THE NEWSLETTER ABOUT YOUR HEALTH AND CARING FOR YOUR BODY Health Tips Newsletter
HOW YOUR POSTURE AFFECTS EVERYTHING!
INSIDE : • Relieve Your Back Pain By Fixing Your Posture! • Coupon Corner!
• Exercise Of The Month • Patient Success Spotlight
straightening your back. Take notice of how high you can raise your arms and the ease of raising your arms. Next, sit upright with good posture. Now raise your arms overhead. Do you notice the difference? It should be easier for you to raise your arms overhead when in good posture versus poor posture. Maintaining poor posture for a long time can cause the body to move in a way it’s not used to (4) . Stiffness and pain are just two ways our body is telling us there is too much stress or tension on an area. Poor posture affects the shoulders, hips, and spine the most. Knowing a proper workplace set-up, being mindful of your posture, maintaining flexibility and strength can improve your posture and decrease the pain you are experiencing. There is good news! Physical Therapy can aid in improving your postural awareness and endurance. At Excel Physical Therapy, we understand the importance of posture. As physical therapists, we are trained to examine posture and improve it by identifying tight and weak muscles, and then implementing a program of exercises and hands-on techniques to help lessen your pain and make it easier for you to maintain good posture. Set up a free screen with a therapist at one of our many Excel locations for a complimentary posture screen. You may be a candidate for physical therapy.
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Posture has been shown to have an affect on your mood (1) , lung function (2) , tissue length (3) , and your body’s ability to move correctly. Postural awareness, or the conscious attentiveness of your body’s position, is the first step towards improving your posture.
By Sheri Hihn PT, DPT, AIB-VR
With the current pandemic, many people are now working from home in less than ideal work set-up conditions. Sitting at a dining room or kitchen table with a small laptop or tablet does not prove to be the best for sitting posture or spinal health. With prolonged poor posture comes pain. This will happen over time, but it will happen because the muscles become weaker because they are not being used properly (3) . When muscles become weak and are unable to work like they are designed, other surrounding muscles and tissues become tight and less flexible to compensate for the weakness. These tissue length changes affect the body’s ability to move efficiently and correctly, eventually causing pain. Let’s see an example in real life! Sit on the edge of a chair without your back being supported. Slump at your waist, causing your back to round. While sitting slumped, try to raise your arms overhead without
References: 1. Wilson, V., Peper, E. (2004, September). The Effects of Upright and Slumped Postures on the Recall of Positive and Negative Thoughts. Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback, Vol. 29, No. 3. 2. Woo Kang, K., Jung SI., Lee, DY., Kim, K., and Lee, NK. (2016, May). Effect of sitting posture on respiratory function while using a smart phone. Journal of Physical Therapy Science, Vol 28, No. 5. 3. Czaprowski, D., Stoliński, L., Tyrakowski, M., Kozinoga, M., and Kotwicki, T. (2015, March). Non-structural misalignments of body posture in the sagittal plane. Scoliosis and Spinal Disorders, Vol 13. 4. Cramer, H., Mehling, W., Saha, F., Dobos, G., Lauche, R. (2018, April). Postural awareness and its relation to pain: validation of an innovative instrument measuring awareness of body posture in patients with chronic pain. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, Vol 19.
HAVE YOU FOUND YOURSELF STRUGGLING WITH ACHES & PAINS WHILE WORKING FROM HOME? NO REFERRAL NEEDED - CALL EXCEL PT TODAY! WE CAN HELP EASE YOUR PAIN!
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