Thanks
Chiropractor
It is certainly common for ongoing faults with a person’s posture to contribute to back and neck pain. The longer one’s posture has been faulty, the more ‘natural’ it may feel since the spine and other parts of the body frame have typically adapted to certain positions that are repeated regularly. Therefore, the time it takes to change things for the better will tend to correspond with how long a person’s posture has not been ideal, along with the particular type of posture faults. Fortunately, with some motivation to improve one’s postures during various daily activities, lasting changes can often be made that result in a reduction of posture-related pain.
So, what are some practical healthy habits worth being reminded of:
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to your account or now (it's free).Physiotherapist, Pilates Instructor
Dr Peter Dunn has given some excellent tips on improving your posture in standing, sitting and lying. The difficulty remains that it's often hard to maintain good posture, because as soon as you stop thinking about it consciously, the old habits and muscular patterns take over. Sitting or standing up straight may feel like a huge effort because of muscle imbalances which have developed. One reason it may feel so hard is that your muscles could be working against other muscles or soft tissue that have become tight. To bring about a longer term change what may really help is to:
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Chiropractor
The above posts highlight the importance of self management in postural improvement. Unfortunately, if these techniques are unable to fully contain the aforementioned symptoms and posture continues to fail when not thinking of it, seeking the passive care from a professional may be warrented.
Posture is a mechanism that is regulated from an area in the brain known as the brainstem. Interestingly, posture is like breathing (which is also regulated in the brainstem). You can consciously over ride the “default” pattern of posture and breathing…although there is also an unconsious “default” that exists. Either the exercises have to be regular enough that this default changes to the new desired pattern, or specialised techniques from your practitioner can over ride this default to “reprogram/repattern” your posture.
In our practice we utilise software such as posture pro to monitor the changes in posture. It is very rewarding to see the results in front of you when you achieve these improvements.
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Physiotherapist
You are right…. it is much easier to slouch. But unfortuantely if you have pain when doing this it's bodies way of saying that it's not right position. Just give it a go for abit…if it feels better then you will be more motivated to sit abit better.
I know your paretns may be nagging, but only you can decide that you've had enough of the pain. Remember, pain is a warning sign, it you don't listen to it, it may get worse to get your attention.
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