Poor Posture Treatment in Cobourg
Posture is the position of your body when you are sitting or standing. It describes how your spine is positioned in relation to your head, shoulders and hips. Good posture is when your spine is in a neutral position so that muscles, joints and ligaments are aligned to reduce stress on them, keeping the body flexible, reducing fatigue and maintaining balance.
Poor posture exists when the normal curves of the spine are not in the proper position, and therefore there is increased strain on the muscles, joints and ligaments. This can look like having a head forward from the rest of the body, rounded shoulders, and a sway in your mid or lower back.
Typical Symptoms
Common symptoms include muscle or joint strain, neck, head or back pain, and increased risk of injury during exercise, work or other activities. Poor posture can lead to various physical problems, from back pain to jaw pain, lack of balance and foot issues. When your head is forward, this can cause neck pain, stiffness and headaches. The more you lean forward, the more head weight and strain you exert on your spine.
What Are the Causes?
Spending long periods leaning over a screen (whether cell phone, laptop, desktop computer, iPad, etc), slouching in a chair, driving for extended periods, or carrying a heavy backpack can all cause poor posture to develop. Additionally, repetitive motions in the workplace can be a cause.
During pregnancy, poor posture can develop due to increased weight to carry the baby. Also, carrying extra weight can lead to developing poor posture.
What Treatments Do You Offer?
The goal of improving posture is to get your spine into alignment with your head and your limbs. When looking at you from the side, this would look like your ears, shoulders, back of the knee and ankle are lined up. Having proper spinal alignment means your muscles and bones are in balance, and this will protect your body against injuries or stresses that could cause degeneration to those areas.
Proper posture also helps your body work more efficiently to keep you upright against gravity. We will adjust different areas of the spine to help them move more easily, and help work back into proper alignment by directing the forces appropriately.
The Intake Process
First, you will complete an intake form where you will outline what concerns you have with your health. During the history, we will focus on what type of day-to-day activities you do, and where you could create poor posture.
Next is the physical exam. We will assess your posture and go through a range of motion assessment to see if any areas of poor posture change as you move through different positions. We will assess the joints and muscles surrounding your spine and determine what areas are weaker and too tight.
We will check your gait and balance to assess what changes are needed. At this time, we will decide if further tests are needed, and we will explain clearly our findings and recommendations, so you always know exactly what is going on with your health.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can forward head posture make my head feel heavy?
Is poor posture just an aesthetic issue, or are there health concerns with it?
Book an Appointment
If your posture could use some improvement, contact Herron Family Chiropractic today to schedule an appointment.
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