Pay attention to your posture. Yes, right now! Are you slouched over? Then straighten up and keep reading. ECR Life could save you a great deal of pain in future….

For the past few weeks, local physiotherapist Jeanette Brunton* has been giving us advice on how not to be among the estimated 80% of the world population that’s expected to have at least one episode of back pain in their lifetime.

Here’s part three:

Look around you. Look at your colleagues, hunched over their laptops and computers, phones tucked into their shoulders and typing away furiously.

Look at your teenage children, slouching and dragging their feet through the shopping centre, and have a good look at the frustrated, angry drivers in the traffic!

It’s easy to see how much of our days we spend in poor postures, which causes muscle fatigue and pain.

Poor posture

Why is good posture so important?

Your muscles function best when they are in what we call the neutral position.  Your joints are at their correct position and your ligaments not under undue stress.

Let’s try an exercise……..

Stand next to your desk.
You should have your weight evenly distributed through both feet, slightly more to the balls of your feet.
Your feet should be slightly apart.
Your tail bone should be tucked in and you should try to elongate your spine especially from the midback.
Your shoulders should be relaxed.
Your shoulder blades should have their lowest part pointing to the opposite pocket of your pants.
You should be standing tall with a light head – imagine someone is pulling you up by your hair!

When sitting you should try to maintain this posture as far as possible.  Try not to slouch at your desk or curl up too deeply into your couch!

When in bed, try to avoid sleeping on your tummy or your back.  It’s during the night that these positions really hurt your neck.

Remember posture is a habit!  It’s taken years to develop a bad posture and it’ll only change if you try!

Place coloured dots in places that you’ll look to remind you to check your posture e.g. mirror, fridge or your watch.

Do stretching and exercising to keep muscles flexible.

Think of it as a work in progress……..It will happen, just not overnight.

Chat next week!

*Jeanette Brunton is part of the Holroyd & Goodenough Physio La Lucia team. You can get in touch with them on 031 562 9064.