Body Mechanics: Posture and Care of the Back and Neck
Body Mechanics: Posture and Care of the Back and Neck
Introduction
The Facts About Posture
Good posture has aesthetic benefits.
Proper
posture allows the body segments to be balanced.
If one part of the body is out of line, other parts
must compensate to balance
it, thus increasing the strain on muscles, ligaments, and joints.
Chronic postural problems can lead
to a variety of health problems.
Maintaining proper alignment requires a balance of flexibility and
strength
in areas supporting the trunk.
In addition to body alignment problems hereditary, congenital, and
disease
conditions, as well as certain environmental factors, can causes of poor posture.
Approximately 80
percent of the adult population suffers from acquired foot
defects.
The Facts About Backaches and Neckaches
Most people (more than half) will
see a physician about a backache during
their lifetimes.
The causes of backache are varied, but it is rarely a dramatic event such
as trauma in a diving or an automobile accident.
The overwhelming majority of backaches and
neckaches are avoidable.
Poor posture, especially lordosis, can cause back strain and pain and can
make the back more susceptible to injury.
Some people have a "flat back" (lumbar kyphosis) in the
lower
back region that can lead to backaches.
There is no such thing as a slipped disk.
The neck
is probably strained more frequently than the lower back.
Kyphosis is a contributing factor in neck
pain.
The exact causes of chronic neck pain are many, and because they vary from
individual to individual, diagnose is difficult.
Facts About Prevention and
Intervention
Practicing good body mechanics and posture can help prevent back problems.
? See guidelines in text.
There are some additional general guidelines that will help in preventing
posture, back and neck problems.
Facts About Exercises for Posture and Back/Neck
Care
Exercise is one of the most frequently prescribed treatments for back or
neck pain.
Exercise can often correct muscle imbalances that are the underlying cause
of many postural and back problems.
Some people are unable to lift loads safely because tight and/or
weak muscles
may prevent them from using proper body mechanics.
Strategies for Action: The
Facts
An important step in taking action to assure good posture and good back
and neck care is assessing your current status.
It is possible to assess risk factors associated
with potential back and
neck problems
Specific exercises are sometimes needed to prevent or help rehabilitate
posture, neck, and back problems.
Stretching exercises for the hip flexor and hamstring muscles can
benefit
most people including those with lumbar lordosis.
Muscle fitness exercises that train the muscles of
the trunk, stabilize
the pelvis, and maintain good posture can help prevent and alleviate back
problems.
Fit abdominal muscles are important to good posture and prevention of
backache.
Stretching and strengthening exercises for the neck can help prevent and
relieve neck pain.
Exercises that strengthen the trunk can help prevent backache.
There are
exercises that stretch and strengthen muscles to prevent and remediate
round shoulders.
There are exercises that are therapeutic for people with flat back.
Keeping
records of progress is important to adhering to a back care program.
Web Review
Increase healthy and active days.
Reduce days with pain and activity limitations.
Increase assistance to those with pain and activity limitations.
Increase proportion of people who regularly -perform exercises for strength and muscular endurance.
Increase proportion of people who regularly perform exercises for flexibility.
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