Likewise watching Netflix or television from bed is many a person’s way to wind down. But it’s no secret that relaxing in bed can cause its fair share of trauma to the spine. While we would never sit here and deny you the pleasure of recreating in bed, it is prudent to set your spine up so that it incurs the least possible damage. For the purpose of this blog, we will use reading in bed as the model activity, but the same principles can be applied to using a laptop or cell phone in bed. 

Ergonomic relaxation: reading in bed edition

 The goal is to keep your spine in alignment and reduce pressure that comes with your spine being compressed by poor posture. We can achieve this by using pillows or other props to support the legs, back and neck.

• Start with a pillow under the knees to lift the legs, maintain spinal alignment and improve circulation
• Then place a thin pillow over the legs where you can rest your arms and keep the book at eye level without taxing your arm muscles 
• Place a pillow under the lumbar region and then another on top for the upper back.
• If you need neck support, utilize one further pillow to keep your neck positioned in a straight line with the rest of the spine.

In this way, you shouldn’t have to crane your neck to read, as the book will be at eye level and the normal curvature of your back will be supported. If you don’t have that many pillows to spare, get creative! Getting as close to neutral posture as possible is essential for minimizing the toll that is taken on your spine while you relax and read away. For more creative ways on improving your spinal health and dealing with back pain, give our office in Houston a call to schedule an appointment today. 

The post Ergonomic Relaxation: Reading in Bed Without Hurting Your Back appeared first on Dr. Randall Holmes.

A big part of this is down to poor ergonomics: because employers rarely care enough to invest the money and set up their workers for success, there is a precedent of poor ergonomics set from the beginning. That means the onus is upon the worker to make themselves aware of how poor ergonomics can actually cause harm to their bodies; carrying on from this, the enlightened worker will take proactive action to prevent back pain and ergonomic injuries.

Ergonomic action at Holmes Chiropractic

At Holmes Chiropractic, our definition of good ergonomics is a work space that puts the spine under the least pressure. Our plan for this involves three-parts:

• Strengthen the core stabilizing muscles to provide support for the spine.
• Establish good posture as the norm
• Optimize the work station to make maintaining good posture easier. 

Ergonomic injuries are most often caused by repetitive trauma: if you work with the same poor posture in the same poorly adjusted work station day after day, trauma is bound to accumulate and eventually cause injury. 

Addressing ergonomic injury at Holmes Chiropractic

If you have already suffered the ill-effects of the workplace, give our office in Houston a call to schedule an appointment today. We address the causes of back pain directly using natural, non-invasive techniques to help your body heal itself more effectively.

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