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We have all been there – another work day ahead of you in front of a computer for hours on end with little to no break in 8-10 hours of working. You try your best not to but your shoulders tend to slouch, you lean in to see items on your screen (or screens) better, and you find that your arms and hands tend to get sore and stiff each day.

While you may not be running 26 miles, working day after day in this position is truly a marathon. And as any athlete will tell you – you have to stretch and train your body to withstand the wear and tear from any competition.

While you may not consider yourself an “athlete” this type of lifestyle we like to refer to as being an Office Athlete. A common ailment for office athletes as demonstrated in the above photo is called Upper Cross Syndrome (UCS).  Upper Cross Syndrome is mainly caused by back, shoulder, and neck posture. This often happens when you spend too much time hunched over a laptop, smartphone, or work desk. Your posture can cause the front of the body’s muscles to contract (locked short) and the muscles on the back of the body are extended (locked long). This causes disfunction in the shoulders, arms and hands. It can even create nerve compression on the neck that causes muscle issues like pins and needles and muscle pain.

Deb Earley has a decade of experience on how to treat and heal the side effects of UCS so to help your body withstand the rigors of the office athlete life. Here’s how:

Sports Medicine Acupuncture:

Acupuncture can relieve the symptoms caused by upper cross syndrome by working directly with the muscles. Through acupuncture you can work to release and reset the muscles in your upper back that are too short and too extended. Deb treats motor muscle points (which is sports medicine), Ashi points (traditional acupuncture), and trigger points (dry needling).

Spinal Decompression/Huatuojiaji Acupuncture

In conjunction with the work that we can do at Earley Wellness for the motor points, we also utilize spinal decompression therapy (Huatuojiaji acupuncture). This technique stretches the spine allowing the spinal disks to become decompressed. By stretching the spine it changes the position and force which will relieve pressure on spinal discs and underlying nerves. Decompression promotes the movement of oxygen, blood, water, and other nutrient-rich fluids into the disks so they can begin the healing process.

We focus on paraspinal points (also known as Huatuojiaji points) which are motor points of the deep paraspinal musculature. By addressing the path of spinal nerves we can address the pain in the organs and muscles of the neck by the stimulation of the paraspinal points.

This is not an exhaustive list of how we can help office athletes condition for longs days of sitting at a computer or mobile devise. At Earley Wellness we will consult with you to find the best treatment path for your specific situation.