Dra Melva Mitchell - Good and Bad Posture Habits

Maintaining good body posture is essential to be healthy and strong. Throughout this post we are going to talk about what good posture really is and why it is so important that we care about it.

Melva Mitchell Fort Worth When we talk about posture, we refer to the position our body maintains while doing activities. And we are not referring only to the moments in which we are sitting or standing, but to the position we maintain while doing all kinds of activities.

Good body posture helps our body to function better. When the posture is correct while you are doing something, your body needs to do less effort and consequently you run less risk of injury.

A good posture gives you better general mobility and reduces the stress on your body, something very important during physical activities, manual work or the most daily activities that involve physical effort (taking care of the house, for example). If you take more care of your postures and use all your joints better, you can do everything more easily and without injury.

For athletes, for example, good body posture allows them to have much more strength and speed.

Dra Melva Mitchell What is good body posture?

When we analyze body posture, we first look at posture when the person is standing.

In profile, the ears, the center of your neck and back, your hips, knees and ankles should be aligned, all in the same line.

From the back you should also align the center of your head, neck, back, pelvis and sacrum.

If we remain seated we must keep our back straight with a slight lumbar curve, shoulders back, chest out, head up with chin slightly inwards and feet flat on the floor. It is very important not to cross your legs, as this practice is totally harmful to the body.

What is bad body posture?

Two well-known postural syndromes of the chiropractor are Upper Crossed Syndrome (head too far forward) and Lower Crossed Syndrome (lumbar curve very pronounced with hyperlordosis).

Both syndromes have to do with a muscle imbalance and need a specific correction.

Why is having a bad posture harmful to our health?

When we have an incorrect body posture, our muscles, ligaments and joints are subjected to inadequate pressure that can cause inflammation, pain, and fatigue. Poor posture can not only have negative consequences on your health but also on how the people around you see you.

During the first 7 seconds of meeting a person we form an idea of ​​who is in front of us, therefore, our posture plays a very important role in that first image that is formed regarding us, as it is a reflection of who we are.

Good body posture is directly related to confidence, competence, energy, happiness, and good health. On the other hand, bad posture can reflect the image of a sad, negative, lazy, disheveled person who does not take care of her appearance.

All this should be reason more than enough to take care of and / or improve our posture. Besides this, there are also other important physical reasons.

Sitting with poor body posture can cause back pain, lower back pain, sciatica, neck, shoulder and arm pain. Also, standing in the wrong position can have the same side effects.

As for your footprint, if you have pronator feet (with flat feet) you can suffer from problems with your feet, ankles, knees, hips and the lower back. Having a dropped body posture with your shoulders forward reduces the space and mobility of your rib cage and hinders your range of breathing, which is why it is likely that it will be more difficult for you to breathe, noticing a feeling of shortness of breath or of overwhelm.

In addition, the limited range of motion of your rib cage is very often associated with chest infections and general tiredness.

You should also know that if you feel yourself unloading all the weight on your back, you will load your lumbar area, causing it to suffer too much pressure on its intervertebral discs, which can be injured over time.

Melva Mitchell Fort Worth - What makes body posture worse?

Posture tends to get worse as we grow older. Babies, for example, quickly support their weight by maintaining a straight spine and correct posture.

The situation changes in adolescents, who tend to have a lower body posture. Despite this, we cannot generalize because not all young people have the same position. Children who do gymnastics or ballet maintain their posture better, as their teachers have taught them from an early age the importance of taking care of their body posture. Other important factors that can negatively influence posture are pain, weak muscle tone, and stiff joints.

Dr Melva Mitchell - Can Chiropractic Improve My Posture?

All of the foregoing inevitably causes subluxations of the vertebrae (small misalignments of the vertebra), and both the spine and posture degenerate.

Over time and thanks to chiropractic adjustments, it is possible to get rid of years of stress, damage done, and poor body posture. A healthy nervous system promotes a healthy body.

Good posture helps you feel better and look better.

Make sure to have your spine checked and adjusted by your chiropractor.