Articles by Dr. Erdman are for informational purposes, and are not to be taken as specific medical advice.
In the last article we looked at what issues negatively
affect general posture, from heredity to cell phone use, and how to improve
general posture in a daily routine.
In this, the second part of the series, we are going to
investigate good sitting posture and effective standing posture.
Sitting posture is very important for the spinal discs. Your
body literally starts to shut down specific parts of the brain related to
muscle tone, cognitive awareness and breathing, the longer you stay sitting in
one position. This process starts at about 15-30 minutes of sitting. Sitting also puts 13 times more compressive
force on the low back discs than any other position.
Look at your own posture when sitting at a computer for a length of time. We start out upright and alert, but before an hour has passed, we are slouching and distracted, right?
So, how do you improve sitting posture? Well, we must stand
up every 20-30 minutes. Just stand up at the desk, pause, and sit back down.
This disrupts the shutdown cycle and will keep you attentive to your posture.
Every few hours take a brief walk around the house or office. Gently stretch
your legs and shoulders throughout the day. Don’t cross your legs, keep your
feet flat on the floor with your knees less than 90° flexed. Use a foot prop if
necessary. Keep a small gap between the back of your knees and the chair seat.
Keep your elbows close to your body with the elbows at 90°
when typing on a keyboard. The back should be fully supported with a backrest
for the lower spine. And lastly, make sure you have a well-padded seat at the
hips and thighs, and be sure your seat is level.
Many people have started to use “stand-up” desks in their
home office. This is a good change of pace to constant sitting. Ideally you
could switch between the two positions throughout the day.
Standing all day has its own perils, though. If your feet are flat, or you don’t wear good
shoes while standing, the poor base of support will manifest in pain up the
kinetic chain all the way to the shoulders and neck.
To improve standing posture, the following suggestions are
helpful. Use a custom made, flexible pair of orthotics, with 3 arch support, in
your shoes. Do not just wear slippers or flip flops or stand with bare feet.
You will ultimately regret those choices.
Bear your weight primarily on the forefoot (balls of your
feet). Your feet should be shoulder width apart with your knees unlocked. Shifting
your weight from side to side helps eliminate fatigue. I like to have something
to prop one foot on that’s a little higher. You can then switch legs that are
bent and relaxed.
Keep your shoulders back, head upright, and stomach pulled
in. Keep your head level, not pinching a phone on the shoulder all day. Get a
head set if you must.
The body wide affects poor posture all day can be seen in
the mirror. Stand with your eyes closed, relax your body into a “normal” body
feel for you. Then open your eyes and take note of any head tilt, high
shoulder, forward head, forward shoulder and/or rotated hip that you see. These
are the signs of posture that lead to pain conditions.
Chiropractic care can and does help you correct these
postural deficiencies and reduce your pain levels. We are here to help, give us
a call for a no cost initial consultation about your pain. You have nothing to
lose and better health to gain.