Are you 'Spineless' or do you have a 'Backbone'?

Posture…something that we simply take for granted. Yet, we notice when one exhibits good posture and automatically associate regality, confidence, strength, and character. We use the word “spineless” to describe someone of weak character and describe one of strong character as having a “backbone”.

Posture affects our mood, energy level, bones, muscles, joints, lung capacity, digestive system, circulation, stress levels, voice volume/resonance, and our overall health.

A research study done by Harvard Business School found that exhibiting a powerful posture (chest elevated), demonstrated a 20% increase in testosterone and 25% decrease in cortisol. Conversely, those that slouched, had a 10% decrease in testosterone and 15% increase in cortisol, which translates to low self-confidence and high stress.

Another study done by San Francisco State University found that walking with a slouched or despondent body posture lead to feelings of depression and decreased energy, but those feelings were reversed by walking in a more upright position. Students were instructed to walk down the hallway in a slouched position and then skip down the hallway. The students were asked to rate their subjective mood and energy levels – slouched walking decreased, while skipping increased both their mood and energy.

Poor posture is the root cause of many aches and pains, and we are simply unaware of the connection. We sit for hours in slouched positions looking at our smart devices and have no idea why we have tension headaches (occipital neuralgia), knots in our upper traps, neck stiffness and low back pain

Mechanical pain is caused by abnormal stress on tissue, such as when you bend your finger all the way back to end range. The pain lets you know to move out of that position. But poor posture gradually brings you to end range, so the symptoms do not start immediately. That headache that you get when working at your computer, stiffness getting out of your chair after you have been sitting for a prolonged time period, knots in your upper trap that you have been blaming on stress…may be caused by poor posture!

What is good posture?

Proper alignment is when your ear is over your shoulder, and you can visualize a plumb line going through the tip of the shoulder, to the center of the hip and ankle joint and slightly behind the knee joint. With this ideal alignment, the body weight is balanced over the spine and lower extremity joints requiring minimum muscular effort. This position evenly distributes pressure on the discs, creating an inward curve in your neck, known as a lordosis, followed by an outward curve in your upper back “kyphosis” and an inward curve again in your low back “lordosis”. In sitting you want to assure that you maintain an inner curve in your lower back. You can do this by using a lumbar roll.

Proper alignment is when your ear is over your shoulder, and you can visualize a plumb line going through the tip of the shoulder, to the center of the hip and ankle joint and slightly behind the knee joint. With this ideal alignment, the body weight is balanced over the spine and lower extremity joints requiring minimum muscular effort. This position evenly distributes pressure on the discs, creating an inward curve in your neck, known as a lordosis, followed by an outward curve in your upper back “kyphosis” and an inward curve again in your low back “lordosis”. In sitting you want to assure that you maintain an inner curve in your lower back. You can do this by using a lumbar roll.

Occipital Neuralgia

When performing visual tasks, such as using a computer, smart device or reading a book, you move our head forward (protraction) to see better. This forward head position puts undue stress on your upper cervical spine, that can result in headaches, stiffness and muscles spasms around your neck, especially if you have had any previous trauma to your neck. Suboccipital headaches or occipital neuralgia, located in the back of your head (suboccipital region) and radiate up and around, like a Ramshorn to your temples. To eliminate the suboccipital headache and muscle spasms, the cause or faulty posture must be corrected.

Stiffness Getting Out of a Chair

Do you ever have trouble straightening up or getting out of a chair, after you have been sitting for prolonged period? This stiffness is your body giving you a warning sign. Poor sitting posture has stressed soft tissue beyond its normal resting place. Once you take a few steps you will be able to correct, but if you continue to stress this same tissue it will become damaged. Slouched posture by itself is not a bad thing. The body is supposed to move and be in different positions. The problem is in the length of time that you are in that position. One analysis of 18 studies found that those who sat for the longest periods of time were twice as likely to have diabetes or heart disease, compared to those who sat the least. An earlier study, published in 2009, also highlighted evidence that linked sitting with biomarkers of poor metabolic health, correlates with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and other prevalent chronic health problems—even if you exercise regularly. Walking more, using a lumbar roll whenever you sit, and intermittent movements have been found to have the greatest benefit in counteracting the ill effects of prolonged sitting.