Posture and Overall Health

The importance of posture is often overlooked and forgotten about in today’s society. Perhaps we all grew so tired of hearing our parents or grandparents lecture us about sitting up straight when we were young, that we purposely chose to be lazy with our posture whenever possible. Whatever the case may be, it is critical that we recognize the importance of healthy posture and the role it plays in our overall health.
As a chiropractor, I often treat people who sit throughout their day while at work and then frequently complain about having things like headaches, neck pain, upper back pain and sometimes even arm pain. Is it a coincidence that these people typically have similar symptoms to one another? No, and here is why. When a person predominantly sits throughout their day they usually are performing some type of task that requires them to consistently look down. As a result of looking down for many hours each day the head comes forward in relation to the neck and shoulders and therefore adds stress and inflammation on the muscles and nerves. This stress and inflammation can cause some discomfort to the person on a short term scale, but the long term contribution to such things as arthritis, heart disease, and overall health is alarming. As a result of being slumped forward from sitting too much we decrease our ability to breathe properly, which taxes the cardiovascular system and has an impact on every single cell in our body. According to 1980 Nobel Prize winner Roger Sperry, PhD., “The more mechanically distorted a person is, the less energy available for thinking, metabolism and healing.”
In helping someone overcome a postural problem, I begin by demonstrating to them where they are versus where they are designed to be and then I teach them strategies to re-train their bodies to habitually hold a more upright position. For the person who is looking down all day while sitting, as described above, they will need to actively participate in exercises and stretches that bring the head back and decrease the rounding of the mid back so that the ears are over the shoulders. This, in conjunction with manual spinal adjustments and specific postural adjustments, is a part of the rehabilitation necessary to overcome this type of problem and to lead a healthier life.
Dr. Justin Favreau is a 2005 graduate of Life Chiropractic College West and a certified fellow of Clinical Biomechanics of Posture (CBP), the most researched technique in the chiropractic profession. He can be reached at 206.726.9595, or via email: dr.justinj@gmail.com