How Poor Posture May Be Contributing to Your Back Pain

When most people think of chronic pain, they reflect on underlying causes like traumatic injuries or degenerative conditions. But pain can happen for other reasons, too, including lifestyle habits like poor posture.

Josue Maysonet, DC, and the Kerinver Chiropractic team provide patient-centered care for all types of back pain, including pain related to posture problems. Here, learn how your posture may contribute to your painful back symptoms and how chiropractic care can help.

Why posture matters

Posture refers to how we hold our bodies when standing, sitting, moving, and even lying to rest. Because it involves every body part, posture also plays a critical role in our health and wellness.

When our posture is good, our body is properly aligned and balanced, reducing strain on muscles, joints, and ligaments. Proper posture maintains optimal nerve activity and circulation, as well.

By contrast, poor posture puts excess strain on our musculoskeletal system and eventually can interfere with nerve activity and circulation. Over time, posture problems can lead to chronic pain that is difficult to treat without medical intervention.

How bad posture causes back pain

With back pain, poor posture plays a starring role for many people. Slumping, hunching, and slouching when standing or sitting can lead to muscle imbalance that causes strain and pain. 

Muscle imbalance can also tug on your spine, pulling your vertebrae and discs out of alignment and increasing the risk of nerve compression and related pain. When posture is poor, circulation is impaired, which means tissues and organs don’t get the oxygen and nutrients they need to stay healthy. Impaired circulation also makes it harder for your body to remove toxins and byproducts.

At the same time, posture problems increase wear and tear on the joints in your spine and elsewhere in your body. Without correction, that wear and tear increases the risk of osteoarthritis and worsens other conditions, like degenerative disc disease.

Chiropractic care for better posture

Chiropractic care focuses on helping you maintain optimal musculoskeletal health, meaning it also plays a big part in improving your posture. Our team begins treatment with a posture and gait evaluation — how you walk. We also perform a physical exam to understand your pain and its underlying causes.

Depending on your needs and posture issues, we may prescribe various techniques to improve your back pain and posture habits. Many people benefit from spinal adjustments designed to realign the vertebrae and discs, relieving nerve impingement and pain. 

Strengthening exercises and stretches that improve flexibility reinforce optimal muscle balance in your back, hips, and core while stimulating healing circulation. These activities support active recovery now while preventing problems in the future.

Our team also helps identify habits that may negatively affect your posture, teaching you new habits to support better back health. We can also help you improve your ergonomics at work to reduce back strain from hours spent bending over computers or performing repetitive work-related activities.

Help your back feel better

Improving posture is one simple yet important thing you can do to help relieve your back pain and prevent it in the future. To learn how we can help — and what else we can do to help your back feel better — request an appointment online or over the phone with the team at Kerinver Chiropractic in Kissimmee and Lake Nona, Orlando, Florida, today.