Good posture, often called a neutral spine, can help you avoid back pain or injury. It’s good for your health and self-confidence and also delivers increased energy, better breathing, improved circulation, and less wear and tear on your joints.
If you have been experiencing back and shoulder pain or you just want to fix your poor posture for a better life, a chiropractor can help.
If your spine is not properly aligned, your muscles and ligaments have to work harder to keep you upright, resulting in strain and pain. Slouching puts pressure on your lungs and stomach and can affect breathing, digestion, and blood flow.
Source: Canadian Chiropractic Association
A thorough physical exam will identify postural faults, trigger points, joint dysfunction, and tight and weak muscles. Chiropractic manipulation (adjusting), manual stretching, and soft tissue work will alleviate symptoms immediately as we work together to stretch and strengthen the involved muscles.
It is important to remember, as with any condition, that it took a significant amount of time to develop and thus will require time, and hard work on your part, to reverse.
Good posture is a good habit!
While it will take a lot of focused concentration in the beginning, it will get easier as you work at it.
The clinic uses the Posture Screen App for most new patient intakes to analyze if we need to address posture. The Posture Screen accurately measures angles and linear distances of posture displacements and documentation for clinical assessments. It helps guide any additional stretches or exercises they might need.
Generally, we use the app for adults and teens since kids are wiggly and unlikely to get anything accurate whatsoever.
Because of improvements in proprioception post adjustment, sometimes we see an immediate improvement in posture post session.
We also have it linked to Web Exercises, so we can send video files of assigned stretches and exercises at the clinic; it’s part of our ‘tech suite’ to make the entire process modern and streamlined.
Condition of Poor Posture
Upper Crossed Syndrome is a condition derived from poor posture. In upper crossed syndrome, you will observe rounded shoulders, a forward-drawn head, elevation of shoulders, and shoulder blades that protrude from the back.
After the motion has been restored to the neck and upper back following a chiropractic adjustment and soft tissue therapy, there are simple exercises easily done at home to strengthen the serratus anterior, the weak muscle contributes to the upper crossed syndrome.
When the pectoralis major muscle on the front of the chest is tight, it contributes to the upper crossed syndrome. Here is a stretch that will help.
Posture at Work
Ideally, we would all have standing workstations, as sitting puts more stress on the spine than standing! Slouching while seated exacerbates this even further. Sustained postures and repetitive tasks can be just as debilitating.
I talk about Ergonomics at your workstation in the following article you may find valuable.
Chiropractors are specialists in back health.
If you are concerned about your posture, consider having an assessment at our clinic. We will form a health treatment plan individually tailored to achieve your health and wellness goals.
Dr Natasha Hayden is a pediatric and prenatal chiropractor that is passionate about helping her community discover just how good their bodies are designed to feel, so they can do more of what they love.
Your health goals are within reach with the support of our team.
