posture

woman-with shoulder bag

Big Bag Syndrome – Pocketbooks and the Healthy Spine

Women today often carry a lot of weight on their shoulders. Pocketbooks and shoulder bags are often large and stuffed to the gills. Laptops, water bottles, cosmetics, spare shoes and snacks are just some of the items that overload women’s handbags. What happens  when we shoulder too many burdens in a big bag?

If you are carrying a heavy bag on one shoulder or hand, it may be putting a strain on your neck, back and shoulders. Our bodies were not designed for carrying heavy weights with one arm or shoulder. The burden of the weight is on the top of the shoulder, compressing the spine and throwing us off balance.

Carrying a heavy bag can lead to neck, shoulder or back pain.  Additionally, while the body is developing, and throughout life, carrying a large, asymmetrical load can reinforce structural problems including scoliosis and kyphosis.

This article explores the impact of Big Bag Syndrome and how you can avoid it.

Big bag syndrome can affect your structure in many ways:

  1. One shoulder is elevated to keep the bag from slipping.
  2. The body leans to the side and sometimes forward. You use the weight of your body to counterbalance against the heavy bag. 
  3. The body braces to keep you from tipping over. When you carry an asymmetrical load (either in your hand or over your shoulder) your body braces to stabilize. That means you lean in the opposite direction (away from the load) and the muscles of the back work extra hard to try to compensate and keep you upright. Over time, chronically tightened muscles of the back can shorten and spasm.
  4. Big bag syndrome can take a toll on your structure.  Chronically tight muscles shorten over time. The myofascial span actually shortens and thickens.  
  5. The spine can develop scoliosis (an abnormal lateral curve.) Scoliosis develops while the vertebrae of the spine are growing, during the first 25 years of life. A myofascial shortening of the erector spinae on one side of the back may contribute to scoliosis.
  6. The body loses flexibility and becomes more prone to injury. When the myofascial shortens and thickens, we become less flexible. Loss of flexibility makes us prone to sprains, strains and tendonitis.
  7. Ultimately, both our posture and alignment can suffer. As the body tries to adapt to carrying a one sided load, the compensations become recorded in our structure and make it difficult to maintain a healthy posture.

What can you do to avoid Big Bag Syndrome? 

  1. Keep it light. If you need to carry a hand or shoulder bag, limit the weight to less than 5% of body weight. If you weigh 140 lbs, that means your shoulder or handbag should weigh less than 7 lbs.
  2. Wear the shoulder bag strap across your back to stabilize the load. 
  3. Carry two shoulder bags, one on each side for a more symmetrical load.
  4. Better yet, carry a backpack, which gives you a symmetrical load, assuming you wear it over both shoulders. Limit the backpack weight to less than 10% of body weight.

By • Good Posture, Physical Therapy • • Tags: , , , , , , ,

carpal tunnel syndrome

Avoid Carpal Tunnel Syndrome with Good Sitting Posture and Rolfing

Did you know that sitting posture and work habits play an important role in exacerbating or preventing Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS)? In a previous article “Does Rolfing Help Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?” we explored what Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is and how Rolfing can help you recover from this problem. This article will explore the role that sitting posture has on Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and how Rolfing can help you to achieve and maintain good posture.

What does sitting posture have to do with hand and wrist pain?

Read More

By • Good Posture, Rolfing • • Tags: , , ,

Rolfing – What’s In A Name?

“You’re a what?” people often reply when I tell them what I do for a living. They usually look uncomfortable because they think their hearing is amiss. I go for it again, “I am a Rolfer.” I have had many conversations during which I have attempted to demystify the word “Rolfing” and give people a sense of what it is that I do for a living. Rolfing is actually a slang term coined by Ida Rolf’s students during the 70’s. Dr. Rolf, the founder of Rolfing, was a biochemist who graduated from Columbia University and became a research scientist at Rockefeller University. Her work evolved from her desire to tap human potential through the physical body.

Dr. Rolf was not happy with the word “Rolfing” because she feared that it did not sound scientific. I’m afraid she was right. In my experience, the word ”Rolfing” brings forth looks of confusion and doubt. “What is that exactly?” is a common response. Dr. Rolf wanted her work to be known as “Structural Integration,” which is, without doubt, a more scientific description and more appropriate.

 Rolfing involves manipulating fascia.  Historically, the American Medical Association viewed fascia as nonessential.  Medical students would routinely cut it away to view other more important structures during cadaver dissection.  Now, do to Dr. Rolf’s influence, the AMA is beginning to understand fascia’s significance.  Fascia is the connective tissue that plays the most central role in holding the entire body together. A major component of the soft tissue, fascia runs throughout the body in planes that tie together the entire network of body parts.

Structural integration consists of physical manipulations to reposition those fascial coverings that hold muscles in place. You can think of it as intensive treatment that is done to enhance overall bodily organization. Breathing, posture, alignment and movement can all be improved as the result of a Rolfing series. But that is not all. Most people store years of accumulated physical stress in their bodies. For example, you might have rounded shoulders due to years of leaning forward when working at a computer. Many people feel that one side of their body is the “bad “ side meaning the side that keeps becoming injured or is more compressed than the other. These are just a couple of examples of how stress shapes out bodies.

Rolfing also enhances your mental and psychic functioning.  Picture yourself breathing more fully and moving with greater ease and stability. This mental exercise will give you an idea of what Rolfing can do for you. Rolfing improves posture and body alignment, bringing your head, pelvis, knees and ankles into a new relationship, with the vertical axis directly in front of your spine, leaving your body with a longer, leaner look.

The integrative aspect of Rolfing helps you to feel stable and connected to the ground you stand on, while providing your body with a sense of lightness and upward lift. Rolfing helps to improve your relationship with gravity so that it no longer exerts a relentless downward pressure on your body. Additionally, Rolfing has a calming effect on the nervous system, rendering you more at peace with yourself.

You can think of Rolfing as a physically restorative process that brings with it the mental and spiritual benefits of a body at peace. Whether you call it Rolfing or Structural Integration it represents an opportunity for positive transformation.

For help with tapping your potential call us at 973.509.8464 • 212.529.1901 or book on line to schedule an appointment.

 

By • Physical Therapy, Rolfing • • Tags: , , , , , ,