Correct the Body Imbalances Caused by Caregiving! Self-Care to Learn Before You Care for Others: How to Check Your Posture and Movement
Written by: 市川 塁 (Physical Therapist)
Physical complaints and body imbalances (misalignment of the joints or posture) are often mentioned in the same breath. From a medical standpoint, however, some say that “there is no such thing as a misaligned body (or joint).”
In fact, when I examine people troubled by complaints such as low back pain or stiff shoulders, some do have left-right differences in posture or joint position (in other words, an imbalance), while others show almost no left-right difference when standing still.
Even in people with almost no left-right difference in posture, however, there are left-right differences in how smoothly or stiffly the joints move. In other words, there are two kinds of body imbalance: “visible imbalance” and “movement imbalance.”
Why do imbalances develop?
So why does the body develop such imbalances? One factor is how we use our bodies, and how they are used, in our daily habits.
What tasks do you usually do, in what posture, and for how long? Imbalances are strongly influenced by a person’s occupation and role, so they take on characteristics specific to each occupation or role. Home helpers, homemakers, desk workers, manual laborers: each has a characteristic pattern of imbalance, and the type of back pain or shoulder stiffness and how it shows up are also affected by that imbalance.
So in this column, I’ll share how to check your own body for imbalances and how to correct them.
Typical imbalances caused by caregiving
What postures are most common in caregiving work?
Caregiving involves many tasks, such as helping with meals, transfers and dressing, and hygiene care such as bathing and bed baths, but almost all of them are done in a posture of “bending forward with the body twisted.”
Because caregivers spend so much time bent forward and twisted, their bodies tend toward a hunched back and a rounded lower back, and are also prone to imbalances in which the body leans or twists to one side.
How to check for postural imbalance
The easiest way to check your posture is to stand and use a mirror and a wall.
1. Check in front of a mirror
Stand facing a mirror so that you can see your whole body, and check the following:
Is your head tilted?
Are your shoulders at the same height?
Are your hips at the same height?
2. Check with your back to a wall
Stand about 5 cm (2 in) away from a wall, lean back against it slightly, and check the following:
Do your buttocks, back and the back of your head touch the wall without strain?
Is there a gap of one or two fingers’ width between your lower back and the wall?
How to check for movement imbalance
The easiest way to check for left-right and front-back differences in movement is to stand with your feet shoulder-width apart.
1. Forward and backward bend test
Forward bend: Keeping your knees straight, bend forward while pushing your hips back. Can your fingertips touch the floor without strain?
Backward bend: Put both hands behind your lower back and arch backward while pushing your belly forward. Can you see the ceiling without strain?
2. Side-to-side hip slide test
Place your hands on both sides of your waist and slide your pelvis horizontally to the left and right. Can you move it smoothly, with no difference between the two sides?
3. Twist test
Turn to look behind you to the left and to the right. Can you see directly behind you without strain, and is there any difference between the two sides?
Do these checks to see whether your posture is imbalanced and whether your movement differs between left and right or front and back.
How to correct imbalances
The key to correcting imbalances is to eliminate left-right and front-back differences in movement and make your movements smooth. Doing so reduces not only movement imbalance but also postural imbalance, and your physical complaints will decrease.
The method is simple. For the directions in which the movement checks showed that your movement is poor or stiff, use the same movement as a stretching exercise, in a rhythm of 3 seconds × 5 times, breathing out as you stretch.
As you repeat it, you should feel your body gradually loosening up. The key is to loosen up by repeating the same movement.
If possible, make it a habit to do four sets a day (morning, midday, evening and night); this improves imbalances and helps reduce physical complaints.
Strain builds up over time, and there is no magic technique that relieves physical complaints in an instant. Relieving strain little and often is the best medicine. Please give it a try. If you have severe pain or numbness, don’t push yourself; consult a medical institution.
About the author: 市川 塁 (Physical Therapist)
This article is a contribution from a medical or care professional, re-edited by our editorial team. It provides general information as of the time of writing, and symptoms and circumstances differ from person to person. For specific decisions, please consult your doctor, dentist, pharmacist or another professional.
This is an English translation of a column originally published in Japanese by Next Co., Ltd.
About Next Co., Ltd. We are a Tokyo-based company working in Japan’s senior care and end-of-life planning field. Alongside these expert columns, we publish professional training textbooks and support businesses entering Japan’s eldercare market. More expert columns | Our English textbook | Contact us
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