Tags
back, female, health, how to, life, male, man, neck, pain, people, shoulder, spine, woman, young
At first, this started off as an entry point for a rant about me feeling old because of back pains, but then I gradually realized I’m not alone. A lot of people I know and even more that I don’t know are having back and spine problems.
I’m no doctor, but I do study people. One contribution to this phenomenon I strongly sense is the average person’s worsening posture. People used to have reasons to look up, but people are always looking down.
Another reason this could be is sheer electronic usage. Using a phone or computer causes neck and spine straining over long periods of time. I know even when I try to hold my phone properly in front of myself, my arms can only cooperate for a few minutes. When most people start off with a correct sitting position, over time maintaining that position becomes more difficult.
If I were a doctor, I’m certain I would be mentioning exercise at least once. Which leads me to stretching. When computers were new and all the rage, there were many people aware of the dangers of carpal tunnel and posture issues and they accommodated with exercises specifically designed to stretch the wrist and spine. People don’t care about that anymore.
People used to go outside more because there was a demand for it. If you didn’t go outside, you would never talk to friends or get to progress in your career or meet new people or learn how to drive.
Now, you don’t have to go outside to do anything. So, people are using their energy on more sedentary activities. Even older generations are becoming conditioned to this lifestyle. Playing outside used to mean playing outside. Now, playing outside means playing with electronics outside.
What can we do to combat this situation?
For starters, become continuously aware of your sitting posture. Try to look down for very short periods at a time, and practice looking up.
Stretch frequently. If you use computers often, do wrist exercises as well. Every twenty minutes you should take a few minutes away from using whatever electronic you’re using and stretch the neck and spine. Usually, this aides in keeping you posture-conscious.
Do things that involve not sitting. Like standing, but not while on your phone.
Educate others on the risks they take by always looking down with no breaks in-between.
Also, the body needs calcium.
Next time someone asks you about that back pain, you can say, “What back pain? I’m posture-conscious.”