Sitting Tips (Posture)

Sitting with proper posture is one of the easiest ways to eliminate spinal pain. Here is an explanation of proper sitting posture. Take careful note, as there is a good chance that you will experience neck pain and/or lower back pain within your lifetime and you will want to know what to do to get out of pain.

Here is how to start... 
1. The first thing I want you to do is sit on a chair and slouch. Give me your best slouched posture. I bet this posture is easy to find. 
2. Next, arch your back as far back as you can. Make sure you don't cause yourself excessive pain or strain. 
3. Finally, back off about 10 percent. You should be in good sitting posture, where the alignment of your head, shoulders and hips fall into a vertical plumb line. If you are not quite able to get into this position, it is important that you immediately start sitting in good posture. I promise that it will get easier, but the key point is to do it consistently.

The type of chair you use is very important. You cannot sit in good position in just any chair. Take a sofa, for example. It is super-soft and there is no way you can achieve good sitting posture due to the lack of support. Your best bet is to sit in a hard, vertical chair, or an office chair that gives you the support you need. An adjustable chair is ideal. Let us take a closer look a the important characteristics you will want in a good chair.

Make sure your adjustable chair has the following features: 
1. The chair height should be adjustable. Adjust the height so that your feet rest flat on the floor, and the angle of your hips and knees are 90 degrees. 
2. Make sure the chair has a lumbar support for your back. This support should fit right into your lumbar curve, which is directly above your waistline. If there is no support, you can purchase a lumbar roll with and elastic strap.
3. The back of your chair should fully support your back. This will help to prevent fatigue and keep your back in the proper sitting position. 
4. The seat pan should not be cutting into the back of your knees. There should be about two inches in this area, and the edge should be rounded. 

Last, but not least, do this: Get out of your chair every 30 minutes. Move around for one or two minutes to stay flexible and improve your circulation. Your spine will be super-happy you have heeded this advice.

http://www.posturelosangeles.com.

The Neck Is Susceptible to Strain or Injury

The neck supports the weight of your head and protects the nerves that come from your brain to the rest of the body. This section of the spine is called the cervical spine and has seven vertebral bodies (bones) that get smaller as they get closer to the base of the skull. Only the top two segments rotate (so you can turn your head).

Acute neck pain is most often caused by a muscle, ligament or tendon strain (such as from a sudden force or straining the neck), and will usually heal with time and conservative treatments to alleviate the pain (such as ice/heat, medications, chiropractic or osteopathic manipulation, etc).

For patients with neck pain that lasts longer than two weeks to three months, or with mainly arm pain, numbness or tingling, there is often a specific anatomic problem. For example, pain that radiates down the arm, and possibly into the hands and fingers, is usually caused by a cervical herniated disc or foraminal stenosis pinching a nerve in the neck. Treatment options will differ depending on the specific diagnosis.

What's Inside Your Spine

Spinal anatomy is a remarkable combination of strong bones, flexible ligaments and tendons, large muscles and highly sensitive nerves. Most of us take spine anatomy -- specifically, this juxtaposition of strength, structure and flexibility -- for granted in our everyday lives -- until something goes wrong. Once we're in pain, we're driven to know what's wrong and what it will take to relieve the back pain and/or neck pain and prevent a recurrence.

How Weather Affects Pain Levels?

With summer in full swing, it is good to take a moment to be aware of our surroundings. Hot or cold temperatures, humidity, low pressure; many people with spinal problems are affected by weather changes.

Weather has a strange effect on pain. Since every person has a unique body and there are many sources of pain, any weather change may seem to cause increased pain in some while it brings relief for others. What are the major changes that occur in the summer?

• Pressure - Changes in barometric pressure are commonly linked with pain. This too has to do with inflammation. When there is high pressure in the atmosphere, it pushes on your skin and the liquids in your body to be smaller. Low pressure causes a slight increase in volume of those liquids. This increase in volume will push on bones and nerves in your body that do not change size depending on atmospheric pressure and can cause pain or increase pain levels. Luckily, summer months have a slight tendency to be high pressure and tend to have fewer shifts in pressure (storms) than spring.
• Humidity - Changes in humidity have also been linked to pain levels. The most researched link is with headaches. The results of those studies have mostly shown that changes in humidity could cause changes in pain levels, but it was not consistent where low or high humidity days would have higher pain levels because some patients had more pain with low humidity while others felt worse with high humidity.
  
  
  

Back Muscles and Lower Back Pain

When the facet joints or certain other structures in the spine become injured or inflamed, the large back muscles can spasm and cause low back pain and marked limitation in motion.

An episode of lower back pain that lasts for more than two weeks can lead to muscle weakness (since using the muscles hurts, the tendency is to avoid using them). This process leads to disuse atrophy (muscle wasting), and subsequent weakening, which in turn causes more back pain because the muscles are less able to help hold up the spine.

Chronic stress can also lead to muscle weakness and back pain. Stress causes back muscles to tighten in a fight or flight response, depriving muscles of energy needed to support the spine.

Another key structure in low back pain is the hamstring muscles, the large muscles in the back of the thighs. Patients with tight hamstrings tend to develop low back pain, and those with lower back pain tend to develop tight hamstrings.

The theory is that tight hamstrings limit motion in the pelvis, so the motion gets transferred to the bottom lumbar motion segments and increases the stress in the low back. Rehabilitation focuses on strengthening the muscles and stretching the hamstring muscles.

Causes of Upper Back Pain

Upper back pain can occur as a result of trauma or sudden injury, or it can occur through strain or poor posture over time. As an example of the latter cause, in recent years, upper back pain has become a familiar complaint from people who work at computers most of the day. Often, upper back pain occurs along with neck pain and/or shoulder pain.