The 5 Essentials of Healthy Desk Work

  1. Sitting posture is key! We all know it’s not a great thing for the body to sit for many hours every day, so at least have most of that time with minimal stressors on your body.  Sit with a supplemental lumbar support so that your spine can easily maintain the natural inward curve in the lower back that is present when you stand.  When you correct from the bottom, it helps to align everything higher up.  More than that, keep moving around in your chair—rock your pelvis forward and back or side to side every now and then—just keep things moving a bit.  
  2. Breathing is underrated! If you’re sitting in a slouched posture for long, you aren’t able to take in a maximal breath to expand your lower lungs.  Not cool.  As soon as you sit up straighter, it allows the lowest part of your lungs to expand fully when you take a deep breath—this is important to bring oxygen to tissues, calm your nervous system, and help blood flow.
  3. Your desk set-up is important: the ergonomic design of your work station should keep your head neutral looking straight ahead, your shoulders relaxed so that your elbows are bent to ~90 degrees and you can still reach the keyboard and mouse, and your chair height allows your knees to be at or below the height of your hips.
  4. Move your body: sitting properly is WAY better than not, but it’s still not great to stay there for hours on end.  Move! Strategize to stand and move around your area when you take a phone call, or schedule a walking meeting, or drink enough water that you regularly have to get up to use the bathroom!
  5. Drink enough water: ideally we want about 8-12 cups of fluid per day in order to replenish our body’s store of fluids. These fluids help with all bodily functions:  blood regulation, digestion, breathing, muscle and joint function, and brain activity. Keep it in you!

If you’re not sure about your desk ergonomic set-up or how to use a lumbar roll to sit, speak with your physiotherapist, or check out an earlier post here

 

Daily squatting is great for your hips, knees… and pelvic floor!

If you’re thinking that you’re doing well because you do squats at the gym, well…good… but that’s not what I mean.  The article below is a great read on how many of us have lost the ability to squat because we just never do it.  I mean the deep butt-almost-to-the ground kind of squat.  In eastern cultures they have toilets that require you to squat over top of them, or they sit on their heels to eat.  We literally never do that here, unless we make a point to do so.

Joints actually like compression, as it helps to lubricate and nourish them.  Squatting squishes the fluid that surrounds the knee, hip and ankle joints around, and the cartilage at these joints like that.  Also when doing a full squat, the pubic bone and tailbone move away from each other, allowing the pelvic floor muscles to have a bit of a stretch.  All good things.

Squatting should not be painful, nor should you feel unbalanced.  If you’re finding the thought of a full squat daunting, get some strategies on how to properly and safely do this movement from your physiotherapist.

Check out the super-interesting article from www.quartzy.qz.com

Say “Yes” to Exercise for Back Pain

An interesting article where I both wholeheartedly agree and don’t agree: the researchers report that “the best form of exercise is the one that you are going to stick with”. Exercise in the form of general movement is generally fantastic, but often there are specific directions/ movements that could actually help repair the problem– read more 

If this interests you, you will find the blog from July to be a great read.

View original article:  www.scientificamerican.com

 

Exercise after baby… what’s changed?

Life is so different after a baby!  Not just with having a new addition to your family, but now it’s not only about you anymore.  But it’s still somewhat about you… that’s what so many Moms forget.  You have to be good to yourself, and you have to get back to your best, fullest you!

When you’re looking to start back to exercise, whether it’s something you’re looking to return to after giving birth or it’s some new activity, you have to remember that your body is different now. Continue reading

Slipping (up) on ice?

We’ve all had injuries, either from some sports mishap or when you get tangled in the dog’s leash and fall over. What’s the first thing you do?  Reach for the ice.  We’ve always known (or thought, anyway) that icing that sprained ankle or swollen hand would be helpful to decrease pain and swelling after the injury.  After all, putting ice on restricts blood flow to the area, which helps to numb the pain and keep any swelling under control.  Were we wrong all along?

Research on how effective ice is following injury is spotty at best.  A 2012 study in The British Journal of Sports Medicine determined that there were no studies that showed the effectiveness of icing after acute injuries.  In fact, a 2013 study from the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research showed that icing actually delayed recovery of muscle damage.

Wait, what? Continue reading

The Most Important Muscle You Didn’t Know You Had

Many people can happily live their lives without ever giving their diaphragm much thought at all. You don’t have to think much about breathing, it just happens automatically. But when you take in air, your diaphragm lowers to allow room for your lungs to expand.  It is attached to the lower six ribs, the xiphoid process (bottom part) of the sternum, and the first three lumbar vertebrae.  There is also a connection between the diaphragm and the psoas (hip flexor) muscle and the quadratus lumborum (stabilization) muscle.

 

A Physiotherapist can quite easily examine if your diaphragm is functioning properly by placing their hands around your ribcage with thumbs next to the spine, and watching if there is symmetry in the movement when you take a deep breath.  It is also helpful to examine the psoas and QL muscles for tightness and trigger points. The nerve that supplies the diaphragm, namely the phrenic nerve, arises from C3-C5 in your neck, and those vertebrae should be examined to see if mobilization there has any influence on diaphragmatic symptoms. The junction of the thoracic and lumbar spine (T12/L1) should be assessed as that area often develops stiffness or less mobility– remember the diaphragm attaches to L1-L3.  If you have lower back pain, it could be in part due to a restriction of normal movement in this area of the spine.

What 4 Things to do FIRST When Back Pain Begins

  1. Stop trying to figure out WHY and just get on with it!

Of course, pain is not normal– it’s your body telling you that something is going on. You do need to pay some attention. Most of the time back pain begins for no obvious reason– you could just wake up with it, or some harmless movement like bending forward to pick something up starts a sudden pain. When this happens, it’s scary. It’s also human nature to wonder what the heck happened, and you can wrack your brain to try to figure it out, but most of the time you won’t know for sure. Most commonly it is cumulative stressors to your back that creates the problem– it finally just has enough, then you’ll do something innocuous– like wash your foot, and you can’t get up. Try to keep moving as best as you can.

  1. How much are you sitting? HOW are you sitting?

It has been shown that people who have desk jobs have more of a risk of back pain than construction workers. Sitting is hard for your back, and your body is meant to move. In life, many people spend WAY too much time sitting– not just at the computer, but traveling to and from work or school, sitting to eat all of your meals, and all entertainment (TV, out for dinner or a pub, reading)– all sitting!

If you’ve been sitting in any chair for awhile, odds are you’re relaxed into it and assumed a slouching position. This slumped posture is the same thing as being fully bent forward as far as your back goes. Fully. Forward. Evidence shows this is a position of vulnerability for your back, and how much do you do it? Every day, likely for long periods. For details on correcting your sitting posture, refer to the post on proper sitting posture.

  1. WHERE is the pain?

Does your back pain stay local, or do you feel something in your butt? Your leg? Is it all on one side or is it both? Does it come and go, or is it truly always there? All important questions you need to assess. If you’re feeling pain away from your back into your butt or lower, that pain is likely referred from your back itself. Even if your leg hurts more than your back, it’s very common that the source of this pain is coming from your back. Location, location, location. It’s the radiating leg pain that you want to address first, and start looking at different back positions to see if any can help the pain.

  1. WHAT happens when you lie on your stomach?

This can be a weird movement for some, and many people never spend time in this position. Lying down on your stomach keeps you not weight-bearing through your back, and has your spine in a fairly neutral position. Try to be here for a few minutes, and just see if any back, buttock or leg pain starts to settle down. This is a positive sign when that happens, but don’t worry if you don’t notice any change.

The most efficient thing to do from here is get to your Physiotherapist or Chiropractor. This person should be asking you the above questions, and you can easily give them this information– this will help form an individualized program that will help you settle this pain quickly, then work to prevent this from happening again!

How Do You Sit?

I’m sure you’ve heard by now that sitting is the new smoking. Many people spend WAAAYYYY too much time each and every day sitting– commuting to work, eating all of your meals, sitting at your desk, and all entertainment (reading, watching TV, dining out, going to a movie or theatre) — yep… all sitting.

Do you ever think about HOW you’re sitting?  Odds are, you tend to slouch in your chair after you’ve been there for awhile. This slumping position keeps your back fully rounded forward and over time, some of the structures can become irritated and cause you pain. People often don’t realize how often in life we get into this fully bent forward position!

Even an “ergonomic” chair that will have some curve built in is often not enough to prevent your pelvis from tipping backward so that your back is rounded.  Many people find it helpful to use a supplemental lumbar roll. This round cushion is firm enough that when you sit and relax into it, your pelvis is not able to tip back, allowing your back to maintain the normal curves that are there when you’re standing.

There are manufactured lumbar rolls you can buy, and we like the McKenzie Lumbar Roll or McKenzie Super-roll because they are firm. We do not receive any money or gain from mentioning this product specifically, we just like them best and this is what we sell at the clinic.  Alternatively, you can make a supplemental lumbar roll by folding a towel in half length-wise and rolling it up so that the roll is about 10-15 cm (~4-5″) in diameter.  Be sure to wrap some tape or elastic bands around it because if you’re constantly having to re-roll it, you won’t use it for long!

Once you have your lumbar roll, sit down in the chair with your buttocks close to the back of the seat, push the lumbar roll down until it hits the top of your butt, and relax around it. The roll should be where your back has it’s natural inward curve, and is just there to support it. Now try to slouch– the roll should be firm enough that it prevents your pelvis from tipping backward.

Often we hear that the roll feels too big or intrusive, and that is because so many people sit slouched that it starts to feel normal, and even a correction toward neutral seems exaggerated. It definitely takes some getting used to! That said, it shouldn’t be aggravating to any back pain that you feel.  If it seems to irritate your back, then you should speak with your Physiotherapist or Doctor to determine if a modification would be better for your back.

A Little Movement Goes a Long Way!

So it has been said that motion is lotion, and nowhere is it more important than your spine! Whether it’s shifting your sitting position or standing up to grab something or going for a little walk—make sure you keep your body moving. Every little bit counts.

Why? Almost all of your bones—including your spine– have a layer of cartilage at their ends that acts as a cushion and help spread the pressure you put through your joints with everyday movements. Surrounding the ends of the joints are capsules that hold a thick fluid that helps to lubricate the joint. When you move around even a little bit, that fluid is pushed around the joint. Another way to lubricate your joints is to drink plenty of water.

While I will still gladly ask someone with back pain to spend time sitting with a supplemental lumbar roll and correct sitting posture, newer research shows that shifting position in the chair frequently is better for spine health. If you have been sitting still for awhile, try rocking your pelvis forward and back several times to change the alignment of your pelvis and spine. This takes only a few seconds and then you can get back to it!

If you’re the type of person that needs to reward yourself for your positive behaviour, it might be worth investing in an activity tracker. The annoying vibration to inform you to move your 250 steps each hour is a helpful reminder, and it’s great to get your accolades at 10,000 steps in your day!

A Very Cool Study: Directional Preference in Action

In a previous blog, I was mentioning the McKenzie System of Mechanical Diagnosis and Therapy (MDT) and outlined what a “directional preference” is: the assessor is trying to determine if the person with back pain has one direction of movement that they can do repeatedly that will consistently decrease their pain or increase their movement.

There is a huge and growing area of research dedicated to the McKenzie system, and I want to outline perhaps my favourite study of back pain of all time! Audrey Long is the lead researcher for this study, and she is a Physiotherapist and McKenzie Faculty in Alberta, Canada. She and her team examined over 300 people with lower back pain, and was able to categorize 230 people who demonstrated a directional preference into flexion (bending forward), extension (bending backward) or lateral (sideways)—performing repeated movements into their direction of preference would lessen their pain consistently. These people were then randomized to continue, as homework for 2 weeks, repeated movements several times per day into their 1) direction of preference, or 2) the movement opposite to their direction of preference, or 3) the control group, which was assigned general stretches and strengthening of the back and hips.

People worked on this consistently, and after 2 weeks, the >90% of the group that worked into their direction of preference reported being improved or resolved. That is HUGE! It’s not often in research that you get such dramatic results. This group also reported having to take much less medication than initially, and their level of function had significantly improved.

Interestingly, 23% of the group that worked into the direction of movement opposite to their direction of preference showed improvement, and 15% of that group and the control group reported being worse. You don’t start doing exercises that make you worse as the days go on!

This study really demonstrates how important it is to determine if you have a direction of movement preference that consistently lessens pain or increases movement, as that can really allow back pain to move along quickly!

The study is called:  Does It Matter What Exercise? A randomized contol trial of exercises for low back pain. (2004) Spine. 29(23): 2593-2602 by Long, A., Donelson, R., Fung, T