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

Scapulohumeral Rhythm

The scapulohumeral rhythm is the ratio of movement between the scapula and the humerus. This movement must be be synchronous in order to maintain optimal congruency between the glenoid fossa and humeral head. This rhythm is important clinically in order to properly measure shoulder range of motion. For every 3° of shoulder movement, there is 1° of movement at the ST joint and 2° of motion at the GH joint. This means at full 180° of motion, there will be 60° from the ST joint and 120° from the GH joint. It is important to know these ratios in order to determine the cause of the problem if a client does not have full shoulder ROM. If the scapula doesn't move, there would be decreased ROM as well as friction in the joints. This mechanism also helps to maintain the subacromial space in order to avoid impingement. With proper joint congruency, shear forces are decreased as well. Without the scapulohumeral rhythm, we would not be able to participate in many of our activities of daily living such as brushing our hair or reaching up into a high cabinet to grab something.

Implicit Bias

Implicit bias is an automatic subconscious way of thinking we all have about people. This bias can influence how we act as well. Implicit bias is something that we as people could develop over time because of many factors -- where we live, how we were raised, our religion, the media, etc. Subconscious is the key word here. Many of us may think of ourselves as fair and accepting of all people. But chances are, we all have some sort of implicit bias -- good or bad. 

It's important for OT students and practitioners to learn about implicit bias because it's crucial for our practice of being client-centered and respectful. Implicit bias can affect our interactions with clients without us even knowing. We don't want to treat some of our clients better/worse than others. Some ways we can examine and address our own implicit bias is to take the Project Implicit survey, take continuing education courses, educate ourselves by reading up on how to override implicit bias, and just doing some self reflection.

My big take-away from this session is to not think we are excluded from having implicit bias. If we subconsciously think a certain way, couldn't this cause us to subconsciously act a certain way as well? We want to bring our implicit bias to light so we can eliminate it from our minds in order to treat our clients well. They all deserve equal opportunity. Like we always say, everyone deserves the right to participate in the activities that are meaningful to them.

Test Positioning: ROM and MMT

It's important to use bony landmarks as reference points in order to orient yourself on the body when measuring. Palpating bony landmarks is also important for correct goniometer placement. If you don't position the patient correctly, the ROM measurement will be unreliable. The purpose of the "test position" for MMT is to ensure that the muscle is placed in a position for optimal muscle contraction. The gravity eliminated position is for those who do not have full ROM or are too weak. This position is always parallel to the ground. When using the gravity eliminated position, it is important to make sure the limb being tested is still positioned in a way that enables the most optimal contraction.