Listing all posts with label poor posture. Show all posts.

  1. Poor posture extracts a high price as you age because it can affect many aspects of your life

    • Limit your range of motion - muscles can be permanently shortened or stretched when a slumped over position becomes your normal position. Muscles and ligaments that have been shortened or stretched no longer function as they should.
    • Increase discomfort and pain - it can often cause headaches and pain in the shoulders, arms, hands and around the eyes resulting from a forward-head position. Rounded shoulders can trigger the headaches at the base of your skull where the shoulder muscles attach.
    • Create pain in the jaw - a forward-head position can lead to jaw pain. This kind of pain (known as TMJ, temporomandibular joint disease) was once considered only a dental problem. Today we know that TMJ pain also may be caused or aggravated by faulty posture.
    • Decrease lung capacity - reducing the amount of oxygen in your body can decrease the space in your chest cavity, restricting efficient functioning of your lungs.
    • Cause low back pain - one of the most common consequences of bad posture. For people over 35, low back pain is often interpreted as a sure sign of age, although it may have been developing since childhood.
    • Cause nerve interference - your spine is the basis of posture. If your posture is bad, your spine can be misaligned. Spinal misalignments may cause interference in nerve function.
    • Affect proper bowel function - even this important bodily task may be affected by faulty posture. If you have a rounded shoulder, head-forward posture, it may affect your bowels. If your spine arches and sways forward, your intestines may sag and cause constipation.
    • Make you look older than you are - when you are slumped over, or hunched over, not standing straight, you can add years to your appearance. For women, the more rounded the shoulders, the more breasts may sag. Any woman, no matter what her age, can help reduce the sag in her breasts by nearly 50% by simply standing tall.
  2. Guidelines to the Perfect Posture


    How Important is Good Posture?


    Posture is extremely important when you talking about good health. It is as important as eating right, exercising, getting a good night's sleep and avoiding potentially harmful substances like alcohol, drugs and tobacco. Good posture is a way of doing things with more energy, less stress and fatigue. Without good posture, you can't really be physically fit.

    The importance of good posture in an overall fitness program is often overlooked by fitness advisers and fitness seekers alike. In fact, the benefits of good posture may be among the best kept secrets of the current fitness movement.

    The good news is that most everyone can avoid the problems caused by bad posture...and you can improve at any age.

    Good Posture is Good Health


    We are a health conscious society today and good posture is a part of it. Because good posture means your bones are properly aligned and your muscles, joints and ligaments can work as nature intended. It means your vital organs are in the right position and can function at peak efficiency. Health is 100% function of the body (as defined by Websters Dictionary). In turn, good posture contributes to the proper functioning of the nervous system.

    Without good posture, your overall health and total efficiency may be compromised. Because the long-term effects of poor posture can affect bodily systems (such as digestion, elimination, breathing, muscles, joints and ligaments), a person who has poor posture may often be tired or unable to work efficiently or move properly.

    Even for younger people, how you carry yourself when working, relaxing or playing can have big effects. Did you know that just fifteen minutes reading or typing when using the wrong positions exhausts the muscles of your neck, shoulders and upper back?

    Poor Posture - How Does it Happen?

    Often, poor posture develops because of accidents or falls. But bad posture can also develop from environmental factors or bad habits. This means that you have control.

    Today, posture-related problems are increasing:

    1. As we become a society that watches more television than any previous generation;
    2. As we become a more electronic society, with more and more people working at sedentary desk jobs or sitting in front of computer terminals;
    3. As more and more cars are crowding our roads, resulting in accidents and injuries;
    4. and as we drive in cars with poorly designed seats.

    In most cases, poor posture results from a combination of several factors, which can include:

    1. Accidents, injuries and falls
    2. Poor sleep support (mattress)
    3. Excessive weight
    4. Visual or emotional difficulties
    5. Foot problems or improper shoes
    6. Weak muscles, muscle imbalance
    7. Careless sitting, standing, sleeping habits
    8. Negative self image
    9. Occupational stress
    10. Poorly designed work space


    Poor Posture & Pain

    A lifetime of poor posture can start a progression of symptoms in the average adult. It can start with...

    Fatigue - your muscles have to work hard just to hold you up if you have poor posture. You waste energy just moving, leaving you without the extra energy you need to feel good.

    Tight, achy muscles in the neck, back, arms and legs- by this stage, there may be a change in your muscles and ligaments and you may have a stiff, tight painful feeling. More than 80% of the neck and back problems are the result of tight, achy muscles brought on by years of bad posture.

    Joint stiffness and pain- at risk for "wear and tear" arthritis, or what is termed degenerative osteoarthritis. Poor posture and limited mobility increase the likelihood of this condition in later years.

    Lifestyle Tips for Lifelong Good Posture

    • Keep your weight down - excess weight, especially around the middle, pulls on the back, weakening stomach muscles.

    • Develop a regular program of exercise - regular exercise keeps you flexible and helps tone your muscles to support proper posture.

    • Buy good bedding - a firm mattress will support the spine and help maintain the same shape as a person with good upright posture.

    • Pay attention to injuries from bumps, falls and jars - injuries in youth may cause growth abnormalities or postural adaptations to the injury or pain that can show up later in life.

    • Have your eyes examined - a vision problem can affect the way you carry yourself as well as cause eye strain.

    • Be conscious of where you work - is your chair high enough to fit your desk? Do you need a footrest to keep pressure off your legs?


    If you follow these practices, but still feel discomfort and pain related to specific activities, visit your Doctor of Chiropractic periodically for spinal checkups and for a postural evaluation for yourself and for your children.

    source: International Chiropractors Association

  3. Poor posture extracts a high price as you age because it can affect many aspects of your life

    Limit your range of motion 
    - muscles can be permanently shortened or stretched when a slumped over position becomes your normal position. Muscles and ligaments that have been shortened or stretched no longer function as they should.

    Increase discomfort and pain 
    - it can often cause headaches and pain in the shoulders, arms, hands and around the eyes resulting from a forward-head position. Rounded shoulders can trigger the headaches at the base of your skull where the shoulder muscles attach.

    Create pain in the jaw 
    - a forward-head position can lead to jaw pain. This kind of pain (known as TMJ, temporomandibular joint disease) was once considered only a dental problem. Today we know that TMJ pain also may be caused or aggravated by faulty posture.

    Decrease lung capacity 
    - reducing the amount of oxygen in your body can decrease the space in your chest cavity, restricting efficient functioning of your lungs.

    Cause low back pain 
    - one of the most common consequences of bad posture. For people over 35, low back pain is often interpreted as a sure sign of age, although it may have been developing since childhood.

    Cause nerve interference - your spine is the basis of posture. If your posture is bad, your spine can be misaligned. Spinal misalignments may cause interference in nerve function.

    Affect proper bowel function - even this important bodily task may be affected by faulty posture. If you have a rounded shoulder, head-forward posture, it may affect your bowels. If your spine arches and sways forward, your intestines may sag and cause constipation.

    Make you look older than you are - when you are slumped over, or hunched over, not standing straight, you can add years to your appearance. For women, the more rounded the shoulders, the more breasts may sag. Any woman, no matter what her age, can help reduce the sag in her breasts by nearly 50% by simply standing tall.

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