Following up on last week’s article about the health benefits of good spinal alignment and ways to identify postural issues, here are recommendations that will help your body to stay in alignment longer between adjustments at the Chiropractor.  Generally, these  lifestyle tips are good for everyone to create and maintain healthy posture:

1) Keep Your Weight Down: excess weight, especially around the middle, pulls on the back, weakening the stomach muscles.

2) Develop a Regular Program of Exercise: regular exercise keeps you flexible and helps tone your muscles to support proper posture.

3) Buy good bedding: a firm mattress will support the spine and help maintain the same shape as a person with good upright posture.

4) Pay attention to injuries: pay attention to injuries from bumps, falls, and jars – injuries in youth may cause growth abnormalities or postural adaptations to the injury or pain that can show up later in life.

5) Have your eyes examined: a vision problem can affect the way you carry yourself as well as cause eyestrain.

6) Be careful at work: be conscious of where you work – is your chair high enough to fit your desk?  Do you need a footrest to keep pressure off your legs?

 

Kids, Parents, and Posture

Standing up straight is important for everyone, but at not time is it more crucial to develop the habits of good posture than in childhood.  Many adults with chronic back pain can trace the problem to years of bad posture habits or injuries in childhood.

Since they are growing and more active, children may be at even more risk for injury to the back and spine.  According to studies, there is a significantly high risk associated with football, trampolining, and gymnastics.  More than 1/3 of all high school footbacll players sustain some type of injury.  As a parent, seek professional help for children in the event of even a minor sports injury.  Parents should also be aware that babies who are not strapped into an auto safety seat run the risk of an injury and even death in the event of a quick stop or an accident.

 

Good Posture & Aging

Poor posture has a high price as you age because:

Limit your range of motion: muscles can be permanently shortened or stretched when a slumped-over position is your normal position, which hinders normal function.

Increase discomfort and pain: poor posture can cause headaches and pain in the shoulders, arms, hands, and eyes resulting from a forward-head position.  Rounded shoulders can trigger headaches at the base of your skull where the shoulder muscles attach.

Pain in the jaw: a forward-head position can lead to pain in the jaw, like TMJ, which may be caused or aggravated by faulty posture.

Decreased lung capacity: reducing the space in your chest cavity can restrict lung function.

Low back pain: this is the most common consequence of bad posture.  Often seen as a sign of aging, this issue may have been developing since childhood.

Improper bowel function: this important bodily function can be affected by faulty posture.  Rounded shoulder & forward-head posture may affect your bowels.  An arched and swayed spine may cause the intestines to sag and cause constipation.

Make you look older than you are: When you slump over or hunch over, you can add years to your appearance.  For women, the more rounded the shoulders, the more breasts may sag.  Any woman, no matter her age, can help reduce the sage in her breasts by nearly 50% by simply standing tall.

 

Improving Your Posture

When standing: hold your head high, chin tucked, shoulders back, chest out, and stomach tight to increase your balance.  If you stand all day for your job, rest one foot on a stool or take breaks to get off your feet for a while.

When sitting: use a chair with firm low back support.  Keep your desk elbow high, adjusting the chair or use a footrest to keep pressure off the back of the legs.  Keep your knees a little higher than your hips.  Get up and stretch frequently!  Every hour (at a minimum) if you sit for long periods of time.  Do not sit with anything in your back pocket … it can cause hip imbalance.

When working on a computer:  every 20 minutes, take a break when you work on a computer screen.  Keep the screen 15 degrees below eye level.  Preferably, place reference materials on a stand even with the screen.

When sitting in the car: adjust the seat forward so your knees are higher than your hips.  Put a small pillow or cushion in the small of your back.

When sleeping: sleep on your side with your knees bent and head supported by a pillow, to make your head level with your spine.  If you are a back sleeper, avoid thick pillows under your head.  Use a small pillow under your neck instead.  Do not sleep on your stomach!

When lifting: leg your legs do the work in order to prevent injury to your low back.  Stand close to the object and, if possible, squat and straddle the item, then lift it with your legs.  Carry the object close to your body.

When bending: never twist from the waist and bend forward at the same time.  Keep the spine straight and aligned.

 

Follow these practices and make sure to visit your Chiropractor for regular checkups and evaluations.