POSTURE

Poor Posture – How does it happen?

Often, poor posture develops because of accidents or falls. But bad posture can also develop from environmental factors or bad habits. This means that you have control.

Today, posture-related problems are increasing as:

• We become a society that watches more television than any previous generation.
• We become a more electronic society, with more and more people working at sedentary desk jobs or sitting in front of computer terminals.
• More and more cars are crowding our roads, resulting in accidents and injuries.
• We drive in cars with poorly designed seats.

In most cases, poor posture results from a combination of several factors, which can include:

• Accidents, injuries and falls
• Poor sleep support (mattress)
• Excessive weight
• Visual or emotional difficulties
• Foot problems or improper shoes
• Weak muscles, muscle imbalance
• Careless sitting, standing, sleeping habits
• Negative self-image
• Occupational stress
• Poorly designed workspace

Poor Posture & Pain

Self-Test for Posture Problems

The Wall Test:

Stand with the back of your head touching the wall and your heels six inches from the baseboard. With your buttocks touching the wall, check the distance with your hand between your lower back and the wall, and your neck and the wall. If you are within an inch or two at the low back and two inches at the neck, you are close to having excellent posture. If not, your posture may need professional attention to restore the normal curves of your spine.

The Mirror Test (Side View): This is much easier to do with the help of another, or by taking a photo check for the following:

• Head is erect, not slumping forward or backwards
• Chin is parallel to the floor, not tilting up or down
• Shoulders are in line with ears, not drooping forward or pulled back
• Stomach is flat
• Knees are straight
• Lower back has a slightly forward curve (not too flat or not curved too much forward, creating a hollow back).

The “Jump” Test:

Feel the muscles of your neck and shoulders while jumping up and down. Do you find areas that are tender and sensitive? Are the buttock muscles sore when you apply pressure? What about the chest muscles?

Straighten Up and Stay Healthy! What Does Perfect Posture Look Like?

Normal Posture

Perfect standing posture is when the following are properly aligned–the point between your eyes, chin, collarbone, breastbone, pelvis center and midpoint between your ankles:

• From the front, your shoulders, hips and knees are of equal height
• Your head is held straight, not tilted or turned to one side
• From the back, the little bumps on your spine should be in a straight line down the center of your back.

Obviously, no one spends all day in this position. But, if you naturally assume a relaxed standing posture, you will carry yourself in a more balanced position and with less stress in your other activities

Poor Posture

When you have poor posture, the body’s proper vertical position is out of alignment and the back’s natural curves become distorted.

Head Forward or Slouched Posture:

• Rounded shoulders
• Head forward, rounded upper back
• Arched lower back
• Protruding buttocks
• Chest flattens
• Abdominal organs sag, crowding and making more work for heart and lungs -seen often in women who have osteoporosis in later years

Military posture:

• Head pulled back
• Shoulder blades tightly pulled back
• Arched lower back
• Knees locked (straight)
• Minimizes the spinal column’s ability to be a shock absorber for the body

Slumped sitting posture:

• Upper back humped or too rounded
• Head forward
• Rounded lower back
• Often starts in teenage years

Good Posture and Aging

Poor posture extracts a high price as you age because it can:

• Limit your range of motion – muscles can be permanently shortened or stretched when a slumped over position becomes your normal position. Muscles and ligaments that have been shortened or stretched no longer function normally.
• Increase discomfort and pain – it can often cause headaches and pain in the shoulders, arms, hands and around the eyes resulting from a forward-head position. Rounded shoulders can trigger the headaches at the base of your skull where the shoulder muscles attach.
• Create pain in the jaw – a forward-head position can lead to jaw pain. This kind of pain (known as TMJ, temporomandibular joint disease) was once considered only a dental problem. Today we know that TMJ pain also may be caused or aggravated by faulty posture.
• Decrease lung capacity – reducing the amount of oxygen in your body can decrease the space in your chest cavity, restricting efficient functioning of your lungs.
• Cause low back pain – one of the most common consequences of bad posture. For people over 35, low back pain is often interpreted as a sure sign of age, although it may have been developing since childhood.
• Cause nerve interference – your spine is the basis of posture. If your posture is bad, your spine can be misaligned. Spinal misalignments may cause interference in nerve function.
• Effect proper bowel function – even this important bodily task may be affected by faulty posture. If you have rounded shoulders and a head-forward posture, it may affect your bowels. If your spine arches and sways forward, your intestines may sag and cause constipation.
• Make you look older than you are – when you are slumped over, or hunched over, not standing straight, you can add years to your appearance. For women, the more rounded the shoulders, the more breasts may sag. Any woman, no matter what her age, can help reduce the sag in her breasts by nearly 50% by simply standing tall.