Often times we will find ourselves in a sedentary position in front of the computer, watching television, or looking down at our phones. It is important to perform daily stretches and exercises to help prevent the joints and surrounding musculature from becoming hypomobile (lack of movement) and stiff. Once these joints do become hypomobile, a person can feel tight, achy, and stiff. This can eventually lead to a snowball effect and cause other defects and functional problems throughout the body.
Posture is extremely important for long term health. Once it becomes compromised and the joints get “stuck” in that position, it can lead to postural faults exaggerating the curve of the spine, scoliosis, cause disc irritation, and through time, arthritic changes.
Recommendations are to stretch the muscles in the front of the upper body and strengthen the muscles in the upper back. Just because there might be a postural or structural issue, doesn’t mean that it can’t eventually be corrected. Now this is dependent on person to person of course, but maintaining a daily stretching and exercise routine can help and possibly even reverse any potential damage that might have already been done. Generally, these corrections can take some time for you to notice differences. Chances are that these postural issues have developed over a long period of time so it will naturally take time to revert back to the original healthy alignment.
Going back to potential disc problems that can begin with postural faults. The discs are basically the shock absorbers of the spine and fit in between each one of the bones within our spine. Once wedging begins to occur within the spine, the disc may start protruding out the other direction. Once this disc protrusion occurs, it can potentially place pressure on the exiting nerve roots which can eventually lead to numbness, tingling, weakness, and fatigue.
This may eventually be corrected, but we even end up in this situation if it could have been prevented? This is why it is important to sit straight and keep the shoulders back because the more you slouch, you not only place pressure on the surrounding muscles and tissue but the discs as well.
Those that have a tendency of arching the upper back and leaning forwards might be experiencing Upper Crossed Syndrome where the muscles in the front of the upper body are tight and the muscles in the upper back are weak. This can potentially be corrected by following a simple rehab protocol. It is never too late to begin proper stretching and exercise to help correct any type of postural faults.
Stretches include performing a pec doorway stretch, stretching the upper traps by laterally bending your ear to your shoulder, stretching the scalene muscles (muscles in front of the neck), and performing neck range of motion exercises (bending forwards, backwards, rotating clockwise and counterclockwise, rotation side to side, and lateral bend).
Mobility exercises can include performing Cat Camel to help mobilize and get the joints moving in the upper back. Strengthening the upper back muscles is very important to help pull the shoulder back and this can be achieved by performing shoulder retraction exercises such as rowing.
You only have one spine, so it is important to take care of it. Performing these daily stretches, mobility exercises, and strengthening exercises can help correct some of these postural faults and hopefully prevent future damages.
If you are worried about posture and long term issues, it is recommended to see your nearest chiropractor or healthcare provider for a posture assessment done and have a consultation as far as what you can do to maintain long term health in your spine.
Call our chiropractor, Dr.Simian, today at (818) 514-7294 to schedule your chiropractic appointment in Burbank!
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Tuesday: 9:00am-7:00pm
Wednesday: 9:00am-7:00pm
Thursday: Closed
Friday: 9:00am-7:00pm
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Sunday: Closed