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Could your everyday actions be causing chronic pain? Our motions from morning to night are often subconscious. You leave the house and throw your bag over the same shoulder; the phone rings and you answer it with the same hand; you get to the office and cross the same leg over the other and so on.
Although these repetitive motions may seem harmless, they can lead to discomfort and long-term medical problems. At Integrated Rehab, we refer to these easy-to-miss actions as “hidden habits.” They become a normal part of our daily routines, but can have underlying consequences. Are hidden habits affecting your lifestyle?
Warning Signs of Hidden Habits
When you experience soreness, tightness or an inability to perform normal tasks, your pain could be from hidden habits. The human body has impressive capabilities; it is designed to accomplish what we want it to do. In simple terms, if you are not strong enough in the right areas to complete a task, your body will miraculously find a way. We call these “pathways pf least resistance” and they can become routine over time.
A theory called Wolff’s law states that tissues respond to the load placed upon them. Before we know it, our bones, ligaments and muscles respond to these habitual postures. For instance, reading in bed with your head propped on two pillows, sleeping in the fetal position or on your stomach, slouching and leaning to one side while driving. Being in any one of the above postures lengthen and shorten specific muscles. These positions put stress on the whole body, including the shoulders, low back, hip and neck. If you continue on in this manner, muscle memory will begin to dictate which areas of the body are used to complete these tasks – even if the result is chronic pain.
Common Conditions Caused by Hidden Habits
One of the most common hidden habits we see across our clinics is poor posture. When you sit all day long at a desk job, your hips can tighten up and pull your body forward, causing “desk hunch”. Not only does this hurt your back and neck, but poor posture can even lead to breathing issues. Sitting in a hunched position makes it harder for the ribs to expand and for you to take deep breaths.
Another more modern hidden habit is “Text Neck” – yes, this is a real diagnosis! So many of us now spend so much time consumed in the contents of our smartphones. Texting, scrolling social media sites and reading news headlines can lead to prolonged periods of having our necks forwardly flexed. In addition to upper body discomfort, our patients with “Text Neck” can experience frequent headaches, decreased lung capacity and low back pain.
Hidden Habits Can Prolong Injury
Let’s say a traumatic event occurs in someone’s life, such as a minor car accident. The person experiences whiplash, but feels nothing more than soreness following the incident. Returning to work on Monday, the car accident victim is sitting at a desk with slouched posture – this puts further undue stress on muscles that are already strained.
A good solution would be to modify the work station to facilitate proper posture, which allows tissues to heal without additional stress. Although the healing process may not be sped up by these modifications, staying in a slouched posture would certainly slow it down. Putting more pressure on stressed muscles also becomes the perfect storm for further injury!
How to Overcome Your Bad Habits
Our physical therapists can help you identify hidden habits in your daily routine by evaluating the body for vulnerabilities. Where are you compensating? Once weaknesses have been identified, we will help you with the most challenging part: breaking these habits.
Along with a personalized treatment plan, our best advice to start reversing these motions is an age-old adage: If you change nothing, then nothing will change. Our patients must be consciously aware of their habits and make an effort to stop the vicious cycle.
We recommend carving out specific time to perform these positive behaviors. For example, standing in line at the grocery store is a perfect time to practice your best posture, rather than slouching over the shopping cart. Just as our muscles can become accustomed to bad habits, we can train them to respond to good ones!
Other quick tips include:
- Varying sitting postures
- Stretching after sitting
- Taking breaks to stand up and walk around
- Standing evenly on both legs
- Decreasing laptop use, especially on the sofa
- Alternating the shoulder you carry bags on
- Wearing both straps of a backpack
- Using hands-free devices for calls
- Modifying your workspace with sitting and standing stations
- Changing up sleep positions
Benefits of Working with a Physical Therapist
In the words of author and political activist Charles W. Chestnutt, “We sometimes underestimate the influence of little things.” Your personal changes, combined with physical therapy treatment, could be the one-two punch needed to kick your hidden habits.
Did you know you can see a physical therapist without referral from your primary doctor? Through Direct Access, many insurance plans allow patients to seek an evaluation and subsequent treatment from a licensed PT at the first sign of pain. This can save you time and money, while expediting your recovery.
When you choose Integrated Rehab, we will determine if physical therapy is the route for your condition. By looking at the whole body, we can see where you may be compensating and develop an exercise plan to strengthen those weak areas.
Some of our physical therapists have received a certification in a three-dimensional movement analysis (3DMAPS) from the Gray Institute – the world’s authority of Applied Functional Science®. There are six whole-body movements that affect us from head to toe, and by observing these movements individually, our staff is able to identify areas of improvement to enhance your entire body. To learn more about 3DMAPS, contact any of our Integrated Rehab clinics today.