Pain

THORACIC DECOMPRESSION

Written by hubspot | Jan 12, 2023 2:00:00 PM

Are you on your way to looking like Quasimodo?

We think that not working out enough and sitting too much are the root cause of poor posture. Yes, it’s great to work out and make sure that your muscles are aligned and balanced, but it isn’t the ACT of sitting that’s creating horrible posture. It’s the WAY you sit, and the primary culprit in bad posture is the traditional office chair.

Sitting doesn’t have to be the New Smoking …but sitting poorly in a poorly-designed office chair sure can be.

Did you know that the shape of an office chair and lack of support in the right places can cause poor posture over time?

American workers sit for up to 13 hours a day, so sitting on a poorly designed office chair only adds to the problem.

Sitting poorly translates to standing poorly, hunched over, looking like Quasimodo. How can we take care of our posture to not look like Quasimodo in the future?

The Problem of Traditional Office Chairs

 

The traditional office chair doesn’t support your body in the right places and may limit your ability to hold an upright posture.

Most traditional office chairs have only a lumbar support to hold you upright and a wide chair back that is wider than the width of your shoulders.

This width, and the material of the office chair, can cause your shoulders to round forward and your upper thoracic spine to flex and form a ”C”-shaped and compressed spine.

This rounded posture can, over time, create muscle imbalances that can result in rotator cuff injury, shoulder impingement syndrome, or neck pain.

Click here to learn more about "The Office Chair That Reduces Your Shoulder Pain"

What’s the Solution?

Anthros is the solution to not looking like Quasimodo. Anthros is a revolutionary office chair with a back that doesn’t push you forward. The upper back is narrower than the width of your shoulders and is tapered to allow your shoulders to rest in their normal alignment. The shape of the pad also promotes expansion of your chest to reduce rounding.

 

 

Flexion/Compression VS Extension/Decompression

With the shape of the chair back and lack of support, we fall into this Flexion/Compression posture. The spine tips forward, rounding your shoulders and creating poor muscle balance.

This compression of the spine has been shown to result in decreased disc height and shortened spine length.

Being supported in an upright posture by a pelvis support and dynamic upper back support that creates extension/ decompression is the key to not looking like Quasimodo.

 

Anthros’s upper back can hinge backward to provide upper back or thoracic extension. The chair back mimics a physical therapy technique known as the McKenzie method, which uses extension to decompress the spine and take pressure off the pain-sensitive structures in the spine. 

Click Here for Your Solution

Passive extension of the spine decreases intradiscal pressure, causing the nucleus pulposus to migrate anteriorly and thus relieve pressure on pain sensitive structures of the spine including the posterior longitudinal ligament and annulus fibrosis.1

Decompression elongates the spine by decreasing disc pressure and restoring a more natural alignment of the spine. It also helps undo the muscle imbalances that cause your upper body to slouch forward like Quasimodo.

Do your body a favor and check out this Amazing Office Chair that can improve your posture.

Reference:

  1. Moldovan, M. (2012). Therapeutic considerations and recovery in low back pain: Williams vs McKenzie. Timisoara Physical Education and Rehabilitation Journal, 5(9), 58-64.