An Unknown Threat: What Poor Posture Does to Your Body
Sit Up Straight!
Poor Posture Can Affect Your Body
by Foundation for Chiropractic Progress (F4CP)
Feeling tense and achy? It may be due to poor posture.
While the media is touting warnings about “tech neck” — the neck pain and damage sustained from hunching over smartphones and other devices for too long —you’re actually risking harm to your overall health if any other body part becomes misaligned.
That’s because, as the American Journal of Pain Management notes, a person’s posture affects and moderates every physiological function from breathing to hormonal production.
Yes, every physiological function.
How, you may ask? “Our muscles and ligaments routinely work to balance us as we sit, stand, bend, and sleep,” says Sherry McAllister, DC, executive vice president of the not-for-profit Foundation for Chiropractic Progress. “Over time, however, uneven stress causes the body to adapt and change — subsequently, causing aches and pains.”
Various factors can contribute to poor posture — including injury, stress, obesity, pregnancy, and weak postural muscles. Chiropractors have been specifically trained, as part of their minimum seven years of higher education, to provide drug-free, hands-on care that helps to naturally align and strengthen the spine, as well as advise on healthy lifestyle habits.
And as far as habits go, in keeping with National Correct Posture Month, the Foundation for Chiropractic Progress is out with tips designed to help you develop smart ways to perfect your posture. Among them:
- Maintain a neutral spine. Meaning, chin up and shoulders pulled back.
- Avoid extended time spent with your head flexed forward.
- Don’t cross your legs while seated.
The TCA is pleased to be a supporter of National Correct Posture Month along with F4CP and others, and to spread the word that good posture supports good health. Call your chiropractor for a posture check-up. If you haven’t seen a chiropractor, you can find a TCA member doctor HERE.
Learn more through the Articles and Research sections of tnchiro.com, as well as on F4CP.com and posturemonth.org.
SOURCE: http://www.f4cp.com/files/social-syndications/ss-posture.pdf