Posture

This is the one subject which every patient who attends my clinic with neck or back problems will get nagged about. I find it astounding how little self awareness the majority of the population possess and although this may sound slightly harsh try and think about the last time you actually gave any thought to the position your body or body parts are in at any one time. Stop for a moment and think how you feel physically? Is there excess tension in the neck, shoulders, upper back or lower back? Are you straight on or twisted? Are your legs straight and relaxed or screwed round the chair? Is your chin poking forwards, your shoulders rounded and your lower back slumped. The answer for most people, if sat at the computer, is probably yes! Now for short periods the body can cope with being pulled out of position, however if this takes place over weeks, months and years then tissues such as ligaments, muscles and joint structures start to adapt to this twisted and tight position. They will eventually fix in shortened/tight or stretched/weak positions and then the problems really start. This is the first step on the way to spinal degeneration. A common mistake many people make is to think of posture as a fixed position when in reality "a state of equilibrium" would be a much more accurate description. There has to be a certain amount of tension in the muscles at all time otherwise we would just be a bag of bones and jelly on the floor. This equilibrium is achieved by producing equal tension in the antagonistic muscle groups (neck flexors/extensors/rotators, shoulder rotator cuff, biceps/triceps, forearm flexors/extensors/rotators, chest/upper back, abs/back extensors, quads/hamstrings, calf/shin, toe/finger flexors/extensors. In this state there should be a feeling of balance without excess tension, this is the perfect posture and in an ideal situation should be attainable through any movement. To view how the ideal posture can be used in any situation watch toddlers as they move. They are able to crouch with perfect alignment, heels on bum and not fall over (try it!) bend from the knees not the back. They have not learned bad habits and are also not strong enough to pull themselves out of shape. So in essence if you do not want poor posture and possible chronic joint conditions then you could go a long way to avoiding this by increasing your self awareness!