WHAT IS PROPER SITTING POSTURE?Proper Sitting Posture is vital to your long-term health and well-being because so much of your day is spent sitting. Whether you are working, driving, eating, reading, studying, watching television or a movie, or catching up with friends, let’s face it, you are sitting a whole lot! Unfortunately, most people who must sit for long periods end up with habitually bad posture. After sitting for more than five minutes in a position of poor posture, the muscles that support your back start to get tired, which allows your body to sag, and then slouch. If slouched sitting posture is allowed for too long, ligaments in your back will become overstretched and start to cause discomfort. If this slouched posture becomes a habit, you will end up with harmful strain on the discs and joints in your back, which will lead to more permanent painful problems.
Proper sitting posture is especially important if you have a sedentary job. If you sit with slouched shoulders and a rounded back most of the day, your posture will eventually become permanently distorted and you will have trouble straightening up upon standing. Proper Sitting Posture is when you are holding your body upright against gravity while sitting. Good posture involves training your body to sit in a position where the least strain is placed on your spine’s supporting muscles and ligaments. Correct sitting posture requires:• Keeping your shoulders relaxed against the chair back• Keeping your buttocks against the back of the chair • Keep your weight even on both hips • Seat height to allow your eyes to be centered in the monitor • Monitor in front of you so you don’t have to have your head turned to look at monitor • Keeping your feet flat on the floor with your knees at a right angle • Your lumbar spinal curve must be properly supported to prevent slouching • Back and neck in line with pelvis maintaining a central support for your head • Frequent short breaks from sitting to keep muscles fresh This proper sitting posture is sometimes called “neutral” sitting posture. This is a posture that keeps your spine in perfect position and therefore, doesn’t put harmful stress on your back. The Most Common Posture ProblemThe most common bad posture is slumping or slouching while sitting. This is where the shoulders are rounded forward and the head is pulling forward. This puts damaging stress on the muscles, joints, and discs of the neck, upper back, and shoulders.This posture not only looks unattractive, but it causes many physical problems, some of which you may not even think are related to your posture. Problems with breathing, digestion, headaches, circulation, and of course neck and back pain, are all caused by chronic bad sitting posture. Prolonged sitting puts excessive strain on the muscles of your upper back often causing Burning Upper Back Pain. This is a common problem in the United States today with so much time being spent sitting at computers, typing on keyboards, playing video games, driving, etc.
Other Posture Tips1. One of the muscle groups often contributing to poor posture is the chest muscles called “pecs.” These pec muscles often get tight and short, and contribute to your shoulders rounding.An easy way to stretch the pec muscles is to stand in the corner of a room with your arms and hands up against the two intersecting walls. Just lean into the corner and feel your chest muscles stretch. Try three or four 20 second stretches two times a day for a week. You will notice it is much easier to keep your shoulders back in proper position if your pec muscles are stretched properly. 2. One of the most common upper back pain causes is sitting for long periods at your computer. So make sure to take at least a 30 to 60 second break every hour to stretch your back backward. Try some trunk twists. When you get home at the end of the day stretch your back on an exercise ball. This is tremendous for overcoming the negative effects of sitting at a desk or computer with your shoulders slumped forward. 3. A Back Brace for Posture can dramatically improve poor posture and help your muscles learn to maintain a healthy pain free posture. You may not realize how many of your daily activities contribute to bad posture. Things like sitting at a keyboard or computer most of the day, or driving for long periods a day, or reading or studying, which encourages forward rounded shoulders. Poor posture always leads to more serious health problems. Thankfully, poor posture can be improved in a relatively short amount of time with the help of the right back brace. A back brace for posture will relieve back pain by preventing slouched or forward rounded shoulders. Rounded shoulders push your upper back out more than normal which can cause a hump in your back, which is sometimes called a dowager’s hump. This hump is often seen in elderly with osteoporosis, but it can get an early start if bad posture is not corrected early. A posture brace wraps around your shoulders either under or over your clothes. It is tightened in the back to pull your shoulders back into proper position in line with your ear, hip, knee, and ankle. With your shoulders in proper position, the excessive curve in your upper back is corrected and much of the harmful pressure on your muscles, joints, and nerves is relieved. The brace that I think works the best for improving posture and relieving the pains caused by bad posture is available at this link to Amazon Shoulders Back Posture Support When you first start wearing my Recommended Posture Brace it does the work of keeping your muscles in the proper healthy position. It also helps you maintain correct sitting posture. Before you know it, you will not need the help of the brace anymore because your muscles automatically know to hold your shoulders back in proper position. If you get tired toward the end of the day and notice your shoulders starting to slouch, you can put the brace on for a little extra support. Other Benefits to using a Back Brace for Proper Sitting Posture• Improved Appearance – As your posture improves, so does your overall appearance. You look more confident and energetic than you did with drooping shoulders.• Improved Breathing - Another benefit of using a back brace for posture is your breathing is often improved. Chronic rounded shoulders make it hard for your lungs to expand fully. This causes you to get into the bad habit of breathing shallow, which in turn often leads to anxiety and panic attacks. • Low Back Pain Relief – When bad posture lets your shoulders slouch forward, it causes a loss of the normal curve in your lower back. This leads to low back muscle fatigue and pain.
What is the Best Chair for Proper Sitting Posture?
The right chair for proper sitting posture will give you maximal spinal support and correct sitting posture. Your chair should have the following features: 1. A height adjuster to keep your hips higher than your knees. Your chair height should also allow your eyes to look into the center of your computer screen. A chair that is too short will force you to be looking up and a chair that is too high will force you to be looking down. Both of these postures put unhealthy strain on your neck muscles. 2. Armrests which not only support your arms but take pressure off your neck and shoulders. The armrest should allow your hands and forearms to be parallel to the floor as you type or write at your desk. 3. Low back support that pushes your low back forward slightly, supporting your normal lumbar curve. This will relieve the strain on your lower back caused by the unhealthy posture a poor quality chair forces you into. I recommend a chair that maintains healthy spinal alignment and improves posture. The following link will bring you to Gaiam's Balance Ball Chair. This chair does it all: Improves spinal alignment, Provides ergonomic back support, and strengthens your core. It is very cool looking, makes proper sitting posture a breeze, and at just over $100,the price can't be beat. Click here to see My Recommended Chair for Correct Sitting Posture Will a Lumbar Cushion help with Proper Sitting Posture?A Lumbar Cushion is something I give to more patients than any other support or brace.The reason I give out so many Lumbar Cushions is that they allow you to maintain proper sitting posture and support your back while sitting. The Lumbar Cushion fills the space between your back and any chair or car seat. This cushion keeps you in proper sitting posture, which will prevent the back, shoulder, and neck muscles from becoming exhausted from the stress of prolonged sitting. Lumbar Support Cushions are an absolute requirement for long distance driving. I always keep a lumbar Support Pillow in the back seat of my car. I would never start a trip of more than an hour without making sure my pillow was in the car. The Lumbar Support Cushion that I recommend can be seen at this link to Amazon Duro-Med Contoured Memory Foam Lumbar Support Cushion with Strap This Lumbar Support Cushion can be used both in your chair at home and in your car. You can also bring it while traveling and it can make plane flights much more comfortable. This is a Memory Foam Lumbar Cushion made with high density pressure relieving European-style visco elastic memory foam, and includes a removable, washable cover. These pillows last a long time so you should certainly get your money’s worth over years of use. To Your Best Health, Dr. Cliff
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