Most of us are clued in enough to realise that neck and shoulder pain is more often than not linked to our posture. Bad Posture habits can be formed at work, at the office, at home, at the computer desk and reinforced with driving, cooking and many other manual tasks involving our upper body.
Every day I catch public transport. Unfortunately, people like me can be commuting from anywhere between 60 minutes to 4 hours per day. For this reason, a sight that is becoming more and more the ‘norm’ on trains, trams and buses in Melbourne is the increased use of handheld technology like the Smartphone. With Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, internet, music, mobile versions of newspapers – the smartphone has become our Number 1 tool for killing time!
Combining the hours spent commuting per day, with the bad posture, looking directly down at our Smartphone’s can result in significant discomfort and pain. This is evidenced by the number of people, taking a break from their Facebook update to explore movements and stretches to find some relief. In most cases, this is a somewhat unconscious reaction to the build-up of muscular tension from bad posture.
Many people I see, still haven’t made the connection that the amount of neck pain they experience might be directly proportionate to the time spent ‘inside’ their Smartphone. The Exercise Physiology Group can educate you on your pain and strategise with you to implement triggers to eliminate aggravating factors. We start with helping you identify aspects of your posture that are causing pain, and work through the process of re-training your body to maintain an improved posture that will decrease your pain and allow for more efficient movement. Quite often, the right mix of corrective exercises and therapeutic movements and muscle activation techniques can have an almost immediate effect.
If you believe your neck and shoulder pain is sending you constant updates through facebook, twitter, or the mobile version of your favourite newspaper, contact us today to block that sender once and for all. For a limited time, we’ll provide you with the stretching exercises that will give you immediate relief for free.
