Poor Posture
Poor Posture
Treated With Chiropractic Care
Have you ever been told to “put your shoulders back” or “stand up straight?”
While poor posture isn’t always overtly visible, it is still one of the most commonly unaddressed afflictions on the globe, causing innumerable health challenges that are often overlooked. Many people believe that it’s easy to fix poor posture by simply making an effort to straighten up, but those who have tried to create a good posture “habits” know that resolving poor posture is far more complex than simply applying willpower.
Proper (or aligned) posture is an intricate process controlled by a very connected and collaborative network. To achieve ideal alignment, the skeletal structure, the body’s musculature, and the nerve networks and ligaments must be functioning in harmony. If any of these components are operating out of balance, the entire system is affected. This leads to rounded shoulders, forward head position, back aches and pains, muscle fatigue, headaches, and any number of other symptoms which may be mistakenly attributed to other causes. Many individuals spend years of their lives believing that they are simply prone to headaches and back pain before realizing that these symptoms can be resolved at the root if their posture is corrected.
Further, many individuals believe that they are doomed to certain undesirable physical characteristics before they experience expert chiropractic care. Some patients gain the appearance of several inches in height or a larger, more prominent bosom by the end of their individualized treatment plan, a result which helps to relieve years of insecurity about physical qualities they previously believed to be permanent. The benefits of restoring ideal posture are not just health-improving, but very often esthetic-improving, too.
Reducing Inflammation
Over time, prolonged poor posture begins to create minor injuries to the joints, surrounding tissue, and muscles. As this occurs, the body attempts to heal itself by inducing inflammation, a bodily process in which fresh, nutrient-rich blood is concentrated to an area with the objective of bringing it back to optimal function. Unfortunately, if poor posture is not correctly resolved and the spine and surrounded structures brought back into alignment, the inflammation is unable to achieve its purpose. Instead of creating healing as hoped, further damaged can be inflicted by what eventually becomes chronic inflammation.
Expert chiropractic care works to reduce and eliminate inflammation by treating the problem at its source—fixing the misalignment. Through the use of both adjustments and spinal traction, which is an intensive form of treatment designed to move bones (similar to orthodontics), a chiropractor can aid the spine in achieving optimal alignment by fundamentally reshaping its structure. In order to achieve this outcome, a series of x-rays and digital imaging technology is employed to accurately identify the source of the imbalance. Once the imbalance has been identified at its precise location in the spine, it is directly treated though the principles of Chiropractic BioPhysics, a specialized branch of chiropractic science intended to produce long-term results in bone and joint movement.
Eliminating Pain
The pain created from improper spinal alignment can manifest in a variety of different forms, sometimes making it difficult to even identify that poor posture is the root cause. While it’s tempting to turn to over-the-counter pain and prescription pain medication to treat chronic back pain, this solution doesn’t address the origin of the pain. Over time, back pain treated exclusively with pain medication can worsen, particularly if it is posture-related and the spine is becoming increasingly more misaligned over time.
A Note on Injury:
If you’re experiencing chronic back pain that you suspect originates from an injury, consider seeking an expert chiropractic postural assessment. Oftentimes, the spine becomes misaligned as the result of the impact, compression, and inflammation which accompanies an injury. Even after injured areas heal, residual back pain can remain as a result of these postural changes, and may be relieved through posture-focused chiropractic care.
Pain Caused by Poor Posture
Nerve Pain
One of the most well-known forms of postural-related nerve pain is sciatica. Sciatica occurs when pressure is placed on the nerve bundles of the lower back. When this compression takes place, usually as a result of inflammation, pain signals can radiate away from the nerves and through the sciatic nerve, which is felt down the back of the legs and rear, usually isolated to only one side of the body at a time.
Sciatic pain may occur on and off over long periods of time. What many people identify as a “flare up” of their sciatica may actually be an increase of inflammation in their middle-to-low backs as a result of prolonged sitting, standing, or unusually increased physical activity. Incorrect curvature of the spine, caused by or exacerbating already existing poor posture, can make sciatic pain manifest for the first time or make already existing sciatic pain feel more intense and occur more frequently.
Joint Pain
Joint pain can be caused by a variety of factors, but one of the most commonly overlooked causes of joint pain is poor posture. At first, poor posture may seem innocuous, and it can be: relatively new or mild cases of postural imbalance and misalignment are often treatable with chiropractic adjustments and other, equally mild interventions. However, over time poor posture tends to worsen, and can cause injury to not only the muscles and nerves, but also to joints of the spine and neck.
When the joints begin to suffer injury as the result of poor posture, inflammation occurs in the immediate surrounding areas as well as in the joints themselves. Chronic inflammation caused by postural misalignment can lead to degeneration of the discs and joints that comprise the spine, as well as trigger the development of bone spurs resulting from friction to areas of the spine which would not normally be touching.
Once joint pain begins to appear, this is the time for expert chiropractic intervention—before the condition worsens and further degeneration occurs. Dr. Tyler of Newport Beach, CA specializes in spinal traction, which can facilitate the movement of bones and joints back into their optimal positions, reduce or eliminate friction in the spine, and vastly decrease or quell inflammation.
Muscle Pain
Muscle pain often occurs in the middle and low back, as well as in the neck and shoulders, due to poor posture. When the spine is misaligned, the surrounding muscles and fascia are effected in two ways. Initially, the muscles are stretched taut in some areas and constricted in others. Because the bones and joints that your muscles work to stabilize have shifted into new positions, the back and surrounding muscles are no longer able to carry out their natural functions. Being constricted or stretched into new arrangements can create chronic “knots” in the muscle that never seem to dissolve, or areas of tension where the muscles are compensating for a lack of support from the spine.
Over time, back, neck, and shoulder muscles may harden and develop scar tissue as the result of being stretched, compressed, and/or tightened for too long. At this stage, it becomes impossible to correct posture by just “standing up straight,” and even traditional chiropractic adjustments alone may not be sufficient to restore optimal spinal alignment, as the muscles have adapted to hugging and supporting the spine in its misaligned shape.
To treat muscle pain resulting from poor posture, the posture must be corrected. One of the most effective ways to treat imbalanced posture is through spinal traction. Spinal traction originates from Chiropractic BioPhysics, a branch of chiropractic care that emphasizes the long-term movement of misaligned bones and joints. At CorePosture Chiropractic, Dr. Tyler Meier creates a customized plan for each individual that utilizes spinal traction (if necessary) to correct poor posture and restore ideal alignment. As the spine and bones are moved, so are the muscles. The process and progress of spinal traction occurs over time rather than all at once, giving the muscular structure time to adapt to changes in the spine’s curvature and release gently, slowly returning to its natural and ideal arrangement.
Increasing the Lifespan
With Chiropractic Care
Most people don’t realize that beyond the esthetic value and inherent comfort of upright posture, there are real, quantifiable health benefits to aligned spinal structure. Spinal structure is actually a predictor of longevity, with upright posture indicating longer lifespan (1, 2).
Optimally aligned posture allows for more mobility and engagement with the world. Having pain-free, limber and upright posture isn’t just a physical boon, it’s also a psychological one. People with straight, aligned posture are not only perceived as more confident, but they feel more confident, too. In addition to feeling physically vital and psychologically self-assured, there are esthetic benefits to upright posture. When the posture is aligned optimally, the chest is enhanced, the shoulders are square, and the hips and pelvis are balanced.
How to Fix Poor Posture
When you book your appointment with Dr. Tyler at CorePosture Chiropractic in Newport Beach, CA, you will initially receive a diagnostic session in which a thorough postural analysis is conducted. In conjunction with a series of x-rays, your posture will be assessed through the use of advanced digital imaging technology. Once Dr. Tyler has a complete understanding of your lifestyle, any relevant injuries you may have experienced, and the exact location of your postural misalignment in the spine, a customized treatment plan will be created for you. Your unique treatment plan is designed to restore your posture as close to its ideal alignment as possible. Your plan may include spinal traction, which will help to move bones, joints, muscles, and ligaments over time to produce long-term results, chiropractic adjustments, and at-home exercises. You may also work with a brace or other tools at home to supplement the in-office treatments you are receiving. If you are ready to begin the journey of achieving ideal posture, eliminating pain, and experiencing increased vitality, book your appointment today.