Posture and Body Mechanics
It is important to teach our client's about proper posture and body mechanics for various reasons. Most back pain or pain in general is caused by poor posture, faulty body mechanics, general lack of physical fitness, and stressful living or work habits. These are things we want our clients to avoid in their daily life. This type of pain is one of the most common medical problems affecting eight out of ten people at some point during their lives. It has been found that 80% of the adult population will have low back pain at some point, and 90% of the time this is recurrent. We also want to help our client's avoid work injuries or injuries in general. If they have bad posture or bad body mechanics then it will be easier for them to hurt themselves. This could be by lifting and twisting, sitting incorrectly as a desk all day, etc. These are the types of things we want our clients to be educated on so they can avoid these things. Also, as therapists we want to ensure that our clients understand the importance of good posture in relation to ADL's. This will help with prolonged standing such as washing dishes or cooking, sitting, lying down, and house hold chores such as vacuuming or sweeping.
To reiterate on some of the main points as to why we should teach our clients proper posture and body mechanics is to prevent back pain, avoid work injuries, avoid injuries in general, and the application of ADL's and how to make them easier for yourself.
One intervention I would use with my clients would be informational videos. First, I would show them a video on proper body mechanics. For example, I would show them a video on how to lift a box correctly. Next, I would have them demonstrate it to me to see if they can do it correctly how the video explained it. I would do this for multiple tasks such as reaching for things, proper sitting techniques, and proper ways to lay down. Another intervention I would use is different stretching techniques. One of the ways to keep your back healthy is to do stretches during your work day. I would demonstrate the stretches to them and have them repeat the stretches back to me. We would practice these during their therapy and I would have them practice them at home and at the work place as well.
To reiterate on some of the main points as to why we should teach our clients proper posture and body mechanics is to prevent back pain, avoid work injuries, avoid injuries in general, and the application of ADL's and how to make them easier for yourself.
One intervention I would use with my clients would be informational videos. First, I would show them a video on proper body mechanics. For example, I would show them a video on how to lift a box correctly. Next, I would have them demonstrate it to me to see if they can do it correctly how the video explained it. I would do this for multiple tasks such as reaching for things, proper sitting techniques, and proper ways to lay down. Another intervention I would use is different stretching techniques. One of the ways to keep your back healthy is to do stretches during your work day. I would demonstrate the stretches to them and have them repeat the stretches back to me. We would practice these during their therapy and I would have them practice them at home and at the work place as well.
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