If you have a mobile phone, laptop or tablet and you get neck, upper back or lower back pain chances are you may be a Tech Wreck. I call a Tech Wreck any neck pain that is caused by using these pieces of technology.
In my practice we see many clients showing signs of Tech Wreck. Susan is a client of ours who comes to mind. Susan is a Tech Wreck! Susan is a professional in her late 20’s. She spends most of her day on her computer for work. She has deadlines that she has to meet and so can spend up to 3 hours at a time without getting up from her desk.
Susan is also into Facebook, Instagram and Snap chat. She belongs to many Facebook groups for work and to catch up with other special interest groups and loves to post to her friends on Instagram and Snap chat. She texts a lot on her mobile phone as her friends communicate this way also.
When we first met Susan we looked at her posture. She looked overweight, had hunched shoulders and her chin poked forward. We stood her up against the wall and her head did not reach the wall without her tipping her head back. Her stomach poked out also and her knees rolled in.
Susan was getting constant headaches and at the end of the day she was always exhausted and this was starting to impact on her social life. She had pain turning her head and looking up and it was also affecting her sleep. Many of you could be in the same boat if any of this resonates with you.
We decided that Susan would benefit from our “BodyFix” program. We empowered Susan to take her health into her own hands. Susan became the instigator of her program and we became the facilitators. Susan was taught how her body should work so that she could then make important decisions on what she did with her body during the day.
First of all we relieved Susan’s pain and helped her to understand where her pain was coming from. This way she was empowered to eliminate the causes.
Susan asked for a stand up desk that would allow her to stand up while on the computer and because it was adjustable she could lower it to sit for some periods of time also. She no longer looked down at her screen but looked straight ahead. She used eye drops to help her avoid getting eye strain from too much screen time.
Susan decided to limit her time on her tablet and mobile phone to 10 mins at a time. She used an alarm to tell her when her 10 minutes was up. She could always go back to it later on for another 10 minutes after a short break.
Her life was starting to get back in order and she was feeling strong and confident about her future. We taught her self massage techniques to use when she was starting to feel any strain and she had a list of stretches that she performed daily to counteract the tightness in her muscles. We also gave Susan a strengthening program to start with. Using this as a starting point Susan was then able to find the right exercises for her. Susan was confident in attending gym classes as she now knew what her body could do and what she liked to do.
Susan would come in every 4 to 5 weeks or so for a tweaking of her “BodyFix” program so that we could then teach her more about her body and keep her feeling Strong , Healthy and Active, and also to get on top of any niggles that could potentially turn into problems later on.
Interestingly when we first saw Susan she looked overweight and sluggish. A few weeks into her program she no longer looked overweight. She had transformed into a picture of Health and Vitality. She was actually never overweight at all she just looked it because of her poor posture.
Here are the 6 ways that Susan transformed herself from a Tech Wreck into a person bursting with Health, Strength and Vitality.
Use of a Neck Tek
As soon as Susan felt any inkling of a headache coming on she would lie on her Neck Tek, which I also call the headache remover. If your headache is a result of neck strain then this simple device corrects the muscle action (BodyFix). It will even work if you just lie in it for 10 minutes and do nothing as it corrects body position and facilitates the correct muscles to work.
Susan did not sit or stand at her computer for more than an hour at a time. She had an alarm to tell her when to get up and/or move . This then stops the accumulation of stress in certain muscles.
Susan limited her mobile phone and tablet usage to 10 mins at a time
Susan performed specific neck stretches gently every hour to stop accumulation of tension in muscles
Susan performed specific posture strengthening exercises every morning and night which only took her 5 minutes to do. This then got her muscles ready to take on the load she was going to put on them during the day.
Susan made the decision on which exercise she would do because she knew her body better than anyone else.
In this day and age every single person needs their own “BodyFix” program because everybody deserves to have a Strong, Healthy Active body.
Come and see a Pain Slayer for your BodyFix program.