As I mentioned in my last article, the number one thing I recommend for students (and their parents) are regular breaks. Stand up from your desk/table/computer/laptop/tablet/phablet every 30 minutes. Move around, stretch your neck or shoulders, take a few deep breaths, then sit down and start again.
If you want to take your game to the next level, incorporate some meditation, mindfulness, or relaxation techniques. Next door to our clinic is the OpenGround Mindfulness Training Centre, and when I spoke to Tim Goddard there she recommended the HeadSpace app as a …

Poor ergonomics causes a lot of musculoskeletal injuries like back pain, neck and shoulder pain, RSI, carpal tunnel syndrome, headaches and eye strain. It also causes people to fatigue quicker, makes them irritable and generally less productive. So how should your children they set up their desk, chair and computer?

The chair should be adjustable so their feet touch the floor (or a footrest) and they are at a good height relative to the desk. The desk should not be too high so they are reaching, or too low so they …

In last weeks post I talked about the 3 most common causes of back pain in schoolkids. First on the list was a heavy backpack, which is defined as a backpack weighing more than 10% of the child’s body weight. Previous studies using MRI scans have shown that when the weight of the backpack gets much above this, the discs start to become compressed, and the spine starts to curve, probably because the children were trying to find a comfortable position. The danger here is that in addition to the compression, …

I’m going to write a series of articles about common issues your children might face at school this year. Hopefully having this information at the start of the year will set them up with good habits now and prevent problems that tend to build up over the course of the year.
The first thing I want to bring to your attention are the most common causes of back pain in children. According to a 2011 study, there are 3 things that affect kids the most:

A heavy schoolbag (weighing more than 10% …

Had the most amazing trip to Costa Rica!!! It is absolutely beautiful as you can see in the pictures on my facebook page. The beaches are great but the real gold is around the mountains, rainforests and volcanoes! The scenery and wildlife there is out of this world. Look forward to catching up with you all and sharing stories – hope you all had a great holiday period as well!