Posture says so much about who you are and what you're dealing with. It can indicate past extensive trauma, types of current stressors, general health, and mood. I will not be able to unpack all of this for you, but I would like to share a little of what I know about posture, what it is, when it's bad, and what to do about it. With this insight, the best case is that you can lead a healthier life!
What Is Posture?
Posture is how you hold your body when standing or sitting; it can be involuntary, or you can take steps to improve it! Variations in posture can have far-reaching effects on both health and sickness. Harvard says poor posture can cause neck and back issues, heartburn and slow digestion, incontinence, constipation, poor balance, breathing difficulties, and headaches.
I know that poor posture can also easily cause pain and reduce range of motion and more. When the head moves forward relative to the body, it increases the weight the neck has to support; the same is true with the lower back. Having to deal with this increased weight can increase the rates of disc and joint degeneration.
Keeping good posture is an active process that gets easier over time and becomes almost unconscious. Having good posture will improve your mood and the way your body feels. If nothing else, you may avoid constipation, peeing your pants, worsening balance, headaches, and help your mood. Perfect posture is when your ear canal is directly over your shoulder, which is directly over your hip, then over your knee and ankle. Achieving better posture is worthwhile and will help you feel and function better.
There are some pretty advanced methods to measure posture, but the shortcut posture test is the wall test. Start with your heels a few inches from the base of the wall, bring your butt to the wall, then your shoulders, then the back of your head. After all three are touching, measure the space between the wall and your lower back and neck. If this space is 1-2 inches, you have great posture. If so, great work, and please start helping others gain better posture. If not, read on and learn a few ways to improve your posture.
How To Improve Your Posture
It’s important to note that some extreme cases of bad posture will require special attention. Advanced scoliosis, a fractured or surgically fused spine, muscular dystrophy, or uneven shoulders by more than an inch are examples of extreme cases.
Most people, however, don’t fall into that category and can take some easy steps to improve their posture. A big part of poor posture is a forward head translation and the accompanied forward rounded shoulders or “text neck,” and the basic idea is to open up where it's closed down. The first thing is to stop making it worse with poor ergonomics at a workstation. Hours of looking down at a phone creates text neck, sitting on a thick wallet, or carrying a heavy bag on only one shoulder. Each of these are easily correctable. Just do less of it. Sometimes, it's not that easy, and that's where stretches can come in.
The Doorway Stretch
The doorway stretch is a good one: stand in a doorway with your arms like a football field goal, then lean forward to open up your chest.
Neck Stretches
Another is picking up your chin with a good breath and gently rocking your head side to side. If there is a limited range of motion or this creates a lot of popping or crunching, then more work is needed.
Bed Stretch
An excellent passive stretch is to lay at the end of a bed with your head hanging off the edge to open up the front of the neck. Be careful with this one, and start in 10-second increments. Do not do this for over 60 seconds at a time. In some people, it can cause deep neck problems.
Inversion Tables
Inversion tables can help improve posture, too, but again, be careful to gently ease into it. Start at only a slight inversion and work your way up to full hanging inversion. Do not hang in full inversion for over two consecutive minutes. None of the body's systems are designed to be upside down. There are devices called posture trackers, and I've had a patient report that its little reminders help sustain better posture. Posture-specific massage can also help, and, in some cases, so can dry needling.
Posture Improvement Chiropractic Care in Wheat Ridge
If none of that is effective, most chiropractic care will help improve posture. Postural analysis is one of the many ways we learn to evaluate the body. A g
ood chiropractic adjustment can dramatically improve your range of motion; some techniques are dedicated explicitly to posture. Most of my patients report better posture as a side effect of their care, but some have it as a primary focus.
For the latter group, focusing on opening up the shoulders and getting better motion in the lower back is critical. I have a variety of tools, from low intensity to very intense, which can be very effective in correcting poor posture. Almost all of my patients leave the office with better posture than when they came in, but improved posture isn't guaranteed. If you need assistance improving your posture, I would be happy to help!
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