A day doesn’t go by in my practice that I don’t see a patient who is experiencing neck pain and headaches as a result of poor posture.
Unfortunately, the age group with the worst offenders is teenagers. The majority of them are spending way too much time slouched over their cellphones while texting or sitting in a slouched position on the couch as they play video games.
I shouldn’t just pick on the teenagers with electronic devices though. The same poor posture is often seen with kids simply reading a book or sitting in class.
When you have poor posture for a long enough period of time, it can cause significant neck, shoulder and upper back pain.
When you sit with good posture, your head is balanced on the top of your neck and the gravitational forces pulling the head forward are equal to the forces pulling it backward.
In this scenario, the muscles at the back of the neck and shoulders have to make very little effort to keep your head upright.
When you slouch and your head leans forward, gravity will start to pull it in a downward direction. The further you lean your head forward, the harder the gravitational forces will pull it downward.
To prevent your head from falling all the way forward, the muscles at the back of your neck and shoulders have to contract and pull the head backward. If you continue to slouch for a prolonged period of time, these muscles become very tight, fatigued and painful.
This will eventually result in neck pain, shoulder pain and headaches.
If you visit a chiropractor for these symptoms, he or she can restore the proper mobility to the joints of the neck, release the tension in the muscles, and address any nerve irritation that is occurring.
However, if you continue to slouch, the symptoms will eventually return. To prevent this from happening, I suggest you see your chiropractor and follow his or her recommendations on improving your posture, stretching affected muscles, and strengthening these muscles.
So what does good posture look like? There’s much more to it than just sitting up straight.
Proper sitting posture
• Feet flat on the floor (or propped on a footstool if needed)
• Knees should be level with hips or even slightly higher
• Sit back in the chair so your spine is supported
• Shoulders should be relaxed, not pulled upward or elevated
• Ears should align with the shoulders
• Shoulders should not be rounded or hunched
• Computer screens should be at eye level so the neck can remain neutral.
Proper standing posture
• Shoulders back and relaxed
• Neck and head in line with shoulders from the side
• Weight balanced on both feet evenly, with feet about hip width apart and knees relaxed (not locked)
• Abdominal muscles slightly activated
• From the side, should be able to draw a straight line through the earlobe, shoulder, hip, ankle.
Next time you find yourself leaning over the work desk, sit back, relax, and straighten that back.
Remember to take frequent breaks to stretch and change positions.
Poor posture is normally formed by bad habits, so we’ve got to constantly keep our posture in check to save ourselves from future neck pain and headaches.
