HOW POSTURE AFFECTS YOUR NECK & BACK
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How Can Physical Therapy Help? Physical therapy is a great way to regain normal posture. Our physical therapists are experts in movement, and they are great resources to have when trying to achieve your physical performance goals.They will aid you improving your balance, stability, flexibility, and mobility, all of which will positively affect your posture. Working with a physical therapist to improve your posture can also help you overcome your neck and back pain. During your treatments, you will be guided through a series of stretches and strength building exercises that can help you begin training your body to practice better posture, thereby reducing your back and neck pain.
There are a lot of benefits to having good posture. Aside from relieving your neck and back pain, improving yourposturewithaphysical therapist can also provide several unexpected benefits toyour lifestyleandpersonal well-being. These include: • Quality exercise for your core and back • Improved respiratory health • Added protection for your organs,
muscles and to stretch the tight ones! So, what does the most appropriate posture look like? Letus focusonsittingposturefirst.Whenseated,maintain thenaturalcurve of the spine, both cervical and lumbar. The ideal posture when sitting is to keep the neck in line with the shoulders. The shoulders should be pulled back and the back should not be slouched, with feet resting on the ground. When working on a laptop or phone, the screen should be at eye level. This will avoid excess stress on the muscles leading to a faulty posture. These factors also apply to your standing posture. Exaggerated lumbar lordosis is a common condition adapted in the standing position and is most often seen in the gym while squatting. This type of posture is one of the causes of lower back pain. Stretchingandstrengthening isvital; itcanhelpyoumaintaincorrectposture for a longer duration of time. Even the basic exercises such as chin tucks, scapular retractions, and core stabilization are used to avoid anterior pelvic tilt. In order to ensure good posture and avoid pain, maintain the optimum ergonomicprinciples, stretch to improveyour flexibility, andstrengthen your weak muscles. References: Posture Matters: Back and Neck Pain- Spine Care articles- Bert Bednar, DPT How Posture Causes Neck Pain- Gavin Morrison, PT SIMPLE TIPS FOR SHOVELING SNOW 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. 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.
bones, joints, and muscles • Reduced risk of arthritis
If you are experiencing neck or back pain, there is a good chance that it could be related to your posture. Contact Bay State PhysicalTherapy to learn more about how you can take the necessary steps to start improving your posture today!
POSTURE AFFECTS BACK & NECK PAIN By: Tejasvi Pawar, PTA of BSPT Randolph Do you remember your mom or your teacher telling you to sit straight? Well, moms arenever wrong! According toa recent survey, health risks arise from adaptingapoorposturewhenusingphonesand laptops.Mostof theyounger population suffers from neck and back pain. By adapting bad posture, you can increase the aging of your bones and joints. The faulty posture causes your muscles and joints to have to go an extra mile to support your posture. When looking at your computer screen, your neck is moving beyond your shoulders causing excessive stress on your cervical/lumbar spine and muscles.Thisdeviationfrom thephysiologicalpostureoverloads themuscles, which are active restraints to the joints. Over time, when the muscles and joints are overloaded, it causes alterations of your posture. A forward head position causes rounded shoulders, forward heading, tightness of anterior muscles, and weakness of scapular muscles leading to excessive strain on the joints and early degeneration. It isvery important tounderstandhowwecanhelpourselvesandunderstand the changes we can make to improve our posture. What you need in order to achieve good posture is continuous self-correction to strengthen weak
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