A lot of people think Bad Posture is mostly how you look—and that’s not unreasonable. It’s noticeable, right? It’s the difference between looking tired vs. alert, and for some, confident vs. uncomfortable. But there’s so much more going on with bad posture than meets the eye.
Here’s what bad posture actually means for your body and what you can do to fix it.
The Breakdown
Are you hunched over at your desk right now? Looking down at your phone, neck craned?
Appearance benefits aside, good posture can help you maintain the correct alignment of bones and joints, reduce stress and inflammation on your ligaments, minimize risk of injury, prevent muscle strain and overuse, conserve energy and decrease wear and tear on the joints.
And that’s a big deal! Your muscles, ligaments and bones are all a part of your musculoskeletal system, and if they aren’t operating correctly, they can affect the rest of your body—most noticeably your spine. For example, slipped discs, misaligned vertebrae and more. These issues open you up to many mechanical and symptomatic problems!
Bad Posture Can Lead To:
- Poor circulation
- Exacerbated arthritis
- Fatigue
- Neck and shoulder pain
- Chronic headachesy
- Breathing problems
How Can You Tell If Your Posture Is Off?
Consider whether or not you notice any of these symptoms in your daily life:
Slumped Shoulders
Slumped or hunched shoulders are one of the most common postural problems of sedentary work. This is when your shoulders are more rounded with a tendency of your biceps turning inward.
Forward Head Carriage
In today’s tech world, this is an easy pattern to get into. When your head is too far forward, it can put up to forty extra pounds of weight on your cervical spine, leading to pain and dysfunction. Your ears should line up directly above your shoulders.
Uneven Weight Distribution
When one side of your hip is higher than the other, it can force you to put more weight on one side of the body. Uneven weight distribution can cause a structural imbalance in the body, forcing more wear and tear on the joints.
If you’ve said “Yes!” to any of these questions… it may be time to have a chat with your chiropractor!
How to Have Better Posture
In addition, routine chiropractic care can not only help you correct your posture, it can also help you maintain it throughout your lifetime. Regular chiropractic adjustments and some advice from your chiropractor can make all the difference.
If this sounds like you, then the Madison Clinic, located at 4950 Yonge St. is here to help you. Give us a call at 416-222-8235 to book an appointment with our chiropractor, RMT, physiotherapist, or naturopath.
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