Posture and Health
Why is Posture so Important?
The human spine houses and protect our spinal cord which connects our brain and central nervous system to the rest of our body. Under constant postural strain, the normal movement of the spine can be affected, which then places stress on the nervous system and how we interpret ad interact with our environment. Therefore, the integrity of your spine is essential to how you heal, function, and ultimately how healthy you are.
In healthy posture, the head is perfectly balanced over the shoulders and all four curves of the spine. With every inch of increased forward head posture, you increase the weight that your spine must support by 10 lbs, thus increasing the tension in your spinal cord.
Due to our sedentary lifestyle, conditions of poor posture are increasingly abundant and starting at earlier ages than ever before. These postural changes should no be ignored as they can lead to negative results throughout the body. The good news is that postural changes can be corrected and future changed can be prevented with care and advice from your chiropractor.
Upper crossed syndrome is one such condition where the muscles in our chest and posterior neck become increasingly tight while the muscles in our anterior neck and mid back become increasingly weak. This creates excessive stress through our muscular and skeletal systems causing imbalances in the spine and increasing our propensity for chronic pain and spinal degeneration.
Symptoms of this may include: tension at the base of the skull, forward head posture, and rounded shoulders. These changes result in decreased blood flow to the brain, pressure on blood vessels surrounding the heart, and reduced oxygen uptake in the lungs.
Lower crossed syndrome is another condition where the muscles in our anterior hip and mid to lower back become increasingly tight while our abdominal and gluteus muscles become increasingly weak. This, once again, creates excessive stress through our muscular and skeletal systems, causing imbalances in the spine and increasing our propensity for chronic pain and spinal degeneration.
Symptoms of this may include: tension, stiffness or spasms in the lower back, hips, and side of the leg. These changes can lead to joint pain, reduced flexibility, impaired range of motion, chronic back pain, and increased susceptibility to lumbar disc injuries.
Credit: Wellness Media