Postural disorders in children

The prevalence of poor posture and associated back pain is increasing in both children and adults, despite the fact that there are more health professionals, more health gadgets, more health information, and more procedures and therapies available. , education and health promotion programs than ever before.

But in fact, the population's physical health problems are only getting worse: a recent UK study found that one in ten 10-year-olds have symptoms related to back disease, and 9% already have at least one degenerative disc.

Factors such as carrying heavy school bags, physical inactivity while watching TV, playing video games and poor nutrition leading to obesity have always had a negative impact on physical health. But it is currently believed that one of the leading factors is a hunched posture when children live in gadgets and constant messaging in instant messengers. Smartphone users spend an average of two to four hours per day hunched over their devices, amounting to between 700 and 1,400 hours per year. This leads to disproportionate static loads on the spine. Schoolchildren could be even worse off, spending an additional 5,000 hours a year in a hunched position.

American orthopedists gave the observed phenomenon the name “text neck,” implying that the main cause of poor posture and spinal curvature is a life of constant text messaging on smartphones and tablets.

The pressure on the neck and upper back doubles with every 2-3 centimeters you tilt your head forward. Because the head weighs 4.5 to 5.5 kilograms and is balanced on two tiny joints of the first neck bone, it acts as a weight and cantilever on the highly mobile neck. Typically, the stress that the weight of the head places on the neck and upper back is reduced by moving the neck more than 600 times per hour. However, if movements become repetitive or slouched postures are maintained for long periods of time, stress is placed on the structures of the neck and back, ultimately leading to stiffness and pain.

Text neck in a child can lead to early degeneration of the spine, as excessive stress on the small bones, joints, muscles, and nerves of the neck can lead to muscle strain, pinched nerves, herniated discs, and disruption of the natural curvature of the neck. This neck position is also associated with headaches, neurological problems and heart disease.

Children and adolescents are especially vulnerable to the adverse effects of excessive use of tablets and smartphones. The habitual posture in which children and adolescents find themselves will likely become habitual throughout their lives. If children spend time in slouched positions, not only do they tend to default to these positions, but as their young bodies grow, all the structures and tissues of their body adapt to these positions, further reinforcing these habits and making them difficult, if not impossible. , for correction without intensive treatment and training. Posture is more than just physical posture. Posture has been shown to have a profound impact on overall health and well-being, not only affecting physical health, but also influencing thoughts, feelings, actions, and how the child is perceived by others. Posture can even affect the quality of your memory.

For example, sitting in a bent position leads to a state of hopelessness, helplessness, powerlessness, and activates negative memories. An upright posture and looking up helps increase the flow of blood and oxygen to the brain by 40% compared to a hunched posture.

The main consequences of poor posture include:

Shoulder, neck and back pain
Intervertebral disc degeneration
Tension headaches
Excessive forward curvature (kyphosis) of the upper back
Depression, stress and loss of resources
Decreased libido
Digestive problems such as constipation, acid reflux and hernias.
Restricted breathing
Cardiovascular disorders (associated with vagus nerve irritation)

The best cure for poor posture

The best cure for posture problems is to avoid poor posture and movement in the first place. This means maintaining good posture by standing up straight, sitting up straight (and/using a lumbar cushion for your lower back), and moving from position to position without drooping your chest.

In addition, this means maintaining full mobility of all joints, as well as strength of all muscles, especially in the opposite direction to the positions and movements that the child performs daily.

This also means not staying in one pose for too long, but moving from one pose to another at least every 30 minutes.

Posture disorders in children themselves are not yet a disease, but they create the preconditions for diseases of the musculoskeletal system and internal organs.

The main sign of poor posture is the appearance of a standing child. With stooping, the head is tilted forward, the shoulders also lean forward, the shoulder blades protrude, and the buttocks are flattened. In children with kyphotic posture (round back), there is a forward tilt of the head, drooping shoulders, sunken chest, “wing-shaped” shoulder blades, legs bent at the knees, flattening of the buttocks, and weak muscle tone of the entire torso. Kypholordotic postural disorder in children (round-concave back) is characterized by a tilt of the head and upper shoulder girdle forward, protrusion and drooping of the abdomen (often visceroptosis due to weakness of the abdominal muscles), a large angle of inclination of the pelvis, maximum extension or hyperextension of the legs at the knees. In children with a flat back, the pelvic tilt is reduced, the chest is shifted anteriorly, “wing-shaped shoulder blades” protrude, and the stomach sags. Poor posture in children such as a flat-concave back is accompanied by a narrow chest, an increase in the angle of the pelvis, and protrusion of the abdomen and buttocks.

With asymmetrical posture in children, an arched deformity of the spine is noted with the apex facing left or right; tilting the head to the side; multi-level position of shoulders, shoulder blades, nipples.

Poor posture in children greatly contributes to changes in the functioning of the lungs, heart, and digestive organs. Thus, a sunken flat chest and a stooped back limit the full excursion of the chest, making breathing shallow, which causes oxygen deficiency and a decrease in the level of metabolism. Children with poor posture are lethargic, apathetic, suffer from poor memory, anemia, are susceptible to acute respiratory infections, bronchitis, pneumonia, and are predisposed to tuberculosis.

Due to excessive deflection in the lumbar spine, weakness of the abdominal muscles develops and, as a result, prolapse of the stomach and intestines, and constipation. Children with various types of posture disorders may complain of back pain, rapid fatigue, headaches, and blurred vision. Poor posture in children over time can lead to the development of degenerative changes in the spine (osteochondrosis), chest deformities, intervertebral hernias, scoliosis, and deforming osteoarthritis.

Tips for Maintaining Good Posture

Use your eyes. When working with electronic devices, practice looking at the device with your eyes only, instead of bending your neck, lifting the device.
Straighten up and stand up! You can experiment with the stand. You certainly don't need to stand all day, but it's likely that the more you stand up straight, the better your posture will be. If you can't work while standing, try to take breaks from sitting more often throughout the day. When answering the phone, get up and walk around. This will help you feel better, have more energy, and be more creative.
Walk more. Wear a fitness tracker and set a goal to walk 7,000 to 10,000 steps every day, which is more than eight kilometers. While you could probably walk this distance all at once, it's best to spread it out evenly throughout the day as your schedule allows. Make it a habit to use the stairs and park away from entrances.
Take 30-60 second breaks from the exercise: Every 30 minutes, gently stretch in the opposite direction of where you were. If you've been sitting, this may mean stretching on the back of a chair or standing leaned back. Try to hold the stretch for at least 10 seconds and do 5 exercises at a time.
Anti-Gravity Strength Training: Strengthen the muscles that move your body in the opposite direction of the positions and movements you normally perform. This will help relieve stress on body tissues and structures, restore joint mobility, correct muscle imbalances, and increase strength and endurance so you can stay upright.
Posture Training: The only way to achieve permanent results is to permanently correct your posture and movement habits. This requires intense training that includes releasing locked joints and supporting and strengthening weak muscles. Poor postures and movement patterns can be achieved using kinesio tapes or braces. Research shows that it takes about 300-500 repetitions to develop a habit, but it takes about 3000-5000 repetitions or about 4-6 weeks of training to correct a bad habit. If correct postures and movements are achieved, you will experience a lifetime of reduced mechanical pain and problems.

However, the opposite is also true. If children start out with poor posture and movement patterns, they are more likely to suffer from physical, psychological, cardiovascular, respiratory and digestive problems for the rest of their lives. This is why it is so important to show children correct posture and movement and teach them about the detrimental effects of poor posture. Correcting your child's posture and movement early will change his life forever. If you notice your child is slouching or have any concerns about their posture, get it checked. It might just save them from a life of pain and suffering.

The influence of posture on a child's health

Doctors say: “A healthy back means a healthy body.” Correct posture in children is the key to the normal functioning of all organs, healthy joints and muscles. The skeleton receives uniform tension, the loads are correctly distributed to the joints and muscles.

In case of disturbances, the shape of the body changes, organs are displaced and pinched, nerve roots are pinched, and the circulation of cerebrospinal fluid is disrupted. All this causes enormous harm to the body. Children develop headaches, fatigue, decreased attention and appetite, and hearing and vision suffer.

In addition, poor posture is also an aesthetic defect. A very frequent request on how to correct stoop in a teenager is caused by precisely this factor: young girls and boys begin to have complexes about their appearance. It is difficult for them to choose clothes, shoes, external defects interfere with building a personal life.

How to eliminate disorders: treatment methods and prevention

Poor posture in children is treatable, and with proper correction it is a completely reversible process. The main thing is to detect deviations in a timely manner. Therefore, it is important to regularly examine children and monitor their lifestyle and habits. If any type of abnormality is suspected, the child should be shown to an orthopedic doctor or vertebrologist.

Treatment is always comprehensive, aimed at straightening the spine and strengthening the muscle corset.

Various methods are used:

Exercise therapy and sports;
massage and manual correction;
swimming;
physiotherapy;
exercises on special simulators;
wearing orthopedic corsets and belts.

Many people turn to doctors as adults, when the consequences of poor posture are much more difficult and take longer to eliminate. And in some cases it is completely impossible without surgical intervention. Therefore, like any problem, curvature of the spine is easier to prevent than to treat.

Prevention of postural disorders in children

Prevention of posture is carried out in two directions:

formation of the habit of walking, standing and sitting straight, observing the norms of proper sleep;
creating a strong muscle corset.

It is very important to maintain the correct position when sitting at a desk or table. The height of the table and chair should be adjusted to the height of the child. The edge of the chair seat is pushed under the table by 3–6 cm. Your feet should be placed on the floor at a right angle, your shoulders should be kept at the same level, your head should be tilted slightly forward, your hands should be placed freely on the table. When writing, your elbows should rest completely on the table, and when working at a computer, rest on the armrests.

Parents should also ensure that the child does not constantly carry a backpack on one shoulder or a heavy school bag in one hand. The weight should be evenly distributed across the back and the arms should be free. It is recommended to sleep on an orthopedic mattress with a small soft pillow.

About the disease

The incidence of spinal deformities increases in proportion to age.
If in preschoolers this disease occurs in 17% of children, then in middle grades the detection rate is already more than 30%, and in older grades – more than 65% of cases. In itself, poor posture does not threaten life or health. With appropriate treatment, the anatomy of the spine can be restored. However, changes in posture contribute to a decrease in the mobility of the chest and diaphragm, and this is a prerequisite for the formation of many diseases.

With poor posture, the shock-absorbing capabilities of the spine are reduced and many organs suffer. The spinal column is the bone base to which various structures of the human body are “attached,” and any change in anatomical relationships inevitably affects health.

Incorrect posture is the first step towards the formation of scoliosis, intervertebral hernias and other vertebrological disorders.

Pediatric traumatologists identify the following deformities in the sagittal plane:

flat back – smoothing out all physiological curves;
flat-concave back - the lumbar curve is increased, the cervical curve is smoothed, in the cervical region there is kyphosis (curvature of the spine in the anteroposterior direction);
stooping – thoracic kyphosis is increased, lumbar curve is smoothed;
round back (kyphotic posture) – thoracic kyphosis is increased, there is practically no lumbar curve;
round-concave back (kypholordotic posture) - the cervical and lumbar curves are sharply increased.

Deformation in the frontal plane is a scoliotic posture, a sideways curvature.
This disorder differs from real scoliosis in that when lying down, all curves are aligned. According to severity, the following degrees are distinguished:

minor deformation that the child can correct himself with directed attention;
the deformity is more pronounced, but straightens when lying down or when lifted by the armpits;
the deformity persists in the supine position and when standing up.

What to do if a child has incorrect posture?

If parents observe postural imbalance in their child for a long time, it is necessary to consult a doctor. According to current recommendations, all children from 6 years of age should be screened for scoliosis and musculoskeletal disorders. This is a basic check that is expected to be repeated annually. If necessary, the doctor will prescribe appropriate treatment, which may include a course of physical therapy, physiotherapy, wearing orthoses or, in extreme cases, surgical treatment.