Sit up straight….please!!!

More and more these days patients come into the office with issues stemming from poor posture over the years. As we increase the amount of time in front of a computer or TV our bodies start to pay the price IF we are not paying attention.

Being aware of your body and posture is the first and most important step to improving your posture. If you are unaware of your poor posture how are you expected to correct it? A good tip that I tell people is to stand against a wall with your shoulders back and the back of the head touching the wall, this will show you where you need to be for good posture. When you are standing/sitting with your shoulders and head back this does two things: it keeps your muscles engaged which takes stress off your spine, and second it keeps the force of your body weight going straight down through the spine as it was intended.

No one can have perfect posture all day, you will get tired or busy and forget. Squeezing the shoulder blades together 10x/hour is a good way to remind yourself to maintain good posture. The more you can break up the bad habits the less strain you will put on your spine and hopefully the less pain/discomfort you will experience!