Have you noticed a rise in
children and adolescents with low and mid back pathology, headaches, neck and
shoulder pain? It is happening globally. Our electronic devices and sedentary
lifestyles are responsible. The good news is that with some public education
and awareness this can be significantly reduced.
On November 1st,
CBC News reporter, Kim Brunhuber, did a piece about an alarming trend for
teens' back health as a result of electronics.
Dr Mark Erwin from the University of Toronto was interviewed about the
effects of children’s developing spines and muscles being repetitively
sustained in a “C” curve.
Many would agree that there is a vital role
for PT’s and OT’s in schools and with parents providing patient education for
correct postural mechanics in daily life. We need to get parents and kids
thinking about their posture when they use electronics and when they aren’t
using electronics. There has been a relaxed attitude about posture for a few
generations and we are seeing it in the rise of hip, LBP, shoulder, neck and
carpel tunnel patients. One of the key problems is external femoral rotation/
EFR which weakens psoas major immediately leading to kyphosis. From sitting
cross legged on the floor to external rotation of hip while sitting these
postures set us all up for pain and set the developing body up for a life of
pain.
A simple solution is to show parents, teachers
and kids the importance of holding their devices up, sit with neutral or on the
floor internal femoral rotation (like hero pose in yoga), and do their homework
on the laptop or tablet at a table using correct ergonomics. The effects of
poor posture are reversible in most instances.
From a therapy
perspective, aligning the psoas major is a powerful first step in restoring hip
flexion and extension through the thoracolumbar spine. We demonstrate this free
technique on our website under courses/STAMINA® Rehabilitation Therapy. We encourage
every therapist to learn the psoas technique as a main tool in their treatment
protocol. This technique is only one of 38 techniques taught in the SRT courses
for the full body protocol. Once manual
therapy assessment and treatment is performed STAMINA® Rehabilitation Therapy
restores optimal function to 38 stabilizing load management muscles. This combined
with the SRT patient education will put our youth back on track for ideal
development and help them be more active.
Reference:
Brunhuber, Kim and Hurko, Marijka,
CBC New, Nov. 15, 2013 6 am, Yoga can
lead to hip injuries http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/TV+Shows/The+National/About+the+Show/Kim+Brunhuber/ID/2415699721/?sort=MostPopular
No comments:
Post a Comment