Your Posture
When you come to see us we regularly assess your posture. (You can see an example copy of our posture report below.) This is because we know how important posture is.
Poor posture can affect how we feel and function, it can create tension and stress in the spine and nervous system. On the other hand good posture can be sign of a well functioning spine and nervous system. Various studies shown that having and maintaining a good posture can even help boost your mood and reduce stress.
Good posture means your bones are properly aligned, and your muscles, joints and ligaments can work as nature intended.
One of the most common postural problems we increasingly see in ever younger patients is people with rounded shoulders and a forward head carriage.
Posture Exercises
We have found the exercises below are good for people who have rounded shoulders, forward head carriage and starting to form a hump at the neck/shoulder junction.
They are particularly good for people who spend a lot of time on tech.
This exercise is done in the 4 different postures as shown.
In each of the four postures shown:
Tuck your chin in
Hold your head, forearms and thumbs as far back as you can
Engage your core by tightening your tummy muscles
Do not arch your low back
Clench your buttock muscles
Squeeze your shoulder blades together
Stand as tall as you can - imagine your head is being pulled up by a string
Hold each posture for 10 seconds while taking deep slow breaths
With each breath try to push your head, forearms and thumbs back further while clenching your buttocks tighter and squeezing your shoulder blade harder together
Do the sequence three times
Do not become disheartened if you don't think you are doing it well enough - if it was easy you probably wouldn't need them.
If you feel these exercises make your pain worse stop immediately and speak to your chiropractor.
An Example of a Posture Scan
