How To Protect My Back?

How did you hurt yourself? I carried a box that was too heavy for me. - I bent down to catch something and I couldn't straighten up. - I took a bad posture to sleep. - I did a long drive . - I position myself badly at work. - I played sports and injured my back.

As much response as patient! Apart from a fall, surgery or an organic problem such as a herniated disc , osteoarthritis, etc., many of us hurt our backs due to bad positions taken in our daily life. At work is added leisure and personal time at home, we then accumulate a multitude of bad postures, which are the source of our main pain.

Tired of blocking yourselves after trifles? Let's go for some general advice on your maintenance.

SITTING AND STANDING POSTURE

Depending on your profession, you spend most of your day sitting or standing. I can already hear "You have to stand straight, you already know". If this principle is integrated, it is not as far as it is understood or correctly realized.

To your towels, to your cushions!

The goal, when sitting, is to avoid a posture with too much support on the coccyx and the sacrum (bone in the center of the buttocks). To do this, nothing simpler :

You place a rolled towel or a small seat cushion not too thick behind your back, well at the level of the lumbar lordosis (the hollow at the bottom of the back). We then create a camber in straight people (flat back) or we support hyperlordosis (very pronounced hollow).

The state of rest of the intervertebral discs in this area is in a position of physiological lordosis. If you are straight, there will be too much support on the front part of the disc, the muscles will be tight, creating pain. If you are in hyperlordosis, the support is more important at the back of the disc, therefore pain. The physical constraints must be located in the center of the disc to be then distributed on the periphery.

You straighten your shoulders to put the rest of your back on the backrest,

The feet are flat on the ground. If you cross your legs, you take preferential support on a buttock, therefore on an iliac (pelvic bone). You then unbalance your pelvis and modify the stresses on the sacrum and the coccyx. Result? Pain…

Do you prefer to sit by the chair / armchair? No problem !

Sit on your two ischions (sharp bones of the buttocks) at the edge of the chair. You are then obliged to keep a certain lumbar and dorsal curvature on pain of pain (xD) and slouching on the back of the seat. At this point, think about these tips and straighten up, or sit back in the seat.

POSITION WITH COMPUTER / TABLET / PHONE

Bring your chair closer to the tray so you can put your forearms on it,

Adjust the seat height (if possible) so that the angle between your arm and your forearm is 90 °,

Position your screen facing you, at eye level. This avoids prolonged rotation and flexion of the neck (less tightness in the neck). If you have a portable computer, place it on filing cabinets for example, to straighten the screen and the keyboard. You can also use a portable keyboard.

If you are on the couch or in your bed, forget the super comfortable semi-recumbent position:

Sit as shown above, your buttocks at the bottom of the seat with a cushion to support you. You can extend your legs in front of you (long live the chaise longue or the pouffe!),

Place your computer / tablet / mobile phone / book at eye level, putting cushions or an ergonomic tray underneath.

Standing up couldn't be simpler, the watchword is "PRIDE". Ladies and gentlemen, we stand on both legs, the right pelvis and we take out the chest or the pectorals! No need to bring your shoulders back until your two shoulder blades touch, we do not contort ... You straighten up naturally and lower your shoulders by blowing. Look straight ahead when you walk, head on your shoes (or your phone), you will miss the pole coming!

POSTURE IN CHARGE

We are constantly asked to carry weight: backpack, handbag, shopping, children, laundry basket, suitcase etc. etc. Everyone knows (at least the patients I have already met) that you have to bend your legs to catch something on the ground or something heavy. I then asked some to give me a little demo and the posture is not brilliant.

Indeed the knees are a little bent, then we lean back fully and we pull on it to go up ... Not top.

It's squat time! For a protected back and a firmer back, follow the advice:

Whether it is a light load (pen) or heavy (water pack), you must be as close as possible to the weight to be lifted, stable on your legs. We then move the feet at least shoulder width apart,

Analyze the situation: is it something light or heavy? Are there cuffs to carry it?

Bend your knees. You go down as low as possible to put the least stress on your back, which must remain straight. If you are not stable, do not hesitate to put a knee on the ground,

Grasp the load with both hands (for heavy objects) and bring the object as close to your trunk as possible, Most critical moment, push in the legs to straighten up completely, while keeping your back straight.