- In times of final exams, Selectividad and presentation of end-of-degree or master's degree projects, the cases of contractures, hernias, cervical pain, low back pain and even scoliosis, hyperkyphosis and hyperlordosis increase.
- Professionals recommend resting your feet on the floor and your back on the backrest, getting up and walking every 45 minutes or an hour, exercising every day and trying to stretch your neck and back.
Back pain, and specifically low back pain, is an important health problem with great impact for society, in terms of loss of quality of life, and is included among the most frequent conditions in the Spanish population. At the time of final exams and preparation for selectivity (EBAU, EVAU or PAU, depending on the Spanish region), the hours that young people and adolescents dedicate to study, especially those of Bachelor and university students, increase the cases of patients who come to Rehabilitation services for contractures, hernias, low back pain and also for more serious back problems. Up to 40% of the cases attended by the physiotherapists of the Ribera healthcare group They are related to poor postural hygiene, which, at the end of the course, also adds to the nerves and stress of this stage.
The physiotherapists from the Ribera group insist on the importance of students knowing how to sit while studying, doing homework or final degree or master's projects so that their backs do not hurt. Lydia Chamorro, physical therapist at the Torrejón University Hospital, ensures that the most widespread errors when sitting are "having your head forward, your shoulders slumped, your spine curved forward and not supporting your lower back on the backrest". The supervisor of the Physiotherapy Unit of the Hospital de Denia, Adrián Ventero, recalls that cervical pain arises from hours in front of a screen sitting badly and "causes an anteriorization of the shoulders and a rectification of the surrounding area, increasing tension in the muscles." Andrea Rodríguez, Physiotherapy coordinator of theRibera Polusa hospital, explains that students should avoid "sloping down in the chair, resting their shoulders on the backrest and placing their pelvis at the end of the chair", as well as studying lying down. “If this activity is done supporting the elbows or forearms, in a few minutes the student will begin to feel tired and will not be able to concentrate on what he is studying”, he assures.
And it is that "spending many hours in the same position increases the chances of suffering muscle pain", explains Manuela González, physiotherapist of the Hospital Ribera Santa Justa (Extremadura), who assures that parents and teachers have to correct students so that they do not have their legs crossed, climb on the chair or are sitting on them. "The feet always have to be on the ground and slightly apart from each other," she adds, while confirming that "continued poor postural hygiene can cause many back problems." He also recommends placing the computer just in front, to avoid excessive twisting of the trunk, and in the horizontal plane of the head, to balance the load of the body weight and avoid shoulder antepulsion (shoulders forward and slightly up), because it favors kyphosis. dorsal. Her partner at the Torrejón hospital, Lydia Chamorro, adds that the knees should be at the same level or above the hips. “If you can't reach it, you have to use a footrest with adjustable inclination,” she explains. And when working with the computer, the keyboard should be low, so as not to raise your shoulders and rest your forearms on the table. The elevation should not exceed 25 cm.
Chamorro confirms that in the clinic they treat cases of scoliosis, hyperkyphosis and hyperlordosis (increased curvature of the spine at the cervical or lumbar level), sometimes as a consequence of repeated and poor postural hygiene. "Back pain affects around 70-80% of the general population at some point in their lives and approximately 15% has a clear origin, but the rest is considered non-specific or unclassifiable pain," he recalls. This physiotherapist emphasizes that, in addition to posture, it is important to watch the weight of backpacks or book bags and the way in which we exercise and stretch.
Manuela González, a physiotherapist from Ribera Santa Justa, recommends interspersing periods of 50 minutes sitting and 10 minutes of rest standing or walking. After the first break, you can extend the sitting study period up to an hour and a half and rest for 20 minutes standing. “In this way, we guarantee the change of position, so that the muscles do not suffer, and we give ourselves the opportunity to correct again the way of sitting in front of books, notes or the computer”, she explains. For Lydia Chamorro, the ideal is to take a break, get up from the study table and walk a little every 45 minutes. The same advice is given by the Denia Physiotherapy supervisor. "After sitting for an hour, you have to get up." All of them also recommend daily exercise or several times a week, and specifically, the Torrejón physiotherapist recalls that "strengthening the muscles of the abdominal-lumbar area provides greater trunk stability and makes the posture more more suitable”. “We are all at risk of low back pain at some point in our lives, due to injury or overexertion, but it is considerably reduced the more developed the back musculature is,” she adds. For the Denia Physiotherapy supervisor, it is also key to "perform mobility exercises and stretching of the neck and shoulders to avoid cervical rectifications and dorsal kyphosis".
