Assess Your Posture Before it's too Late

Postural distortions (poor posture) don’t hurt until it’s too late. Living with bad posture can be a dangerous thing. The muscle and ligament imbalances that result from poor alignment can lead to all sorts of problems including chronic back, neck and shoulder pain, foot, knee and hip injuries, headaches, digestive issues, fatigue and difficulty breathing.

Chances are, unless you’ve made it a point to work to have perfect posture, you experience some of the above symptoms because your posture gradually worsens with that day-to-day thing we call life. As I mentioned in the first sentence, we typically don’t pay attention to our posture until we start having aches, and in that case, it can be too late to make improvements. Call Homberg Chiropractic and Wellness to schedule an appointment for a posture assessment before it’s too late!

Some of the ways poor posture could be impacting you include:

Straining of muscles and bones – When you slouch and defy your body’s naturally intended posture, your muscles and bones must work extra hard to keep your spine stabilized. After a while, the muscles and bones become tired. This results in painful straining. This straining is commonly associated with pain in the back and neck. It can also result in fatigue.

Constrictions of the blood vessels and nerves – A habit of poor posture results in misalignment of the spine, which in turn constricts blood vessels and nerves around the spine. When blood vessels are constricted, they keep surrounding muscles from getting the blood, and, consequently, the oxygen and nutrients they deserve. This also increases the chance of a blood clot forming. When nerves near the spine are constricted, they become pinched nerves and send pain signals to other parts of the body. This pain might sometimes become present in the form of a headache.

Disruption of the digestive tract – Not only does sitting in a slouched position distort your back, it also cramps up your intestines. When you put this sort of pressure on the intestines, they become constricted and can leave you constipated and uncomfortable.

To solve a problem, you first need to pinpoint the cause. Most postural deviations occur because the muscles that work to hold a joint in place are imbalanced. Generally speaking, one muscle group will be too tight and the opposing muscle group will be too loose or weak.

For example, those with shoulders that hunch forward too far often have tight pec muscles that pull the shoulders forward and rotate them in toward the midline of the body. Pair tight pecs with weak back muscles and you have an imbalance that pulls the shoulder girdle away from its ideal position. When imbalances like these occur, overactive muscles compensate for underactive muscles, which causes tension, fatigue, and discomfort.

The easiest and most effective way to correct imbalances is to stretch the overactive muscles and to strengthen the underactive muscles.