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Top 10 tips to keep you from having to visit the physiotherapist’s office
Who has never woken up with a “kink” in the neck?
Or suffer from low back aching after a long car trip?
Or was sore all over after going to the gym?
These
are very common complaints of our weekend warriors, business men and
women and our soccer moms and dads: in other words, of all of us.
But as most things, knowing is everything. And as these simple things go ignored, sooner or later we all end up in the physical therapist’s office.
Here are a few daily suggestions that will keep you "on top of things":
1. Ergonomics
-
Sounds like a whole lot of expensive equipment, but for the most part
it is really just a little bit of common sense if you are not talking
“big industry”. For the office or the home office, consider your computer equipment. Raising
or lowering your monitor to improve your posture; adjusting to comfort
where the mouse sits, the height of your chair etc. Usually
a couple of phone books will do. Proper eyewear etc. If you wear
bifocals, have you noticed the awkward position for you to look at the
computer monitor?
2. Telephone
–
Have you paid attention how many times you hold your house or office
phone (or even your cell phone) with your shoulder during a call? It is a terrible thing to do repeatetively, for the health of your neck.
3. Bending Over
– Avoid bending at the waist if at all possible and try to have the knees bend instead. It will take a lot of stress from the lower back.
4. Lifting
–
As this subject can easily take an orientation class in the hospital,
for their trained employees, such as nurses and nurses’ assistants, of
45 minutes, it would be impossible to cover it here. There are several correct ways to proper lift various things according to their weight, shape and position in space. The “secret” is posture. Appropriate posture. For the most part the legs (or leg) must be involved. The spine is best kept straight. And a previous assessment of the conditions and of the desired lift is very important.
5. Long trips
– The spine is usually not best served by the sitting position. That’s why prolonged sitting usually causes people to have low back aching, such as in long trips. It reverses the normal lumbar curvature and allows the lumbar (intervertebral) discs to “push” against a ligament, which is sensitive to pain. The back joints are placed in a “stretched position” and the wall of the disc is under strain (which is also sensitive to pain). You
may chose to spend several dollars purchasing lumbar support, but in
fact, a rolled up “beach” towel will have the same effect when placed
properly: at the waist line between the “small” of your back and the
seat while resting your entire spine (above and below the towel) against
the back rest of your seat.
6. Stretching
– We have all heard that stretching is a must. Or is it? Well, the answer is not just as simple, but for the majority of the sedentary population, yes. However, stretching must be properly instructed and performed to prevent injury. Stretching prior to running for example, used to be advocated as a desirable practice to prevent injury. Nowadays we understand it to actually favor runners’ injuries. Progress
from walking to jogging to running is a more desirable form of warming
up. Or choose the stationary bike for a warm up option. Reserve
the stretching for after the run, when for a rule of thumb you should
stretch your “quads”, ‘hamstrings”, “calf”, “hip flexors”, “IT bands”
and “Glutes”. For other than running, stretching will be specific to that activity.
7. Prolonged Sitting
–
Not just for the couch potatoes, which is hardly excusable, but for
most of us that sit all day long, from the breakfast table to our
commutes, all day at work and back again. Sounds familiar? Well, remember above (number 5) when we mentioned long trips? All that applies plus adaptive shortening. What is that? Well, I guess the old saying “If you don’t use it, you will lose it” actually applies. We are referring in terms of tissue length. Range of motion. Prolonged sitting, as in sedentary sitting, promotes “hamstrings” and hip flexors muscle shortening. If
not using proper lumbar support (remember the rolled beach towel?)
joints on your back [the facet joints] will also be unnecessarily over
stretched and become lax over time. The “short”
hamstrings and hip flexors will limit the freedom of mobility of the
pelvis and transfer all that in the form of strain to the low back. If not taken care of, soon you may have to come see us for low back pain.
8. Sprains and Strains
–
Obviously that for serious cases, such as in car accidents (whiplash
injuries etc), you should immediately seek consult from the physiotherapist or the medical doctor; for all other minor sprains (such as
ankle sprains), you will be able to prevent the injury from becoming
chronic simply by utilizing ice and compression/immobilization
(semi-immobilization at best) for the first 2 weeks. 50% of spontaneous healing happens within these initial 2 weeks. If
you are not feeling overwhelmingly better by then, a physical therapist
evaluation is indicated and treating it maybe adequate.
9. A Kink In The Neck?
– Who has not experienced that yet? Although
a very simple thing for the physical therapist to treat, with nearly
immediate relief, when happening routinely, it may be because of
repetitive insult. Take a look at your habits. Have you been falling asleep in the chair, with your head hanging over? Is your pillow adequate? Is your sleeping posture good? The infamous kink in the neck is nothing but one or more of those facet joints (remember?) pinching its lining (for lack of better word). A condition that makes it impossible to move that joint without severe sharp pain. You don’t have to spend hundreds of dollars on the latest pillow, but you may need to look better at the one you have. It maybe too thick or too thin. And the pillow that is good for lying on your back (facing up) is not necessarily good for lying on your side. If you have the habit of sleeping on your stomach, abandon that as soon as possible! It is much more harmful than you think.
10. Frequent Low Back Aching?
–
As much technology as we have these days, with the ability to have MRIs
and CT scans and X-Rays at our finger tips, nothing really compares to a
thorough physical examination of the spine. The area can have several reasons for pain. 85%
of the adult population will have low back pain at some point in their
lives and most of them will experience it multiple times. The initial onset of pain usually resolves by itself. Staying
fit is very important and receiving proper instruction to exercise
require a reputable source, hopefully someone with better than a weekend
certification course for "personal trainer". Persisting problems likely require some behavior modification and some treatment maybe required to prevent serious onsets.
