Found in The Mystician 84.8, Page 4
https://www.bscmysticmedia.com/_files/ugd/628cb3_df7d3f29978c4f1397a9305c946000f0.pdf
Back pain is a problem faced by many adults every year. In the past, back pain was most prevalent in adults 45- 65 years old. Now, according to Cross River Therapy, 41% of adults with back pain are between 18 and 44 years old With these problems starting to affect college students and younger, many are starting to look for solutions to their problems often to no avail. According to the experts, the answers lie in our bad habits.
Parents have a heavy influence on how people live their lives, often having physical effects on their bodies. Dr. Doug Ness, a chiropractor at Active Life Chiropractic, a major effect for students is excess sitting, which he claims is the new smoking.
Another problem is poor posture, especially associated with using cellphones. On average, cellphone users hang their neck at a 60 degree angle which puts extra weight on their spine. The term “text neck” was coined as an unofficial medical term because of how prevalent this problem is.
Students often spend a lot of time sitting while in class or studying. A solution Ness recommended was to change positions to avoid staying in one posture for a long period of time. Ness said he would often lay on his stomach, sit and stand while studying and stretch during breaks.
“That’s the best thing you can do, constantly change,” Ness said. “The body loves repetition, right? Because it loves to be lazy. So, the more we challenge the body, the less lazy it can be.”
Ness said another common problem is that younger people put a large amount of physical burden on themselves. One such physical burden is weight, which can put more stress on the body.
For example, many students carry backpacks on only one shoulder, which can cause a weight imbalance. This puts more stress on the shoulders.
Ness said another burden is the stress college students put on to themselves mentally. Many students deal with a lot of stress because of schoolwork, and some have added pressure from jobs and other adult responsibilities. This causes a lot of new stresses that a lot of students are not used to, which starts to affect their mental state.
Due to reduced mental state and lack of energy, many students end up eating what is convenient. This often leads to unhealthy eating habits, which puts more burden onto their bodies by extra weight gain.
“You’re pushing your body because you’re going to class all day, you’re staying up late to study for your tests. You know you’re kind of burning that midnight oil,” Ness said.
Ness says the best thing people can do is to take better care of ourselves, not only by doing the proper stretches, but making sure that we “put the right fuel into our gas tanks.” Practicing better health habits goes a long way to ensure a healthy future.
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