For many people it is a sad fact that poor posture will lead to back problems and, as chiropractors in Preston, we often have patients presenting themselves because of this.

Poor posture itself can have many different causes.

One of the big problems for people in the modern world is that many people spend a lot of their time sitting throughout school and then into work at a desk or driving and evenings spent watching TV or on the computer.

We literally cannot emphasise enough how bad this can be. It CAUSES DE-CONDITIONING, from our muscles to our joints down to the cells in our bones. There will be de-conditioning. If we do this – we will not be as strong as we were the day before, and the day before that etc…. hence the physical positions we are in sitting, getting up, walking, bending – will be too hard for our bodies to achieve and eventually there will be a breaking point as to when we get that new immediate sharp jolting pain!

Bottom Line – We NEED to MOVE more. Motion is lotion.

This is particularly a problem for those people who work at desks all day long. Instead of taking regular breaks to stretch their back muscles and indeed exercise them, they sit in the same position for hour after hour. By regular i mean, VERY regular, almost every 20 minutes a quick stand up and muscle clenching or moving the legs will help “wake them up” then you can sit straight back down”. This is obviously difficult as we tend to be “in the zone” when we have work deadlines to meet.

Did you know when you sit down there is almost 200x more pressure in your back than when you stand up! 200X!

Unfortunately poor postural habits begin early in life (when in school or sat at laptop) and you carry them through to adulthood which means the biggest problem facing most sufferers is having to ‘unlearn’ their bad habits so it no longer brings pain.

Slouching obviously increases bad posture, which can strain the muscles of the back and increase pressure on the discs in the spine, causing both upper and lower back pain, and contributing to headaches and shoulder pain.

To help prevent back pain caused by poor posture: you’ve probably been told, “Sit up straight!” While your grandmother and teachers were partly correct when they repeatedly told you this, you know it doesn’t work so well. You can temporarily improve your posture consciously but as soon as the mind wanders onto something else, the chances are, you are slumping again.

It helps to teach your children good and effective postural habits from an early age.

So what works?

First thing is to GET up! MOVE around! Simple and straight to the point.

The next thing is to get your environment set up right to help you and the commonest thing that is missed is getting your chair angled correctly. The fact is, it is natural for your body to slump when you’re sat on a flat surface.

As previously mentioned it’s also important to get as much movement as possible into your day. Whenever you sit, certain groups of muscles naturally tighten and other groups of muscles weaken. Your healthiest ancestors would have spent a lot of time being active, so it helps if you can take regular breaks from sitting, get up and move, and stretch and tighten the right muscles regularly.

And if you spend long hours standing you need to vary your position by doing some walking, or sitting whenever possible.

When you do suffer back pain then chiropractic care can help you with some practical help and advice. We might find your posture is the underlying issue or that there’s another problem affecting both your posture and causing your pain. Once we help the underlying cause and your posture begins to improve, you will find future episodes of back pain will become infrequent.

Coupled with the chiropractic treatment and the self-help recommendations and exercises you will be taught, you shouldn’t really need to suffer back pain from poor posture again, but none of us are perfect all the time, so a top up chiropractic treatment and reminder about how to help yourself sitting, from time to time can be invaluable.

It’s important to tackle this issue and stay on top of it because back pain is the second most common cause of people going on long term sick leave after stress.

Back pain accounts for the most days missed in work due to disability for the PAST 30 YEARS! – Global Burden of disease study 2017 Lancet.

One last piece of advice: if you are suffering back pain, really try and avoid prolonged bed rest, this may make the problem worse. You should undertake some exercise and keep active to help the muscles relax and strengthen.

The best ways to deal with pain and help your back to recover are to maintain your mobility, based on your usual activities, and return to work as soon as possible.

Sitting badly in front of a computer for hours on end is storming up trouble. The body can tolerate being in this one position for only a short period of time before you feel the need to adjust things like your seating posture,  computer screen position or chair height.

Imagine squeezing a door handle….now imagine squeezing it for 20 minutes straight! Imagine just how much that would hurt!!

 

 

 

Another top 5 tips!

Firstly, you should always lift heavy objects properly. You should bend your knees – by not doing so you are putting all the stress onto your lower back. You also need to carry the object being lifted closer to your body because carrying it further away from your body increases the stress on your spine.

Secondly, if you have suffered with chronic back pain, until you’ve had the underlying problem corrected, we recommend avoid activities that involve  sudden twisting movements such as golf, football and tennis, though you may be able to continue at some sports if you improve your technique.

Thirdly, and this is very important for your all-round health too, you should maintain a healthy weight. Being overweight puts an extra burden on your lower back. Of course if you’re in pain it’s harder to exercise so it can become a bit of a vicious cycle.

Fourthly, and this is closely linked to our third recommendation, you will need to undertake some form of regular exercise. You will be fitter and healthier and the muscles in your back will thank you for it! The exercise itself could be something as simple as taking a brisk walk. Accumulating ½ an hour a day can be preventative of many chronic health conditions.

Finally it’s important that you adopt a good posture whilst walking or while sat down. Do not sit hunched over a desk – you will need regular breaks and do some sort of stretching and exercise if you work in an office sat at a desk all day. Using a good seat wedge can be very helpful in making sitting up straight more effortless.

In addition, stopping smoking can be helpful, as smoking affects the blood flow to your spine. Your sleeping position to might be a problem and you may even need a new mattress – especially if it’s over 5-8 years old.

By maintaining a healthy back you should avoid any future painful back conditions occurring. You will find that the small changes that we recommend really do have a huge impact on your back pain and your wellbeing.

If you would like to know more about how one of our team of experienced chiropractors in Preston can do by delivering a natural approach to helping you overcome chronic back pain and improving your health at the same time, then please contact us for more information.