Recently, there was a fairly lengthy article in my local city newspaper, bemoaning the ills that technology is causing on both the young as well as older adults. Two local health professionals were interviewed for this story, both making comments based on their beliefs and observations and using their impressions to make predictions about the downfall of society (OK, I am exaggerating, but they did talk about a lot of their subjective observations and beliefs as is they were speaking with some authority of proof). Hardly a day goes by when I do not read someone’s post on Facebook or LinkedIn predicting doom, pain-wise, from the horrid postures we are now assuming. Laptops, cell phone, game consoles, etc., are all cited as the reasons why we need to exercise/stretch/strengthen our core/receive massage or manual therapy/fix the spinal subluxations/etc. Most cite the dreaded increase in sitting, inactivity, slumped forward posture, and neck flexion as the symptom of the decline in modern civilization. Ultimately, nearly every post leads back to being sold something. After all, most of us are selling something, whether it is a product or a service of some type. Many are selling their beliefs as well.
I do try to keep current on the latest medical literature in my field and related fields of therapy, but have not really seen an uptick in research proving a worsening pain epidemic over the past generation, despite the changes in technology. Why might this be? I believe there is little if any change because we, as humans, are incredibly adaptable as a species. We are able to maintain long periods of static positioning with minimal ill-effects. Humans maintaining so-called poor posture (by today’s’ standards) is nothing new and has really been going on for centuries or longer. Long ago, however, there were few, if any, professionals whose main job it was to deal with issues of pain. Maybe there was a medicine man or woman, but I doubt if they went around from cave to cave, imploring others to stand up tall and not slouch over the cook fire. You may argue that those indigenous populations were much more active and made up for the poor posture around the fire by running from the next mastodon to spook them from their cave. But take a look at some postures that peoples throughout the years have maintained, with many being required to work days of 12 hours or more in length, 6-7 days a week:
Sitting/standing/working/playing in a hunched forward position is not new. There were probably people who did develop pain and related problems as a result of these postures, but there are far more who did not. From an anthropological perspective, I do not view our “present problem” as being a problem at all. Technology does cause us to shift from one form of posture to another. 100 years ago or more, health professionals with something to sell were probably predicting pain doom from the popularity of typewriters in the workplace. Some may have had problems, but most did not.
I, too, am selling something. I sell my physical therapy services to those in my community who are in need and I sell my ideas on how to provide myofascial release to the therapeutic community. But I also am selling a thought. Stop worrying about other’s habits. If you find irrefutable proof that our technology-crazed society is responsible for the next worldwide pain pandemic, speak up. Until then, I will politely ignore your scare tactics.
For now,
Walt Fritz, PT
(All images from Wikipedia.com)
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