The Effect of Posture on your Body

The effect that modern technology is having on our health & some tips to help prevent bad posture.

Does your job require you to stare at a computer for hours on end, or perhaps you are bent over all day, laying bricks, tiling a floor or cramped in the roof doing electrical work?

This ‘forward head posture’ doesn’t just create stresses on your shoulders and neck, but actually has a snowball effect, impacting on your whole spine as it tries to compensate for this change in ideal posture.
As the head shift forwards it changes our bodies centre of gravity and to compensate, the upper body shifts backward and to maintain balance, our hips shift forward. 
This change in head posture creates tension and muscle imbalances as the head moves forward, more weight is actually placed on our muscles.
When a muscle becomes short and tight, the opposite muscle often will become long and weak. This creates an imbalance in your body.
After long periods of using one muscle more than others, our body develops a faulty recruitment pattern. Additionally poor posture places abnormal weight on joints and stresses muscles and tendons often leading to pain.
If your posture is such that you can project a line up from just in front of your anklebone and have it run midway between your hip, shoulder and ear- your posture is quite good. 

If you have poor posture you’ll see increased or decreased curves in your spine, your belly may protrude, have rounded shoulders, back pain, body aches and pains and perhaps headaches. 
Good posture keeps muscle in balance and your body well aligned, allowing optimal efficiency of body systems and decrease in pain. 

Some Helpful Tips to Prevent Poor Posture:

- Ergonomic set-up- Get your workspace checked so that everything is in line and not causing unnecessary stressors on your body.

- Get your Posture Checked- See you chiropractor

- Stretch- Stretch those muscles that feel short and tight

- Get Moving- If you're sitting at a desk all day- get up and take regular breaks so that your body doesn't become accustomed to sitting still in a prolonged posture. 

- Ditch the handbag- carry a backpack - that is evenly distributed across your back (Make sure it isn't too heavy)