One of the easiest ways to fall into a habit of poor posture is typing at a computer. Your hands reach for the keyboard, which causes your shoulders to slump forward. This promotes poor posture and can lead to painful back problems. Also, try not to lean to one side while either sitting or standing. It's so easy to just lean to one side and let your elbow rest on a table while sitting or lean your body weight to one side while standing in one place. These tiny shifts are small and seemingly insignificant, but they put a gradual pain-inducing strain on the muscles, ligaments, and vertebrae in your back. This strain in turn leads to a need for more and more chiropractic adjustments.
You can also analyze your own posture while sitting in front of a mirror. Look in the mirror and see if you are sitting all the way back in your chair. See if your shoulders are slumped forward. Does the lower lumbar area of your back fit snug up against your chair if it has a lumbar support? Are you sitting straight in the chair instead of at an angle? Are you leaning too much against the back of the chair, which can promote the sagging of back muscles and poor posture? These are just some of the observations you can make to better analyze faults so you can make the necessary adjustments for better overall posture.It is also very important to have a relatively new pair of comfortable running shoes or casual shoes or boots to maintain good posture. Proper posture is a very good step in the right direction to maintain a pain-free back. Getting in this habit offers your spine more of the benefits of a neutral position that takes pressure off muscles, disks, nerves, cartilage and other structures in the back. Regular chiropractic adjustments can also help you to maintain proper posture. Let the doctors of chiropractic at The Joint Cottonwood do a quick postural evaluation and give you more hints and exercises to use on a daily basis.
~ Dr. Brad Hendricks
