How Do You Know if You Have Bad Posture?

Millions of people suffer from bad posture, although very few realize the issues that posture can cause. There are ways to correct your posture if you are suffering from pain due to shortened muscle fibers and deeper weak muscles. Thanks to advancements in technology, some adaptations help you make sure your posture is good if you are stuck in front of a desk all day.


 

Pain From Poor Posture

Pain is almost guaranteed if you have bad posture. Your back might hurt, your neck can feel sore, and you may have frequent headaches. When you do stretch, you might feel like you cannot stretch far enough to relieve the muscle pain.
 

The cause of the pain is the short muscle fibers responsible for your small everyday movements. When you have poor posture, your short muscle fibers are doing what should be the work of your deeper and bigger muscle fibers. For example, if you carry your head forward, you are using your neck muscles to keep your head in place instead of your bigger, stronger back muscles.
 

Activating the wrong muscles results in muscle pain and soreness. If you engage your short muscle fibers too often, your bigger muscle fibers can deteriorate. This forces other muscles to compensate for the lack of strength. Not addressing poor posture can result in a vicious cycle of muscle pain if you do not take care of it.


 

Correcting Your Posture

There are things you can do to work on correcting your posture. Participating in physical therapy and seeing a massage therapist regularly can help you release the tight muscles. Releasing your smaller, shorter muscle fibers frees you up to engage the deeper muscles that are supposed to be doing the work anyway.
 

You can also visit a chiropractor as part of your therapy to encourage proper alignment and related muscle engagement. If your muscles are not appropriately engaged, they will pull your body out of alignment. If this is the case, a chiropractor can be part of what fixes your poor posture over time. Something else to think about is injuries you may have sustained in the past. Those can result in poor posture, too, and the regiment remains the same.
 

You should also engage in regular stretching outside of therapy to loosen your muscles between visits. Ideally, you want to perform around 30 minutes of stretching exercises every day to maintain your mobility and flexibility.


 

Make Your Posture Better Every Day

Today, millions are stuck in front of their computers at a desk. Sitting and being in front of a computer all contribute to poor posture, causing rounded shoulders and back pain. Aside from getting up and stretching every so often, you should also look into ergonomic chairs, keyboards, and lumbar supports to keep postural issues down to a minimum.

Contact Brookdale Health for an evaluation at our Brooklyn Center office in Minneapolis, Minnesota by calling 763-561-4045. We will be happy to help you improve your posture.