Digital vision for chlidren of a digital era
- Anastasios Margaritis
- Category: First Page Articles
Do you know that 80% of what we learn is through our eyes and that the performance of children in school depends on the quality of their eyesight? Have you realized that your child avoids using his favorite computer?
Are you still sitting comfortably?
- Anastasios Margaritis
- Category: First Page Articles
Are you still sitting comfortably?
It's time to wake up and prepare your kids to go to school, get into the car and head for your office, but the traffic you find is unbearable. You finally get to work and relieved you sit on your ergonomic seat.
Move Smart with a Smartphone
- Anastasios Margaritis
- Category: First Page Articles
There is no doubt that you are living in the age of technology and smartphones. You communicate with them, you take pictures, you listen to music, you watch videos, you travel. The wealth of information you can gather, is unlimited. A whole world in the palm of your hand. However, you would not expect that this gentle touch of the screen could cause problems to your body. As paradox as it sounds, thumb injury affects thousands of people each year. In fact, the number of … victims (!) continues to grow as modern man becomes increasingly dependent on this new technology.
Causes
Although tendons and muscles that support thumb movement are very strong, they are not designed for vigorous repetitive activity in positions which are required for the use of mobile devices and smartphones. Experts assume that the thumb lacks the dexterity of the other four fingers and therefore has difficulty adapting to the high speed of typing.
Muscle fatigue, excessive strain and prolonged tension can lead to muscle and tendon pain and may also affect the flexibility of the thumb.
Symptoms
Symptoms may include:
- Discomfort or pain in the wrist and thumb when flexing or moving to the little finger.
- Blurred pain in the base of the thumb during bending and stretching, where the thumb meets the palm.
- Weakness in the grip force.
- Morning stiffness improved by movement.
- Sometimes, simply holding the smartphone to your ear may put pressure on your hand, wrist and fingers, especially after a prolonged conversation.
Over time, the repetitive usage can cause painful tendonitis (tendon inflammation) and also lead to premature arthritis.
Reprogramming Instructions
- Restrict the use of your mobile phone for texting, gaming, and Internet browsing. Whenever is possible, use a computer with a regular-sized keyboard or connect a larger keyboard to your smartphone.
- Write short messages.
- Avoid putting your phone in the palm and typing.
- Stop and rest your hands if you feel discomfort.
- Place your phone on a table and type with the index finger and not with your thumbs.
- Use Bluetooth or a headset during your phone calls to minimize the stress in your hands.
- Correct your posture and do not slouch over your phone.
- Don't forget daily stretching exercises for your wrists and fingers in order to keep your tendons flexible.
- Do strength training in order to make your muscles stronger.
And Remember:
As "smart" as a phone, don't let it handle you. You handle it!
Anastasios M. Margaritis
Occupational Health& Safety Specialist.
Bsc Physiotherapy & Sports Science.
Orthopaedic Manual Therapist.
Back Mechanic Specialist.
Your Body Position…Your own story
- Anastasios Margaritis
- Category: First Page Articles
"Your Body Position…Your own story"
Have you ever wondered if your body position is able to reveal all of your secrets? It basically reflects your inner and secret self and it reveals evidence about your character, your self-esteem and your mood. Think of your body position as a barometer of your feelings. Have you ever found yourself standing with your shoulders curved forward and with your head hanging down? or have you ever felt your back in serious pain where you had to change the position of your leg in order to keep standing up?
If the answer to the above questions is YES, then it is the right time to change your body positioning and mainly your habits. Start constantly observing your body when you are sitting on a chair or when you walk or just standing up. In that way you will be able to recognize the wrong standards that your own body has adopted.
Review your positioningIt reveals secrets.
Unfortunately, there is no one ideal solution for everybody simply because the position of each person is a result of a complex set of habits that are mixed in a unique way. Good and healthy body positioning is usually defined by the contours of the upper body - the chest, shoulders, spine and throat.
Our bodies are naturally unstable because they are made for movement. Basically, our skeleton is fine assembling of levers and hundreds of movable joints. The muscles and other tissues that form the skeleton together with the organs, contain approximately 70% water, which makes them even more mobile. The instability of this design makes our body plastic enough to adapt to the internal fluctuations of breathing, of digestion and other processes of life as well as of the variety of positions we adopt as we move
As a result, to ensure the balance of such a kinetic layout, it is necessary to evaluate and observe not only the way that you place your body while standing, but mainly to assess the way you place your body while you are moving. This evaluation will reveal that your body positioning is dynamic and it is, by no doubt, created by your movement and the way you “carry” yourself while you are moving with your life.
To evaluate if your standing position is healthy or not, depict how your body is moving from head to toe. The healthy position is characterized by a smooth and harmonious movement that runs effortlessly between the limbs and the torso, while the wrong one looks disconnected and tough. And even though the majority of the training programs focus on reforming the external shape of your body and teach you how you can align your body in a vertical position through your ears, shoulders, hips and ankles - the appealing of the gravity line - and how to strengthen the muscles to maintain this alignment, you will actually have to change your perception of gravity or the world around you. The process of changing your perceptions is what will make the changes sustainable.
Through this perception you will realize that the healthy body position is not a unique ideal setting or something that you have to do different with your body. Instead, you will understand that the healthy body position is something that you learn to feel. With the approach of shifting from the inside out, new positioning rules will help you develop new sensory memories of what you feel balanced and stable. These senses will automatically bring your body into alignment with gravity. And to achieve this, follow the below therapeutic strategic positions:
Therapeutic Strategic Positions
- Be Patient- changes in your body position and your life require patience.
- Start changing your breathing simply because without breath there is no life.
- Adopt the characteristics of the best coaches: health, perseverance and sense of humor
- If you can only dedicate 15 minutes of your day to correct your body position, start with it.
- Give emphasis while you are strengthening the pelvic floor muscles, because these muscles together with the respiratory muscles, stabilize the whole body
- Remember that your body position is a continuous perceptual process through which you are oriented towards gravity and towards your relationship with people, objects and events of your world
- Do not forget that a balanced body requires a balanced mind
Because Your Own Body Positioning Is Your Own Story.
Anastasios M. Margaritis
Occupational Health& Safety Specialist.
Bsc Physiotherapy & Sports Science.
Orthopaedic Manual Therapist.
Back Mechanic Specialist.