Poor Posture

Poor posture not only looks unsightly, but can be very bad for your health. And it probably affects the large majority of the population.

Poor Posture

Revolution versus evolution

The technological revolution in mobile communication has led to an explosion of mobile phones and tablets. People now spend extended hours on their devices – take a look around you and it won’t be long before you see someone stooping to text as they walk. In addition, big squashy chairs have become normal as we are actively encouraged by TV advertising to sit in a slouched position.

These lifestyle changes pose a big potential problem for the human race – because we are brilliantly evolved to stand and move on two feet, but not to sit on our backsides all day!

Modern living means that we move less and less and instead rely on machines such as cars, trains and buses to get us about. We are becoming more and more sedentary in our lives. And this is now starting at an early age with children more likely to play football on a computer than on a football pitch.

Posture and your joints

Our bodies are not designed to spend long periods of time in sedentary postures. Joints become pulled or pushed out of their correctly ‘centred’ positions. This alters the pattern of weight-bearing through the joints, very often shifting the strain away from the bony part of the spine – which is well adapted to take a large stress – and placing it on soft tissues and muscles instead.

These changes in loading patterns are not balanced, leading some muscles to become overly strong, which in turn leads to abnormal joint stiffness. Meanwhile, other muscles weaken and become fatigued to the extent that they may fail in their ability to support other joints properly.

home-img-iconGet moving again

 

Our bodies require constant movement to keep the joints well lubricated and healthy. Poor posture and lack of activity often give symptoms of pain, stiffness and disability, most usually in the middle part (thoracic) of the spine but also very commonly in the neck and low back. Characteristically posture-related problems can go on for a very long time until abnormal loading is corrected.

It is often the more cosmetic reasons that bring patients to see us at the Sussex Back Pain Clinic, as they are worried about getting ’round-shouldered’ or ‘hollow-backed’.

However, there may be more serious health risks associated with poor posture such as:

  • osteoarthritis
  • respiratory problems
  • difficulty with swallowing
  • vascular problems
  • digestive problems
  • depression

home-img-iconTreating poor posture

 

Osteopaths are armed with gentle and effective treatment techniques which, along with proper education and exercise advice, can get you moving and restore the balance once again.

We are trained to:

  • properly assess posture
  • identify areas of functional instability and muscular overload
  • identify the factors that maintain this problem

Once you start treatment for poor posture, your symptoms will usually get better quite quickly and only require between 3-4 treatments.

But we would typically recommend further monthly to 3-monthly treatments for about a year (or a little less if you are a bit younger) to properly improve posture, reduce the load on soft tissues and place it firmly back on the stronger and less fatigable bony structures.

Taking the required time to correct your posture will help you stay well in the future, reduce the risk of incapacitating deformity and avoid the recurrence or development of discomfort or severe pain.

Book a consultation today with one of our Osteopaths and get started on the road to recovery.

Call us on 01273 725667.