Daily tips series: Easy Tips To Address Your Back Pain. Tip 3. It's Ok To Slouch But Change Position Often.

Yes, posture that prevent overstressing your back, injured or not, is important. 
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I might take a lot of heat from many people, including other physical therapists, for saying this but as humans, we are bound to slouch and have poor posture numerous times a day and it is not possible to maintain ideal posture 24 hours a day. I am saying that as a human.

Now, as a physiotherapist...

... I can say that slouching is ok, we all do it. What matter is the amount of slouching and stressful positions you sustain, for how long... 

See... to keep our joints healthy, we need to keep them mobile, through their entire range of motion. That takes a little work. 

​And when you have back pain, it takes changing position every 20-30 minutes, even if it means just standing up from your desk and doing the stretch seen on the picture above.

Using a sit /stand desktop is ideal to be able to change position throughout a day of work at the office but not necessary. Set a timer on your computer to remind you to get up and change position, go on a short walk, etc...

So my advice, especially if you suffer from back or neck pain, is pay attention to the way you sit and in what positions your neck, mid and low back, shoulders and hips/pelvis are... and move them in the opposite direction. Often. Several times a day.

It might take a little help from a physical therapist/ physiotherapist to find out exactly what to do but it can be a very easy fix.  

Leave a comment with any questions you might have.