Why Is It Important to Use Postural Supports?

Why is it important to use postural supports?

Since we humans walk on two legs, the body often puts pressure on the neck and lower back. The muscles from the neck to the shoulders need to be tight to maintain the posture, which will lead to poor blood circulation and a feeling of stiffness. Prompt the shoulders to feel heavy. The main causes of stiff shoulders include muscle fatigue, poor blood circulation and peripheral nerve damage.

There are various muscles around the neck and shoulders. If you keep the muscles in a tense state for a long time, your muscles will feel tired, and the resulting fatigue materials will accumulate and make the muscles stiff. It compresses blood vessels, impairs blood circulation, and damages peripheral nerves. In addition, poor blood circulation cannot provide enough oxygen and nutrients for the muscles, which will cause fatigue and make the muscles harder and harder. Maintain the same posture for a long time, such as working at a desk. The chair and table are not balanced and continue to have a biased posture. Always put the bag on the same shoulder and wait for these persistently biased postures or in a state of tension, which will cause your muscles to become tired and more likely to have stiff shoulders.

The human spine has a gentle S-shaped curve to maintain its posture so that it can walk on two legs while supporting a heavy head and arms. There is a "intervertebral disc" between the spine, which acts as a buffer to reduce the impact. As we age, this cushion will gradually collapse and become stiff, leading to "cervical spondylosis", which can also cause pain and stiffness in the neck and shoulders. It began to appear around the age of 40. Shoulder pain that occurs around the age of 50 may be "fifty shoulders." Sometimes the name of the disease "frozen shoulder" is used. Its characteristic is that the arm is turned behind the body, for example, it is difficult to tie the apron belt behind the waist, and it is painful when raising the arm. The reason is not clear, but it is believed that this is due to the aging of the tendon tissue around the shoulder joint and inflammation caused by overuse. If you have symptoms such as anemia, low blood pressure, or high blood pressure, you are more likely to have stiff shoulders. It is also said that long-term stress, such as anxiety and stimulation, can cause stiffness in the shoulders.

However, the symptoms of stiff shoulders can be relieved by self-care such as massage, gymnastics, and vitamin supplementation. You can try using over-the-counter medicines that contain analgesic and anti-inflammatory ingredients on areas that feel stiff. If the symptoms are not easy to improve, or if you have a headache or nausea, we recommend that you go to the hospital in time.

Stimulation caused by shoulder stiffness can produce pain-causing substances such as bradykinin and histamine, which act on the sensory center and cause pain. At this time, a substance called prostaglandin is also produced, which causes inflammation and acts on synapses (nerve endings), thereby aggravating pain. If you have pain, that part will become tense and your muscles will become stiff and stiff. External medicines containing anti-inflammatory and analgesic ingredients can inhibit pain at an early stage and prevent the vicious circle of pain. If there is pain in the stiff part, you can use related drugs to effectively suppress the prostaglandins that cause pain.

In addition to medicine, you can put a steamed towel on the affected area to warm it up. Bathing is also very important, it can warm your whole body, relax and relieve fatigue. Help promote muscle blood circulation, improve blood flow, can help reduce shoulder stiffness. In addition, massaging and relaxing the affected area can also improve blood flow and help soften stiff muscles. It should be noted that cold sensitivity can cause poor blood circulation and may cause stiffness in the shoulders. Therefore, it is important to prevent the air conditioner temperature from being too low in summer, pay attention to nutritional balance, and increase sensitivity to cold. In daily life, we can use gymnastics to relieve shoulder stiffness. Some small movements can be done at home or in the office without too much space.

In addition to the later mitigation measures, it is also important to take preventive measures in advance. This requires us to maintain the correct posture and normal exercise to avoid tension in the neck and shoulder muscles. We need to maintain the correct posture as much as possible. For example, when the position of the head moves forward like bending over, the center of gravity of the head also moves forward. Even if you bend your neck forward to the desk and do hand work for a long time, your head's center of gravity will continue to move forward. At this time, the shoulder and neck muscles bear more burden than normal posture. We should keep our back straight and relax our neck and shoulders. In addition, if you keep working in an inclined position for a long time, take a break from time to time and relax your muscles by turning your neck or moving your shoulders. Of course, you can also use the posture supports described below to help you maintain the correct posture.

You can improve your strength and change your mood through exercise and exercise. During exercise and exercise, strengthen the muscles around the shoulders, and try to make the cervical spine and shoulder joints move well. We recommend swimming, volleyball, tennis, aerobics, yoga and other activities that can exercise the whole body. In addition, relieving mental tension and reducing stress are also very effective in relieving shoulder stiffness. You can also reduce stiff shoulders by correcting your daily habits, such as putting your bag on different shoulders.