By Komal Pardhan

HAVE you ever noticed the people around you or let me put it more clearly, do you notice the posture of the person sitting or standing near you? And do you even notice your own posture?

Most of us don’t realise that we have the wrong posture when we watch TV, use a cell phone, ride the bicycle, do our assignment on the table or on the desktop computer and, above all, when we lift up heavy objects. If you haven’t noticed your posture yet, then it’s a high time you do so and correct your posture to prevent yourself from getting into big trouble in the future. However, it is seen that aches and pains are not things that only oldies suffer from, even kids today are complaining about having pain in their legs, waist and neck.

Yes, all this happens because our posture is wrong, we don’t sit or stand in the correct manner. And the bad news is that it can lead to several deformities and syndromes. So correct your posture before it changes your life.

IF you often feel pain in the neck but don’t know the cause, and your mum says it’s because “You spent most of your time sitting on a couch and using cell-phone....” You think she’s wrong, but no, she isn’t wrong and the reasons aren’t your phone, TV or computer. They are not the major culprits. If there is a culprit in the whole situation, it is ‘you’ alone!

If you want to blame anyone, don’t look here and there, blame yourself. Yes, you should blame yourself for not sitting or standing in the correct posture. When watching TV we often lie down or lean back, thinking we are relaxing our back, but our backbones needs to be straight not curved in any way.

So it is likely that you have developed “texting neck”, the term which is used for the posture we opt for while texting on a mobile phone. It is also known as “anterior head syndrome”. The correct posture may look odd to you, but it is best to avoid leaning our necks, always straighten your neck and the screen of the mobile phone should be such that you don’t have to look down but look straight.

Anterior head syndrome causes tension, headache, neck and shoulder pain, difficulty in breathing, pain in the middle of the back, chest and lower back.

Back pain

WHEN we are young, we tend to boost about our strength and indulge in acts to show off our power. But often it happens that afterwards we complain about back or muscular pain. Carrying a heavy weight, whether at home or anywhere else without doing a warm up exercise leads to severe back pain and muscle spasm.

Lifting weight is a part of our daily routine but we often do it in a wrong way which can prove dangerous if the lifted weight is too heavy and requires exertion to lift it up. Commonly, we bend forward and lift up any heavy objects placed on the ground which directly exerts pressure, or you can say extra force, on the spine so in many cases it can cause severe back pain for a few days or can even worsen the condition if the person doesn’t takes proper rest or medications like pain relieving gels, cream, or pain killers. In worst cases, our spinal discs can also be displaced.

WHILE standing in school or anywhere else, do you droop to one side? Or sometimes when you are standing in a line you often put more weight on one foot while relieving the other. You just don’t stand straight because it may seem odd to you and no one else in the long queue is standing straight either.

A droopy posture is also one of the main causes of backache because slouching puts pressure on the vertebrae (the series of small bones forming the backbone), ultimately causing the discs to become compressed and making you vulnerable to back pain. Pelvic muscles go slack, which makes it even harder to support a well-aligned stance, especially as you get older. Nerves in your neck are pinched, too, tightening muscles there and causing tension headaches.

Good posture, on the other hand, makes you feel good. Your muscles are more limber, and you have better mobility and less tension in your neck and shoulders. Your back and legs are relaxed; your spine feels longer. And the physiological boost carries over to a sense of psychological well-being. As you get older, good posture will keep your body flexible and help maintain your balance.

Moreover, a person’s posture is a reflection of their personality, the way you stand tells people volumes about who you are. Self-assured people walk tall and have a commanding presence when they enter a room — a presence that is both comfortable and confident.

Always remember to mind your posture before you lift any weight, using cellphone, studying, sitting or whatever you are doing, think about your posture. It will keep you away from certain deformities and syndromes in future. As Benjamin Franklin has said very well, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”.