Don’t SLOUCH!
These new home gadgets can give you perfect posture – and take years off
POOR posture is a scourge of our time. Four out of five of us will have back pain at some point, our aches exacerbated by hours spent curled over computer screens and smartphones.
Fortunately, there is a growing range of inventions to help support the spine, lessen the strain on surrounding muscles and ligaments and train us to sit and stand comfortably and correctly.
As our mothers said, good posture is so important. It gives an aura of grace, confidence and youth.
Crucially, correct posture allows your body to function optimally, reducing the likelihood of soreness and aches.
Having suffered from lower back pain since having my children, I’ve often sat at my laptop in a frozen hunch for fear of inflaming the condition. But this put my lumbar (lower) spine under stress and worsened the problem.
It was only when I actively made an effort to improve my stance — trying the latest posture-improving gadgets — that I was able to manage it.
Here are six of the best — all of which you can use at home . . . HANDS-FREE MASSAGE Medisana Back Relief Massager, €340 amazon.co.uk COSTLY, but a treat, this is no namby-pamby gadget. It’s a solid seat and back cushion that fits over your chair. You plug it into the mains and operate a massage mechanism by remote control.
Recommended usage time is 15 minutes, no more than twice a day.
Its aim is to increase blood flow and circulation, decrease tension and reduce pain caused by tight muscles (all these products are unsuitable for those with some medical conditions, so check before you buy).
I choose the Shiatsu setting: the moving massage mechanism feels like a professional masseur kneading the knotted muscles of my mid-back. It’s very effective.
You can adjust the massage to your width and height, press a button to add soothing heat and there’s an option to vibrate the seat cushion. There are settings to focus on your lower, mid or upper back.
It pleasantly pummelled the tension out of me and, with increased freedom of movement, I sit taller and easier. 5/5 STRETCH YOURSELF HoMedics Stretch Back Stretching Mat, €230 littlewoodsireland.ie THIS mat does the yoga for you, and is designed to ease muscle tension. My back feels brittle, so I lie on it with my knees bent up, feet flat. Of four programmes (twist, flow, energise, stretch) and three levels of intensity, I choose ‘energise’ and press my remote control.
I try to relax and let the motion created by the mat, as it inflates and deflates, move my body. The mat slowly swells and shrinks in specific areas, cleverly lifting my back into an arch — but my spine is so inflexible, it feels a bit much.
Next time, I try settings suited to a beginner: the mat coaxes me into gentle hip and shoulder twists for six to nine minutes.
My husband falls in love at first try.
‘Oh! Something’s clicked!’ he says. ‘This is the best lower back stretch I’ve had. It’s so good!’
I’m wary of over-twisting, but the starters’ programme seems delicately to re-align my spine (I hear a click, too).
When I walk to the shops later, I feel marginally more stretched and supple and my shoulders are less hunched. 5/5 SIT UP RIGHT Sitting Partner, €39.50 backinaction.co.uk THIS soft, folded cushion, designed by a Norwegian doctor, helps improve poor posture by providing back support at waist level, minimising the strain on ligaments, muscles and discs.
When seated, you tuck the thinner portion behind your sacrum (upper bottom), with the thicker bolster in the small of your back. The design spreads the pressure to below your waist and supports the sacrum.
An inflatable air pocket allows increased support if needed: a little pump is provided.
It’s malleable into whatever shape suits and soft enough that you can sit on one half and prop the other against your lower back.
I wish I’d had it weeks ago when sitting on a restaurant’s wooden chair had caused my poor spine to compress like a deflated concertina. 4/5 WOBBLY WORKOUT Ballo Stool, €238 huntoffice.ie INSPIRED by the gym ball, this seat looks like a toadstool, except that it has a rounded, unstable base, which encourages ‘active sitting’.
Sitting down on it, I have to engage my stomach and thigh muscles so as not to wobble. I feel like a pixie.
Its height is non-adjustable, however, and it raises me too high to sit at my desk. I find the Ballo Stool is better suited for short periods, as it requires focus and effort just to stay upright.
Although it is comfortable, it forces me to sit ‘nicely’, and I can gently roll my hips, while keeping my torso still, mobilising the lower back and encouraging good posture. And, when you feel you deserve finally to collapse on to a comfortable sofa, it doubles up rather well as a footstool. 4/5 PULSE AWAY PAIN Omron E3 Intense Pain Reliever, €90, argos.ie THIS pulse massager is a portable TENS (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation) device. You plug wires into the handheld unit, attach adhesive pads to the ends and press them on to the painful area.
Then you get on with your day, while it sends electrical pulses to the sore spot to stimulate the release of endorphins — the body’s natural painkillers — improve circulation and reduce muscle and joint pain or stiffness.
Years ago, my physiotherapist used one of these the size of a suitcase to help my RSI (repetitive strain injury, in my elbow joints), so finally possessing my own dinky DIY version is pleasing.
There’s a choice of massage programmes (tapping, kneading, rubbing) and intensity. After a 15minute buzz, I unfurl, feeling loose and a bit amazed.
When I stand up, my posture feels exemplary — correct and pain-free. An invaluable little gadget. 5/5