Health & Wellness Newsletter by Preferred Physical Therapy Associates, Inc.
NEWSLETTER Health & Wellness Newsletter (954) 360-7779
YOUR IPHONE IS RUINING YOUR POSTURE —& YOURMOOD
THERE are plenty of reasons to put our cellphones down now and then, not least the fact that incessantly checkingthemtakesusoutofthepresentmomentand disrupts family dinners around the globe. But here’s one you might not have considered: Smartphones are ruining our posture. The average head weighs about 10 to 12 pounds. When we bend our necks forward 60 degrees, as we do to use our phones, the effective stress on our neck increases to 60 pounds — the weight of about five gallons of paint. When we’re sad, we slouch. We also slouch when we feel scared or powerless. Studies have shown that people with clinical depression adopt a posture that eerily resembles the iHunch. One, published in 2010 in the official journal of the Brazilian Psychiatric Association, found that depressed patients were more likely to stand with their necks bent forward, shoulders collapsed and arms drawn in toward the body. Posture doesn’t just reflect our emotional states; it can also cause them. How else might iHunching influence our feelings and behaviors? My colleague Maarten W. Bos and I randomly assigned participants to interact for five minutes
with one of four electronic devices that varied in size: a smartphone, a tablet, a laptop and a desktop computer. We then looked at how long subjects would wait to ask the experimenter whether they could leave, after the study had clearly concluded. We found that the size of the device significantly affected whether subjects felt comfortable seeking out the experimenter, suggesting that the slouchy, collapsed position we take when using our phones actually makes us less assertive. In fact, there appears to be a linear relationship between the size of your device and the extent to which it affects you: the smaller the device, the more you must contract your body to use it, and the more shrunken and inward your posture, the more submissive you are likely to become. Keep your head up and shoulders back when looking at your phone, even if that means holding it at eye level. You can also try stretching and massaging the two muscle groups that are involved in the iHunch — those between the shoulder blades and the ones along the sides of the neck. This helps reduce scarring and restores elasticity. Amy Cuddy is a professor at Harvard Business School and the author of the forthcoming book “Presence: Bringing Your Boldest Self to Your Biggest Challenges.”
(954) 360-7779
Health & Wellness Newsletter
NEWSLETTER
SAY GOODBYE TO NECK PAIN
INSIDE: • 4 Tips To Quickly Relieve Your Headache • Relieve Neck Pain In Minutes • Patient Success Spotlight • Discover How To Live Pain-free
Whether you have hurt your neck or have been suffering for a long time, seeing a physical therapist at Preferred Physical Therapy can help you return to a more active and pain-free life. Give us a call at (954) 360-7779 today! Hands-on relief. One of the best ways to relieve the tightness in your neck muscles is with specialized gentle hands on therapy. Our physical therapists are experts in alleviating tight muscles and restoring normal neck joint motion. If you are suffering with neck pain, shoulder pain, or headaches, call us today and speak to one of our experts. Your neck will thank you. Improve your upper neck motion. The upper neck accounts for over 60% of the total motion in the neck. It is also the area where many of the powerful shoulder muscles attach. Therefore, it is an area that becomes very tight. A simple exercise you can do to improve your neck motion, is the chin tuck. Simply stand or sit tall, then gently tuck your chin down until you feel a slight pressure or pull in the upper neck. Be careful to do this gently and talk to one of our therapists if you are unsure of performing this exercise correctly.
Do you find your neck nagging you in the morning or at the end of the day? Do you feel muscle tension and discomfort in your neck or shoulders? Neck pain is becoming a silent epidemic in today’s society as more people end up with terrible forward head posture and tighter neck muscles. The culprit is our addiction to technology, staring into the TV, computer screen or our smartphones. The good news is that you can do a lot to relieve your neck pain and get on the right path to a healthy spine. The neck is extremely important in the overall posture of the body. Where the head and neckmove, so does the rest of thebody. Changes in thealignment of your neck can cause a variety of symptoms such as neck tension, headaches, migraines and even radiating pain or numbness to the arms and hands. Align your spine. Oneof themost important thingsyoucando is to improveyourneckalignment. Be conscious of how you sit and stand throughout the day, keeping your head tall. This naturally pulls your spine into alignment.
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4 TIPS TO QUICKLY RELIEVE YOUR HEADACHE
Most everyone has experienced a headache at some point in their lives. In fact, over 10 million people in the US suffer with daily headaches. The vast majority of headaches stem from limitations with neck motion. Headaches result from the spasm of arteries in the scalp and sometimes, the brain. Different triggers can occur from chemical sensitivities to pH or sugar imbalances in the blood. Often, the spasms are caused by irritations of the muscles in the neck and scalp that trigger the nerves to go into overdrive, causing a dull ache or even sharp pain. Here’s what you can do to prevent headaches: 1. Watch your posture – Alignment of the neck and upper back is crucial to alleviating the strain on the neck muscles. Be conscious throughout the day of how you are holding your posture. Bring work up to eye level and make sure that your computer screen is high enough to alleviate neck strain. 2. Drink more water – A common cause of many headaches is dehydration. If you feel thirsty, then your body is already dehydrated. Avoid caffeinated beverages, as these are diuretics, causing you to lose water. Keep a glass of water next to your desk or in reach, and work to refill it 4-6 times during the day. 3. Balance your pH – The acidity of your blood can make you more prone to headaches and feeling tired. Make sure that you eat enough green vegetables, lean protein and avoid fatty or processed foods. Also, scale back on the coffee, as it is very acidic. Water also helps to balance your pH, so repeat step 2.
4. Exercise and therapy – Exercise helps to regulate your pH, reduce neck strain and improve your mood. If you find yourself suffering with headaches more than 2 times a week, then you should seek the expertise of our physical therapists.These symptoms can be the result of an underlying problemwith your neck and need to be treated.
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FRESH FRUIT YOGURT ICE POPS
INGREDIENTS • 2 cups fresh blueberries, raspberries, strawberries and sliced bananas, mixed
• 2 cups plain or vanilla yogurt • 1/4 cup white sugar • 8 small paper cups • 8 popsicle sticks
DIRECTIONS Place the mixed blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, sliced bananas, yogurt, and sugar into a blender. Cover, and blend until fruit is chunky or smooth, as desired. Fill paper cups 3/4 full with fruit mixture. Cover the top of each cup with a strip of aluminum foil. Poke a popsicle stick through the center of the foil on each cup. Place the cups in the freezer for at least 5 hours. To serve, remove foil and peel off the paper cup.
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Patient Success Spotlight
DISCOVER HOW TO LIVE PAIN-FREE
At Preferred PhysicalTherapy, you will receive hands-on therapy treatments by our friendly, caring health experts during focused and individualized sessions. It’s time to go to Preferred Physical Therapy if: • You’re tired of living in pain • You want to feel better and move better • You have been in an auto accident or injured on the job • You want to prevent injury 1. Call and talk to your therapist 2. Discover why your pain has come back 3. Get your custom recovery program
I wouldn’t go anywhere else! “I have been going to Preferred Physical Therepy for the past 4 years and couldn’t be more happy with the therapy I receive there. Not only are the therapists so warm and friendly, everyone is extremely professional and well versed in their specialties. I have had the opportunity to really get to knowTrevor and his staff and couldn’t be more impressed! Not only isTrevor an experienced, talented physical therapist, he is also a kind and genuine person—who will always go the extra mile to help his patients—which is extremely rare to find! If anyone is in need of any type of physical therapy, I highly recommend Preferred Physical Therapy!! I wouldn’t go anywhere else.” - Gabby M. (Actual Google Review)
Relieve Neck Pain In Minutes Try this movement if you are experiencing neck pain.
CHIN TUCK SUPINE Lie with roll under neck. Without lifting head, tuck chin gently. Keep the large muscles in the neck relaxed. Stretches Neck www.simpleset.net
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