While buying 100% organic isn’t realistic for everyone, prioritizing organic foods, especially the “Dirty Dozen,” can meaningfully reduce pesticide exposure over time.

And if organic isn’t always possible, properly washing your produce still matters:
• Soak fruits and vegetables in water with baking soda for 10–15 minutes
• Or use a vinegar rinse (1 part vinegar to 3 parts water)
• Rinse thoroughly afterward

Food is either supporting health… or slowly working against it.

Investing in higher-quality food now may help reduce the need for medications, chronic health management, and doctor visits later. Your body is constantly responding to what you give it.

Small choices add up 🌱

A huge THANK YOU to Alloy Fitness for having us out for this weekend’s movement seminar! We love connecting with the com...
05/18/2026

A huge THANK YOU to Alloy Fitness for having us out for this weekend’s movement seminar! We love connecting with the community and helping athletes better understand how movement, balance, and brain function all contribute to performance, both inside and outside the gym.

It was a great time guiding the group through balance and eye-movement testing to demonstrate how the brain and body work together to create stability, confidence, and efficient movement. Sometimes improving performance starts with helping the nervous system feel safe enough to move well again.

We appreciate everyone who came out and participated!

Mobility + Stability WorkshopDr. Nate will be providing a FREE mobility + stability workshop this Saturday May 16th at 1...
05/14/2026

Mobility + Stability Workshop

Dr. Nate will be providing a FREE mobility + stability workshop this Saturday May 16th at 11:30AM!

The workshop is at Alloy Fitness Tanque Verde. This seminar is provided to teach a few movement lessons:
1. How improving stability, can change your mobility
2. How respiration can improve mobility
3. How improving balance can influence tension and mobility

This seminar is provided at no cost. Bring a friend, bring your brain, and let's learn some movement strategies to improve tension and prevent injury in the future!

05/12/2026

Neutral Spine = Less Injury = More Performance

When we are lifting heavier weights, or doing movements we have done regularly, a great way to reduce injury is make sure that your spine and pelvis are in a neutral position.

Lots of people will have an extended (too arched) low back.
Lot of people will have a flexed (hunched) low back.

Either of these positions puts strain on joints or ligaments that do not like too much force. If you keep the force in the muscles, ligaments, tendons, and joints are not damaged.

The key point of the video here is to show you want extended (too arched) and flexed (hunched or curled) low back positions look like.

*** Video your squat, and what do you see? ***

Videos are great ways to see how your body moves to gain insight on what muscles are active and what muscles are not active.

One key point:
1. From tip of head to tip of tailbone, this should be as long and straight as possible.

By videoing your squat, deadlift, or bent over row, you can gain tons of information on how your body moves and what steps you need to take next to either improve your pain or your performance.

- Dr. Nate, OV Spine & Sport

05/08/2026

Don't Swing for the Fences!

Here's a few things to think about when looking to improve your functional movements for your golf swing:

1. Eye tracking
2. Hip rotation / Midback Rotation
3. Foot strength

If we can't keep our eye on the ball during rotation, we limit rotation.

If we can't rotate through the mid-back and hips, we rotate elsewhere (low back, knees, cervical spine).

If we don't have a firm anchored base at our feet to initiate any of this movement, we lose swing strength and leverage.

This exercise stimulates your balance (firm feet / eye tracking) and integrates rotation (midback / hips).
Start with a kickstand first, and use pause at different points of the movement.

If you go slowly, you'll likely find a point in the rotation of the swing where your movement and balance feels off, practice your balance through that specific point in the rotational movement!

Our body compensates to create movement. With less compensation, you'll see performance improve.

The Inflammatory Sugar AddictionMany diseases and conditions can be controlled when sugar is controlled. Chronic inflamm...
05/05/2026

The Inflammatory Sugar Addiction

Many diseases and conditions can be controlled when sugar is controlled. Chronic inflammation as a whole contributes to a multitude of diseases and conditions which are preventable.

Here is a simple tip for eating, at every meal, to dampen the sugar spikes and turn them into sugar hills which will be easier on your glandular system.

Eating foods in order can dampen the sugar response and also keep your pancreas from being "burnt out" (insulin insensitivity!).

Check it out and give it a try! It is small changes over time that make the great changes.

04/30/2026

Vision + Inner Ear + Muscles / Joint sensation = balance capacity

Often times I find that people’s vision and inner ear or vestibular system is contributing to their injury.

The brain is always in survival mode. In our gate cycle, we have roughly 20% where we are on two feet and the other 80% we are on one foot.

The worst thing for the brain i the moment to happen is a head injury.

So, constantly the brain is assessing how balanced you feel. If we don’t feel balanced on one leg or the other, the brain will increase spinal tension, leg tension, and even neck tension to slow movement and increase the chances of having a successful step.

Should you try this exercise or train, always have something to grab onto.

Improved balance can add years to your life. If you have any questions on these topics or need help, feel free to text, call or message us for answers.

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10515 N. Oracle Road Suite 169
Oro Valley, AZ
85737

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Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 11am - 2pm

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