April is Stress Awareness month and although students can take a break at Easter, much of that time may be spent revising for GCSEs and A level exams which are looming on the horizon. For many young people exam season is nearly here which can cause all kinds of anxiety and stress!

But are today’s teenagers more stressed than ever before? At Luck’s Yard we think they are. Tone Tellefsen Hughes, Chiropractor and owner of the clinic, is providing advice and treatment for more and more teenagers who are coming up to GCSEs and A levels and need help with muscular pain in the shoulder and back – a common symptom of stress.

Tone says:

“Over the past twenty years, I have treated many teenagers suffering from muscular pain caused by bad posture and stress. The symptoms worsen usually around exam season and are exacerbated by long hours of revision and working at the computer on controlled assessments.

“It is important not to sit at your computer for too long but to get and stretch every 30-40 minutes or so.  Use the timer on your mobile phone to set up a reminder for this. You can download our free app by searching for lucksyardclinic on your app store and do our stretches in your break.”

Chiropractic and massage treatments can be really helpful for relieving muscular symptoms relating to tension – you can read up about both therapies here:

Her advice and treatment tips for stressed teenagers would be to:

  • Make sure you have a good work station set-up for your studying.
    The chair needs to be adjustable, supportive in the lower back and come under the desk, ensuring that you are encouraged to sit upright. It needs to be the right height for you. The worst study posture is when you sit hunched up in bed or on a low sofa.
  • The computer screen should be in front of you and at eye level. If it is too low, put it on a box or elevate with some books.
  • Make sure you have good lighting and use glasses if you have prescription lenses.
    If you work on a laptop, I would suggest that you get a docking station and external keyboard and a mouse. These are not expensive, but will encourage a good study posture.
  • It is even more important to exercise during exam periods and even a quick walk, swim or run for 30 minutes will help relax the muscles and clear the mind.
  • Make sure you get enough sleep, and try using a shaped neck pillow for comfort if you are suffering with painful shoulders and/or neck which is causing you to wake during the night.

The manual therapies team at Luck’s Yard recently held an in-house training event concentrating on shoulder and associated pain and you can read Tone’s summary here which also has plenty of good advice: https://www.lucksyardclinic.com/shoulder-and-associated-pain/

Photo by Anna Shvets: https://www.pexels.com