We’ve been harping on this issue for a bit now, but it’s an important point to get across. If we have neck, low back, or shoulder pain, chances are that alignment and posture are key components. You can do all of the “corrective exercises” in the world, strengthen your core, etc., but if you don’t change your alignment, and continue to sit with bad posture for hours at a time, there’s a good chance that pain will come back to haunt. With poor posture, you’re essentially negating all the hard work you’re putting in with your exercises, stretches and mobilizations.

When sitting with a flexed, or rounded position of the spine for long periods of time without moving, the intervertebral discs get compressed and dehydrated. This decreases nutrition to the disc, which increases disc degeneration and decreases shock absorbency in the spine. In addition, spinal ligaments undergo what is called “creep” when they are in specific positions for more than 10 minutes. Ligaments are like taffy: when they stretch for long periods of time, they don’t rebound back to their original shape. This can lead to chronic instability in the spine deriving from inhibited stabilizing muscles, and misinterpreted signals to and from the brain to the muscles, ligaments, and discs of the spine.

At the same time, sitting with an erect spine, chest lifted, over-corrected posture isn’t good either. This posture is what everyone is told is “good” posture, but it is most definitely not. This displaces the rib cage, so it’s tilted backward and it’s behind the pelvis. Vicky Saliba Johnson of the Institute of Physical Art (IPA) has done extensive research that shows when the rib cage is in this position, the abdomen, or lower core system, has lost its pressure system, which is what protects our spine. The rib cage must be vertically placed over the pelvis to ensure this pressure system is intact, so we don’t have to consciously engage our abdominal muscles, they’ll engage automatically.

This isn’t to say that we can never sit or stand in bad posture, but rather poor, static postures for extended periods of time will exacerbate and continue the pattern of chronic back pain. An overuse injury is the same thing. If you continue to perform the same bad movement pattern, the tissues will eventually break down.

Look for more posts in the future about proper posture.

Beacon Physical Therapy

At Beacon Physical Therapy, we support our clients in establishing healthy movement patterns that help maintain strength, flexibility and mobility. If you are having an issue, make an appointment today. We’d love to meet you and get you back to doing what you love.