Poor Posture
To understand poor posture, its necessary to know what actually is posture or a good posture. It is defined as the arrangements of parts of body relative to one another or position of the body as whole.
Human body is built in a manner that there is delicate balance required for all parts of body. In this way it not only uses less energy but also remains strain free. Good posture protects the body while performing routine tasks (sitting, standing, and running, lying, squatting) without disturbing the balance.it is done by maintaining optimum muscular and skeletal positions without putting other parts of body in strain.
What happens, if body is not able to maintain the balance required for optimum positions? Obviously poor posture. Resultantly, body experiences increased strain on supporting structures like joints, muscles and vertebrae. There is a buildup of pressure on these tissues, when they are subjected to prolonged poor positioning.
Contributing Factors
There are many factors that contribute to the development of a bad posture. Here are a few mentioned.
- Muscle stiffness/weakness
- Injury
- Stress
- Lack of exercise/fitness
- Lack of awareness among general public
- Occupational demands
Symptoms
Symptoms are of two types. Visible symptoms such as slouching, rounded shoulders, hunchback, and tilting head forward, bent knees. Whereas, underlying painful symptoms experienced are muscle fatigue, Headaches body aches, neck shoulder, upper and lower back pain.
Negative impact on overall health
First and foremost it changes the natural curve of the spine. Due to slumping and slouching for years, the natural curve is lost and it leads to weak disc or erosion of vertebrae. Consequently ,not only a Person suffers from chronic pain and discomfort but ability to bear shock is also lost.
Poor posture also effect various other parts of the body such as digestive system. Due to continuous slouching the intestines get constricted.it results into difficulty in digestion, hernias and acid reflux.
The continuous pain and fatigue makes a person really sad .a study at San Francisco State University revealed that walking with a slouched posture increases the feeling of depression and gloominess.
How to avoid poor posture
First of all try to sit and stand straight in normal routine. Practice few exercises to strengthen the back to relive pain. While doing any exercise keep an upright posture. Moreover, try to standup more since it’s easier to have a good posture this way. While working, getup often and walk a little bit.
Since bad posture is develop mostly due to sitting in a bad position, it’s necessary to fix the seats. Seats in the office should be fixed in such a way, that the back is always straight. The headset of the car being used should be four inches away from the seat.
It’s necessary to do exercises regularly to strengthen the muscles. Stretching is a very good option to bring muscles back to their natural state.
Get help from chiropractic
Chiropractic help to eliminate or lessen the poor posture by finding the real cause behind it. They usually look for problems such as alignment in knees, difference in normal gait, stance variations, increase in spinal curvature etc.
Once they figure out the real cause of all the pain they suggest various rehab programs .In which patients are suggested to undergo a particular treatment. Patients are also advised to do specific exercises and instructed to change their daily routine activities.
Poor posture is epidemic around the globe.it effects the lives of people in so many ways.it not only effects physical health but also triggers mental health issues that collectively have devastating impact on the long term health of an individual.