Sit up straight, don’t slouch!! As kids or teenagers most of us have probably heard someone saying something similar. Posture is the way you hold your body. Changes in posture occur when any part of the body is moved. Posture is not just about how well you sit or stand, but also how well you move and go about daily life and work.
Static posture is when you are sitting, sleeping and standing. Dynamic posture is how you position yourself when your moving such as walking or bending.
Optimal or ideal posture is the state of muscular and skeletal balance that protects the supporting structures of the body against injury or progressive deformity, whether at work or rest. It involves the positioning of the joints to provide minimum stress on the body.
The foundation of good posture is having a body that can support it. This means having strong muscles, flexibility and balance.
Your musculoskeletal system involves your bones, muscles, joints and other tissues that connect the parts of your body together. It provides form, support, stability and movement to your body. How you hold yourself and move can effect every aspect of your being.
You may think that sitting with slumped shoulders or lifting objects with a bent back instead of your knees won’t matter. However, small changes in how you hold yourself and move can add up over a lifetime. As a result, years of poor habits increases stress on your body, wearing away at your musculoskeletal system making it weaker and prone to injury. For example
- Low back or knee pain can arise from pelvic joint disorders.
- Headaches, eyestrain, and neck and upper back pain can be caused by the head being too far forward or rearward.
Its never too early or late in life to work on improving your posture and how you move. More information can be found here. Talk to your chiropractor about your posture. They can give you feedback on both your static and dynamic posture and advice on avoiding unhealthy postural patterns, while working with you to create a plan that’s best for you.
The Chiropractors at Tweed Coast Chiropractic use a number of techniques to try and improve poor postural and body mechanics. Manipulation to release accompanying fixations, soft tissue therapies, dynamic neuromuscular stabilisation, stretching; strengthening exercises (rehabilitation); and if necessary supportive measures to treat ligaments, bones, and nerves (eg orthotics, heel lifts) or referral to other appropriate practitioners.