Posture – 7 Surprising Facts!

23 Feb, 2020 in Blog by Tom McCormick

Posture Facts | Valued Health Osteopathy

Do you think about your posture??

We are here for your myth busting pleasure again at Valued Health Osteopathy and we are going to break down some old wives tales about posture for you.

Posture is NOT an evil word, and we don’t need to forget about it completely, but we may need to adapt some of our thought processes behind what it means and what we should aim for. Posture can tell us a lot about a person, it may indicate that the person is exhibiting protective mechanisms, apprehension, in a state of distress or reflecting the different moods we can experience and our behavioural responses to pain (1).

Despite the perpetuation of the belief that there is a ‘correct’ posture there is no strong evidence to support that avoiding any ‘incorrect’ postures can prevent low back pain, or that any single spinal curvature is strongly associated with pain (2).

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When we are experiencing lower back pain, we are often told to ‘protect our spine’ by consciously activating our “core” muscles to maintain a “correct” posture. Although this isn’t necessarily the wrong thing to do, research is now indicating that people with lower back pain actually tend to bend their spine less and show more trunk muscle activity when forward bending and lifting anyway, which can contribute to a guarded way of moving and cause fear and lower self-efficacy in patients (3).

Unfortunately, there is no postural ‘one size fits all’ approach, as what is comfortable for me might not be comfortable for you. However, the benefit of this is, we all have the potential to explore our postures for ourselves and find what works best for us. It also enables us to realise that posture is really an ever-changing landscape and what works well for you, posture wise today, might change in the next week, month or year, but you can adapt to it! Some great advice is to move in more ways, more often!

Another important thing to note, is that you can have an upright, relaxed posture. It might sound strange, but we don’t all have to try so hard to achieve something that might not be possible or ‘ideal’ for our bodies.

Here is a quick scan of your body you could try. As you sit here reading this article, I want you to bring your attention (without judgement) to your feet on the ground and notice where they are resting, notice your sit bones on your chair and if your weight is even between them, bring your attention to your upper back and neck and notice if you have hunched forwards towards the computer.

Now, sit up straight and pull your shoulders back and down. Notice how that feels, probably like a lot of hard work and maybe slightly uncomfortable?

Now, relax back into a natural posture for you and THIS time, think about attaching a big balloon filled with helium to the top of your head, and let the helium balloon take away some of the weight of your head on your neck and allow you to float up to a more upright position. Feels pretty different hey? This is a quick example of what a relaxed upright posture might feel like for you.

Awareness seems to be key with posture. If we can regularly notice how we are holding ourselves (in a non-judgmental way) throughout the day and think about moving around more and sitting in ways that might help us feel better, this could be a really positive change for our bodies. We may also need to shift our thinking towards ‘trusting your back’ whilst staying active (4) and building the confidence to move! You’ve got this!!

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Surprising Facts About Posture… ‘Sit Up Straight’: Time to Re-evaluate – Infographic

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us at the clinic on (03) 9570 9061 and speak to one of our friendly reception staff or Osteopaths so that we can help you to Move, Grow and Thrive.

(03) 9570 9061

www.valuedhealth.com.au

You do not need a referral to see one of our friendly Osteopaths at Valued Health Osteopathy. We have a very good relationship with many surrounding doctors, other health practitioners and personal trainers in the local community of Bentleigh East , Bentleigh, Ormond, McKinnon, Oakleigh, Carnegie, Caulfield, Moorabbin, Murrumbeena, Brighton, Clayton and Clarinda.

Valued Health Osteopathy offers:

Osteopathy

Clinical Pilates

Exercise Rehabilitation

Valued Health Osteopathy is open 6 days a week with early morning and evening appointments. Move better with Osteopathy!

Valued Health Osteopathy is located at 3/658 Centre Road, Bentleigh East, Melbourne, Victoria, 3165.

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References:

Slater, Diane & Korakakis, Vasileios & O’Sullivan, Peter & Nolan, David & O’Sullivan, Kieran. (2019). “Sit Up Straight”: Time to Re-evaluate. Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy. 49. 562-564. 10.2519/jospt.2019.0610.Wai Eugene MD,Dagenais Simon DC PhD,Bishop Paul MD PhD DC,Kwon Brian MD PhD FRCSC, 126. Occupational Physical Activities in Low Back Pain: A Systematic Review with Critical Appraisal of Causal Relationships, Spine Journal, The, Volume 9, Issue 10, 2009, Pages 65S-66S, ISSN 1529-9430,http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.spinee.2009.08.154.
Geisser, Michael & Haig, Andrew & Wallbom, Agnes & Wiggert, Elizabeth. (2004). Pain-Related Fear, Lumbar Flexion, and Dynamic EMG Among Persons With Chronic Musculoskeletal Low Back Pain. The Clinical journal of pain. 20. 61-9. 10.1097/00002508-200403000-00001.Nolan, D., O’Sullivan, K., Stephenson, J., O’Sullivan, P., & Lucock, M. (2019). How do manual handling advisors and physiotherapists construct their back beliefs, and do safe lifting posture beliefs influence them? Musculoskeletal Science and Practice, 39, 101-106. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msksp.2018.11.009

Back Pain Myths!

3 Feb, 2020 in Uncategorized by Tom McCormick

Myth busters | Back Pain Myths!

Hands up who has experienced Back Pain?

Back Pain Myths | Don’t worry, my hand is up in the air too and chances are most of you will be sitting there with your hands raised as well because lower back pain (LBP) is the leading cause of years lost to disability worldwide (1). This may seem like scary statistic, however research is encouraging us to flip our traditionally negative thinking about lower back pain to a more positive one.

Unfortunately, some unhelpful back pain myths exist and are quite prevalent, even within the medical community. Thankfully, with amazing resources available, we can provide the most up to date information and care to our patients. The British Journal of Sports Medicine has recently published a great article called ‘Back to basics: 10 facts every person should know about back pain’ (3) along with this great info graphic – shown below!

If you would like to learn more and perhaps challenge some of your beliefs, concerns or fears about your back pain, see detailed below the 10 unhelpful beliefs and 10 helpful facts about lower back pain taken from the article.

Ten unhelpful Back Pain Myths and the what you really need to know!

Back Pain Myth 1: LBP is usually a serious medical condition.

Back Pain Fact 1: LBP is not a serious life-threatening medical condition.

Back Pain Myth 2: LBP will become persistent and deteriorate in later life.

Back Pain Fact 2: Most episodes of LBP improve, and LBP does not get worse as we age.

Back Pain Myth 3: Persistent LBP is always related to tissue damage.

Back Pain Fact 3: A negative mindset, fear-avoidance behaviour, negative recovery expectations, and poor pain coping behaviours are more strongly associated with persistent pain than is tissue damage.

Back Pain Myth 4: Scans are always needed to detect the cause of LBP.

Back Pain Fact 4: Scans do not determine prognosis of the current episode of LBP, the likelihood of future LBP disability, and do not improve LBP clinical outcomes.

Back Pain Myth 5: Pain related to exercise and movement is always a warning that harm is being done to the spine and a signal to stop or modify activity.

Back Pain Fact 5: Graduated exercise and movement in all directions is safe and healthy for the spine.

Back Pain Myth 6: LBP is caused by poor posture when sitting, standing and lifting.

Back Pain Fact 6: Spine posture during sitting, standing and lifting does not predict LBP or its persistence.

Back Pain Myth 7: LBP is caused by weak ‘core’ muscles and having a strong core protects against future LBP.

Back Pain Fact 7: A weak core does not cause LBP, and some people with LBP tend to over tense their ‘core’ muscles. While it is good to keep the trunk muscles strong, it is also helpful to relax them when they aren’t needed.

Back Pain Myth 8: Repeated spinal loading results in ‘wear and tear’ and tissue damage.

Back Pain Fact 8: Spine movement and loading is safe and builds structural resilience when it is graded.

Back Pain Myth 9: Pain flare-ups are a sign of tissue damage and require rest.

Back Pain Fact 9: Pain flare-ups are more related to changes in activity, stress and mood rather than structural damage.

Back Pain Myth 10: Treatments such as strong medications, injections and surgery are effective, and necessary, to treat LBP.

Back Pain Fact 10: Effective care for LBP is relatively cheap and safe. This includes education that is patient-centred and fosters a positive mindset, and coaching people to optimise their physical and mental health (such as engaging in physical activity and exercise, social activities, healthy sleep habits and body weight, and remaining in employment.

As your Osteopath our role is to support you through your journey with whatever musculoskeletal complaint you present with, the best way we can! Unhelpful beliefs about lower back pain may contribute to a negative thought process about your lower back pain and lead to pain vigilance, fear of engaging in valued activities, worrying about the future, lack of self-management and adaptive skills and therefor more stress, anxiety or depression (3). Therefore, it is VERY important that we address these beliefs.

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If you have any concerning thoughts or beliefs about your condition, we would love to chat to you so that we can help you to better understand what is going on and help you to feel back in control of yourself, your life, your pain and your function levels. Our aim is to get you back to doing what you love so that you can MOVE, GROW and THRIVE!