How Technology is Ruining Your Posture & What To Do About It
Let me guess, at this very moment you are hunched over a computer desk, at a table, or sitting in a chair on your smartphone. You’re probably also now correcting your posture as you read, lifting your head, straightening out your shoulders, and sitting up straight.
Too often have we chuckled at the above comical interpretation of human evolution without realizing the significant implications it has on both our physical and psychological health.
Our spine is an engineering marvel designed to progress us away from our primitive relatives, but instead we’ve voluntarily chosen to reverse this trend and predispose ourselves to strains and pains, mainly through the use of modern technology, which is supposed to be making our lives better!
Image source: http://www.heritagedaily.com
Why good posture is important
First of all, let’s shed some light on why maintaining a good posture is beneficial.
A good posture will help you:
- Prevent back and neck aches and pains
- Decrease wear and tear on your joints
- Use less energy for daily tasks
- Increase your spine’s durability
- Encourage feelings of wellbeing
How does good posture ensure this?
Human physiology is complex and can be likened to a thriving metropolis, where organs, soft tissues, nerves, arteries, and bones are all subcomponents to an efficient system.
The spine itself is divided into three sections, and together they collaborate to absorb shock, leverage movement, and most importantly protect our spinal cord.
Our spinal cord is an extension of the brain, and can be regarded as an ‘information super highway’ for electrical signals to be delivered throughout our body. Consequently we need support beams and dampers in the form of ligaments and intervertebral discs to secure our spine in its most effective posture; which is erect.
To curve our spine into a slumped position equates to significant stress on the spine’s supporting cast, which in turn denatures the integrity of our spinal cord. Think of it as a congested highway, and the electrical impulses are cars trying to speed their way into our brain to provide real-time feedback on the body’s current state.
Much like drivers who are stuck in a traffic jam, signals can express biological ‘road rage’ and amplify themselves.
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How technology affects your posture
Consider the scenario where we sit in front of our computer or tablet for 2 hours, our ligaments and muscles are straining to pull our spine back into an erect position. As a result, the tissues start sending impulses to the brain, to stimulate a voluntary response to change our posture.
Because the signals are stuck on the information super highway, they start escalating in frequency and duration. Eventually the brain receives it all and off goes our perception of back pain.
Imagine ignoring these pleas for help from our spine, like any disgruntled population in a city, a mutiny will break out in the form of constant un-easing pain signals overwhelming the brain. The mental stress accumulated from these complaints take a remarkable toll on our well-being.
Can poor posture also lead to depression?
An American study on depression has made sense of why we term depressed individuals ‘down and out’, as well as why we frequently tell our troubled friends to ‘look up’.
In this study, comments were made that depressed subjects often keep their head down due to low self-esteem, low muscle tone, and general lack of energy. The experimenters prescribed basketball to a cohort of depressed subjects, and over time they found enough significant evidence to suggest that basketball improved their overall mood.
The implication of this study is that basketball gave these individuals a goal to focus on (put the ball in the basket), but more importantly it forced them to stand tall and look up. By doing so, their spines had to straighten which of course improves breathing pattern and facilitates both oxygen/blood circulation to the body.
Moreover, our postural muscles start contracting to support our spine, which ultimately decongest our ever-important spinal cord.
But poor posture is not the only ailment caused by technology, it can cause aches and pains in many other ways too.
How mobile phone use is hurting you
With each generation, the uptake of mobile phones is increasing. Combine this with each individual spending increased time interacting with their phones every day, what was once purely a sitting at your desk with a computer in front of you problem is now a sitting in the car, on the couch, at the beach, an outside and even a standing up problem!
When you hold your phone, your wrist is in a rotated position, your thumb is stretched out performing rapid repetitive tasks and most often you’re looking down with your head at a less than optimal angle. For every 2cm forward your head leans, you’re putting 5kg of extra strain on the joints of your spine, and after a prolonged time this can do severe damage to your upper back and neck.
Repetitive Strain Injuries
Computer games, typing and mobile phones alike, the wrists, hands and thumbs get quite the workout. Pain in thumbs and wrists is a common occurrence due to repetitive and lengthy movements of texting and gaming controllers.
What’s more is that time goes very fast when engaged in social media, gaming or texting related activities and often you’re distracted, so you don’t realise your wrist, hands, eyes, thumbs are hurting until the damage has already been done.
Accidents
In addition to posture and repetitive strain injuries, accidents of all shapes and sizes occur as a result of our obsession with using technology. People are so in engrossed in what’s happening in the palm of their hand that they are often forgetting to see what is right in front of them, literally!
Walking into poles, running into people, dropping phones on their faces in bed and worst of all, car accidents. We need to be crucially aware of how using technology is affecting our lives.
While not all of these problems can be helped with physiotherapy or better awareness of your posture, it’s good to keep them in mind and remember to pay attention to avoid an embarrassing situation, a trip to the doctor or worse, death.
Solutions to technology injuries
With all these dangers ever present, we’ve outlined below, some solutions and preventative measures to reduce the amount of stress on your body caused by technology.
Stand up desk
Using a stand up desk is a great way to reduce stress on the neck and back and also helps you avoid the dangers of sitting for too long, by standing up while you work. Initially this seems strange but after some time and practice the benefits are far and wide.
Regular breaks
Having regular breaks from technology, whether it’s your computer on your desk, the TV, your phone or your gaming console, getting up ever half an hour and walking around breaks the monotones cycle caused by these technologies.
Stretches
Remember to stretch or use a foam roller regularly to keep the blood blowing and to lengthen out regularly contracted muscles. Watch our video on the importance of stretching and read how to stretch affectively here.
Have the correct desk setup
If you’re not using a stand up desk, ensure you monitor, desk and chair height are all set up optimally for good posture while working. Try and keep your eats in line with your shoulders.
Conclusion
Technological advances have improved multiple aspects of our lives, but it’s chosen to ignore the very nature of our own health. Like the symbolic animals that represent Australia, we should always move forward, not backwards.
Let’s avoid resorting back to the posture adopted by our primate ancestors, and keep doing the one simple thing that makes us human – stand tall. Remember; look up, not just for your own health… because you might miss the important in life.
Ian Sung - Physiotherapist and Director, Back In Motion Mount Gravatt
Ian, originally from Canada, began his career as an exercise physiologist, working alongside the Canadian Olympic physio. Ian grew up playing basketball and ice hockey, therefore he naturally has a passion with helping athletes fully rehabilitate and performing back at their highest standards. Ian is a great advocate of active rehab, and is enthusiastic about motivating everyone to be more proactive with their lifestyle. In particular Ian enjoys helping those with degenerative conditions get back to pain free function.