Posture and Body Mechanics

Taking a nap

Leisure

Reaching for Placemats

    I took three pictures of my best friend doing a few of her daily occupations: napping, playing on her phone while sitting on the couch, and reaching for placemats to set the dinner table. In the picture where she is reaching for placemats, she has a static posture, her head is facing upward, and in turn, the cervical and thoracic curves of her spine are extended. Her scapulae are protracted and upwardly rotated to assist with overhead reach (shoulder flexion). Her pelvis is in slight anterior tilt so her lumbar spine is in hyper-extension but her sacral spine is flexed and her pelvis did not rotate. She has equal weight distribution on each foot. Her hips are considered to be in slight flexion as her pelvis tilts anteriorly and her left and right ASIS become inferior to both PSIS. Lastly, both of her femurs are externally rotated. 

    This position is considered to be less efficient for stability because she has a smaller base of support with her feet closer together but she has more of an advantage for mobility because of this. She can quickly change out of this position with ease if she needs to. Her upper extremities are free to move a great deal as they are not supporting her body because she is not holding onto the shelf for balance. This posture is ideal for proper body alignment, for the most part, but her hips are not fully aligned with her knees and ankles as she leans forward which puts more stress and force on those lower joints. Ideally, she could remain in this position for a longer period of time but her arms would become fatigued after being held overhead for a while. She may need to shift for relaxing her arms every 20 seconds. 

    It is important to teach proper posture and body mechanics to clients who are in need of healthy alignment techniques because not knowing and applying this knowledge in everyday life situations can lead to neck and back pain, increased stress, and unsafe movements. 

Retrieved from: https://www.microfiberwholesale.com/blogs/blog/ergonomic-mopping-best-proper-mopping-techniques

    One example of how I would teach proper posture and body mechanics to a client who needs improvement in these areas would be to incorporate proper posture techniques in sessions such as keeping shoulders back with scapulae retracted, neck in slight cervical extension, and lifting/moving objects without twisting. Another example would be to teach proper sleeping habits for clients who are stomach and side sleepers by showing them where to put an extra pillow for their desired position. This would include putting the pillow in between their knees for side sleeping and underneath their knees while sleeping on their back. Additional applications would be to have the client alternate arms when using a vacuum cleaner and keep their back more extended rather than flexed when mopping.  

 References 

Weisser-Pike, O. (2023). Lecture 8: Vertebral Column, Posture, and Body         

    Mechanics [PowerPoint Slides].