How posture can affect your health
The posture of the spine is often an outward picture of the health of the inner body. When there are functional issues and degeneration processes occurring our posture often is affected and shows outward signs.
Our bodies are constantly adapting to the stressors we experience everyday. It may be repetitive tasks at work, our workouts, or just our daily routine. No matter if they are physical, mental or emotional stressors they all impact our body. Over time our body can become overwhelmed and the stressors take a toll on our body. When our body struggles to adapt to the stressors posture shifts and changes can occur. This is an early sign of degeneration and indicates that the body is struggling to keep up.
Constant stressors and the degeneration that results from it can cause areas of the spine to become subluxated (misaligned). These subluxations (miss-alignments) can cause poor posture, tension, less range of motion, pain, decreased nervous system function and many more symptoms.
At this point our nervous system begins to direct other parts of the spine and body to compensate and maintain the best possible function. That could be the body changing physiological processes and function in order to compensate for inadequate nervous system communication. Another example of this adaptation is the shifts in posture that occur due to head tilt or improper neck alignment. When our neck or head is out of proper alignment and the brain detects that it is not level with the ground, the spine will shift in order to allow the head to be level. The body may drop a shoulder, shift the mid-back or lower or raise a hip to create the best position of the head.
These changes are not ideal long term because they can lead to degeneration, pain or other symptoms. However they are allowing for the best function with the miss-alignments that are present. We see so much forward head posture in our world today due to the constant use of technology and devices that we are looking down at. For every inch forward that the head shifts causes 10 lbs more stress and leverage on the spine. The longer posture is distorted the more stress and degeneration occurs within the spine leading to pain and other symptoms.
This is why posture is so important to evaluate because it tells a story of how your body is adapting to the stressors you are experiencing and help to explain why and where the root cause of your neck or back pain may be. Correcting the spinal miss-alignments and posture before symptoms develop will allow you to live a life with more ease and less pain. Good posture is the key to good health! Better posture leads to less neck and back pain, improved mobility, better nervous system function and so much more.
Reach out to us today and we can evaluate your posture and nervous system function to see how we can help you live a life with better health.
Whether you are ready to jump into your healing journey with your first visit or are not quite ready and want to learn more we have options for you. Schedule a complementary consultation to get your questions answered and learn about your posture and nervous system.
As always if you have any questions reach out to us. Share with someone that you think would benefit from Chiropractic care.
-Dr. Josh Stearns
