Posture and Body Mechanics

Did you know that 80% of people will experience back pain at some point in their life? This is largely due to improper posture and body mechanics. This is just one reason why it is crucial that we teach proper posture and body mechanics! Another reason to teach proper body mechanics is in regards to lifting heavy objects. It can be very dangerous and cause severe injury if a person is unaware of proper lifting techniques. If you already experience back pain, there is still hope for you! Not only can proper posture and body mechanics prevent back pain but they can also correct or relieve some back pain as well. These proper techniques are also important for one to maintain their independence and good quality of life.
For teaching proper body mechanics in an intervention with my client, I would of course start with finding out their ADLs and other occupations they participate in regularly. By doing this I could figure out what type of heavier objects my client might be lifting during the day. This would make it more engaging when I teach him/her proper lifting techniques: widen the base of support, bend knees, tighten stomach muscles, lift with leg muscles NOT the back muscles, keep load close, keep back straight, etc. Since everyone could benefit from learning proper sitting posture, this is another intervention I would use with my client. The easiest way to understand good posture is to see what good posture looks like and also what bad posture looks like. So, I would demonstrate examples of these to my client and get them to show me good and bad posture as well to ensure their understanding.

Neurobiology: Haribo Gold Bears Advertisement

Many people hate commercials, but in my household commercials rarely get skipped - mainly because my dad finds them all so entertaining. He has a ton of commercials memorized! With that being said, one of my and my dad's favorite commercials is one advertising Haribo Gold Bears. In this advertisement, there are adults in a conference room discussing these gummy bears - but they all have baby voices and use incorrect grammar. Some of our favorite lines are, "The red one is more gooder to me 'cause it tastes like berries!" and "And then I'm gonna flyyy it into my mouth!" We always get a laugh out of this commercial anytime it comes on. We even quote it to each other randomly lots of times!

The area of my brain primarily involved in my response to this marketing campaign is the frontal lobe. The frontal lobe has everything to do with a person's mood, personality, and behavior. I have the type of personality that thinks this type of marketing campaign is funny! I also find myself in a better mood because I end up laughing at how silly it is. The hippocampus is also involved because I have the script of the commercial stored in my long-term memories. This memory is specifically spatial memory because it is associated with what I have seen/experienced. The amygdala could also play a factor in regards to associating this memory with the emotions I feel during watching/talking about the commercial (happiness, humor/laughter, etc.)


Below is the link to this great commercial:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAnwmmPFYgU

Man from the South

In this story, a young soldier is persuaded into participating in a bet that if lost, could cost him his pinky finger. The boy talks about how he really doesn't need his pinky finger anyway, taking for granted what all his pinky does for him. Without the use of his pinky, he would lose about half of his grip strength. This young man's daily activities as a soldier would be greatly impacted if this were to happen. His ability to operate firearms, technology, and other various important things would be dramatically impaired. He would not be as accurate with his shots fired in the field which would be detrimental to his career, his life, and the lives of his comrades. 

At the end of this story, we get some insight on the life of the rich, betting man's wife. Throughout all of her betting against her husband, she is now left with only a thumb and a finger on one hand. Only having two fingers means the wife would have a lot of difficulty with daily activities such as brushing her hair or buttoning up her shirt. Something that could be done to help with hair brushing is to place a Velcro strip on the back of the brush that can stick to a Velcro strap placed around the hand. With this, the lady will not have to work as much to grip and hold the brush (since we know how much grip strength is lost without the pinky). Velcro can also be used to modify dressing for her as well. You could put Velcro spots under the buttons of a shirt so that she can just Velcro her buttons down instead of actually manipulating the button into the hole.

Acetylcholine