Fall is a transition time of year.  The end of Summer, Football begins and it’s Back to School.  What we see as a major factor of back and neck pain is long hours of sitting in a slouched posture.  The long class periods in every level of school do not favor you in back health. I understand that we sit to relax, do our work, read, study, and much more but the position we sit in leads to where we will be years down the road.  Often we sit down to do our work and we forget about ourselves and we start to round our backs, roll our shoulders and jut our head forward. Hours on end in the position for years leads to many different issues that we see: lower back and neck disc injuries, muscle imbalances, spinal joint dysfunctions, tension headaches, rib joint dysfunction, and a variety of shoulder and hips problems.

     Why does this happen?  How bodies were built to move. When we sit in poor positions for an extended period of time, our bodies get used to that and start this imbalance pattern of tightness opposing weak muscles, mobile regions become stiff and we grow dysfunctional movement patterns which ultimately leads to pain and injury.  So when you or your kids start school this fall, (or even if you go to work and consider yourself a desk jockey) pay attention to you posture you are in all day. How do you feel at the end of the day?  

If you want to improve your posture and prevent postural related injuries follow these steps.

1. SPINAL HYGIENE: While sitting do one of three things every 20 minutes
   1. Take a micro-break (1min): Get up and was around, get a drink of water, do this simple stretch.
   2. Change your sitting position.
   3. (My favorite) Do this Posture relief position exercises 5-7 times
2. If you sit all day, do these exercises I have listed under “exercises if you sit all day”
3. Make sure your desk is in good ergonomic position.
4. Do a daily exercises routine (doesn’t matter what it is, do something active)
5. Sit with a lumbar roll support.  I believe the best one can be found here on amazon or in our office. (if you have a larger body type I would get the firm roll)

     By following these steps continually you can make small gains for long term success in back health.  I would say that 50% of what I see in my office is due to a postural issue that has built up for years.  The truth is, I can only do so much, to fully correct the pain and discomfort it will take a large commitment and patients on your part to treat yourself with home regimen I guide you through.  What you have been doing got you to this point, you’ll have to learn new habits and work on it for months to truly solve it. The good news is, it won’t take years to to solve as it took years to get to this point of pain and discomfort.

     If things have gotten out of hand and these tips aren’t helping you, then you may need some additional attention and treatment. Schedule a time for an evaluation with Dr. Wadsworth and we’ll get to the bottom of it.