[Peace~Karen]

(Some great article links in-line...)

I am more and more convinced of how necessary proper posture is to good health. Good posture is of paramount importance for living well into old age.

I'm also learning how much my own posture needs to improve in order to reap those benefits and avoid the chronic pain that surely awaits me if I don't take action now.

My starting point was several years ago when I read this article in Yoga Journal and did the posture self-test it recommends.
http://yogajournal.c...actice/1363.cfm
What I found is that I had a horrible slump. Over the last 3 years I've improved the slump by consciously holding my shoulders back and down. I'm actually almost a 1/2 inch taller as a result. The problem is that when I'm tired or focused on something else (especially at the PC), I still have a habit of falling back into that slump.

This weekend I spoke with an Egoscue Method clinician (http://www.egoscue.com) who, with one observation, completely changed my life. I occasionally feel a "twinge" in my right knee. This is a big concern for me because my father and all of his family have bad osteoarthritis. They all have either had or need knee replacement surgery.

The clinician observed one small detail that I've never noticed. My right foot points out slightly.

Take a look at image 2 on page 10 of this excellent article.
https://www.egoscue.com/htdocs/about/articl...nceSepOct06.pdf
That's exactly my stance in mirror image.

Additionally, the clinician noticed that after a marching exercise my left toes were always slightly ahead of my right toes.

These two observations point to a misalignment in my hips. When the clinician asked me to turn in my right foot and straighten the alignment, the effect was immediate. My stance improved, my balance improved and there was a completely new sensation in my knee and hip. I am convinced he is absolutely on the mark about the hip misalignment. I am also certain that, if not addressed, this misalignment will eventually result in chronic hip, back and knee pain for me.

I got all of this in a short 10 minute demo on Saturday. I had not heard of Egoscue before that. On Sunday I went to the library and checked out Pete Egoscue's book, Pain Free. I am very impressed with the information available in the book. There is also quite a bit of information available on the web site (http://www.egoscue.com) -- but you need to register (free registration) to access some of the articles and exercise details.

On reflection, I've decided that there are probably 3 root causes to my hip misalignment:
1) I always carry stuff on my right shoulder (purse, backpack, work bag, etc). Years of doing this, often with very heavy bags, has caused my left side to compensate and carry more weight on my left. My left shoulder compensates by tilting slightly lower than my right (imagine holding my right shoulder up at an slight angle so the bag straps don't slide off).
2) I spend most of my time in a seated, sedentary job hovering over a PC. This posture opens my hips and causes that slump I first noticed 3 years ago. I can consciously correct this, but without regular functional exercise for it I will never make proper posture my default position. Twenty years of muscle memory in the wrong position is hard to overcome just by trying to remember to sit up straight now.
3) I suspect childbirth may also have influenced the misalignment to some extent, though not as significantly as the previous 2 items.

So my approach is twofold. First, I am going to minimize the amount of time I carry single strapped bags, opting for double strapped bags such as backpacks and using both straps instead of slinging the bag over one shoulder (as I did all through college).

And second, I'm going to begin daily Egoscue exercises for my posture. Most of them are familiar to me and are part of yoga and other stretching exercises that I already do occasionally. The problem is that I don't do them often enough. My new motivation is the realization that these exercises may be the difference for me between comfortable mobility into old age and a lifetime of chronic pain.

I'll let you know how it goes for me. In the meantime, I thought I'd pass on this info for anyone who might be interested -- especially runners dealing with various running pains. At the very least, it's worth checking out the book from the library.

Peace,
Karen

[rachinaz]

Well, this is very timely information. I also have spent several years in sedentary jobs hunched over a computer. Over the past 2-3 years I've begun having a lot of discomfort in my upper back, neck and shoulders. It's gotten to a point that my neck gets so stiff that I often feel like if I turn my head too fast I'll get a painful kink in it...........and that does happen much more often in the past couple of years. You know that pain where you can't turn your head all the way to one side to look behind you without excruciating pain? I also get dull headaches frequently that start right at the base of my skull at the top of the back of my neck.

I know part of it is stress and tensing up my shoulders and upper back for long periods of time. I've made a conscious effort to take several breaks during the day to roll my shoulders and stretch out my neck. But it's still an area that gives me a lot of trouble due to the years it took to get to this point.

I've been getting massages every couple of weeks for a few months now and that helps for a couple days, then back to the same old stiffness. I've been considering going to a chiropractor even though I've never been to one in my life. It's gotten to the point I'll try almost anything.

[Peace~Karen]

rachinaz, on Jul 30 2007, 11:14 PM, said:

Well, this is very timely information. I also have spent several years in sedentary jobs hunched over a computer. Over the past 2-3 years I've begun having a lot of discomfort in my upper back, neck and shoulders. It's gotten to a point that my neck gets so stiff that I often feel like if I turn my head too fast I'll get a painful kink in it...........and that does happen much more often in the past couple of years. You know that pain where you can't turn your head all the way to one side to look behind you without excruciating pain? I also get dull headaches frequently that start right at the base of my skull at the top of the back of my neck.

I know part of it is stress and tensing up my shoulders and upper back for long periods of time. I've made a conscious effort to take several breaks during the day to roll my shoulders and stretch out my neck. But it's still an area that gives me a lot of trouble due to the years it took to get to this point.

I've been getting massages every couple of weeks for a few months now and that helps for a couple days, then back to the same old stiffness. I've been considering going to a chiropractor even though I've never been to one in my life. It's gotten to the point I'll try almost anything.

Does your office offer ergonomic evaluations? That may help. One thing I found was that the arm rests on my chair were a big problem. They were positioning my shoulders up high by my ears. I dropped the arm rests as low as possible so they aren't usable when I'm working at my desk and that helped a lot.

What you're describing certainly sounds like the type of thing I've been working on for the last few years. Check out the book or just read through the Yoga Journal article. Perhaps you'll find something that helps.

Peace,
Karen

[angeleyeskkhr]

I have a bit of both. When I stand, I know I throw my upper back way back to compensate for the weight of my chest. It gives me lower back pain after standing all day. But it hurts to stand correctly also and I'm always feeling like I'm gonna tip over!

When I sit down, I know I slump over to relieve the pressure that's built up.

ETA: Surprisingly, while driving, I prefer to sit perfectly straight up.

This post has been edited by angeleyeskkhr: 04 August 2007 - 09:57 PM

[bblessed]

Thank you Karen for sharing the info with us. I also sit all day in front of the computer and have a hard time pulling myself away to stretch. I know that when I do regular core exercises such as pilates, it helps minimize the pain I get in my lower back and improves my posture.