Many of you may have grown up in a household where your father or mother constantly instructed you to “sit up tall” or told you to stand or sit with “shoulders back, head up.” This constant barrage by your parents may have seemed like just one more thing they were asking you do, but it was actually great advice. Mom and dad probably didn’t know it, but proper posture is linked, in so many ways, to good health as well as a healthy lifestyle. If ignored, it could cause a whole slew of problems, including headaches, neck and lower back pain, tendonitis, earlier onset of osteo-arthritis, rotator cuff pathology and even digestive issues. Some teachers across the country have gone as far as requiring their students sit on exercise balls during class because it has been found to assist with a more upright posture. Also, it is perhaps linked to a child’s ability to be more engaged in the classroom setting. Much of what we see in our physical therapy practice can be attributed to poor posture and improper movement patterns.
Here at Sports PT, our team of physical therapists address deficits in sitting and standing posture with each new patient to see if any underlying condition is present. It is important to address potential muscle imbalances as it relates to a patients posture and develop an individualized treatment program to begin in the clinic and continue at home. The basic concept of postural retraining focuses on improving back pain by putting the skeletal structures back in their optimal alignment and increasing the strength of supporting muscles to maintain this alignment against the effects of gravity. It is common to see an increase in mid back rounding (“thoracic kyphosis”) posturing secondary to weakness or fatigue into specific “antigravity” muscles that support the spine, this can ultimately lead to further pain and problems to develop down the road. We look at the spine as the centerpiece of the body where every muscle or joint can have an effect of how we properly stand or sit for hours at a time throughout the school or workday.
We always tell our patients that we were built this way for a reason; our spine should have a normal S curve to it. This helps to evenly distribute the forces of gravity throughout our body. Now gravity might not seem like a lot, but it is the cumulative effects over time that can lead to our problems. There is one doctor in the area that often explains stresses on the human body, to his patients, by comparing the body to an automobile. Imagine it this way: if your car is unbalanced, perhaps it slightly turns to the right and you have to counteract by turning the steering wheel left just to keep the car traveling straight. This is fine for a day or a week, but over time you will start to add tension to the ball joints, the tire axle and the tire tread. You will no longer have a comfortable ride because everything has worn down in some way and is unbalanced. The same is true about our muscles and soft tissues throughout our body. For example, if you work at a desk for eight to ten hours a day and your computer is off to the right, certain muscles will turn on more often than they should and others will turn off when they shouldn’t. Thus, resulting in pain somewhere in your back, neck or shoulder region.
So as you all are probably adjusting the way you sit in front of the computer monitor now (“shoulders back, head up”), keep in mind that prolonged sitting (2-3 hours at a time) with poor posture can lead to numerous problems. As health care practitioners, it is our duty to inform those around us of ways to improve the quality of their lives whether through exercise, education, or habit changes. Before we leave you, Jeff and I would like to give you all some helpful reminders to improve your posture throughout the day and combat bad posture. Set a timer at your work desk that goes off every 30-40 minutes. When it dings, get up and walk the hallways! We all are guilty of getting caught up in our work, but our bodies do not have to take the punishment as a result of immobility. Another recommendation is switching to watching TV on your stomach instead of sitting on the couch. Infants develop back strength by crawling and laying on their stomachs as they begin to grow and this will still stay true into all age groups. If this activity is painful or difficult to perform, begin with 1-2 minutes at a time then progress by 1-2 minutes during each TV viewing session thereafter.
On Wednesday March 7, 2012, SPTNY will host a community outreach event in our Saratoga office. The event will be from 5:30 pm – 8:30 pm and will include two 45-minute lectures. Between 6-6:45 pm, we will discuss this topic in “The Painful Truth About Sitting”!!! We would love to meet you at the event and have you join us for this informative lecture. For additional information or to RSVP for the event and attend this lecture, Please contact us at our office, 518-583-7537.
Created by:
Shane Connors, BS, MSPT, DPT and Jeff Fear, PT, MPT
Sports Physical Therapy of NY, PC
1 West Ave, Suite 150
Saratoga Springs, NY 12866
(518)-583-7537
(518)-583-7606 (fax)
www.sptny.com
sportsmetrics.org