Unhealthy Effects Of Your Bad Posture To Your Body And Mind

Who knew that a slouching, which is often seen as laid-back or comfortable position, could do so much damage not just in your body but in your mind as well? Start paying attention to your posture from now on, correct your bad posture habits right away, and save yourself from this health problems in the process!

Worsens Depression

Isn’t it they say that cracking a smile actually helps alter your mood from feeling blue to feeling a bit happier? That’s because body language don’t just affect us physically, but as well as mentally and emotionally. Slouching all the time starts causing back pain or neck pain and since your body is always in pain due to the poor posture, you become irritated, tired, or aggravated most of the time.

Leads To Career Problems

Employees who are always in good posture whether they’re walking, sitting in front of a computer/while talking to a client/during meeting, or even just by standing while waiting for the elevator tend to be more successful. Proper posture makes you look confident not just in your co-worker’s eyes but as well as your boss’ and clients’, therefore you command more respect and trust from them. Slouching, however, makes you look insecure and lazy. This combination is not what you’d like to have at work.

Slows Your Digestive System

Being in crunched position all the time folds your intestines too. This can slow things from digesting your food, absorbing nutrients from those foods, to having a hard time in the loo.  This can lead to digestive issues too like acid reflux and hernia. So you may wanna start sitting up properly to avoid these problems and get rid of those stomach rolls in pictures.

Increases Risks Of Death And Disease

Do you know why they say sitting is the new smoking? That’s because being inactive most of the time combined with poor posture is a deadly combination. Like smoking, it can lead to number of health problems like cardiovascular diseases, high blood pressure, diabetes, and obesity. With all those possible illnesses, do not be surprised if your life expectancy dramatically lessens.

It Makes You Appear Heavier Than You Actually Are

Remember those stomach rolls mentioned above? Yes, even if you are not necessarily on the heavier side, constant slouching makes you appear so. Why? Well instead of being stretched out and looking lean which happens when you stand tall or sit properly, that crunched posture folds your body and produces rolls and bulges where you don’t really have.   

Cuts Off Your Circulation

Fluids and gases flows throughout your body constantly. But if you’re seated for extended period of time and is slouching or do it with crossed legs on top of that, it affects that natural flow. Just like how the water in a water hose will have trouble flowing when the hose have a couple of knots. Don’t you notice the rush of blood in your arms or legs after a long time of sitting with your legs crossed or sleeping on your side with your arms tucked under your body or head? That’s because the unnatural position is keeping your blood from freely and easily flowing.

Stresses You Out

Considering that bad posture stresses the spine and the muscles, it won’t be a surprise if you become stressed out too. When your body is stressed, it leads to a chain reaction of mental and emotional stress. This is why you’re grumpy and easily ticked off after a long day at work. Don’t let this be your daily state! Practice good posture whether when sitting, standing, or sleeping so that you become less prone to stress.

Top 9 Tips To Transform Your Workplace Into A Healthier And Productive Haven

It’s challenging to stay healthy and productive in a place that makes you sit all day and do repetitive tasks. But no matter how challenging it is, it’s definitely not impossible! Here are some tips that may help you along the way.

1.  Walking Meetings

While formal matters definitely require a sit down meeting, why not change things up when it comes to more informal ones? You know those meetings where it’s basically information dissemination that involves only two or three persons but still needs face time because it’s still delicate to just email them? Yes those meetings can be done while walking to get coffee. This way, employees are more likely to pay attention instead of fiddling through their phones until the meeting is done.

2. Standing Workstations

We’re not saying your office should boycott chairs altogether, just that it would be better to design your workstations in a way that will allow you to comfortably work while standing from time to time. Sitting all day can’t just kill you slowly but it can also affect the quality of your work because of the prolonged slump.

3. Plants In The Office

Plants are calming to look at, give off oxygen and absorb carbon dioxide, plus they can make any surrounding look more alive. So decorating your cubicle with plants can help make you feel better even with a truckload of work. When a worker is less stressed, his work improves and his health doesn’t decline.

4. Start A Healthy Breakfast Club

Since more and more individuals often eat breakfast at work to avoid running late, be more conscious of what you stuff on your mouth. Don’t mindlessly buy fast food for your breakfast every day. Instead, encourage your co-workers to pack breakfast so you can all eat together. Fun right! Take turns in bringing breakfast for everybody, volunteer to go first so that you’d be more motivated to bring healthier food like hard-boiled eggs, sweet potato hash and fresh fruits. The others then will feel compelled to make the same choices with the food they’ll pack.

5. Sponsored Gym Membership

Gym memberships can be pricey and not everyone can afford it. So why not suggest that the higher-ups or your boss include free gym membership among the other benefits of employees. If they ask how this benefits them in return, you can simply say that healthy and fit workers become more productive employees who are less liable to use sick days.

6. Integrated Exercise Equipment In The Office

Most people only get to sweat it out in the gym after work nowadays. The problem with this is that, employees are often too tired to work out after office hours or they have other commitments to attend to. This results to a lot of no-gym-for-today day. But if your office has pullup bar leading into the break room, a climbing rope hanging from the rafters, gymnastics rings attached to the overhead beam near the bathrooms then it’d be easier to squeeze in some workout every day. Even if it’s just for 10 minutes at a time, it’s better than nothing all day.

7. Fitness Challenges

Employees always find a way to entertain themselves to stay sane from their monotonous office lives. Instead of gossiping or beating each other on online games, why not initiate fitness challenges? Since it’s a competition, people will be motivated and challenged to participate. This also breeds progress because people are trying to be better than their competition so they’re more likely to push themselves. What a sneaky way to stay active right!  

8. Office Naps

People often feel sleepy after a big meal like lunch, aside from that we all know that workers are less productive in the afternoon because it’s around this time that fatigue hits people, hence the afternoon slump. Instead of forcing yourself to stay awake by mindlessly scrolling through social media to beat your urge to sleep, try to cut your lunch a bit short and take a nap. Better yet, consider suggesting the idea of allowing employees to take short power naps after lunch to your superior in your next meeting. This may not fly at first but if you explain that tired employees are less effective employees who produce sub-par work, then they may start seeing the point.

9. Lead By Quiet Example

If you want to encourage more people to lead healthier lives, you don’t have to teach them how, just lead by example. If you show your co-workers how energetic you are after a quick power nap that you don’t need coffee to get through the day, or how you don’t seem stressed at all despite the pile of paper works on your desk because you do jumping jacks before tackling the work, or how you take less sick leaves because you bring your own healthy meal instead of ordering fast food, they’ll all soon follow your ways.

10 Common Reasons Why People Get Injured While Playing Sports

People get into sports for a lot of reasons but none of them is to get injured. So it’s important that you know the risk factors in playing sports so that you can avoid getting hurt as much as possible.

1.      Overuse

Sports that involve overusing or repetitive movements tend to result injuries. This is why if you noticed tennis elbow, golf elbow, and runner’s knee are named after a sport. These injuries are named such way because the sport utilizes that particular part of the body repeatedly.

2.      Stops And Twists

People who play sports like basketball, gymnastics, and soccer often encounter knee and ankle injuries because of the quick stopping and twisting motions involved in the sports. Athletes of these sports are often running at full speed and make abrupt stops and twist which tears muscles and cushioning cartilage.

3.      Falls

Whether it’s training or during a proper game, falls are unavoidable especially with high impact sports. When this happens, it’s usually the wrist which gets injured because people tend to use their hands to break their fall.

4.      Improper Equipment

Wearing shoes that do not provide enough support, lifting weight that too heavy for you and ill-fitting helmet can all lead to injuries. This is why it’s important that you invest in sports gears that suit your body so that it can help you perform better instead of cause you injury.

5.      New Or Increased Activity

Whether you’re trying a new sport or increasing your level of current activity, know that you can’t do that all of a sudden. You have to start gradually and not go from 0 to 10. Otherwise you’ll suffer plantar fasciitis, lower back pain, or cramps.

6.      Fatigue

This is why experts advice against working out every day. Your body needs to rest in between activity to recover from the intense workout and avoid muscle pulls.

7.      Poor Warmup

There’s a reason why people are always told to warm up properly prior to exercising. You have to ease into the workout by stretching to deliver blood and oxygen to your muscles. This doesn’t just prevent injuries but it also help you muscles work more efficiently.

8.      Impact

Hard impacts are another culprit behind injuries such as shin splints and plantar fasciitis. Hard surfaces cause a more jarring impact on an athlete's feet, legs, hips and back.

9.      Unilateral Movements

When you do an activity that only exerts one side of your body, like golf and tennis, it results to weaker muscles on less active side of your body. This can lead to pain for the active side and dull ache for the not so active side.

10. Technique Or Posture

This is why it’s important to hire an instructor or trainer when starting a sport because they can help check you form and if you’re doing the activity right. If you don’t have the right posture you risk suffering from pain, spasm, and pulls. Not to mention you won’t be getting the most out of the workout because you’re doing it wrong.

Everything That You Should Know About Whiplash Injury

Whiplash can be so severe that even the simplest daily task would be impossible for you to do or it can be a mild annoyance that keeps you from turning your head to the side. No matter the intensity of your injury, it should not be left untreated!  

4 Phases Of Whiplash

Did you know that whiplash occurs in phases? Yes it does, actually it has four phases that all happens in less than one-half of a second when your body is thrown forward and then pulled back with intense speed and force during a rear-end collision.

Phase 1

This is exactly at the moment of rear-end impact. What happens is that your mid-back flattens against your seat while your head moves backward acting as opposing forces on your neck. By this time, the injury has already occurred before your head even touches the head rest.

Phase 2

This is where your torso has accelerated as far out as possible. Your head then continues to move backward resulting to your neck forming an abnormal S-curve.

Phase 3

By this time your torso has starts to descent back to your seat and your head is now in its peak acceleration movement forward.

Phase 4

In this phase your head continues to move forward in a forceful bending motion of your cervical spine. This is where the spinal cord and nerve roots are stretched and irritated while your brain may have hit the inside of your skull.

Symptoms Of Whiplash

Patients generally don’t feel anything right after the collision but that doesn’t mean there is no injury. This is why it’s vital to seek chiropractic care for early diagnosis and treatment.  When symptoms materialize though, you may experience:

· Neck and back pain and aching

· Neck stiffness and decreased range of motion

· Shoulder pain and stiffness

· Headaches (most commonly at the base of the skull radiating towards the forehead)

· Jaw pain

· Arm pain and weakness

· Fatigue

· Sensory disturbances, such as pins and needles

Some patients also experience cognitive symptoms of whiplash such as:

· Dizziness

· Ringing in the ears

· Visual disturbances, such as blurred vision

· Difficulty concentrating

· Memory problems

· Difficulty sleeping

· Irritability

When To Seek Medical Attention

Whiplash will often get better on its own or after simple treatment in a few weeks or month. But once you start experiencing pain that spreads to your shoulders and/or arms; if it becomes painful and difficult to move your head; if you experience numbness, tingling or weakness; or if the pain is severe and interfering with everyday life, seek a chiropractor right away!

Treatment Options For Whiplash

Different patients show different symptoms depending on the severity of the injury. But typical treatments could be:

· Ice Pack

This is often advised right after the injury is sustained to lessen inflammation and swelling. The ice pack will be placed against the nape in 5-10 minutes intervals for the initial day following the accident.

· Heat

Heat compress is to relieve aching and pain. This is typically given after the 2-3 days of icing following the accident.

· Exercise

Since the muscles around the neck have weakened due to the injury, gentle neck and shoulder exercise helps strengthen the muscles and helps with the recovery.  

· Chiropractic Care

In case you condition need more comprehensive treatment but you would like to avoid pain medications as well as surgery, chiropractic care can help. Chiropractors can gently move the involved joint towards the restricted area. This helps create mobility and encourages healing.