How to extend the life of your PosturePals
Thank you for purchasing PosturePals. Please take the time to read the following so that you get the most from your purchase. Incorrect use may lead to unsatisfactory results.
Your compliance is required in order for PosturePals to work correctly. PosturePals are not a rigid brace and are not intended to hold you in position. Rather they are intended to alert you every time you move away from the upright position so that you can actively correct your posture. By actively correcting your posture, you engage your muscles and thereby help to improve strength and endurance. It is also hoped that by continually correcting your posture you will start to adopt a new Motor Pattern, just as you might learn a new tennis serve or golf swing by practising the correct technique hundreds of times.
We are excited to work with you to achieve this. As stated, in order for this process to work effectively your compliance is required. You are an active participant in this process. If you just hang off the device and don't correct in response to the feedback it provides, you will not obtain the benefits.
PosturePals are your personal posture coach. They will draw your attention to the things you are doing incorrectly but you must correct them in order to get the results.
If you feel that you cannot commit to this or that PosturePals are not what you thought, please return the unopened PosturePals to us and we will refund the cost of the device.
There are a couple of reasons why your PosturePals support might not last as long as it should. These are outlined on the FAQ page at www.posturepals.com as mentioned on the packaging. They are expanded upon here.
The main reason that the device may come off prematurely is due to excessive movement. The device will eventually come of if the wearer continually pulls through the resistance of the device. The adhesive is very strong and will remain in contact with the skin. The excessive movement however will cause the foam to shear away from the adhesive leaving the wearer with patches of glue on the skin. This is the clinical sign that is used to show that the wearer has not responded to the feedback of the device. This is not a failure of the device but rather a failure of the wearer to respond to the device.
Excessive movement may also occur if PosturePals are worn during activities that require a lot of bending or overhead arm activity. It is therefore not appropriate to wear them during certain sporting or work activities where bending cannot be avoided. They are suitable for activities in which bending occurs but is not necessary e.g. sitting at the computer, driving etc
The aim is to improve the way you perform all activities so that you avoid loaded positions. The challenge to the wearer is to stay in a position where they feel little or no resistance from the device. As soon as you start to feel the device pull or stretch, you must correct your position so that it no longer pulls.
If the PosturePals are applied too tightly it may also lead to pulling through the resistance too often. It can take a little practice to get the feeling of how much tension is right for each person however as a general guideline approximately two centimetres (2cm) of stretch is required on each arm.
Adhesion will be poor if the skin is moist, oily or has creams applied.
A small amount of slipping may occur at the corners over the course of a few days. The adhesive has been selected to allow this to occur rather than to hold on at all costs and cause irritation or breakdown of the skin. A lot of slipping is again due to excessive movement.
Occasionally lifting may occur on the cross bar of the Thoracic PosturePals. This is more common in muscular people due to the contours of the back. It should not interfere with the function of the device.
In order to extend the life of the PosturePals there are a few things you can do.
- Correct your position in response to the resistance and don't wear at times when you know that you will need to bend a lot e.g. in a particular sporting activity where bending is part of correct technique.
- Don't stretch fully during application. The Thoracic device should only go to the back of the shoulder blade and not right around the shoulder. If it does the arm movement will cause it to slip much more. If you find it is too big you can easily trim around the ends with a pair of scissors.
- Try to sleep on your back or front rather than your sides. Change position if you feel tension.
- Ensure skin is clean and dry prior to application - There is some natural variation in skin type. You may find it useful to use products like 'Skin Prep' to improve adhesion. 'Skin Prep' comes in swabs and it applies a film to the skin, which protects it and makes tapes adhere better. This is available at chemists.
- Look at your set up at work, the car and at home to reduce the amount of bending required and to provide support for your lower back to prevent slouching. The PosturePals support will help you to identify areas that need modification.
- Simple strategies to reduce bending can be as simple as bending your knees slightly or standing with your feet wider apart when working at a bench that is too low. Raise the bench height if possible. Extend the length of handles on brooms, vacuum cleaners, lawn mowers, strollers and similar. Do not over extend when using these. Examine your activities at work and at home to see if you can easily reduce your bending.
- Adjust the backrest of your chair so that you can rest on it in the correct position. If you try to hold yourself in the correct position for eight hours you will fatigue quickly and experience muscle soreness. Rest on your chair but in the correct position and regularly stand up and walk around.
- Expect a bit of slippage over a few days. The device should continue to remind you to correct your posture although it might not hold you quite so tightly. DO NOT TRY TO REPOSITION THE DEVICE - ONCE REMOVED IT CANNOT BE REPLACED. If it has lifted slightly you will often find that it has re-adhered by the time you wake up the following morning.
- ONLY WEAR ONE POSTUREPALS SUPPORT AT A TIME
REMOVAL Eucalyptus or Baby Oil are useful in removing PosturePals or any adhesive residue.
We recommend that you wear your PosturePals for three days. They do not generally fall off but rather need to be removed. Providing the skin is not irritated and they are continuing to prompt you to correct your position they can be left on beyond the recommended three days if required.
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