Saturday 12th October
As soon as we mention (or you read) the word posture, for many people this brings attention to the fact that they are slouching. Your posture is how you hold your body when you are sitting or standing. But something that people forget, is that a lot of the time we have limits in our posture that simply cannot be “corrected” just by sitting up as straight as we can. You can notice these changes in posture as rounded shoulders, hunched upper back or an increase in curve in your lower back.
When these changes are there for a prolonged period, they can often cause people to develop neck or back pain. Forward head posture is particularly bad as your head should be rested nicely in line with your spine, not out in front of it. An average head weighs about 3kg, about as heavy as a bowling ball. Your spine is designed to hold that up with no problems at all, but if it moves forward, that is a 3kg weight hanging from the joints, muscles and connective tissue in the back of your neck. This increases the stress your spine must cope with on a daily basis. Forward head posture is becoming so common and is now even referred to as “Tech Neck” as it is seen in younger people more often than ever before. A lot of teenagers are developing neck issues due to this which may increase the chances that they will become adults with spine or back pain. A tip for tablet or iPad use, is to get your kids to lie on their stomachs as this makes it very tricky for them to hang their head forward.
A recent study looked at the effects of upright posture (good) compared to slouched posture (bad). Good posture was linked to higher self-esteem, better mood and being better able to deal with stresses, in comparison to bad posture.
