Are you like me and catch yourself leaning into the steering wheel while driving? That is not a good thing! I talked to my physical therapist about it and he confirmed I was actually harming my body.
“The biggest thing I would say when sitting or driving is to check your posture,” said Brandon Aubry, a clinic director for ATI Physical Therapy in my hometown of Joliet, IL. “Keep your shoulders back. Keep your lumbar position upright. Do not lean forward; it puts a lot of stress on the joints and muscles of your spine. It can also cause our shoulders to round and can cause impingement on the muscles of our shoulders.”
I met Brandon when I underwent physical therapy this spring for painful tendonitis in my rotator cuff—and a month later I was cured and good to go!
While I now have my own daily morning routine, my PT gave me four stretches that will help me during driving days. He also suggested a lumbar support (which I have) and maybe even straps to keep my shoulders back. A “posture correction support strap” sells on Amazon for roughly $20.
One exercise you can do at a stoplight is to squeeze your shoulder blades together for 10 seconds. That’s a good one to do intermittently.
Each time you stop for gas or a potty break, spend 3 to 4 minutes doing the following:
- Hamstring stretches (above), because these muscles can shorten.
- Side lunges are good, as well, to stretch the inner thigh muscles.
- Belly tucks. In a seated position, tuck your belly button toward your spine for five seconds, then release.
Brandon has eight years on the job and a clinical doctorate in physical therapy. He says ATI Physical Therapy is always happy to perform a 15- to 20-minute free screening, and it has 900 locations throughout the United States.
I am on the road for 10 months a year, so it’s hard to slow down for something like physical therapy. Now I wish I had stopped by an ATI location or something similar as I was in pain for four months last winter-spring. It prevented me from kayaking. I just kept expecting it to get better if I babied it. Boy, was I wrong!
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Thank you, Jan! I have to remember to sit back into the seat when I am driving. I, too, don’t sit back as much as I can/should. As Tommy noted, leaning forward makes it easier to see, 😉 or so my posture suggests.
Here’s just another little tip on lower back and cheek pain! Remove everything from your back pocket(s) – especially a wallet. If it isn’t bothering you now – it will in the future and then it will be too late to fix easily! (Guess how I found this out!)
When I was still truckin’ I would always lean forward so I could see better in blinding snow storms. “Everyone knows” you can see better that way. 🙂
When I first began driving, I would find my shoulders tensing up, so I would force them down. That turned into a habit which allows me to drive fairly long distances comfortably.
I sometimes catch myself doing exactly this – leaning forward. I have mostly fixed this with two things – move the whole seat closer to the wheel and bring the seat back closer (not at, but closer) to vertical. If I realize I am not touching the seat back, I am slouching and fix the problem.
I had back pain for quite a while when driving. Not so much in my shoulders, but lower back. That’s when I realized I was constantly reaching and leaning forward. I adjusted the back of the seat to a more vertical position. At first it seemed uncomfortable, but it did make a big difference. No more reclining while driving for me.
Pills are no substitute for physical therapy. But, I love my TENS device. Quiets everything down.