Poor Posture and How It Affects Soft Tissue and the Spine

A good posture is not only necessary for your physical health but also your mental health. We need both mental and physical power to hold our body the right way while sitting, standing, walking, and sleeping. People tend to adapt poor posture because of the back pain caused by working for long hours. Lack of proper posture leads to neck pain, spinal cord injuries, and even chronic pains.

Warning Signs of Poor Posture

Here are a few signs of poor posture that you must lookout for if you want live a healthy lifestyle.

1.       Persistent back pain with varying intensity

2.       Pain that vanishes when you switch position, whenever you are standing or sitting

3.       At a specific time of the day or week, the back pain gets worse.

4.       Back pain caused because of a new office chair, new job, or new car.

5.       Pain that begins from the neck, and travels downwards to the upper and lower back.

Impact of Poor Posture on Soft Tissue and the Spine

Whether it is our lifestyle, injury, general health or aging – poor and unnatural posture can further cause soft tissue injury, spinal cord injury, degenerative conditions, and structural injury. The tendons, nerves, muscles, and ligaments are considered as soft tissues. Pain in these tissues occurs because of bad posture, stress, and injury. This can cause pressure on the spine. The pressure keeps moving depending on position of the person.

When a person is lying down on their back, the pressure on the spine is minimal at that point. The pressure travels upwards thrice, as the person stands up straight, and 4 times when they are in a sitting position. Similarly, if that person is lifting the weight of a medium sized box, the stress on the lower back increases up to 5 times. Therefore, when the poor posture and defective body workings mix together, the pain can augment up to 5 times. These movements can lead to mini-injuries and micro-trauma, particularly when they are recurring. The development of musculoskeletal symptoms is quite common too.

Hunchback, forward head, and rounded shoulder are postures that cause pain in the neck, shoulder, and back. Most of the time, it is because of prolonged sitting or sitting in an unnatural way for a long time. Misalignment in the spine also takes place because of slouching, which further leads to herniated disc. This is the spine problem caused in the lumbar region. The disc is a supportive cushion for the vertebrae. However, the herniation can cause the inner disc to push through the outer layer. In this condition, an individual will feel numbness and pain in the legs, arms, or back.

Chiropractic medicine is one of the natural ways to treat these disorders. There are no drugs or major surgery involved in this treatment. It can adjust the misalignments and restore performance, so you can adapt to healthy lifestyle with a correct posture.