Did you know that correcting your posture can improve your health?
Posture….I am willing to bet that you sat up a smidge taller after just reading that single word. Poor posture, rounded shoulders, and/or “text neck” are one of the most common complaints our practice members have when they start care. Some of our practice members have told us they don’t like the way poor posture affects their appearance while others find that their posture impacts their health.
With May being posture month I wanted to share some not so commonly known facts about the effect poor posture has on our health.
Our head weighs around 3kg on average (over 6lbs). When we have a posture in which our ears track over our shoulders the weight of the head causes our cervical spine (neck portion) to straighten and, in extreme cases, can even cause a reversal of the normal curve in our neck. This can lead to neck pain and headaches as well as pain in our low backs and bigger joints like hips and knees.
Poor posture can also impact our breathing. Try this out…purposely slouch and take a deep breath in. Now, sit up nice and tall and take a deep breath…. a big difference right?
Poor posture results in shallow breathing, in other words, you can’t fill your lungs when you are in a forward position. Many studies show that shallow breathing can impact our immune system as well as contribute to feelings of anxiety, depression, feelings of desperation, and even panic attacks (side note: how do you breathe when you are having a panic attack—deep and rapid? Isn’t it AMAZING how our body works to keeps us healthy and functioning….but I digress)
Another interesting study compared two groups of people. The first group was asked to slouch, and the other was asked to sit up nice and tall. Both groups had kinesotape placed on them to help them maintain their posture.
While sitting a certain way they were given several tasks to complete. The group that slouched was found to use more negative emotional words and even used fewer words when speaking. On the other hand, the group that was asked to maintain proper posture was found to have an increased rate of speech, less focus on themselves, and reported an elevated mood. The findings of this study suggest that proper posture can increase self-esteem, improve our mood and even help us to build resilience to stress and depression.
Your next question may be “How do I correct my posture?” and that is a fair question. If it was as simple as just sitting up taller poor posture wouldn’t be as widespread an issue as it is.
One of the most important things you can do to help improve your posture is to make sure your spine is properly aligned and moving properly. This is best achieved by finding a chiropractor who focuses on finding and correcting vertebral subluxations…in other words, a chiropractor that looks for areas where your spine isn’t functioning at its best because of misalignment and fixes the problem.
You can also incorporate different stretches and exercises to improve your posture (check out our Tik Tok @vitality_chiropractic for these!)
It is important to remember correction of posture takes time and repetition. You wouldn’t go to the gym 1 or 2 times and expect to be in great shape or wear braces for a few weeks and expect a million-dollar smile right? The same is true when it comes to spinal health.
Subluxations/misalignments are often patterns that we have had for years…it will take time to restore proper movement and allow enough ease in the system for true health and healing to occur. With that being said, there is no guarantee that your posture will drastically change while under chiropractic care, but I can guarantee that your body will be functioning better while under care.
If you got questions let us know! Our sincere hope is that everyone seeks out regular chiropractic care. There are lots of different chiropractors and lots of different techniques.
Dr. Niccie would be more than happy to answer any questions you may have on your quest to better health!
Refrences
Nair S, Sagar M, Sollers J 3rd, Consedine N, Broadbent E. Do slumped and upright postures affect stress responses? A randomized trial. Health Psychol. 2015 Jun;34(6):632-41. doi: 10.1037/hea0000146. Epub 2014 Sep 15. PMID: 25222091.
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