Here in August, it’s time to get back to school again. August is also National Wellness Month.
When kids go back to school, one of the biggest concerns that always comes up is postural stress, especially for kids and teenagers. What happens is kids go back to homework, back to the laptop, back to the cell phone, back to heavy backpacks and books, and sitting most of the day.
Hopefully during this summer, your family is getting more activities in. Your kids have been getting outside, they’ve been playing more, getting less device time… and that means less poor posture issues.
What to do to Ensure Your Kids Don’t Suffer from Posture Issues
https://youtu.be/RNbh-UBwlhw?rel=0
Watch the video now! Prefer to read? Here’s the gist of what else Dr. Tim spoke about in this video clip.
3 Healthy Steps to Reduce Postural Stress
Now that the kids are going back to school, a lot of those old bad habits creep back in. So we’re gonna talk about some proactive, healthy things that you can do as a family to make sure you are reducing postural stress.
1. Set Limits on All Devices.
So whether it’s a cell phone or a computer, even schoolwork, you want to try to keep it down to one hour blocks, maybe a couple of hours a day because that time really is stressful for your kids posture.
One of the biggest things that we see happening because of that postural stress is that it causes a loss of curve here in the neck. When you have a loss of curve in the neck that’s a pathological stress on your brainstem and spinal cord.
What does that mean?
- Sinus problems.
- Low energy.
- That affects heart and lungs.
- Potential asthma or breathing problems.
- An increase in blood pressure.
- Soreness and tension in the muscles of the neck and upper back.
- Chronic headaches.
- Low energy.
Kids can also develop secondary issues that their doctor doesn’t look at. But really it’s coming from device usage, it’s coming from poor posture, it’s coming from improperly worn backpacks.
So being really aware and limiting that device time is a huge part of healthier posture.
2. Have regular physical activities you do as a family.
Make sure you get out regularly, move regularly, make sure you have activities!
Even teenagers should be getting 1-2 hours of activity a day!
Kids under 12 years old should be getting 2-4 hours of activity every single day. Kids less then 10 should be getting 4+ hours of activity a day.
That’s just physiologically what’s normal, and that’s not happening! And that’s the reason why so many kids are sick. So many kids have health issues. So many kids have problems with mood and focus and sleep and energy.
It’s because their bodies in a state of stress and dysfunction.
Much of that relates back to the spinal cord and the nervous system because this is what regulates how your body adapts to stress. It regulates your brain and your nervous system.
Everything is regulated through the spine!
So when I see these kids, adolescents, even adults, and we start to change their posture we change physiology. We change the brain. And amazing things happen!
- Better sleep.
- More energy.
- Better digestion.
- Stronger immune system.
- Better mood.
- Better overall health.
This is why we’re a family wellness office.
3. Practice the 5 Essentials of Maximized Living
This month we want to invite you and your family to take your health to the next level. I want to invite you in for a 5 Essentials health evaluation. We’re doing a back to school event this month. Make sure you are looking out for that. We will go over all things natural on how to avoid these stresses and help your body heal itself the way it was designed.
The key to getting and staying well is to take care of your body, your nervous system, and allow the body to heal itself. We look forward to helping your family improve all areas of the five essentials moving into this school year.
Want More Educational Videos Like This?
If you want to learn more about how you can get to the cause of your pain, stress issues and your health problems and find a natural drug free solution check us out online or call the office. We have hundreds of videos on our Youtube channel that you can look at and there’s all kinds of other resources that we post to other social media channels to help you live a healthier life, naturally.
Have you had the opportunity to join us at one of our community education events yet? During the community education events, Dr. Tim sifts through all of the knowledge out there to bring you key information about how to get healthy and stay that way and shares answers to frequently asked questions on chiropractic care and healthy eating. Contact our office to learn about upcoming classes. Enjoy the clips of previous events here.