How to Keep Your Back “Life-Ready”
1. Make Good Posture A Habit When you are standing, feel that the weight in your feet is going through your arches. Stack your knees over your ankles, your pelvis over your knees, and your shoulders over your pelvis. Let your head be in a relaxed position without your chin poking forward. Good posture doesn’t mean holding yourself up like you’re in the army. You should be comfortable, though it might still take time to get used to a new posture, even if it’s a better one. While sitting, make sure you’re using the backrest without your shoulders slouching or yourhead far forwardandyour feetareon thefloor. 2. Lift Properly Picking things up is a normal part of our day. Even if you pick up something light, your back muscles have to lift the weight of your upper torso and control that movement. Make sure you always face what you need to pick up, squat keeping your spinestraightandpushwithyour legmuscles.This helps reduce theexcessivepressureon your spine. 3. Stay Flexible Flexibility is key to maintaining a healthy back. By keeping your body flexible, the normal forces of movement and lifting can be distributed across the spine, rather than focused on a few segments, which can then fail. An easy stretching routine every day can keep you feeling great and put a spring in your step.
4. Stay Strong You have hundreds of muscles, which control the movement of your spine. Major muscles that support the spine are called your core and include your abdominal, pelvic, spinal and hip muscles. By keeping your core muscles strong, you support your spine and have the ability to easily control lifting, quick movements, bending and a lot more. 5. Physical Therapy Our physical therapists are experts in evaluating spine and body movement. By having a regular checkup, you can make sure your body is in good condition to tackle the activities you love. If you
have a history of back pain, injury or are currently experiencingachesandpains,wecananalyzeyour problem and construct a treatment program that will work best for your individual problem. With soothing hands-on therapy and targeted exercises, we can help you return quickly to feeling your best. Even if you suffer from severe pain, we can help you get out of pain and living the life you deserve.
Call us today to schedule an appointment. 1-866-296-BSPT (2778)
SIMPLE TIPS FOR SHOVELING SNOW 30SECONDSELF-TEST FORBALANCE 1. Stand on a hard floor near a table or countertop for support.
Snow shoveling can lead to a number of health risks for many people, from back injuries to heart attacks. The following tips can help keep you safer when you set out to shovel: Warm up. Warm your muscles before heading out to shovel by doing some light movements, such as bending side to side or walking in place.
2. Bend one knee and lift the foot–if you’re left- handed,standonyour left legand lift the right foot; do the opposite if you’re right-handed. You don’t need to lift it high, just enough to keep it off the floor. 3. Now without holding onto anything slowly count the number of seconds you can hold that position without putting your foot back down.
Push rather than lift. Pushing the snow with the shovel instead of lifting can help reduce the strain on your body. Lighten your load. Consider using a lighter-weight plastic shovel instead of a metal one to help decrease the weight being lifted. Consider multiple trips. Consider shoveling periodically throughout the storm to avoid having to move large amounts of snow at once. Keep up with snowfall. Try to shovel snow shortly after it falls, when it is lighter and fluffier. The longer snow stays on the ground, the wetter it can become. Wet snow is heavier and harder to move.
4. Repeat the test 3 times, and then add up your total time and divide it by 3 to find your average balance time (for example, if test 1 was 4 seconds, test 2 was 8 seconds, and test 3 was 6 seconds, you’d add up 4, 8, and 6 to get 18. Divide by 3, and your average balance time is 6 seconds). If you could not complete this test without being unsteady, you likely are at risk of falling. Your next step is to see what is causing it by calling your local Bay State Physical Therapy Clinic today.
IF YOU ARE EXPERIENCING BACK PAIN FIND OUR LOCATION NEAR YOU baystatept.com
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