Poor Posture Leads to Back Pain

Your mother was right – correct posture is important. In fact, according to a survey of 1,200 women commissioned by the British Chiropractic Association, your posture is the major factor determining whether you experience back pain as you grow older.

The association came up with five “posture profiles”:

• Spoon – flat back, rounded shoulders
• Leaning tower – head leans forward
• Bridge – arched back
• Flat-pack – flat back
• Normal posture – ears, shoulders, hips, knees and ankles in line

The worst posture is a leaning tower, where the head leans forward. Nearly six in ten women with this posture suffer from back pain, according to the survey. The bridge posture, with an arched back, is the second worst. That is followed by a spoon position, with rounded shoulders.

We put our posture in jeopardy every day. Our children carry heavy backpacks to school, sit at their desks for prolonged periods, then go home and watch TV or play video games – all while exhibiting poor posture. As adults, we spend long hours at work sitting in chairs, hunched over computers, or looking down to communicate through our smartphones. Poor posture has consequences: it stresses the body and contributes to spinal degeneration and pain.
Of course, there are actions you can take to improve your posture:

• Buy a new bed. A prescribed bedding system can reduce back pain by 57 percent, according to a 2002 study led by Bert Jacobson from Oklahoma State University’s School of Applied Health and Educational Psychology, Health and Human Performance. The study sample was 22 people with documented disturbed sleep, shoulder pain, low back pain, and spine stiffness, who spent 28 days sleeping on a prescribed bedding system.
• Make sure your workspace is ergonomic. Your desk and chair should be at a proper height, your monitor at eye level, and items on your desk within easy reach. Also, both feet should be flat on the floor.
• Take at least a five-minute break from your screen every half hour to stand up, stretch and move around. Take a few 10- to 15-minute breaks, as well.

If you believe you have postural problems, chiropractic can help. Consider a visit to Milpitas Spine Center in Milpitas, California. Drs. Dhanish Patel and Scott Riley and their dedicated team of chiropractors and therapists will pinpoint the source of your pain, then devise a custom treatment plan to target the source of that discomfort naturally and systematically.

If you live in the Milpitas, Fremont, San Jose, Santa Clara, or Sunnyvale area and are experiencing pain, contact the Milpitas Spine Center for a complimentary consultation to see if we can help.