Posture and Body Mechanics

It is very important to be aware of your posture and body mechanics throughout your day. There are many things that could go wrong for a person who does not have proper posture or body mechanics. Proper posture will reduce the risk or injury or progressive deformity, because having your body in the proper alignment allows everything to work as it should. Having correct posture allows muscles and all of your organs to function properly and optimally. Also, incorrect posture can cause nerve compression in the spine, which would later cause even more problems. Correct body mechanics is a huge part in preventing back injury. 80% of adults will have back pain sometime in their life. If they were taught correct body mechanics at a younger age, that number could be reduced. There are many ways to prevent back pain dealing with body mechanics. One of the most important ways is to never twist your trunk while lifting objects. This puts strain on your thoracic and lumbar vertebra causing back pain. 
While working with a client with poor body mechanics, I would instruct the client, family, or caregivers the correct way to lift and carry a load. If the client is independent, I would educate them on how to do all of their ADLs with little to no strain on their body. If the client is dependent, I would educate the caregiver on the correct body mechanics and posture needed to successfully perform a transfer without injury to themselves or the client. Another thing I would work with the client and caregivers on would be that pushing a heavy object is always more effective and more safe. Pushing and object causes way less strain and stress on the back than pulling an object does. With making just this one little change, it could make a huge difference in the health of the client or caregiver. 

Man of the South

Although many people think of the pinky fingers as useless, they are much needed for grip strength. I can think of 2 activities of daily living that would greatly be affected with the loss of one pinky, and even more affected with the loss of 3 fingers. The first one would be dressing yourself. Although the soldier would have a hard time dressing himself with only 4 fingers, I can only imagine the trouble that the man’s wife would have. There will always be buttons, zippers, and many other objects to manipulate when you are trying to dress yourself.

The main activity that I will focus on is brushing your teeth. I can’t imagine trying to brush my teeth with only my thumb and my index finger. One modification that could be made would be to use an electric toothbrush to really be able to focus on your grip on the toothbrush rather than the actual brushing motion. Another modification that could be added to the wife’s toothbrush would be the use of Velcro. Since she does only have 2 fingers, I think the easiest way to modify her toothbrush would be to have a custom glove made for her with Velcro on the palmar side. Also, have Velcro attached to the toothbrush so whenever she grabs the toothbrush with the glove, it automatically sticks. This would be a good way for her to gain her independence after the traumatic experience of loosing her fingers.