Importance of Good Posture and Body Mechanics

Using improper body mechanics can cause many complications that result in lowering one’s quality of life and efficiency at completing tasks. Using proper posture and body mechanics=better balance, fewer injuries, less pain, increased mobility and stability.

Examples of why it is so important!

•  Having poor posture for extended periods of time over the years can change the alignment of your spine and cause your spinal nerves to be compressed. This can cause debilitating pain and is hard to reverse.

• Having poor posture such as protruding your neck forward for extended periods of time can eventually lead to difficulty swallowing liquids and foods. This is because protruding your neck causes the weight placed your vertebrae to increase. For example: extending your neck an extra inch increases the weight on your cervical spine from 12 lbs to 32 lbs. 

• Having poor posture can cause problems with respiration/breathing. A hunched back leaves less room for your lungs to fill up with air.  Spinal deformities can also cause weakness in muscles that help with inspiration and expiration. 

• Completing movements such as twisting at the torso when moving heavy objects,  lifting heavy objects by bending your spine and not using your legs to bear the weight, and holding the heavy object away from your body cause increased pressure on your spine. Many times this results in injury. 

Intervention with the client:

If the client’s job includes picking up heavy objects. I would:

• Show him how to bend at his knees and hips when picking up the object. I would make sure that he doesn’t bend at his back. To help him check for safe posture, I would place a pole or long stick along his spine as he bends his hips and knees and lifts the object.  If he can feel the pole against his back, he is doing a good job at not bending at his spine. 
• If he needed to move that heavy object to a different location, I would demonstrate how to move his feet instead of twisting his torso.    

Man From The South

In Man From The South by Roald Dahl, a man made a bet that if his lighter could light ten times in a row, he would be allowed to cut off a soldier’s pinky finger. However, if the soldier won the bet, he would win a Cadillac. Later on, the reader realizes that the car isn’t his to bet; it’s his wife’s car and she has made several bets in the past with the man that cost her to lose some of her fingers. All that is left on one hand is her thumb and one other finger.

This poor woman who owns the Cadillac probably has trouble driving it herself. In order to have the appropriate grip strength to drive the car, she would need more than two fingers in one hand. This is because the type of grip she is using is considered a power grip and it requires all of your fingers to be present. Thankfully, modifications can be made and she will be able to drive it again! Since the woman’s other hand is unaffected, she can use a steering ball or spinner fitted to the steering wheel to guide the wheel.  She can also have a touch screen that will allow her to change gears by tapping the screen with the hand that is affected.