By DR. VICTOR S. SIERPINA
“Stuff your eyes with wonder, live as if you’d drop dead in ten seconds. See the world. It’s more fantastic than any dream made or paid for in factories.” — Ray Bradbury
While working on a pinched nerve issue in my neck, my wonderfully skilled University of Texas Medical Branch physical therapist, Dr. Jeanne Smith, suggested that it would help me if I improved my posture. She noticed that I tended to slump my shoulders and head as I sat, putting extra pressure on the neck discs, nerves and muscles.
My observant tennis coach, Dom Sasser said the same thing about a week later. During a lesson, he pointed out that between shots and points, I was letting my racket head hang down in my hand rather than holding it up to prepare for the next play. My physical head was also down. “Hold the head up,” he advised. Not doing so was making me less attentive and just a step behind handling a return volley or ground stroke.
When I get similar messages from multiple sources in my life, I take it as a sign that something important is being conveyed. So, I decided to take both of their advice.
Following Dr. Smith’s instructions, I realized how many hours I spend daily sitting and working on a computer or reading. I now make a conscious effort to pull my shoulders back by pinching my shoulder blades, tucking my chin and keeping my head more erect. I have found one of those variable-height, standing desks can help plus postural adjustments and some gentle neck stretches from time to time.
Just changing my posture, I found an amazing thing happened. Not only did this improve the symptoms in my neck, it made me feel instantly more positive, confident and dignified. Not for nothing do debutantes and Marines get drilled on holding themselves just so. It is a position that reflects poise, readiness, and discipline.
So try it. If you have a tendency, like a lot of us do, to droop your head and neck, adjust your posture like this and see how it improves your attitude as well as relieving neck and shoulder stress.
The universe sent by a few patients with similar stories to reinforce the message. A retired clergyman was told to hold his head more erect by his physical therapist. This helped almost immediately resolve episodic dizziness we had been working to remedy for some time. A new mother presented with shoulder and neck pain. She had self-diagnosed it as being related to her posture, cradling her nursing infant and her two-year old on the same arm, while slumping her neck and shoulders. I administered a trigger point injection, advised some postural exercises and physical therapy.
Many people suffer from cervicogenic headaches, which are migraines or tension-type headaches arising from their neck and posture. Legions of us suffer shoulder and neck cramps from hunching over our computers at work or during long commutes.
So go ahead and try some heads up simple adjustments to your posture and see how easily you can feel better. Check with your physical therapist, physician, masseur, acupuncturist, or chiropractor if symptoms persist. As for my tennis game, heads up!
Dr. Victor S. Sierpina is the WD and Laura Nell Nicholson Family Professor of Integrative Medicine and Professor of Family Medicine at UTMB.