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When you are young and your joints are strong, poor posture usually doesn't cause pain or limit mobility. As you get older, however, if poor posture goes uncorrected, you begin to feel the effects on your joints. It will become more difficult to sit for long periods or to stand up from a sitting position. You may gradually lose some of the flexibility in your joints and start to feel pain in your joints. The effects of poor posture continue to worsen with time.
Warning signs: Pain, general ache and stiffness in the shoulders, back and posterior neck.
Cause of Symptoms: Postural Disorders generally occur over time due to improper body positioning when sitting and/or standing. Proper alignment of the body is very important to maintaining the strength of core stabilizing groups of the body. These core muscle groups of the upper body include the shoulder, back and neck muscles as they are the support system for the thoracic and cervical regions, preventing the body from returning to the original and natural, fetal position.
Causes:
Anything that causes poor posture will, over time, affect your joints. If other family members have poor posture, you may inherit the tendency to carry your body out of alignment. Fatigue can cause bad posture--as can poor sleeping positions, leading to misalignment of the spine. High-heeled shoes and ill-fitting shoes throw off your body's alignment, ultimately putting pressure on the joints in your spine, legs and feet. When you work on a computer, you have a natural tendency to lean your head forward and hunch your shoulders, causing poor alignment of the joints in your neck and upper torso.
To fight the pull of gravity and maintain proper physical alignment, it is important to stand erect, head high and shoulders pulled back. To increase the entire support system and prevent and or rehabilitate improper posture, the implementation of specific exercises and precise treatment with Neuromuscular therapy to strengthen the posterior shoulders, back and posterior cervical spine are CRITICAL!
Possible disorders that can develop:
Ankylosing Spondylitis
Arachnoiditis
Degenerative Disc Disease (DDD)
Discitis
Facet Arthropathy
Fractures
Herniated Disc
Ligament Injury
Muskuloskeletal Injury
Myelopathy
Osteoporosis
Radiculopathy
Sacral Agenesis
Sacroiliitis
Scheuermann's Kyphosis
Scoliosis
Spondylolisthesis
Spondylolysis
Stenosis
Strains and Sprains
Tumors
The way in which you sleep, stand, and sit can all have an effect on your posture, and those that do not have good posture will often find that they wake up with aches and pains in areas such as the lower back and the neck. Over time posture related problems can become more deep seated and serious, so it is essential to get help with your posture sooner rather than later.
To protect joints from stress, pain and possible deformity, your body must be balanced by good posture. Posture is affected by muscles and those muscles need to be released it may be time to seek additional help.
Question? Is maintaining your posture as simple as sitting up straight or shoulders back to avoid pain and discomfort? In reality, it isn't for example you can't lose weight without exercise or dieting if you don't do the latter you won't lose weight or have lasting changes. Make lasting changes to your posture call today 312-451-5771.
Considerations
Lifestyle habits such as carrying heavy bags home from the supermarket or heavy backpacks to and from school, wearing a heavy purse on one shoulder, hunching over desk work or a steering wheel, or typing on a keyboard, and sleeping on a weak mattress all contribute to poor posture that leads to excess strain on your joints. Correcting these habits so that you sit, stand, walk, lift, carry and sleep properly will go a long way toward improving your posture and protecting your joints.
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