Palmer College of Chiropractic

Clinics

Posture

Good posture, along with a nutritious diet, aerobic conditioning, strength training, rest and periodic spinal adjustments, is a key to preventive health care. Good posture is especially helpful in avoiding injuries to the back.

This health information will highlight the importance of correct posture and help you put into practice a proper method of sitting on the job. Understanding how good posture affects your health is one way to Take Charge of Your Health.

Posture: Improper and Proper Ways to Work at Your Desk

A: Bracing a telephone between your head and neck can cause neck problems.	B: Physical problems may result from less forceful but improper movements over a long time or by many repetitions.
C: Slumping increases spinal strain and pressures.	D: Constant one-sided body twisting can create muscular and spinal imbalance.
E: A billfold in your back pocket can cause a tilt in the hips or lower back as well as interfere with circulation.	F: Avoid carrying the burden of your work home.

How Chiropractic Benefits Your Posture Chiropractic care is an effective way to interrupt the tense-body, tense-mind cycle. When you experience long periods of stress, the muscles become tight and tense. This may result in pulling on vertebrae, which can restrict motion and cause nerve irritation that perpetuates the cycle. Chiropractors can interrupt this cycle and recommend stress reduction techniques and procedures. Exercises for Micro Breaks For visually demanding tasks, change your focus by looking at an object that is more than 20 feet away. Look out the window or at a picture on a wall that is far away. Give your eyes a break from the lights in the room or from your computer screen by lightly placing the palms of your hands over your eyes while they are closed. Hold this position for 30 to 60 seconds. If you work with your hands on a keyboard, calculator or telephone, you should frequently exercise and stretch your fingers, hands, wrists and forearms. Shrug your shoulders up toward your ears or roll your shoulders backward and foreward in circular motions. Turn your head slowly to one side, then the other or tilt your head slowly to one shoulder then the other. If you sit for long periods of time, take a moment to check and adjust your posture or push back into your chair's support to stretch.

G: Well supported and balanced sitting postures. H: The forearm to upper arm is best maintained at a 75- to 90-degree angle for computer tasks. I: Proper work-intensive postures. J: Proper conversational postures. K: Relaxation or stretching postures.

Posture and Chiropractic

Chiropractors advise their patients on correct posture as part of an overall wellness package.

For patients with long-term poor posture, degeneration of the spine can occur, which potentially causes serious health problems. When patients know the benefits of good posture, they can ease the pain in their backs and prevent further degeneration.

Chiropractic and Your Health

Chiropractic is oriented toward preventive health care. Exercise, rest, posture, good nutrition and periodic spinal adjustments add up to a healthy lifestyle. Taking responsibility for your health helps reduce the need for costly medication, surgery and/or hospitalization.

From its founding 100 years ago, chiropractic has been based on the premise that the human body has marvelous sustaining and recuperative powers. A healthy spine and nervous system ensure that the body's recuperative powers can operate at their full potential.

The benefits of spinal adjusting have been confirmed by recent scientific studies, although the practice itself can be traced back into ancient history. D. D. Palmer performed the first true chiropractic adjustment of modern times in 1895 in Davenport, Iowa. Palmer College of Chiropractic, which he founded near the site of the first adjustment, today is among the leading educators of chiropractic professionals.

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