Poor posture is now a controversial topic as research has shown that there is a lack of strong evidence to support the fact that slumping is more likely to cause back pain and that sitting more upright should help to prevent it. It is now suggested that your best posture is your next posture i.e don't be in one posture for too long without moving. 

 

I have found through clinical experience that some patients do seem to benefit from some tweaks to their postures whereas for others, reducing the time spent in those postures without getting up and moving around seems to be more important. Other patient's also seem to benefit from strengthening the related muscles so that they have a greater capacity to support their posture if working long hours at a desk for example.  

 

Adopting new postures such as protruding the head to see a computer screen more clearly when becoming more short-sighted or slightly extending the neck to look through the bottom of a pair of bifocal glasses, may lead to neck pain and headaches through aggravating the muscles and sometimes the joints of the neck/upper back.  

 

Compensating for a painful hip, knee or lower back can cause problems above though mechanically overloading other tissues. 

 

Treatment is aimed at relieving the strained tissues through manual therapy but also postural advice where necessary will be given. When thought to be due to a compensation for a problem elsewhere, this, when possible is also addressed otherwise symptoms are likely to recur. 

 

In addition to treatment and postural advice which will often include how to interupt sedentary postures with specific and sometimes general movements/exercises, strengthening exercises are often prescribed to help to make it easier to sustain whatever posture you choose to adopt. 

 

If you feel like you have a probelm associated with your posture then you can book an appointment by clicking on the link below or at the top of the page.