As a chiropractor I assess people’s posture on a daily basis. In fact, I begin each examination with a basic postural evaluation. As I do this, I would estimate that 7 out of 10 people comment on how bad their posture is or has gotten. Today I’d like to discuss 4 crucial points I often share with my patients regarding posture.
1. Posture is your signal to the world – it tells a story about you whether you intend it to or not. Statistically speaking, when we meet someone we assess them within the first 90 seconds. Therefore, in most cases within a minute and a half we have made impressions of potential friends, clients or business colleague either positively or negatively. Poor posture can make us appear less approachable, not as confident, disinterested or create other unintentional negative signals that may not even be accurate. How confident do you think you appear as you deliver a presentation at work or as you approach that man/woman you’re interested in if your shoulders are hunched forward and your head is down? When you’re at a networking event and you’re slouching and leaning to one side do you think you’re appearing attentive and interested? The point is that your posture is telling a story every second that can either help or hurt you. Great posture will help better convey to the world your true self.
2. Certain aspects of our posture are completely under our own control. Sitting up straight, slouching less and or not having our heads forward staring into computer screens/mobile devices are examples of things we should do to improve posture. What I recommend for my patients positions are “postural checkpoints.” For example, if you find your posture is worst when you’re working on your computer try and train yourself to re-check your posture every 10-15 minutes. After a week or so it will become like second nature and you’ll notice that you’re no longer slouching or staring into your screen as you were previously.
3. Poor posture can lead to serious problems. Bad posture on a daily basis trains your body to remain in those poor positions. This places tremendous amounts of stress on your spine which in turn aggravates your nerves and causes pain and poor function. As an example, people with poor posture affecting their neck often end up with headaches or numbness and tingling into their arms or hands. Postural issues are much more than aesthetic; they can affect your neuro-musculoskeletal system in significant ways.
4. A chiropractor can help with posture. I always like to begin by giving my patients advice on improving their posture. For example, I may start by telling them to keep the breast bone up as this helps the neck, shoulders and hips naturally move into better positions. However, bad posture often comes from poor spinal alignment and/or a weak spine. In other words, the poor posture is a sign of an underlying spinal issue. For these patients I do a thorough postural and spinal check (including x-rays if necessary) in order to identify the problems causing the postural problems and then offer a plan to correct them. In my experience, even a single chiropractic visit often brings immediate and dramatic improvements to posture.
Dr. Kenney has won multiple awards for “Best Chiropractor” and specializes in helping patients achieve their goals of better health and pain relief. For more information please visit www.NewBodyChiro.com, find us on Facebook (New Body Chiropractic & Wellness Center) or call (303) 347-9906.