Spinal pain
Spinal pain of postural origin would not occur if this basic education were given to individuals at an early age. Ask any 12-year-old child if he or she has been shown at school how to stand correctly or how to sit correctly. Chances are that the child will tell you that he or she has never been shown either of these two fundamental postures. Similarly, chances are slim that the child has been told about the harmful consequences that may occur if posture is neglected.
If these matters are of concern to you, you might politely request that your school administration or RE. teachers make postural physical education a priority. In addition, you might suggest that administrators evaluate school furniture for its effects on posture. Good postural habits must be instilled at an early age.
These are steps that you as a concerned individual can take to help to bring about some of the changes that must occur if society is to grapple sensibly with the enormous problem of back pain. In the United States alone, this problem costs from $50 to $70 billion a year in everything from medical expenses to days lost from work.
For information on the McKenzie Institute Postural Video, which is available to schools, please see Appendix A.
felt, or there are whole days when no pain is felt. The symptoms may appear mysteriously, often for no apparent reason. And just as enigmatically the symptoms may vanish.
These aches and pains also may occur constantly. That is, for some patients pain is felt at all times, to one degree or another. People who have pain all the time frequently are forced to take pills. Nevertheless, it is uncommon for these people to have to stop work, though even this occasionally does occur. More often, the pain simply makes their lives miserable and they must reduce their activities in order to keep their discomfort at a moderate level. Therefore neck problems can seriously affect their lifestyle.
If you have neck problems, you may already have discovered that symptoms can in some cases last for months or even years. Or you may have found that treatments often are able to stop your pain, but that the pain returns later. You may be reading this book because you have persistent pains that have not disappeared, despite the fact that you have received the best of treatment.
