We all hear about the advantages of correct posture. We try correct our posture throughout the day but the struggle is real to maintain what some may think an “odd or uncomfortable” position. I want to talk about how correct posture is a fundamental component of our lives and recovery from an injury.
We first need to understand what is correct posture. Ultimately, it involves correcting our bodies “alignment” to re-establish a neutral spine position. In short, the lower back curves in (lordosis), the mid back curves out (kyphosis) and the neck curves in again (lordosis). The saying, “Too much of anything is bad, but too much good whiskey is barely enough” can be applied here, well sort of. What I mean is that too much of a curve at a particular segment can be a bad thing long term. I will not talk about the long term implications of these positions and their impairments but will mention certain terms that you can relate to. Too much curve in the lower back is commonly referred to as anterior pelvic tilt, too much at the thoracic is called hyperkyphosis and loss of curvature at the neck is called cervical straightening. I will discuss each segment in individual blogs in the future.
What we need to understand is that our bodies adapt to the stress and constant position we put ourselves through. We need to consider our position at work, in the car, on the couch, walking, sitting, gardening and so on… The body adapts to how we function and perform these tasks. If we put our bodies through “bad” stress it will adapt but if we teach ourselves correct movement patterns with correct posture, it will love you for it!
With an injury, there is associated pain. The body, although magnificent in its complexity, does NOT like pain and shifts to the side with no pain, minimises movement at that particular joint, reduces or can increase muscle contraction at the site of injury. These are just few examples of how an injury can alter the bodies biomechanics and ultimately affect our posture. A big factor surrounding an injury is that we lose segmental control and find ourselves moving as a “whole”. This overtime causes stiffness and unwanted compensatory postural changes. These postural changes, although caused by a specific joint, can affect the kinetic chain and cause injuries to the segments above or below due to the inevitable biomechanical deficit.
A few lessons to learn here. An injury, whether big or small, will have implications to our posture. Treating an injury during its early stages is warranted to minimise the future biomechanical deficits. Postural awareness during our day to day activities is necessary in order for our bodies to adapt to this “good” form of stress. This will allow for correct positioning during workouts/sport and also increase the rate of recovery following an injury.
Stay tuned for my next blog, delving deeper in the world of posture!