Your posture is much more important than you think.
Not many people think about their posture on a daily basis. Many of us are too busy to even consider it. But your posture is much more important than you think. Bad posture can turn into pain and sometimes even contribute to more serious conditions.
For most people, bad posture begins when we start school as kids. Everyone is familiar with the student position of leaning over the desk, looking down with your head forward and in flexion along with the shoulders rounding off. This progresses as we get older and we can end up with things like anterior head carriage and hyperkyphosis of the thoracic spine or what most people would call a “hunchback.” Subluxations and bad posture usually work hand in hand. Bad posture can be caused by a subluxation just as much as a subluxation can be caused by bad posture. Many times I notice after adjusting someones low back that they tend to sit up a little straighter immediately afterwards.
Correcting bad posture is usually a matter of correcting the misalignments in your spine and reinforcing those corrections with exercises to help strengthen the muscles and ligaments that support the area. One thing you can do at home to help retrain the muscle memory for good posture is a little exercise my dad used to have me do as a kid. Find a wall or door and place your back against it with your heels all the way back as well. Bring your shoulders back so that they are touching the wall as well. Now imagine there is a string attached to the top of your head that is pulling you up, don’t raise your feet off the ground but just let you neck distract slightly. Hold this position for about a minute. Doing this small exercise a few times a day can help improve your posture some but as I stated earlier, most of the time you need to make sure your spine is functioning correctly first.
Here is an infographic I found that does a fairly good job of explaining posture.
Find More at the Greatist Fitness Blog
Dr. Jason Schluter is a Chiropractor in Tulsa, OK at Schluter Chiropractic.
Schluter Chiropractic is conveniently located off Memorial Drive in Tulsa, Oklahoma and provides quality chiropractic care to Tulsa and the surrounding areas.
To schedule an appointment, call (918) 664-3571 or visit www.DrSchluter.com.
