hello posture lovers this week you're in for a real treat
let me just say I'm a little out of sorts today I'm staying here with my mum
this week in my makeshift studio here in the guest bedroom I seem to have
forgotten everything including video makeup and extension cord for my
lights and mouse for my computer but hey the show must go on as I said I'm
introducing a bit of a treat it's going to be a weekly highlight haven't quite
decided on the day yet but it will be the same time every week posted on
YouTube and Facebook I'll be sharing one of your questions as a mini video
presentation that I call Posturing 101 this is how it's going to work if you've
got a question for me about your posture or your health you simply post your
question on our facebook page (facebook.com/posturedoctor); include your name
where you're from and your question keep it short please you can also include an
image of your posture or an x-ray keep it interesting and some of you may like
to ask your question by video that's okay too please keep it short and do
have it posted to Facebook not by email now if your question is selected you'll
get a personal shout out for me an entire video presentation answering your
question and an exclusive invitation to join our private Facebook group
(facebook.com/groups/posturematters) so let's jump straight into this week's question from
Victoria C who enrolled in one of my online courses: Neck Hump - How to get
rid of the fat at the top of your back; so Victoria says I no longer have
forward head posture yeah Victoria but I still have a neck hump
what do I need to watch out for during the day that might be
contributing to the problem ie reading in bed with my head propped up leaning
forward to see things better etc great question Victoria but before I
answer that let me just go into a little more detail about neck hump let's first
review the cause of neck hump now you'll find an incredible amount of depth into
the cause and the treatments of fatty neck hump in my online course
but for this mini presentation let's just say there are three main causes so
the first cause is what I like to put in the category of structural
where the ideal inward curving of the neck which we call a lordosis that's
become flat or even reversed which is called a kyphosis not good this is
always always due to a past trauma Victoria not from habits of daily living
this often confuses us now the second cause is wear and tear which is
simply a euphemism which I never like to use because what it really stands for is
degeneration of the discs between the vertebra or the joints in the neck and
when those discs become narrowed the normal inward curve starts to straighten
out so in a sense the second category is also structural so you can kind of group
those two together now the third cause are medical issues and these are pretty
rare but they include side effects of certain drugs and medication now I list
the entire list of medications inside the course there are also things like
hormonal conditions like Cushing's disease very rare things like cysts and
fatty benign tumors which we call lipomas so this category isn't something
that I deal with I leave that to the diagnosis of your medical healthcare
provider like your GP in the 20 years since I qualified as a chiropractor I'd
say most of the students 95% plus plus of those students and patients that see
me that have a fatty neck hump well it turns out to be a structural diagnosis
and that is good news because you can use the exercises and steps found in my
online course to treat your own fatty neck hump so back to Victoria's question
now she did say that she no longer has a forward head forward head posture but
still has the hump she wants to know what to watch out for during the day
certain habits of daily living now since she first wrote this question she's come
back to me she's had an x-ray and she knows the cause of her neck hump
is a flat curve from a past trauma she's got the x-rays to confirm that and now
she's following the exercises in the course to reduce her neck hump but she'd
also like to know what to watch out for each day to make sure she's supporting
the good changes and improvement she's making inside the course great love to
hear that and I maintain that good posture is mostly a habit so let's look
at a few examples of changes that you can make to your daily habits okay
Victoria you asked us about reading so the first habit for our readers out
there is to make sure your books are level with your eyes now it looks a bit
silly right who's going to hold their book right up at their eye level you're
gonna get pretty tired like that so when I'm sitting to read I like to prop my
books up on about three sofa cushions you can make do so if you're on
the subway for instance you can put your purse or your knapsack and then
prop your book on top of that if you're sitting down when I'm in bed I'm
lying down with my shoulders usually propped up and my head on a pillow and
then on my lap I might have another pillow or two pillows and then my book
works really well okay the second question or concern you had Victoria was
leaning forward to see things like your mobile devices
so the second good posture habit is to make sure your screens are level with
your eyes so the woman you see here should ideally have her computer screen
up a little higher using a couple of large books under her monitor now if you
use a laptop really you need a separate keyboard so that you can lift the
monitor from your laptop up higher and if like me you need reading glasses you
can simply increase your font size so you're not straining your eyes and
leaning forward on a Windows I know that's ctrl + button
on a Mac you can change the font size under your viewing options lastly I'm a
big big fan of what I call active sitting to maintain good posture so you
see kids doing this all the time they innately know to fidget wiggle and stir
in their seats constantly because that's what their nervous system needs for
those of you meeting me for first time I'm dr. paula moore the
online posture doctor and I've been helping people correct their posture and
enjoy a better lifestyle for over 20 years now unlike many of the other "experts"
out there my aim isn't to fix your pain instead my focus is on your
structural problems in other words the root cause of your poor posture and pain
if you'd like me to help you please post your questions on our Facebook page
(facebook.com/posturedoctor) any question will do don't forget to include your
name where you're from and your question and if like Victoria you have a neck
hump and your're concerned you're worried about it you could join Victoria and a
1,000++ other students who are already improving their neck humps on
the course please go ahead right now and click the link to enroll I'll be sure to
also include a link in the description below if you're on youtube and watching
it there and I'll see you next week when I'll be answering Liz J's question
about how to stop habitually slumping don't miss it it's going to be a good
one thank you so much for watching today bye bye for now