What is good posture?
11th April, 2023.
Good posture is a very grey area! While most people believe it is all about sitting or standing correctly, it is rather much more complex. Yes sitting and standing in today’s society is so prominent however there are other facets that needs to be addressed and are so unique to each individual.
We at Health Hub Chiropractic & Wellness characterise good posture as being the proper utilisation of your body on a day to day basis keeping it safe and resilient so as to prevent risks of injuries and even early wear and tear (Degeneration).
Let’s take sitting as an example; sitting wrong can put excessive pressure on your cervical (neck) and lumbar (low back) spine causing the surrounding muscles to go stiff and achy or even in worse scenarios it can cause spasms or a slipped disc over time. This is explained by the excessive work your joints and muscles have to put themselves through to keep your body in an unpleasant position for an extended period of time. Now repeat that everyday at work, five days a week, 50+ week a year and you will find that it is very easy to develop this type of pain especially if you are not aware of it in the first place!
Now to help yourself we have to re-learn to sit correctly together (see video above); the better way to sit is to make sure your back is rested against the back rest of the chair, with your computer screen at eye level or your paperwork tilted at an angle. The computer keyboard should be close enough to you so your elbows sits right by your side/torso. Finally, ensure your feet are placed firmly on the ground so that you provide your body with maximum stability. Doing so should allow for a more equal distribution of pressure and tension on your joints and muscles and also lead to less soreness/ache at the end of the day.
Hope you can start sitting better as from now! We know it is not so easy especially when you have been sitting with an inadequate posture for the longest of time and your body’s reflex is to return to the old ways. BUT it is not impossible! This is where the Chiropractors of Health Hub Chiropractic and Wellness can be of help;
We will assess your posture, help you understand what you could be doing better within your day to day and help you correct it via the treatment we offer at our clinic. This will accelerate the process and enable you to get back to a good posture quicker and more effectively.
Should you want to improve your posture and say goodbye to those end of working day aches and pains, feel free to get in touch with us and we will gladly start you on correcting your posture.
FAQ's:
Are the postural braces (shoulder strap) or postural corrector any good?
- Yes and No. Mainly NO! Postural correctors/braces, while good at forcing our body into the correct posture, they do not teach our body to do it by itself. To ensure a long term change in our posture we have to teach our body, bones, joints and muscles to do it by themselves. Chiropractors are a great tool to facilitate the process since we treat the musculoskeletal system to improve your posture and teach you the right way to upkeep it.
I don’t sit at a desk for work but I still have a bad posture, pains and discomforts. Why is that?
- As mentioned in the blog, posture is much more than just sitting and standing. It has to do with what you do day to day that could cause your issue. At Health Hub Chiropractic and Wellness we shall assess you thoroughly as there are a multitude of factors that could be the trigger to your pains. We would then walk you through it and treat you to improve your posture and get rid of your discomforts.
BAD!
