Monthly Archives: January 2017

Can Poor Posture Cause Arthritis?

January 30, 2017

Poor posture contributes to Arthritis

Posture, both good and bad, absolutely can have an impact on osteoarthritis.  How does bad posture affect osteoarthritis?  Chronic bad posture places abnormal chronic stresses on your body.  Normally, the muscles protect the bones and joints. However, these abnormal stresses make it harder for your muscles to take the pressure off your joints-and your joints end up paying the price.  For an easy example, consider your head and neck.

Your head weighs a little more than 10 pounds – or slightly more than a bowling ball.  Your neck is supporting your head 24 hours a day with only a brief rest when you lie down at night.  Even with perfect posture, this is a lot to ask of your neck!  Good neck posture mandates that your head rests directly above your neck. Poor neck posture typically consists of carrying your head somewhat forward in relation to your neck.  This places an increased stress on your neck.  A good analogy is carrying a bowling ball over your head.  Carrying the ball over your head is what your neck does with good posture.  Carrying the bowling ball 20 degrees in front of your head is a lot harder and your arm muscles will get more tired more quickly.

What happens with increased stress on your neck from poor posture?  The large muscles, and the smaller postural muscles, fatigue and the forces from your head and neck are translated through the small joints in your neck.  This can lead to a change in your normal alignment over time. When your spine is not in normal alignment, this leads to greater wear-and-tear of your joints and, potentially, earlier osteoarthritis. If your neck already has osteoarthritis, then the poor posture can worsen the pain.  It is the same with the other joints in your body. Poor posture (and poor alignment) increases the stresses they face, which increases the chances of them developing osteoarthritis.

If poor posture increases the risk of developing and/or worsening osteoarthritis, can good posture cure osteoarthritis?

Good posture may not cure osteoarthritis, but it will certainly help.  Just as poor posture places increasedPosture Bad stress on the joints in your body, good posture decreases those stresses.  Good anatomic posture allows your muscles to work most effectively to unload your joints, take the pressure off them, and allow them a chance to heal.

THINGS WORK BETTER WHEN YOU ARE IN PROPER ALIGNMENT.

Good posture does not happen overnight.  If you don’t already have good posture, realize that it takes steady, consistent attention and work.  But the work is well worth it! While it may be difficult at first to constantly remind yourself to improve your posture, eventually you will find that your body begins to return to its good posture naturally and without as much effort and attention as in the beginning. Also, it can be quite challenging to correct posture at first if you are not in proper alignment or if you have lost normal flexibility of your spine. Correcting your posture in conjunction with a program of regular chiropractic care can greatly assist with the process.

How important is posture really? The next few blogs will deal with how posture is connected to areas of your health you wouldn’t even realize, such as your mental state!

Stay tuned and stay healthy!

Dr. G

 

How Sitting is the New Smoking

January 16, 2017

Break Up with your sitting with some walking!

There’s no sugar-coating it: North Americans sit a lot, especially if you reside in a tech-savvy area of Vancouver like Yaletown. Two-thirds of the North American workforce sits for all or part of their workday.1 When you don’t adjust your posture frequently enough, you’re more likely to experience discomfort while sitting–and you’re inviting a whole host of other musculoskeletal problems along with it.1

Today, on average, sitting takes up more than half of an adult’s waking hours.2 What’s worse is that, according to Mayo Clinic cardiologist Martha Grogan, “for people who sit most of the day, their risk of heart attack is about the same as smoking.”3 Based on current trends, researchers predict the number of hours we spend sedentary will likely increase.2

There are other health risks that come from being more sedentary: prolonged time spent while sitting or reclining can tamper with your glucose levels and your metabolism.4 It’s also a risk factor for type 2 diabetes.4 The good news is that if you break up those long periods of sitting, you can reduce your risk of having diabetes, heart disease, or stroke.4

The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada5 recommends at least thirty minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity–such as brisk walking or bike riding–at least five days out of the week. If you work Monday to Friday, consider adding a few steps to your commute, or taking two 15 minute walk breaks each workday.

Here are some more helpful tips to help break up your sitting time6,7:

  • Create a schedule to remind you to stand up and move. Programming your day can help you stick to something you may otherwise forget to do. A good goal is 5-10 minutes of activity per hour. For example, if you have a job that involves sitting most of the day, plan to spend five minutes every hour up from your chair and moving around the office (like getting coffee, walking around the building, or taking a restroom break) and spend the other five minutes doing stretches.
  • Walk around on your lunch break. Invite coworkers from your office to go for a walk with you at lunch. You can check out a nearby park or take a new route around the neighbourhood.
  • Park further away and walk. Whether you’re running errands or parking at work, you can choose to park further away and walk those extra few steps to your destination.
  • Walk around the house while talking on the phone or during commercial breaks of your favourite show. You might find other opportunities throughout the day too!

Little changes can go a long way to improve your posture and decrease a number of health risks. Whatever method you choose, you can also use the Straighten Up Canada app and Fit-in 15 program to find small exercises you can do during the day. Of course, regular check ups with your chiropractic at Pacific Chiropractic can help reduce the chances of stiffness, misalignments or even nerve pressure from building up…at least, that’s what our patients tell us!

References

  1. Fenety A, Walker JM. Short-term effects of workstation exercises on musculoskeletal discomfort and postural changes in seated video display unit workers. J Am Phys Ther Assoc. 2002; 82(6): 578-89.
  2. Healy GN, Eakin EG, Owen N, et al. A cluster randomized controlled trial to reduce office workers’ sitting time. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2016; 48(9): 1787-97. doi:10.1249/mss.0000000000000972.
  3. Winslow, R. The guide to beating a heart attack: first line defense is lowering risk, even when genetics isn’t on your side. The Wall Street Journal. April 16, 2012. http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304818404577347982400815676. Accessed November 25, 2016.
  4. Benatti FB, Ried-Larsen M. The effects of breaking up prolonged sitting time. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2015; 47(10): 2053-61. doi:10.1249/mss.0000000000000654.
  5. Stay active. Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada. 2016. Available at: http://www.heartandstroke.ca/get-healthy/stay-active#How-much-activity-do-I-need. Accessed November 22, 2016.
  6. Storrs C. Stand up, sit less and move more, researchers say; here’s how to do it. CNN. August 6, 2015. Available at: http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/06/health/how-to-move-more/. Accessed October 14, 2016.
  7. Sit less. The Heart Foundation. Available at: https://heartfoundation.org.au/active-living/sit-less. Accessed October 14, 2016.

(From JCCA e-toc)