Posture is power- it’s time you started paying attention

Our lifestyles often get the best of us and nowhere is this more evident than in our posture. As an office of chiropractic, we are often able to tell a person’s lifestyle from the second they walk in the door- they are most likely exhibiting it in their shoulders and neck, and sometimes in the gut. And while we can’t help ourselves from thinking biomechanically, it behooves you to think about your own posture and its role in your wellbeing. Awareness is the single greatest make-or-break factor in determing postural health- it’s time you started paying attention.

Posture pitfalls: rounded shoulders and a hunched back

One of the most common postural deficiencies we see revolves around the upper back and neck. Rounded shoulders are indicative of office wokers who spend hours a day hunched over a computer typing away. Typically accompanied by forward head syndrome, rounded shoulders create pain in the upper back, tightness in the muscles of the neck and contribute to headaches. To tell if you may have chronic rounded shoulders, perform the pencil test:

• Stand up and hold a pen in each hand
• Let your shoulders hang down at your sides 
• Observe how you are holding the pens: if the pens (and your thumbs) face straight forward, you have normal shoulder posture; if the pens face inward at an angle, or the backs of your hands are facing forward, you have rounded shoulders. 

Your muscles have evolved to maintain this position no matter what activity you are doing, and your body is suffering from it! In this position, your chest muscles remain chronically tight, making it more difficult to breathe. What’s more, postural muscles in the upper back weaken from lack of use. Our solution is to relieve tightness in the chest using rehabilitative stretches, while restoring strength to muscles in the upper back which will help you hold your shoulders back in the future. 

Establishing good postural health in Westwood

Posture is interdependent- one postural deficiency tends to lead to others. Posture is both a result and a cause of poor musculoskeletal health. If you are interested in improving your posture to feel better, give our office in Westwood a call to schedule an appointment today.