5 Warning signs of bad posture
Your posture should be higher on your priority list
Life can be busy and unpredictable, and often your posture is not always high on the priority list. However, the impacts of a poor postural position can be detrimental to your overall health and well-being. So how can you tell if your posture is affecting your body? As we are not always able to carry around a floor length mirror to check in with our posture, there are other ways your body may be trying to alert you to postural issues. Here are 5 ways your body may be telling you that you have bad posture.
1. Neck Pain
Nowadays, neck pain and stiffness are all too common. With increased time in front of a desk or computer, and constant looking down at a phone, neck pain is on the rise. This forward and down-tilted neck position, commonly referred to as ‘text neck’, can be a sign of bad posture, resulting in inflammation and pain. Tightness, stiffness, soreness, and muscle fatigue are all consequences of this incorrect neck position. Without proper correction, text neck can lead to degenerative spinal conditions, as well as possible arthritis in the neck due to the joints working in an incorrect orientation.
2. Cervicogenic Headaches
Pesky headaches are a pain in the neck. Literally. Headaches have negative impacts across several facets of our everyday lives, but they are another way your body could be alerting you to something wrong. Cervicogenic (originating from the neck) headaches can be particularly bothersome and could be a further sign of incorrect postural positions. Poor posture can lead to tightness and stiffness in neck musculature and cervical spine. In severe cases, this can radiate up to the skull musculature, which causes headaches. This type of cervicogenic headache is a poor posture symptom that we commonly see here at Brisbane Posture and Performance.
3. Mid-Back Pain
Have you ever been sitting at your desk or on the job site, and halfway through the workday, your mid-back starts aching? Aching in the mid-back can be a sign of poor posture. An incorrect spinal postural position leads to an increased demand on the mid-back muscles. Tightness and fatigue occur in muscles known as the “thoracic erector spinae”. Due to the increased load on these postural muscles, the body is working ineffectively. Consequently, this can lead to fatigue, muscle tightness, and even pain. In an effort to compensate for poor postural positions, the body wastes its own energy supplies to accomplish menial, everyday tasks, which a correct posture would not require.
4. Shortness of Breath
Aches and pains in muscles and structures, such as your neck and back, can be ways of exposing poor posture, so can your lung capacity or depth of breath. Do you experience shortness of breath or feel like your depth of breathing is somehow reduced? This could a sign of incorrect posture. Try sitting in a slumped position and attempt to take a deep, full breath. It is very difficult to do so. Notice that when in this type of position, it is exceptionally hard for your lungs to inflate to their full capacity. Therefore, poor posture can lead to your lungs working inefficiently and causing a reduced depth of breathing. When standing in a proper and correct postural position, your lungs can work to their full capacity and reduce the biomechanical issues related to breathing difficulties.
5. Pain the Buttock
We have all heard the saying “sitting is the new smoking”. Increasingly more often our jobs call for us to sit for long periods of time, then we come home exhausted from a long day of work, and we sit for even longer. If you experience pain in your buttocks, it can be sign of bad posture. Pain in the buttock, Low back pain or sciatica, can be the result of extended periods of being in a poor seated posture. The low back structure often alters to compensate for poor sitting posture. This can cause tension on the spinal cord in the low back. Increased tension on the spinal cord in the low back is what can cause low back pain and, in severe cases, sciatica. Left unattended, the effects of poor posture on the low back, and buttock can be detrimental to your health and wellbeing.
Overall, there are many ways in which your body can be alerting you to poor posture. Neck pain, headaches, mid-back issues, breathing difficulties, and buttock pain can all be indications of incorrect posture which can result in your body working inefficiently. If you suffer from any of the symptoms or issues outlined here, Brisbane Posture and Performance is here to help.
Would you like to book an appointment with one of our Chiropractors? If so please call Brisbane Posture and Performance.