Fall / Winter 2007
Hello from Sylvia at Royal Centre Physiotherapy Clinic!
Welcome to our "Fall Newsletter."
Call Sylvia (H2 Professionals - 604-839-4402) to discuss your needs
Tip of the month:
HEALTHY sitting at your desk!
 Poor posture at your desk can lead to the very common complaint of shoulder, neck, and arm pain with or without adding a headache in that group of symptoms!
Your body's muscles, ligaments and joints are all involved in holding you up in your workday, and if a poor posture is prolonged, this causes excessive (or "repetitive") stress on certain structures. One of the most common problems we see is "trapezius spasm," caused by fatigued and shortened shoulder musculature. Your muscles may not have the strength and endurance to sit in either elevated (lifting over your arm rests) positions or angles (reaching to one side repetitively), or prolonged state of stress.
This is also often associated with "headache" as parts of this muscle group (as well as a few others) attach at the bottom of your skull, and the resulting pull on the bony area causes inflammation of the tissue and "referred" pain around the head. Also, certain compressed or overly elevated wrist and shoulder positions will also cause stress on the joints and tendons crossing the joints, causing such conditions as "tendonitis and capsulitis."
Referring to the picture above, a "GOOD" position is generally close to your desk, shoulders over your hips or even better, is slightly behind them, meaning that you should lean slightly back in your chair at 10 or 20 degrees back from upright. This then allows your chin to drop and avoiding the dreaded "forward head position" which is NOT desirable! You should not have to look up or forward at your screen, but comfortably sit back in your chair with relaxed shoulders and a slight downward tilt of your head. It is OK (not to mention HEALTHY!) to be relaxed in your chair!!
Do yourself a favour and see a PHYSIOTHERAPIST to deal with any of pain or problems that are not resolving with this improved posture!
Remember that we now have 4 fantastic Physiotherapists for your convenience between 7:20AM and 6:40PM Monday to Friday.
We also offer Acupuncture and IMS (intramuscular stimulation) as well as our Orthotic Prescription.
In addition we also offer Advanced Laser treatments, Manual Therapies, Manipulation and our Exercise Prescription.
Interested in past issues of our newsletter?
Have any questions? Please contact
us for more information.
|
