Our Leading Southend Chiropractor Promotes Great Posture in Children!

baby on floorWe advise all parents to promote good posture in their children; and this can begin from before a child is even sitting up.

Parents are naturally excited to see their children reach new developmental milestones, but according to our experienced chiropractor in Southend, encouraging our children to do things too soon can have negative consequences.

One of the most common mistakes for developing a baby’s posture is to put the baby in a sitting position when they are not yet strong enough to sit on their own. Many parents place their hand behind their babies to catch them if they fall backwards; assuming that this is the way that babies learn to sit. But, according to our Southend chiropractor, this can cause the baby to sit with a curved spine, with their head hunched forward. This can result in the muscles becoming overworked and stiff, and can potentially cause a delay in motor skill development.

Our Southend chiropractor warns that while all parents are eager to see their children reach new milestones, we should not rush our babies to sit, stand or walk. Instead, we should provide the baby with plenty of floor time; working together for a few minutes a day to guide their learning processes.

Many babies and toddlers don’t lay on their tummies to play; and this activity is vitally important for developing the extensor muscles in the back to build postural control. There are a variety of fun activities that children can undertake in the belly down position such as doing puzzles, playing with wind-up toys and enjoying arts and crafts and games. Our Southend chiropractor recommends water play for toddlers, who may be less interesting in sitting still after discovering the excitement of walking, running and climbing! A good idea is to fill the bathtub with a small amount of water and let your toddler lay on their belly whilst scribbling on the side of the bath with bath crayons (they easily wash off!). Other bath toys such as water funnels, boats and toy ducks are fun ways to encourage your little one to enjoy playing in the belly-down position.

Our experienced chiropractor in Southend advises that the ideal position is to lay your baby/toddler flat on their tummy, propped up through the shoulders with the stabilising hand supporting their body weight while the other arm is used to play.

To book an appointment with our dedicated team of chiropractors, contact Cliffs Chiropractor Southend on 01702 430430.

Benefit from a good posture advises Cliffs Chiropractor Southend

There are many benefits from having a good posture. These include health benefits, such as :

  •   reducing the risk of back pain,
  •   improving our breathing
  •   preventing our internal organs being squashed.

A good posture can also have some aesthetic benefits such as making us look taller, slimmer and younger!

These are really good reasons to encourage us to maintain a good posture.

Our posture is greatly affected by our lifestyle. In this day and age increasingly our lifestyle has a negative impact on our posture. Spending too many hours hunched in front of computers, sitting with bad seat set up in our cars to slouching for a few hours a night in front of the TV can all contribute to a poor posture.

Increasingly our team at Cliffs Chiropractor Southend are treating patients for symptoms that have at their root poor posture. In these instances we recommend that these patients improve their posture by undertaking exercises and following tips and advice that can improve their posture.

In addition, we suggest that they also follow a programmed designed by the British Chiropractic Association (BCA) specifically to improve posture and help prevent back pain by promoting balance, strength and flexibility in the spine.

The Straighten Up UK is a three minute exercise programme designed to be done on a daily basis and to become part of our daily routine, just like brushing our teeth.

It has been divided into three segments:

  • Warm Up
  • Posture Care
  • Finish Session

It can be adapted to suit individual needs, so if you feel your posture could do with a makeover you can follow the Straighten Up UK in the video below.

Straighten UP UK Programme

Before starting any new exercise routine remember to seek advice from your GP, chiropractor or other health practitioner.

Spending a lot of time driving? Protect your back with advice from Cliffs Chiropractor Southend on Sea

Consumer research carried out by the British Chiropractic Association (BCA) revealed that of those questioned, 25% felt that driving was affecting their posture.

Poor posture can be a contributory factor to back pain.

To make sure your maintain a good posture while you’re driving and reduce the risk of you suffering back pain as a result of your time behind the wheel, one of our experienced chiropractors at Cliffs Chiropractor Southend on Sea, Dr Arif Soomro,  has put together a video together to demonstrate the approach to take in setting up your driving seating position.

The video take s you through adjusting your seating position including adjusting :

  • The back rest
  • The seat
  • Your distance from the steering wheel
  • The headrest
  • The seat height.

We hope this advice helps you prevent back problems when driving.

Should you be suffering back pain then why not visit our experienced team of chiropractors in Southend here at Cliffs Chiropractic Clinic and let them help you get back to good health.

Improve your posture and help your back Cliffs Chiropractor Southend offers this advice

It often surprises patients experiencing back pain who visit our team of experienced chiropractors in Southend that their posture is a contributory factor of their pain.

Poor posture can lead to back pain.

Poor posture is often a result of a person lifestyle and factors that can lead to it over a period of time include:

  • Spending hours hunched in front of a computer
  • Slouching on a sofa watching TV
  • Sleeping on the wrong kind of mattress
  • Hunching shoulders and back when stressed

You may realise that you are doing some of the above that may be having a negative impact on your posture.

You don’t have to wait to experience back pain before taking action to improve your posture.

As experienced chiropractors in Southend we advise patients on lifestyle and exercise changes they can make to improve their posture.

In addition, we recommend that everyone follows a simple 3 minute programme put together by the British Chiropractic Association (BCA) that has been designed to improve posture and help reduce the risk of back pain called the Straighten Up UK programme.

We recommend that you watch the video and follow the programme.

However, if you are elderly or have ongoing health conditions you should always discuss any new exercise programmed with your GP, chiropractor or other health care practitioner before you start.

Technology is leaving teenagers in pain – a worrying trend reports a chiropractor in Southend

It’s a disturbing trend, however, our experienced team of chiropractors in Southend are seeing an increasing number of young people under the age sixteen with back and neck pain.

This trend is not isolated to Southend alone. In the UK, 40% of 11 to 16 year olds have suffered back or neck pain and worryingly, more than one in seven (15%) parents said their son’s or daughter’s back or neck pain is a result of using a laptop, tablet or computer.*

Poor posture and sedentary lifestyle are common causes that frequently lead to back and neck problems in teenagers.

Teenagers are spending increasing amounts of time using technology such as computers, laptops, tablets and mobile. There is a tendency to sit in a hunched position when using these gadgets which puts a lot of strain on the neck.

The increased use of these kinds of technologies along with watch TV also results in an increase in teenagers leading a sedentary lifestyle and poor posture.

As the Easter holidays are approaching we as Chiropractors in Southend are encouraging parents to limit the time their children spend using technology and instead encourage more active pastimes over the Easter holidays.

However, our chiropractors at Cliffs Chiropractic Clinic in Southend want to advise parents of the importance of seeking help for their children from an expert as soon as pain starts possible – if conditions are left untreated it could lead to chronic back and neck pain in later life.

* Statistics taken from 2014 BCA research of UK adults – sample of 152 adults from the East of England.