Bad posture can be a real pain in the neck

Image 1 of 10

As a creative director and brand consultant, 31-year old Sasha Revolus admits she was a sloucher.

"I live in front of a computer," Revolus says.

She rarely thought about her posture until it began sneaking up on her.

"About a year or two into working for myself and working from home, the headaches just hit," Revolus says.  "I was, like, 'Whoa, this is intense!'"

Revolus wasn't sure if chiropractor Latrice Lawrence of H2H Wellness Centers could help her.

"You think chiropractors are for, like, car accidents and stuff like that, not sitting at a computer," she says.

But Dr. Lawrence looked at Sasha's spinal alignment and the way she carried herself and found some serious alignment issues.

"She was terrible," Lawrence says.   "So, she had really rounded shoulders, her head would go forward. She had a lot of tension in the trapezoid muscle area."

That can cause neck pain, headaches, upper and mid-back pain. To straighten up, Lawrence says, pull your shoulders and head back. She recommends neck stretches to loosen up tight muscles.

Then look at your workspace, she says.

"The easiest thing to say is you want the middle of the computer screen to be eye level," Lawrence says.  "That way you can see the whole screen. You don't have to look up or down."

A chair with lumbar, or lower back, support can help, so can a standing desk.

"But you want to switch it up," she says.  "I like the desks that you can bring up or down so that you're not in one particular posture all day every day. Because, if you're always standing, that is going to put extra stress on your feet, your knees, your hips, and your lower back."

Sasha Revolus says her posture isn't perfect, but it's better."

And straightening up seems to be paying off.

"Yes," Revolus says.  "For sure. The migraines are gone.  I don't remember the last time I had a headache."