Nestling up with a good book can help to relieve stress and anxiety and improve your overall mood, but it can also take a physical toll on your body. We don’t typically view reading as a very physical hobby, but since we’re oftentimes not very active when we’re reading, our bodies can be forced to handle a lot of static stress. Two areas that tend to handle a fair amount of stress when we’re seated for an extended period are our neck and our lower back.
In an effort to help keep these areas of your spine healthy, we’ve compiled a few tips to help keep you from overloading these spots when you’re consumed by a great book.
Protecting Your Spine When Reading
If you’ve ever experienced stiffness, discomfort or pain in your lower back or neck after closing your favorite book, it may be helpful to keep the following tips in mind the next time you want to read.
- Get The Book Out Of Your Lap – Similar to how we taught people about the dangers of regularly looking down at your phone to send a text or scroll through social media, positioning your neck out in front of your body to look down puts an abnormal amount of strain on your cervical spine. You may have your book in your lap when you’re reading on the couch or in bed, but if it’s forcing your neck forward in order to read, it could lead to neck problems down the road. Elevate the book by putting a pillow under your arms, or even consider lying on your side so that your neck is straight while you’re reading.
- Take Breaks – We know that it can be extremely hard to put down a book, especially when things are getting good, but force yourself to take a five-minute break every 30 minutes or so. Use this time to get up and stretch, move your spine or to grab a glass of water from the kitchen. This movement will help relieve this static pressure on your neck and back. Similar to when you’re working at a desk or watching television, it’s important to break up long periods of inactivity with some brief periods of movement.
- Take Inventory Of Your Posture – It’s helpful to perform regular checks of your posture when you’re reading and at other points throughout the day. We may find that we’re craning our heads forward and slouching in our seats without even realizing it, and that can be hard on your spine. Every time you reach a new chapter, perform a self-assessment of your posture and make sure that your spine is in a healthy position with your shoulders relaxed and your head directly over your shoulders.
- Stretch – You should also make it a point to stretch your head, neck and lower spine if you’re going to be engaged in a long reading session. Slowly rotate your head forward, backwards and to each side, perform some slow shoulder rolls and gently turn your trunk side to side to keep your spine and the soft tissues that support it flexible. If any part of your body is starting to feel stiff, perform a few quick stretches.
Reading can be harder on your neck and back than you’d imagine, but we don’t want you to stop reading. We just want you to be smart about how you approach the activity so that you don’t need to set up an appointment because of a newly developed pain. For more tips on how you can prevent back pain during daily activities, or to set up a consultation with Dr. Jackman, give the team at The Midwest Spine & Brain Institute a call today at (651) 430-3800.
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