What Your Posture Says About Your Health
We all have those memories of our parents reminding us to “stand up straight,” or “stop slouching.” But is good posture as simple as standing up taller and putting our shoulders back? According to the literature, there are a variety of factors that can affect our posture, cause pain, and negatively affect our health.
Harvard Medical School defines good posture, or correct alignment, as keeping the cervical (neck), thoracic (mid back), and lumbar curves (lower back) in balance and aligned with weight distributed evenly over our feet. From the the side, the ear, shoulder top, hip, knee, and ankle should line up vertically while standing. This posture not only protects against aches and pains, particularly back pain, but it also improves our overall health and appearance. But, why?
Basic anatomy and physiology reminds us that our nervous system lives inside our spines. When the spinal alignment is properly balanced, as described above, the nervous system can communicate to all the organs, cells, and tissues of the body thus creating health. When the spinal alignment is altered, head goes forward, hips shift, shoulders drop or round forward, this creates mechanical stress to the spine and nervous system. This throws the body out of balance and increases overall inflammation. Some studies even show that this postural inflammation and nervous system stress create a prime opportunity for spinal decay (arthritis and disc issues).
What causes poor alignment?
Repetitive stresses such as looking at computers or phones while our head is down in front of our body is one of the largest continual postural stresses we face. We also have to navigate things that happen to us, like car accidents, trips, falls and concussions. These injuries alter normal range of motion and alignment of our spine, especially the upper cervical area.
How do we cultivate better posture?
Upper cervical chiropractic care addresses the imbalances in our spine by making sure the top vertebra are in proper alignment under the skull. When the Atlas (C1) and Axis (C2) are moving and aligned the nervous system stress is reduced, and the inflammation mentioned above can also go down; off setting the cascade of pain, fibrosis, and possible decay in other parts of the spine.
Exercise, such as weight training, body weight, or resistance workouts help support a balanced body. By working the musculoskeletal system, our bones, tendons and ligaments get stronger. This reinforces a strong postural foundation.
Reducing bad habits and poor postures can mitigate the stress and improper loading mechanics continually stressing our bodies. For example, raising the computer monitor to slightly look up at the screen, instead of down or straight ahead, adding a walking pad under our desks at work, a saddle chair, or holding the phone up near eye level. These small changes over time can make a large impact on our bodies in terms of how we feel and function.
Lastly, maintain a healthy body weight and composition. Less gravitational stress on our frame creates less postural stress. Increased levels of body fat will add to the inflammatory load through cytokines and Interleukin-1.
