Is it prudent to worry about your posture?

Take a look around next time your are in public, take a visual survey of all the different postures people show. This is something I find myself doing often. It always shocks me when I realize how many people have major postural imbalances such as one high shoulder, a neck that protrudes far in front of ones body or unequal leg lengths. It brings up a great question: is posture really important? This article is written to explore the importance of postural symmetry.

How many steps does the average person take in a day? Four-thousand is the typical number of steps you can expect to take daily. That's an incredible amount. What happens to peoples low backs when they have a crooked spine? As a chiropractor I find myself asking many of these questions daily. From my experience with patients and reviewing their radiographs I am certain that major postural imbalance leads to early spinal degeneration. Did you know for every year a person has a vertebral segment with range of motion restrictions their spine wears excessively, often five times faster than it was designed to. This is why I see radiographs of patients in their thirties who have areas of their spines that have advanced degeneration. The shocking part is most of these people are asymptomatic.

Another condition which needs to be addressed is forward head posture. This is becoming an epidemic in America. How many hours a day to you spend sitting at a computer. The pattern I see with people with desk jobs, work on computers regularly and students is the exact same. It's so redundant I can usually tell what segments are suffering far before I x-ray a patient. When ones head is an inch forward the weight put on the base on the cervical spine triples. This is devastating to the health of the joints in the lower neck. Advanced degeneration of the vertebral discs and the vertebral segments occurs constantly. Postural corrective changes are possible and seeking correction from forward head posture should be investigated by anyone suffering from this condition. How do you know if you suffer from this condition? Look in a mirror from the side and see if your neck appears to protrude forward. This is one way to take a brief scan. Anyone who wonders if they may have this condition should consult a physician for an x-ray. Doctors of chiropractic please great emphasis on the angles the vertebral segments are making. Please seek any medical professional who has the expertise to take films and is interested in correcting posture.

I am passionate about educating the public about the importance of correcting postural imbalances before they have avoidable conditions. One of the greatest challenges I run into as a spinal expert is that lack of interest in the spine and posture. The importance of educating the public as to the necessity of postural correction can not be understated.