May is Correct Posture Month
Dr. Elizabeth Whooley is a chiropractor practicing in Winter Park, FL. Dr. Whooley specializes in preventing, diagnosing, and treating conditions associated with the neuromusculoskeletal system, while improving each patient's functionality and quality of life. Conditions treated include sciatica, neck pain, and arthritis... more
There seems to be a month for everything. Correct posture is very important to your health (as I typed that, I had to sit up straighter!) and therefore seems deserving of a month. It also seems that having poor posture is easier for everyone while having good posture is harder and requires a conscious effort to accomplish. Correct posture and good balance go hand in hand as this means your center of gravity will be evenly positioned over your feet.
Having a correct posture means sitting, standing, and sleeping with proper alignment of your body. Yes, you read that right. You can slouch in bed. If you're getting enough sleep, you're in bed for approximately one-third of your life. (For correct sleeping postures, please see an earlier blog entitled, "Best Ways to Sleep".) When you have the correct posture, your body is positioned with the least strain, stress, and tension on your joints, muscles, and ligaments. It requires less energy expenditure from your body to perform normal and essential activities of daily living.
When I perform a spinal screening, I employ the use of a plumb line while looking at the patient from the side. There should be a straight line running down from your earlobe, through your shoulder, through your hip, through your knee (behind the kneecap), and finishing just in front of your ankle bone. I find that most people have a forward head posture, rounded shoulders, flattening of the normal spinal curves, and/or swayback.
Forward head posture has become more prominent with increased time in front of computers and the use of cell phones for texting and online use. Certain jobs predispose people to forward head posture as can sleeping with too many pillows, carrying a heavy backpack for prolonged times, prolonged driving hunched forward toward the wheel, and injuries such as whiplash. This position can lead to neck and upper to mid back pain, headaches, and pain going down the arms.
Rounded shoulders shorten the muscles in your chest wall while elongating and weakening the muscles in your upper back. If you ever feel or hear a crack in your chest when you stretch your shoulders back, you probably have rounded shoulders. Rounded shoulders can be caused by many of the same things as forward head posture. Too much focus on strengthening the chest muscles at the gym can also be to blame. Rounded shoulders can also lead to neck and upper to mid back pain, headaches, and pain going down the arms. When severe, it might even affect breathing.
Your spine should curve forward in the neck and lower back and curve backward through the chest/midback and the hip/sacral area when viewed from the side. The forward curves are called lordotic and the backward curves are called kyphotic. Your spine should be perfectly straight when viewed from the front or the back. Curves to the sides may indicate scoliosis. People who lack these normal curves are said to have flattening of the normal spinal curves or flatback syndrome. When this happens, the body is imbalanced, and the person is likely to have lower back pain and difficulty standing up straight. As the condition progresses, there could be groin and leg pain. Common causes are Ankylosing Spondylitis, degenerative disc disease, and vertebral compression fractures from osteoporosis.
With swayback, your hips and pelvis are tilted forward causing an abnormal increase in the depth of the normal lower back curve. This can be seen with obese people or expectant mothers as the increased abdominal weight can pull the pelvic area forward. The most common symptoms can be lower back pain, muscle fatigue, and gastrointestinal issues.
All of the above postural abnormalities can improve with a focus on correct posture throughout every day (including while in bed), specific exercises to stretch and strengthen the affected muscle groups, and chiropractic adjustments. The longer the problem is there, the longer it will take to improve and for you to feel better. So don't wait...start working on your posture and make an appointment with your chiropractor! Have a great correct posture month!
#mayiscorrectposturemonth #posture #chiropractornearme #painrelief
