Fixing My Posture

Sit Better, Move Better, and Reduce Pain

Manual treatment by physiotherapists, chiropractors, osteopaths, acupuncturists or massage therapists can have great effect and advantages in the early stages of an injury but after a time if the pain or problem hasn’t gone, it can stop having lasting benefit. Continuing manual therapy at this stage may only provide temporary relief, only to have the pain return a few hours or a few days later. This is where PhysioFit can help.

Need advice? Please call Samantha Cheesman, Physiotherapist, on 9744 4666. One of the things that makes our clinic different is that we spend time at the start of the process in determining if our clinic is suitable to your needs and if so what the initial posture care should be. This phone review is provided without obligation to the clinic and with no fee involved.

Posture. What is good posture? Why does it cause pain?

Many people experience neck and low back pain as a result of poor posture. It is very common. It can cause pain to be felt in the

• Neck, shoulder and occasionally the arm.
• Mid back
• Low back and leg.

Our Western lifestyles are conducive to poor posture. Lots of sitting and often using devices.

Help is available.

Having good posture has many benefits.

• It looks good, and importantly,
• It creates an ideal body alignment that helps to reduce/prevent pain from starting.

How do you improve your posture?

• A detailed assessment from one of our physiotherapist’s can determine specifically your problem areas and design a custom exercise program to improve your postural muscles.

What is posture?

• It refers to the alignment of the body. It is not fixed. There is no exact alignment that is considered perfect however good alignment is necessary to allow the muscles/joints to perform at their best.
• No one keeps good posture all of the time, however, it is important to keep a general awareness of good posture most of the time in an attempt maintain it as much as possible.

What changes with poor posture?

• When your posture is poor, the pressure on your neck and low-back increases significantly. Muscles can tighten and some postural muscles will weaken. All these changes can cause pain.

Sitting posture and you

There are 2 main faulty sitting postures listed below. Each of these can place stress and strain on your spine in different ways. Leaning forward can increase pressure on your discs, sitting up too straight can put pressure on the joints, slouching will strain the ligaments and discs and increase the load through the neck from having the head in a forward position.

Having a Physiofit Physiotherapist show you how to sit properly and set up your workspace can help alleviate tension/pain in the back, neck and shoulders.

 Standing posture and you.

 There are a number of typical faulty postures which all have technical names. You can have one or more components of these different types. The most common four are shown below. These are only general guidelines and your physiotherapist through assessment will be able to tell you which posture group you fit in to. This will allow a custom exercise plan to be provided, stretching what is tight and strengthening, what is weak.

• Hyper lordotic – big butt
• Flat back – butt-less
• Sway back- gunslinger
• Sideways curver – typically stand with weight more on one leg

The most ideal body alignment in standing is

• The body is like a building, where our feet are the foundation. The hips should be at hip distance apart, weight should be distributed through the back two thirds of the foot and evenly between the sides.
• Do not lock your knees backwards. Bend your knees slightly keeping them soft to help keep your alignment.
• Your pelvis should be slightly tilted backwards.
• Chin should not be poked forward. Move it into a small comfortable nod position

 The most ideal alignment in sitting is

• The body is like a building, where our feet are the foundation. The feet should be placed on the floor at least hip width apart and the weight should be evenly distributed between the sides.
• Hips should be reclined back at an angle of 125⁰ or more (not at the usually thought angle of 90⁰)
• Your pelvis is like a bowl. At the bottom are 2 bones on each side. You should try to sit evenly on them should be slightly tilted backwards.
• Keep your shoulders relaxed
• Chin should not be poked forward. Move it into a small comfortable nod position

Active Management Strategies – Exercise and Education is Acceleration

At PhysioFit we do not provide treatment that you would normally think of when being referred to a physiotherapist like massage or joint mobilisation, hot packs, interferential and ultrasound machines. We provide what is called active treatment strategies which in a nut shell means we educate you on your problem and give you ways to manage and improve it yourself.

You will be given exercises and stretches to restore the muscles. We will educate you on your body and injury – how to manage it better and do more. We will teach you what you should and shouldn’t be doing, how to sit, stand, lift carry, push, pull. We will work with your doctor and any other person in your team to help you at work and home.

We can run programs in the clinic, in the gym or at your home. We have Physiotherapists and Exercise Physiologists.

We usually provide one on one sessions conducted by our physiotherapists or exercise physiologists.

Sessions may include

• Strength and Conditioning – If you have had surgery or a significant injury, that is limiting your outcome we can help you strengthen your body in a safe and effective way to ensure the most optimal outcome. Our Physiotherapists and Exercise Physiologists work closely with Orthopaedic surgeons and have a vast amount of knowledge in the area of conventional and exercise rehabilitation for patients following injury or surgery. All PhysioFit Physiotherapists and Exercise Physiologists can design specific and individualized programs in a gym or home environment.

• Core Stability, Posture and Flexibility Exercises – Transverse abdominus and multifidus re-training with RTU (Real Time Ultrasound), Swiss Ball exercises, use of muscle biofeedback units to retrain muscle timing, coordination and level of contraction, Floor/ Matt exercises, Pilates exercises, use of theraband, dura discs, foam rollers and other devises to promote use of stabilizing and postural muscles.

• Chronic Pain Education and loads of Advice – We will teach you about what pain means, how to manage it and how to overcome it. We will provide support and encouragement and show you how to return to previously avoided activities through pacing as well as build up activities that you currently are having difficulties with. This is along with specific exercises to increase specific muscular control, strengths, and postural endurance, which will in turn improve physical tolerances and functional capacities (daily activities, ability to work / return to work etc). Let us help you get back to the life you want to live.

• Brain Re-training – Certain conditions including CRPS, frozen shoulder and other pain syndromes may require cortical retraining. Physiofit Staff are experienced in delivering such exercises and activities including 2-pt discrimination retraining, lateral discrimination exercises and mirror box exercises.

• Group Exercise Classes – Group exercise spinal classes are currently being held at 47 – 49 Burwood Rd Concord, 2137. The classes run for one hour, once a week for 10 weeks, with approximately 8 people. The classes comprise of Private, Workers Compensation, and Third Party clientele. The classes are usually most beneficial for those people who have seen a PhysioFit therapist for individual sessions first but need a bit more monitoring, encouragement and consolidation of what they have learnt. It is a fun way of continuing the exercises you need to do as well as learning new ways to help yourself.

Whilst PhysioFit cannot guarantee to resolve all your pains completely, we do guarantee to provide you with the knowledge and skills required to better manage and cope with it, as well as improve your general activity tolerance and confidence. Worst case scenario, most clients comment that they can now do more without the pain also increasing and they feel they know what to do to help themselves rather than being reliant on other people to fix them.