Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Bad Posture?

This week I read a blog by Julianne Hough, that was about improving the way people sit while on the computer. Also the way people slouch over while looking at a phone.  A lot of us have terrible posture when it comes to those things. The reason for the author of posting this blog was because her friend was experiencing neck and back pain. Her friend found out it was due to years of sitting hunched over the laptop. It changed her posture and caused all kinds of problems. Isn't that scary to think about? I know it is for me because I sit like that all of the time and I even try to sit up straight if I pay enough attention to it.

Apparently your head weighs eight pounds and when you're slouched over, that can create 18 pounds of pressure coming down on your neck and shoulders. Her friend was given these three options: 1) Visit the doctor regularly to correct her body. 2) Take prescription medicine to heal the discomfort. 3) Create a better working environment and to train her body to self correct. She chose the third one.

In this article, it included helpful tips of how to prevent this from happening to you. Which are:
  • When looking at your phone, hold it at eye level rather than holding it down towards your lap.


  • Invest in a Stand Desk
    • Which is a desk for people who spend a lot of time on the computer. These desks allow you to a sitting position as well. But standing allows your body to be in its natural state.
  • Get an Anti Fatigue Mat
    • These are helpful for people standing in one place for an extended time. They are a soft and squishy mat that relieves pressure on your heels, back legs, and shoulders.
                                       
  • An Adjustable Monitor Mount
    • This lets you adjust your monitor so it'll force you to sit in a better position because you'll be looking eye to eye (screen) with the monitor, instead of looking down at it.
  • A Kneeling Chair
    • These chairs promote good posture and relieve existing back pain

I thought the author made very valid points and they were helpful. When I sit in a chair, a lot of times I don't use the chair's back to my advantage. What I mean is, most chairs are made to help your back stand straight while sitting, but I lean forward a lot of time, especially if the work I'm doing is frustrating, what I'm reading is boring or I'm tired. I know that can't be good because sometimes after doing homework, my back hurts. So I'm glad I found this blog because I'll think more about my posture than before and I hope this blog can help others as well.

With that being said, I feel the author used enlightenment and education. I think she used enlightenment because she brought awareness to an important issue and made me think more about it. She used education by backing up her information. She provided facts about a heads weight, how much pounds of pressure it will be when sitting incorrectly, and the items that we can use to help our posture problems and habits.

Check out this article at:
http://juliannehough.com/stand-up-for-your-health/





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