Posture and Body Mechanics

   Proper posture and body mechanics are important for everyone as it helps with balance, stability, and reduced risk of injury. If a client has a faulty posture, which can occur anytime one or more curvatures of the spine become exaggerated or decreased, this can  move his or her center of gravity out of their base of support, decreasing his or her balance. Faulty posture can also cause increased pressure on the spine and other joints as they try to compensate for the misalignment.  Poor body mechanics can also be a problem because when we use improper body mechanics for tasks such as lifting or reaching, we can cause unnecessary strain on our joints and muscles due to having an alignment that is not mechanically cohesive with the actions of the muscles. Improper body mechanics or posturing can cause discomfort and pain performing certain actions which may lead to an increase in maladaptive posture and body mechanics creating a cycle of worsening pain and alignment.
   An example of how to teach a proper lifting technique with proper body mechanics and posture would be to have the client keep their head, neck, and butt in alignment, have a wide base of support by having nice wide stance, having the clients hinge at the hips and bend at the knees for the squatting portion of the lift. For the grab and lift I would instruct the client to have the object as close to their body as possible before grabbing, then to grab the object maintaining the body alignment from the squat, by looking up, and have the client then stand and lift straight up. Another example would be to work on proper sitting position for a client who spends a lot of the day working at a computer desk. I would instruct the client to sit in the chair and to push the chair closer to the desk and get a computer stand, if possible. I would instruct the client to sit forward in their chair as if they are about to stand up to promote and anterior pelvic tilt, with their eyes facing straight forward and looking at eye level to prevent a forward head posture.

Advertisements and the Nervous System

   The television advertisement that has always stood out to me is the iconic ASPCA ad with Sarah McLachlan singing “Angel”. This ad is more than 10 years old and I still clearly remember it, which means it was a pretty effective advertising. In case you are not familiar with this ad here is a link to the ad:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eXfvRcllV8. Between the emotional music and the images of the sad, injured animals, my pet loving heart just breaks. Most ads on T.V. are upbeat, loud and busy, so having such a stark contrast with the sad music and depressing images really catches you off guard and makes you look and take notice. Since I was a little kid when this first came out, I remember there was a shock factor to the ad with the statics and images. I could not imagine that anyone could mistreat an animal like that. This commercial uses pathos which would involve the limbic system. The limbic system is responsible for emotion and memories. The amygdala which is part of the limbic system is specifically related to emotion and linking that emotion to memories. The amygdala also plays a role in empathy, which is utilized in the ad with seeing all the helpless faces of the animals, causing you to empathize with the animals. The hippocampus, which is also part of the limbic system, is where this memory is stored since it is an emotionally driven memory. Now even just hearing that song immediately reminds me of the commercial and all the emotions it elicits. Clearly this marketing team had a good understanding of the nervous system and how to get their message imbedded in people’s memories.  

"Man from the South"

 I read "Man from the South", by Roald Dahl, which is a story about a young sailor who finds himself betting against an older man that he could get his lighter to light 10 times in a row. If he won the bet, he would have received a Cadillac and if he lost he would have had his little finger on his left hand chopped off. At the time the bet was made the sailor was unaware that the older man had done similar bets in the past with the same stakes, until the older man's wife revealed this information and it was observed that she herself had only one finger and a thumb remaining on her hand from previous bets with her husband.
   It is interesting to read this story since I am currently learning about the hand in my biomechanics class because one of the deciding factors for the sailor to go through with the bet was that he found little to no use of the little finger on his left hand. Losing the little finger severely impacts grip strength in a negative way. Such a small finger that seems to have little function actually plays a vital role in everyday activities (including gripping his lighter when he lights it). Losing this finger would make his roles as a naval sailor much more difficult, if not force him to end his naval training and pursue a new career path.
   As for the wife, who only has one finger and a thumb on her hand, most if not all her daily activities have been greatly altered. Although we are not told which finger is remaining it is safe to assume that with only one finger and a thumb her grip strength is almost entirely compromised. As we are told in the story she has to get her hair washed, indicating she probably is unable to do it herself or it is at the very least incredibly difficult. To help her achieve this on her own it may help to get touchless soap dispensers for in her shower so she would not need to hold and squeeze the shampoo bottles. She also mentions how she has a car, but it would seem difficult to grip onto the steering wheel while missing that many fingers and so I would recommend adding a spinner knob to her car so that she car drive one handed and have a safer driving experience. Driving and bathing are two very important occupations for independence and with these adaptations she may be able to regain some of that independence the loss of her fingers caused her to lose.

Norepinephrine