Stand straight! Head up! Keep your shoulders back! Ever since you were young, you’ve probably been told to stand in good posture….Let us explain why those are sound words of advice and what affects bad posture may be having on your overall health.

When your skeleton is misaligned, it places more strain on your muscles as they try to support your body in ways it wasn’t designed to move. This can lead to re-occurring pain throughout the body and numerous long-term conditions.

Here are some of the ways poor posture can damage your health.

Poor circulation

If you spend all day sat in poor posture, e.g. if you work in an office, then you are at risk of developing or worsening circulation issues. This can lead to various health issues, such as varicose veins, joint and muscle cramping and digestive issues.

By taking the time to stand and move throughout the day, ensuring your workstation is correctly supporting your body and making sure you counterbalance the lack of movement with specific exercises can not only help you improve your posture, it may also prevent you from serious health issues later in life.

Fatigue

Feeling tired? Poor posture could be to blame!

When we have poor posture, the stresses and strains on our bodies build up over time and wear down our bones, joints and ligaments. Therefore, the body must expend more energy maintaining and compensating for poor posture.  This can lead to extreme fatigue.

The more efficient your posture and movements are, the less energy is required…..increasing your energy levels.

Mood

Posture dictates emotion and emotion dictates posture.

If you are feeling down, it is a natural response to start slouching… which in turn makes you feel increasingly unhappy. It can easily become a vicious circle!

However, studies have found that people who adopt an upright and open posture often report an increase in mood, confidence and alertness.

So stand straight and feel great!

Jaw pain

When bad posture misaligns the spine, it can also cause an improper bite pattern. This affects your temporomandibular joints – the two joints that connect your jawbone to your skull and allow you to open and close your mouth.

These joints are very delicate and can also become misaligned from postural issues with your head, neck or shoulders.

When the jaw joints are misaligned, they are more likely to pop, lock, cramp or even go into spasms, resulting in jaw pain and difficulty chewing.

These issues can be easily resolved with simple and effective exercises for the jaw area along with other interconnecting part of the body.

Breathing efficiency

To breathe properly, your diaphragm needs to have enough space to properly release and contract with each breath… which is boosted when your body is lengthened and in proper alignment.

Poor posture and spine misalignment can reduce this space and make it harder to take a full breath. Therefore, your body receives less oxygen to rejuvenate your cells. Full, deep breaths help promote a healthy brain, heart and other vital organs.

There are specific exercises and breathing techniques to help maintain and increase lung capacity to ensure your body receives the oxygen it needs.

Headache

Tilting your head forward increases the weight your neck muscles must endure, causing them to become tight. This tightness can lead to tension headaches.

Bad posture also compromises the natural curvature of your spine, which can also lead to headaches, as pain radiates up to the head.

Unfortunately, many are spending excessive amounts of time in this position due to increase use of technology.  We need to counterbalance this position to enable us to reduce the tension and postural issues. 

Shoulder and back pain

Shoulder and back pain are by far the most common issues that occur due to poor posture. The body is complex and there are many contributing factors and degrees of back and shoulder pain.  However, a large majority of the issues could easily be prevented or corrected with the appropriate movement exercises.

Follow our expert posture improvement plan to see how some simple changes can greatly improve your overall health.