Bad Posture Is a Big Problem
The Struggle is Real From the time we are young, we hear our parents nagging us to “sit up straight”, and “get your shoulders back”. They would often lament that poor posture looked sloppy, showed lack of self-control, and that somehow it was ambiguously unhealthy. Despite the nagging, gravity is persistent, and a life of sitting, carrying backpacks, looking down at books, computers and phones gave perpetual challenges to fight against in this worthy cause. It isn’t easy to change posture, because it is both a learned behaviour and a compensation for some of the persistent stressors in our lives. Further, in order to fix it, it takes conscious control, consistent effort, and sometimes a bit of outside help to make change. How Posture Got to This Point Since the dawn of humanity, our survival and success in our community relied on our ability to be aware and active in our surroundings. We were built for an upright life, and our biomechanics (how our bodies are structurally built to work) was specifically geared for us to do well in an upright, active life. In the last 25-100 years, much has changed with the way we live our lives. Industrialization and specialization of work has shifted most of us into cities and repetitive life. Many of us have been forced into desks and cars for the bulk of our days, and others to very repetitive work in suboptimal positions. While the 100 years since most industrialization took place may sound like a long time, it is drastically short in the scope of how long it takes for our physiology and biomechanics to adapt to those changes. The 25 years since the increase in computer use and the dawn of smart phones has had an even more dramatic effect, at a much faster pace. We went from life on the horizon, to the focus of life being primarily in the 18 inches in front of us. Many of us spend our days looking down and in front of us, at a small screen, for hours per day. It is estimated that Canadian adults spend 7.8 hours per day on their phones, screens or computers, and teens use phones and screens for 8-10 hours per day. The trend is continuing to increase in the wrong direction, and it is taking a toll on our health. Can You Change Posture? Posture can be changed, but we have to understand a few things. How can we fight this? We need these computers, phones and stuff to do our work, to engage with friends and family, and to manage our ever-busier lives. While we can’t easily get away from some of our screen time, we can fight the good fight to save our posture, and improve our physical and mental health in the process. There are a few challenges to overcome when it comes to changing your posture, because there are a few factors that feed into how and why your posture is how it is. While postural patterns aren’t genetic, there is a “familial” correlation, because these patterns are significantly influenced and learned by our early exposure. At a young age, we will mimic the posture and gait mechanics of our parents, caregivers and siblings. Occasionally, there are congenital factors that play a role, but it is rare that we can’t make positive changes that will have a positive impact on our life and overall health. We have to learn to actively engage in a new way of carrying ourselves. Regardless of whatever treatment we receive or exercises we do, it is in our regular daily lives that we must also make a concerted effort to maintain a new pattern. This gets easier with time. Posture and Emotional State We may not readily realize it, but the way we carry ourselves is a physical outgrowth or manifestation of our psycho-emotional state. There is a reason that good posture makes a person look more confident and comfortable in their surroundings. Fear, anxiety and depression, even to a minimal degree, can affect how we carry ourselves and how we look to others. The good news is that when you change one (posture or emotional state), it influences the other. Posture and the Gravity of Daily Life As infants and small children, we have to learn how to hold our bodies up under gravity. Then once we can hold our bodies up against gravity, we learn to move them without falling over. Over time, we master more and more complex movements. Eventually, we can run, jump, ride bikes, play sports, balance on one foot, climb trees and stand on a commuter train while it is moving. In order to live life under gravity, the design of our spine is specific to offset these stresses, allowing us to move, grow and thrive in this weight-bearing environment. The 206 bones of the skeleton are aligned and designed for efficiency of movement, durability, and to protect vital structures inside. Effect of Posture on the Central Nervous System The 33 bones of the spine, are exquisitely designed and oriented to protect the central nervous system (CNS), which controls and coordinates the functions of all of the rest of the body’s tissues, glands, organ and cells. When we lose the normal alignment of the spine, the nervous system is put under additional stress, interfering with the vital communication between the body and the brain. The nerve structures that make up the CNS and connect it to the rest of the body are very delicate. They can lose their function and be damaged when they are compressed or stretched. Poor posture can affect nerve function, and change how well the body and brain can communicate with one another. Posture Can Cause Degeneration and Arthritis When the soft tissues and bones of the body are put under abnormal loads, they can start to break down at a rate far faster than “normal aging”. As an example, the discs between the vertebrae will degenerate faster
