How many of you were told by a parent “sit up straight”? I bet the answer is nearly 100% of you heard this growing up. As a child sometimes (or all the time) you ignored what your parents said. Well, guess what, your parents were exactly right. Now that you’re an adult you may be feeling the effects of what poor posture habits can do to your body.
Here are some questions you may or may not have thought about before:
- How do I avoid getting “the hump” in my upper and mid back?
- What would happen to your body if you carried around a 35 pound object every day instead of a 10 pound object?
- What’s the problem with sitting at my desk for 2 hours?
Answers to the questions above are to follow…don’t skip this very important blog that will have a huge impact on the health of the iMove PT community!
35 pounds vs 10 pounds
The average size head weighs 10 pounds…but that is only when one sits with correct posture. As a physical therapist, I could talk hours to you about what is correct posture. But let’s keep it simple. When we are talking about the head, I want you to focus on your ears. Your ears should be lined up over your shoulders.
How many of you really do this? I’m not sure of a scientific study to prove this, but I am sure the evolution of technology in the last 20 years has greatly affected our posture…for the worse. Next time you are in a coffee shop take a look at all of the people looking at their computer or their phone. Are their ears lined up with their shoulders?
I am going to say 9.5 out of 10 times the answer is no. As people are sipping on their caffeinated drinks, looking at their screens, their head starts to drift forward, sometimes way forward. All of a sudden this 10 pound bowling ball, our head, no longer weighs 10 pounds. With forward head posture the weight of our head can increase to 35 pounds.
All of a sudden the beautiful postural alignment of our body is thrown out of whack. The stress on our muscles, joints, ligaments, and discs of our neck significantly increases. Think of the extra work our bodies have to do, the extra energy our bodies have to put out, to hold this beautiful 10 pound object which now is 35 pounds.
Your take home message from this parent…Sit tall and keep your ears aligned over your shoulders!
What to do about “The Dreaded Hump”?
You know what I’m talking about. You are out in public somewhere and you see someone with the dreaded hump. Instead of seeing a person with beautiful posture you see somebody whose upper and mid back is rounded forward.
This middle part of our back is called our thoracic spine. We are built to have this part of our spine a little rounded forward. However, for a variety of reasons, this part of our spine can develop excessive rounding…giving the appearance of a hump. Not to bash technology, because I love technology, but the evolution of the world in the last 20 years has only increased this excessive rounding.
As we just talked about, when you look at your screen your head and neck start to drift forward. Once that starts to happen, your middle back starts to follow in line and also drifts forward, causing the excessive rounding.
OK, so the hump is there, what’s the big deal? The excessive rounding in the upper and mid back will cause increased tension on our muscles, joints, ligaments, and discs of our mid and upper back (see a pattern!) and frequently leads to chronic pain.
But don’t worry, hope is not lost. Sitting tall, doing exercises to work muscles of your mid back and shoulder blade area, and putting your phone or laptop in a better position will all help to give you a beautiful looking mid back.
What’s the problem with sitting at my desk for 2 hours?
Let’s face it, most of the population is just not as physically active today as we were 20 years ago. Here we go again, the “t” word comes back into the blog…technology has forever changed the stress on our bodies.
Many of us have jobs or social lives that revolve around the computer or the cell phone. This can lead to long periods of sitting. Oftentimes 2 hours fly by without us even thinking about time. Trust me, I’m guilty of this too.
There is a problem with this. Our bodies were built for movement. Our bodies are healthier when they are moving (within reason of course). When we are static, tremendous strain gets placed and increased tension occurs to our muscles, joints, ligaments, and discs of our spine (ugghh, the pattern reappears!) and frequently leads to chronic pain.
Don’t let this happen to you! There is a simple fix where you can use technology to your advantage. Set a timer on your phone to go off every 30-45 minutes. This will cue you to stand up, move around, get a glass of water, and take a break for a minute or two. Trust me, the work will still be waiting for you when you get back to your desk…and you will be healthier and your body will be more prepared to handle the stresses of sitting!
Please share this blog with others! Everybody can benefit from taking 5 minutes to read this, 5 minutes now can save you years of pain further down the road.
If you have any questions about posture or any health related issues please reach out to iMove PT at info@imovephysicaltherapy.com. A mission of iMove PT, a mission we live every day, is to make the world healthier, a world where fewer people are living with chronic pain. Thank you for reading!