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.