The body is amazing! It was designed with a specific shape that evenly distributes weight among your joints, muscles, ligaments, and tendons. Disrupting the natural balance because of poor posture can cause neck and back pain.
I remember talking to a man at Starbucks one day. When I mentioned that I was a chiropractor, he said he used to visit a chiropractor. “I spent a lot of money getting treatment at chiropractor’s office a few years ago. I felt better for awhile, but the pain returned a few weeks after my treatment had ended. I continued to suffer with back pain until I saw a photo of myself taken at my family reunion, ” he mused. “I was shocked to see how horrible my posture was. I was slouching and putting more weight on one leg than the other. No wonder I had back pain”, he confessed.
“I remember how unattractive I was, and then it hit me, my chiropractor had commented that my posture needed improvement on my first visit in his office.” He paused for a minute. “My doctor had also mentioned that poor posture was a culprit for neck and back pain, but no only had I not listened, I had no idea how bad my posture was!”
After that experience, he constantly reminded himself to sit and stand using better posture. “Much to my surprise,” he smiled, “my back pain disappeared in a matter of weeks. Now it only comes on occasionally. I could have lived without chronic pain years ago,” he stated matter of factly. “You need to tell all of your patients how important good posture is,” he grinned, “but then you might be out of a job!” We chuckled.
Truth be told, poor posture is one of the many causes of neck and back pain. Think of the perfect design of bridges or buildings. The Leaning Tower of Pisa is an example of what a poor foundation can do to a building. Build a building on the wrong surface, and the building will weaken. If you think of your posture like the foundation of your body, you will realized that poor posture weaken our physical structure, and a weak structure leads to pain.
Utilize the description below to help correct your standing posture to alleviate pain and discomfort.
Good standing posture
When standing, imagine that a string is attached to your chest. Feel someone pull the string upward and feel your chest rise. Pull your shoulders down and back. Tuck your chin down toward your chest while you pull your head back and up as if were flattening your neck against a wall.
Put your feet shoulder distance apart and even distribute your body weight on both legs. Relax your knees, pull in your abdomen, and tuck your tailbone. Feel weird? That’s mostly likely because you have had poor posture.
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