Clear Passage Therapies offers seven steps to help shoppers avoid stiffness and back and neck pain while shopping online this Holiday season.

Gainesville, FL (PRWEB) December 3, 2008 – As the Christmas season begins, more and more shoppers are turning to their computers to find the perfect gifts. Clear Passage Therapies, a recognized leader in manual physical therapy for adhesions, pain, and infertility, offers seven steps to help online holiday shoppers ease or eliminate pain.

Larry Wurn, Director of Clinical Studies, Clear Passage Therapies, and co-author of a new book Miracle Moms, Better Sex, Less Pain, says, “Poor posture and increased time at the computer can lead to head, neck, and shoulder pain and stiffness.”

Wurn suggests the following tips to improve online shopping stamina and avoid postures that can cause pain:

1. Start with a solid foundation – find a good chair that supports your back and forearms.
2. Your feet should touch the floor. If they don’t, use a footrest to give yourself additional support.
3. Adjust the height of your computer screen to the same level as your eyes. Wurn says, “If your screen is adjusted too low, the muscles at the back of your neck work overtime, causing chronic neck and shoulder pain or headaches at the base of the skull.”
4. Avoid hunching forward since this causes neck strain and spasm. If you keep a reverse curve in your low back, your upper body will generally be in a near-perfect position to relieve strain. You can put a small pillow or little section of the newspaper in your low back to remind you to sit up straight. According to Wurn, “When you need to lean closer to the screen, bend from the hips, not the low back.”
5. Let your shoulders relax. The body is more stable when the shoulders are down, resting on the torso. If you are not sure whether your shoulders are relaxed, lift them once and then let them drop.
6. Get up and move at least once every hour – more often if possible. Mobility is an essential part of life and helps avoid chronic pain.
7. Support your forearms by placing them on the arm-rests of your chair. Ideally, your wrists should be slightly lower than your elbows.

Wurn writes more about chronic pain and posture, and treatment for people with chronic pain in Miracle Moms, Better Sex, Less Pain, a book he is co-authoring to be published in January. The table of contents is available at the Clear Passage Therapies blog to spur discussions with readers on important topics. A free e-book excerpt from the book will be available in December at http://www.clearpassage.com.