We’ve all heard it; “Stand up straight, stop slouching, and keep your chin up.”
The truth is that most of us have been on the receiving end of these kinds of comments. Whether it be from a friend or family member. We usually brush it off, but what if there was a link between poor posture and your risk of strains and pains?
We should avoid labelling posture as “good” or “bad” and consider postures as alignments that place more or less load on our bodies. There is no perfect posture, and the best posture is one that changes position frequently.
Still, we should aim to establish a posture that puts the least amount of unnecessary stress and strain on our body’s muscles and joints.
Characteristics of these types of postures include:
- Good muscle flexibility
- Good availability of motion in our joints
- Strong supportive postural muscles
- A reasonable balance of muscles on both sides of the spine (no one is ever perfectly balanced)
- Awareness of your posture, with the ability to consciously adjust it
Contrastingly, some postures can put unnecessary load on our joints and muscles. There a various “postures” that can increase these loads. For example, rounded shoulders, forward head positions and a slouched back.
These deviations can cause overload to our muscles, bones and ligaments. This excessive load can lead to a range of different strains on the body, resulting in pain in the neck, back, hips and shoulders, as well as potential sprains and strains when trying to perform different activities or movements, such as lifting objects.
Postures that overload our muscles and joints can be caused by many factors, including muscle weakness, emotional stress, fatigue, improper footwear, desk ergonomics, an unsupportive mattress and many others. By correcting these factors and thus our posture, we can lower the risk of these issues!
If you’re having any aches or pains and think it may be related to your posture, seek the help of the team here at Stay Tuned. Our Osteopaths and Physiotherapists will perform a full assessment to determine the cause of your symptoms and work with you to create a treatment plan addressing any areas of concern, including posture!