Welcome back! Today’s title may seem strange at face value, but if you read-on, it will make sense, and possibly even allow you to extend your life! Please feel free to forward this to folks you think it may help.

Nearly half of American adults and teens smoked cigarettes in 1965. That is down to 11% today, largely due to increased awareness of the health hazards of smoking.

While smoking numbers have plummeted over the past few decades, the amount of time that adults and children sit during the day has increased at an alarming rate. And the ill-health effects of this are quite measurable.

Cutting to the chase.

Prolonged sitting distorts the normal human upright posture, and studies have shown that this kind of postural distortion is associated with a lowered life expectancy.

Forward Head Posture. The illustration above shows how prolonged sitting is ruining the upright posture of the average American adult AND CHILD! The stance on the right shows how the head has come forward of the shoulders. The middle back is hunched backward (kyphotic curve) and the arch of the lower back is exaggerated (lordotic curve). Note how this posture also robs you of your optimal height.

On a less drastic level than lowered life expectancy, here is a list of things commonly attributable to this postural distortion:

• headache

• neck and shoulder pain

• sinus problems

• loss of mobility

• arm/hand/leg/foot numbness

• carpel tunnel syndrome

• degenerative joint and disc disease

• lower back pain

• decreased lung capacity

Forward head posture causes abnormal stress points in the spine that wear-away bone, and cartilage, and irritate spinal nerves, and in severe cases even the spinal cord. 

I’ve had patients in their 80s and 90s with very good upright posture, and I’ve seen teens who have a severe case of this condition. What is true across the board is that this problem can begin in our youth and progress as we age, even to the extent that the posture becomes so distorted it has an association with limiting the number of years we live!

Don’t Mean Squat? Oh Yes…it Does!

Humans are not structurally designed to sit it in chairs for hours staring down at electronic media. We are actually designed to squat - not sit. Squatting is actually good for your posture, hips, knees, spine and internal organs. In America by the time we get into our 30s, most of us can’t even get into a squatting position. This is bad news.

So…what can we do?

Most of us can’t give up sitting, nor can we do our work squatting in the modern mess we’ve made for ourselves. In this and subsequent newsletters I will outline self-help for this condition. To begin with, the most important thing you can do obviously is to limit sitting while looking down. If you have an occupation that keeps you seated at a desk - please adopt the habit of taking ‘micro-breaks.’

Micro-Breaks

Set a timer in your workstation. You can use your cell phone, or a cooking timer, or download a countdown timer from YouTube. Set to 20 minutes. When the timer goes off get up! Walk around. Take deep breaths. Arch your body gently backward and look up at the ceiling for the count of ten. You only need to spend a minute doing this (hence - micro break!). Then sit back down. Repeat every 20 minutes. Make this your new habit.

SN. Have your kids do this too.

Sit/Stand Desk

These are becoming very popular and affordable. If you have a lot of desk work, try to do most of it standing! At very least alternate 50/50 between sitting and standing.

World’s Easiest Posture Exercise

There are a good many exercises we can do to improve posture. The above is an easy introductory one that simply involves spending time lying flat on your back on a firm surface, knees bent with no pillow under your head. If you cannot comfortably assume this position without a pillow propping up your head, it’s because you have developed a bad case of forward head posture. First try placing your hands under your head (like in the picture) or place the lowest support under your head that you can in order to make this position tolerable (small pillow, folded towel, etc.).

• 20 minutes in this position each day can help stretch you back into a more upright configuration!

• If you can’t manage 20 minutes, stop when you get too uncomfortable and try to add time on each day gradually until you can do 20 minutes lying totally flat.

• The ‘no pain no gain’ rule applies here slightly. All forms of stretching are a bit painful, but it is in that zone where change takes place. Just don’t overdo it. Take a break when the discomfort gets beyond a mild level, but challenge yourself each time.

• If you are of advanced age with advanced forward head posture this exercise may be very hard, or even impossible for you. There is still help for you, but it will require expert supervision in my office to set you on the right path.

• *If this simple exercise causes dizziness, headache, or numbness, stop and give us a call!!!

If 20 minutes is easy, there are ways to build on this process to make it more effective and even curative of forward head posture, but these variations will require your chiropractor’s’ supervision.

On the Level

Developing new habits, changing old routines, sticking to a stretch program - hard.

Giving way to all the ill-health effects of postural distortion - hard.

Choose your hard!!!

I’m here to help. Self-help in the way of daily habit modification is the key to lasting postural improvement. If you would like a custom approach to your postural problem, we can provide hands on assistance here in the office. Just give us a call.

Hey! Get up and move around!!!

And until next time,

Blessings to you!