Are you Shrinking ???
Seems everyone is complaining that they are losing height these days. Its very common to hear someone say “ I used to be 5’10 and now I’m 5”8” !” How does this happen in life?
Shrinking, or height loss is due primarily to one thing, postural aging and decline. We begin life with 3 wonderful curves; one in our neck, the other in our back and the third in the arch of our foot. Each curve becomes a shock absorber to lessen the impact of walking, running and other upright activities. As we age, gravity and the demands of life pull us downward and forwards. Without constant active strengthening of our posture muscles, gravity does its work and we get stuck in these postures and begin to loose our spinal curves.
Our neck curve becomes more flattened with the head held forward to the body. Our lumbar curve becomes more flattened as the body follows the head, leaning forward. And our curve in the arches of our feet becomes more flattened as we wear shoes without support, like flip flops and sandals.
Keep your chin up and level throughout your day to reduce neck strain. Keep your shoulders back and hips tilted forward with frequent glut contractions to reduce back strain. And always wear tennis shoes or shoes with arch support to prevent your arches from collapsing inward.
But there are specific physical therapy strengthening techniques that are best learned with one-on-one instruction with a PracticalTherapy4U DVD or Download. No one else brings you these these easy every day techniques to reduce your chances of shrinking. You can even regain lost height! Learn the techniques to achieve and keep your curves for life at www.practicaltherapy4u.com from the Better Neck Program and the Better Back Program.
Tami Peavy, MPT