Posture is Important

There are hundreds of muscles in the human body. Most of them are connected to joints and are arranged in ways that oppose each other. This is what enables a joint to move back and forth in opposite directions. Poor posture promotes imbalance among these muscles and causes uneven tension on joints that often leads to painful problems.

Any type of repetitive activity is likely to cause the muscles involved to tighten and shorten. Once a muscle becomes tighter than it’s opposing muscle, the resulting uneven tension consistently applied to the joint in common will alter it’s neutral position. For example, a weightlifter that targets their chest muscles more frequently than their back muscles is likely to have shoulders that are constantly pulled forward. This will pull the head and upper body forward as well and result in posture that will eventually be problematic.

Once poor posture develops, the body will no longer have good vertical alignment. This will allow gravity to pull the body further out of alignment and worsen the already existing imbalance between opposing muscles. Long term, the joint and muscle strain this causes will likely lead to chronic pain and may even result in debilitating injury. The headaches and back, shoulder and neck pains that are so prevalent today are all common results of poor posture.

The Cost of Sitting

Most people spend all day at their job sitting behind a desk. They sit in their car during their commute to and from work, they sit at the dinner table when they get home, and then they go sit on the couch to watch television. That’s a lot of sitting!

Long periods of sitting cause the anterior muscles of the hips and thighs to shorten. Sitting also facilitates rounding of the back and a forward and downard lean of the shoulders, chest, and head, especially when using a computer. Repeated hour after hour and day after day, this eventually affects the way you stand. If the resulting poor posture doesn’t cause pain and injury by itself, it will predispose you to pain and injury when you engage in other activities.

Computer use worsens the negative impact that sitting has on posture by encouraging us to hold our arms up and forward to use the keyboard and mouse, and to lean our head forward to read the screen. This adds additional strain to the shoulders, back and neck, and is likely to eventually cause pain.

How to Sit with Good Posture

The following are some practical tips to help you sit properly and avoid the painful effects of poor posture.

• Adjust the height of you chair so that your thighs are parallel to the floor, your feet are fully touching the floor, and your knees are at a 90 degree angle.
• Sit with your lower back arched, your hips at a 90 degree angle, and without using the back support.
• Adjust the arm rests of your chair to be slightly higher than the natural resting position of your elbows. Rest your elbows at your sides and on the arm rests when using the computer to reduce the strain on your shoulders and upper back.
• Use a slide out tray for your keyboard and mouse so that you don’t have to reach forward to use them. This will also reduce the strain on your shoulders and upper back.
• Lift your chest up and extend it slightly forward.
• Pull you shoulders down and back while slightly squeezing your shoulder blades together.
• Pull your chin in towards your neck and try to keep your ears aligned above your shoulders.
• Position your monitor several feet away from your face and mount it high enough so that the top portion of the screen is at eye level.
• Put a sticker or a note on your monitor that will remind you to correct your posture throughout the day.

Take a Break

Even with perfect posture, it’s important to give yourself a rest from being in the same position. At least once per hour, aim to get up, walk around, and stretch out. And about every twenty minutes, try to look away from the monitor and focus at something far away to give your eyes a break from continuosly focusing at the same depth. Establishing a routine like this will help to reduce both muscle tightness and eye strain.

Extra Measures

If your posture is already bad and you’re currently experiencing pain, the suggestions I’ve made so far should certainly help, but probably won’t be enough to get rid of your pain

I highly recommend that you start using trigger point therapy to loosen tight muscles and reduce the pain they’re causing. As you’ll see in the linked article, it’s very easy to do and you’ll likely be shocked at it’s potential to eliminate pain that you’d never have attributed to muscle tightness.

Next is an excellent stretch that will target the entire front half of your body and will help to counteract the muscle tightness and shortening caused by sitting. Start by lying with your back on a stability ball and your feet on the floor. Push backward with your feet and reach your arms back toward the floor until they touch or come as close as your flexibility will allow. Rolling back and forth will allow you to adjust the focus of the stretch to different areas. You can also use the stability ball as a chair which will make it much harder for you to sit with poor posture.

Finally, if you spend any time watching television, consider spending some of that time lying with your stomach on the floor. Although not as effective as the stability ball stretch, this will have a similar effect and is a much better alternative than spending additional time sitting.

Written by Vin Miller for NaturalBias.com.

I rarely watch television, but as a big tennis fan, I’ve been watching the Australian Open. The deceptive marketing power behind the commercials I’ve been seeing is sickening. In just the past week, I’ve seen repeats of three misleading drug commercials for the same product – Bayer Aspirin.

Grandma Saves Christmas

It was two days before Christmas and grandma was having chest pain. The last thing she wanted was to ruin the holiday by having a heart attack. She dug into her pocket book for a Bayer Aspirin to chew on, and according to her doctor, it saved her life. It also saved Christmas and her chance to see her grandchildren grow up. And just in case you didn’t get the message, the commercial ends by telling you to “expect miracles.”

It’s great that she avoided a heart attack, but what’s Bayer trying to tell us? That we don’t have to worry about the leading cause of death as long as we carry a bottle of Aspirin around with us?

Heart Attacks Aren’t Caused by Aspirin Deficiency

Most people know that heart attacks are caused by the blockages and clots that occur in unhealthy arteries. The blood thinning action of Aspirin helps blood to flow more easily through these restricted arteries which is how it can potentially prevent a heart attack.

What people don’t realize is that unhealthy arteries are a symptom of poor health that usually develops through an unhealthy lifestyle. Aspirin is only a temporary solution that does absolutely nothing to resolve this. In reality, poor grandma probably won’t get to see her grandchildren grow up unless she changes the unhealthy habits that caused her artery problems. If she doesn’t, her arteries will likely get worse and cause a blockage that no amount of Aspirin can help.

Golfers Can Be Tough Guys Too

He’s at the seventh hole and is having chest pain. He feels very weak and decides that he better pack it in and head for the clubhouse. He’s so weak he can barely carry his clubs, but “golfers don’t leave their clubs behind.” Although this story isn’t quite as touching as grandma’s, anyone who loves golf and empathizes with struggle will feel an emotional pull. And of course, Bayer Aspirin is the hero once again by allowing this golfer to live another day.

Now he has another chance at living a long life and seeing his daughter get married. It makes for a great story, but how asinine would it be if he died right on the golf course because he didn’t want to leave his clubs behind? And similar to grandma, he may not see his daughter get married unless he makes some changes that go far beyond carrying a bottle of Aspirin in his golf bag.

Weekend Warriors Never Quit

The final piece of this Bayer Aspirin trilogy features a middle aged man that absolutely loves to play softball. It’s how he satisfies his strong appetite for athletic competition and adds fulfillment to his life, but unfortunately, his joint pain is holding him back. If you’re physically active, middle aged or older, and have joint pain, Bayer has you eating out of their hands once again.

For a third time, Bayer saves the day by masking this man’s pain and allowing him to live his dream. It’s a great story until you consider the possible causes of his pain. Perhaps he has muscle imbalances, instability, or even food sensitivities that are damaging his joints. Regardless of the cause, Aspirin will do absolutely nothing to correct it. By hiding the pain and continuing to play softball, he’ll likely make things worse, end up with pain too severe for Aspirin, and eventually need surgery.

Stop Chasing Symptoms!

Heart attacks aren’t caused by an Aspirin deficiency and neither is joint pain. But instead of addressing the root cause of these issues, each of the three Bayer commercials encourage you to only worry about the symptoms. The former is what makes you healthy, but chasing symptoms is what makes drug companies rich. That’s why the advertising is designed to force the symptom chasing mentality upon you.

Although I happened to single out Bayer, nearly all of the drug companies are guilty of this. I’m sure you’ve seen the cholesterol commercials for “when diet and exercise aren’t enough.” A healthy lifestyle is enough far more often then they’d like you to believe.

This type of advertising comes from other industries as well. How about McDonald’s being a major sponsor of the Olympics and subtly associating their toxic food with the dreamy accomplishment of being an Olympic athlete?

Chase Optimal Health Instead

If you want to live a long life full of health, happiness, and activity, chasing symptoms isn’t going to make it happen. Instead, you need to promote optimal health by addressing the malfunction that is causing them. Contrary to what Bayer would like you to believe, this isn’t accomplished by carrying a bottle of pills around with you.

For more information, you can read my previous articles about chasing symptoms and optimal health.

Written by Vin Miller for NaturalBias.com.

As shocking as that may sound, we all have some level of joint damage, and if you go to a doctor with a painful shoulder, knee, or back, chances are they’ll find some damage and recommend surgery. However, depending on your level of damage, there are likely to be many people functioning extremely well and pain free with the same amount of damage. While surgery is sometimes necessary and can make significant improvements to your life, it’s also performed a lot more than it needs to be and can make your life a lot worse.

What is a Trigger Point?

A trigger point is basically the technical term for a muscle knot. When a muscle is used excessively, some of the muscle fibers can become stuck in their contracted state. If this happens to enough fibers, entire sections of a muscle stay tight and rigid. These rigid sections of muscle are trigger points. Fortunately, they are usually easy to locate because they can be quite painful when pressure is applied to them. If you’ve ever had a deep tissue massage, then you should know exactly what I’m talking about.

The Trickery of Trigger Points

In many cases, trigger points refer pain. In other words, they send signals through your nervous system that manifest as pain in other locations. For example, a trigger point in your thigh can manifest as sharp knee pain. However, the referral patterns are not always that obvious. The concept of referred pain is hard to deny because once you apply pressure to a trigger point that is referring pain, the referred pain will intensify, sometimes unbearably.

For example, I spend a lot of time at the computer and the muscles in my upper back tend to get overused and tight as a result. I used to have a problem with strange headaches that would feel like a dull pain behind my right eye. Squeezing my right trapezius muscle would intensify the pain behind my eye to a point that I could barely tolerate.

Trigger Points Cause More Than Pain

Aside from the referred pain and possible misdiagnosis that trigger points can lead to, they can also cause some other serious problems. Because parts of the muscle are essentially locked up, the overall flexibility of the muscle is reduced, and with limited range of motion as a result, the stage is set for muscle tears.

Furthermore, the increased tightness of the muscle puts more tension on adjacent joints. As a result, the joint becomes imbalanced because it’s being pulled on one side more tightly than the other. This wears down the joint quicker than normal, decreases the integrity and stability of the joint, and can lead to serious damage that truly does require surgery.

Managing Trigger Points

Although trigger points are not always the cause of pain, we all overuse certain muscles in one way or another, and therefore, we are all prone to developing them. Managing trigger points is an essential part of maintaining a strong and pain free body that everyone should be doing on a regular basis.

Although it can be quite uncomfortable, the good news is that trigger points are easy to get rid of. You do so by massaging them on a regular basis. This doesn’t mean you simply make an appointment with a masseuse and forget about it. Trigger points are quite persistent. Even though a message session will have you feeling nice and loose, trigger points can and often do come back easily, especially if you’re continually engaging in the activity that brought them on in the first place.

Tools of the Trade

Because the elimination of trigger points requires frequent massaging, the only way to do it practically is to do it yourself. After all, massages can be expensive so this should come as good news. You may be thinking how difficult and laborious it would be to give yourself a massage, but it’s really not. With the help of just one or two massage tools, it’s actually quite easy and well worth the effort.

The Foam Roller

The foam roller is probably the most versatile and easy to use tool. As you can see if you click the link, you simply position yourself on the roller, use your body weight to apply pressure, and use your arms to roll yourself back and forth. This is the tool I use use most simply because of it’s versatility and convenience.

The Stick

Although The Stick has different pros and cons than the foam roller, it’s just as versatile. The biggest advantage is that you can get a lot more leverage and really hammer away at tight muscle tissue. Another advantage is that it’s far easier to travel with than a foam roller.

However, since you’re supplying all the leverage with your arms instead of your body weight, the big disadvantage is that it requires quite a bit more effort. But when you really need that extra leverage, the additional effort required is well worth it.

The Stick is also particularly easy to use on your neck which is something that is pretty much impossible to do with the foam roller.

Tennis Ball

That’s right, just a plain old tennis ball! Although you can use it on the floor just like a foam roller, I don’t think it’s as effective. Where the tennis ball really shines is when using it against a wall. You simply wedge the ball between yourself and the wall, lean against it to apply pressure, and use your legs to roll back and forth over it.

While the foam roller and The Stick are great for getting your legs, this works really well for most of your torso and your arms. Just make sure you use a clean tennis ball or it will mark up your wall. I learned that the hard way!

One thing the tennis ball is actually excellent for on the floor is the bottom of your foot. This could be especially beneficial if you suffer from plantar fasciitis.

The TheraCane

While the TheraCane is the tool I use least often, it’s arguably one of the most important. It’s unparalleled in being able to get at really hard to reach spots while giving you great leverage at the same time. This also tends to be the most expensive tool as well, but for me, it was worth every penny just because of how well I can hammer my upper back with it when I’m exceptionally tight.

It’s works really well for the lower back as well which is a spot that the other tools don’t particularly do a good job on.

Relief

Once you get the feel for self massage, you’ll begin to recognize the tightness that develops throughout your body and you’ll be amazed at the looseness and comfort you feel afterward. Not only is it an excellent form of pain relief, but it’s also a great way to prevent injury. If you participate in any sports or other strenuous activities, it would be a great thing to incorporate into your warm-up routine, and it certainly wouldn’t hurt to do it afterward also.

An Invaluable Resource

If you want to get the most out of self massage, a resource you absolutely can’t go without is The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook: Your Self-Treatment Guide for Pain Relief, Second Edition by Clair Davies.

This is an amazing book that explains the science behind trigger points and describes various self massage techniques. More importantly, it gives you an index of pain symptoms and directs you to the muscles likely to be causing the problem. For each muscle, there is a thorough explanation of how to find it, what it’s function is, why it typically develops trigger points, and how to massage it. It’s truly an excellent resource that I’ve referred to repeatedly over the years.

Written by Vin Miller for NaturalBias.com.