Some people believe that good posture is so vital to your health that severe disorders can be cured simply by correcting it. While we think this is an overly simplistic approach, we do agree that good posture helps your body to function as it is intended to. As physiotherapists, it’s one of the factors we look into when assessing our patients, and if poor posture could be contributing to or exacerbating their health issues, we work with them to correct it.
What is Posture?
It’s worth explaining what posture is. Most people think it’s only the position their bodies assume when walking, standing or sitting, but it also refers to the position your body assumes when undertaking a variety of tasks and even the one it takes on while you are sleeping. Have you ever woken up with aches and pains because you slept in an odd position? You surely have! So, let’s not forget sleep posture when we consider the health effects of posture on your body.
Why is Good Posture So Important?
There’s a simple answer, a slightly more extensive one, and then volumes and volumes of highly technical answers that come from medical researchers. To keep this article straightforward, we’ll examine the simple answer and the middle-road one.
The simple answer is that good posture reduces strain on the body allowing it to work at its best. The slightly more complex version includes all the things that work better when you have good posture:
- Your muscles are able to coordinate better, and instead of making you tire out more quickly, good posture reduces the amount of effort your muscles expend helping to stave off fatigue and limiting the chances of injury.
- Good posture is important to your spinal health. There’s less chance of sustaining a back injury, and if you already have some kind of spinal problem, good posture can save you from some of its worst consequences.
- Because your body is properly aligned when you have good posture, you’ll suffer less aches and pains than someone who has poor posture.
- It’s not just your muscles that work better when you have good posture – you’ll also be placing less strain on your joints. Once again, the chance of injury is greatly reduced, and that includes injuries that are sustained because of repetitive stress and strain as well as sudden, traumatic injuries.
- Poor posture affects your internal organs too. To work properly, they need enough space, and hunched over positions don’t allow the lungs or digestive system to function optimally.
- Posture even affects your mental health. A fascinating study in which participants were placed in upright and slumped postures to determine how it affected their overall response to stress found that people who were placed in slumped positions were more prone to negative emotions.
- Finally, when your posture is good, your overall physical appearance is better, and people perceive you in a more positive light.
Physiotherapy Will Help You to Improve Your Posture
Good posture is a habit, but it also requires you to engage the correct muscles. If you have poor posture, just trying to stand up straight isn’t going to have a lasting effect. If you’ve been experiencing the consequences of poor posture, a physiotherapist can help you with pain relief, and will also work with you to develop an exercise program that will help you to improve your posture – even when you aren’t thinking about it at all.
Sometimes, pain is the cause of poor posture rather than its symptom. Once again, physiotherapy could help you to overcome a reaction that may be aggravating your condition. If you’d like to know more about the role of posture in your overall health, talk to your family doctor or call us for an appointment.
