Suffering from Pain – Correct your Posture!
- Do you often wake up with headache or body Pain in the Morning?
- Having lower back or neck pain after doing long hours of sitting at office, long drives or gardening?
- Stiff shoulders due to repetitive job?
Then you will find this Blog Very Useful!
If you are having back pain after waking up; you immediately realise that getting out of the bed doing simple stretches or some movement makes you feel better. So here you get it right!
But have you ever wonder why do you get pain when you still your body in one position for long time… the reason is The human body does not like its movable parts to be kept at one place (i.e. not moving) for longer time. Example of such a pain are described above in bullet points.
Here are some rules and tips to avoid such a pain.
Rule 1: Don’t get panic!! It’s not the end or forever with you.
Not all back pain, headaches, neck pain indicates you have a serious problem. Sometime our mind start wandering to in worst scenario where someone we know end up in difficult situation due to similar pain. Stop comparing your pain to anyone else as everyone’s body is different. And believe me, if you commit yourself treating it properly, you are very likely to get better.
Rule 2: Do not hold same position for long time…. Keep Moving
There are several exercises your Physiotherapist can teach you to restore normal pain free mobility of your spine. At the start of the day simple mobility exercises or a brisk walk on flat ground could be helpful.
You may also feel stiff back after sitting or standing for longer than 15-20 minutes as your day progress; so develop simple routine such as brisk walk in your lunch time with your colleague or have “Walk-the-Talk” type of small meeting instead of hosting meeting in conference room. Perform simple stretched in between and frequent breaks from your desk table every 20-30 mins could also help. Develop similar break in other work such as gardening or painting after 20-30 mins of same work.
Rule 3: Improve your Posture/Position:
Here are simple tips on developing and maintain good posture while you sleep or sit on your chair.
Sleeping:
- Is your mattress firm enough? Lying on a sagging surface or very soft mattress can most certainly cause back pain. Get good firm mattress.
- Are you sleeping on same side as many of us do? Then try sleeping on the other side. Initially it may cause few restless night until you get used to it. But there will be bigger rewards i.e. No Pain after waking up!
- When you Lie on your side, try sleeping with a small soft pad under your waist. This supports your waist and avoid its sagging downwards.
While on side lying you can also place a pillow between your knees and in front of your top hand, so as it is rested over the pillow.
Sitting:
Sitting could be sometimes really difficult if you are not in a right posture. We are all encouraged to sit up straight and maintain the curve in the lower back (lumbar spine). When we do this our head and neck can be kept straight and not jutting forward.
- Best Advice “Never sit for too long “. Take frequent breaks and stretch out every 20-30 min , stand up and walk around the room . Let your spine breathe and relieve some pressure.
- Ensure that the knees are lower than the hips when sitting.
- Simplest way to get a better posture is to fold a bed pillow in half lengthwise and place it on back half of the chairs seat. Now sit on the chair ensuring that the sitting bones are comfortably settled on the folded pillow. Remember, do not use it for long time.
- Lumbar roll if needed will be more effective .When sited properly neck posture is also taken care of.
You can always apply heat or ice pack for few times in a day to help alleviate some of your pain. Apply it for 10-15 min and allow your skin to return to its normal temperature before reapplying.
Summary of What Not To do (Avoid this):
- Prolong sitting / standing / maintaining same position for long time
- Do not stay in bed if you are having pain! Sometime lying down in bed for longer time may worsen your pain.
- Do not lift heavy objects while you experience any pain. Also when you are lifting any objects keep them close to your body and lift with your spine straight and your feet planted on ground shoulder width apart.
- Choose chair with good support to relieve the stress from your spine.
A Physiotherapists are trained professional with experience in treating back pain or postural pain. They have in depth knowledge of human body which is an invaluable resources for your pain cure. Book an appointment to have your posture; ergonomic physiotherapy assessment done which gives you and your therapist the root cause of your pain and form a treatment accordingly. Seeking help from Physio will not only help to solve your problem faster but reduce the chances of its reoccurrence.
Why come to Healing Touch for any of your pain:
At Healing Touch, our therapists are expert at Heal your Pain. Our experience therapist only perform detail assessment of your pain but also provide you invaluable tips which can be applied to your routine work or hobby. We also perform lot of group seminars and free corporate training on Ergonomics. So contact us we will perform free consultation with you for your issue.
Please note: You can apply generic tips described in this blog. However its our strong recommendation that you seek help from Physiotherapy or Medical Doctor if you are suffering for pain for long time. Its always good to seek professional help rather than performing home remedies.
We hope you enjoyed reading this blog. Feel free to contact us if you need any further info on any off above topics.
