Tips and Tricks for Better Spinal Posture
Are you suffering from back pain and always hunched in front of your computer? It may indicate that you’re suffering from the poor spinal posture. However, good posture isn’t just about standing straight and looking your best!
There are many things to do to improve your spinal posture and improve your overall health. This article will tackle the tips and tricks for better spinal posture and why it’s so crucial in the first place.
What is Posture?
Posture is basically the way you hold your body. There are two significant types of posture, which are:
- Dynamic Posture: The way you hold yourself when moving, such as when bending, walking, or running.
- Static Posture: The way you carry yourself when you aren’t moving, such as sitting, sleeping, or standing.
It goes without saying that it’s crucial to maintain excellent dynamic and static posture. And the key to proper posture is through your spine’s position!
Our spine has three natural curves at the neck, mid-back, and low back. Correct posture can maintain the curves, though it won’t increase them. Your head must be above the shoulders, with the top of your shoulders over the hips.
Does Posture Affect the Health?
Poor posture doesn’t only affect your appearance and how you carry yourself. It can affect your health in many ways! If you continue to have poor spinal posture, it can result in the following:
- Misalignment of your musculoskeletal system
- Wear away your spine, leading to fragility and increased risk of injuries
- Neck, shoulder, and back pain
- Decreased flexibility
- Negatively affect how joints move
- Negatively affect your balance, increasing the risk of falling
- Make it more difficult to breathe and digest food
As such, you shouldn’t only improve your spinal posture to appear confident and feel more comfortable. It’s also important for your long-term health!
Causes of Poor Spinal Posture
Problems with one’s spinal posture might be caused by conditions weakening one or more structures supporting the body, including the spine, hips, neck, shoulders, abdominal wall, or back muscles.
In some cases, those born with genetic conditions affecting the shape of their spine and hips may influence posture at birth. Other times, poor spinal posture can come from injuries from sports or other activities.
Oftentimes, our spinal posture would change because of our work or other activities that result in overusing certain body parts. Besides overuse, underuse is also a problem. For instance, not moving around enough and staying in one position for long periods can affect one’s ability to maintain proper spinal posture.
Yes, we’re looking at the people who sit for most of the day! Your muscles and ligaments would tighten and become weaker, leading to poor spinal posture.
Tips and Tricks for Better Spinal Posture
Now that you know why it’s crucial to have good spinal posture, the next question is what you can do to improve it. Here are excellent tips to follow:
Keep your body in alignment.
When standing, get into proper spinal posture by distributing your body weight evenly to your feet’ back, front, and sides.
When sitting in an office chair, leverage your chair’s features. Make sure to sit up straight, aligning your ears, shoulders, and hips in a vertical line. Even sitting for long hours can get tiring, so shift forward to the edge of your seat with a straight back, alternating with sitting back to ease your back muscles.
Other people would benefit from naturally-balanced postures, which they can achieve through sitting on a balance ball. The pelvis will be rocked gently forward through balance balls, which increases the lumbar curve, naturally shifting the shoulders back. Think of it as sitting on the edge of your seat.
Other than that, we recommend being aware and avoiding any unbalanced postures like crossing your legs unevenly when sitting, leaning to one side, tilting your head, or hunching your shoulders forward.
Move!
When your muscles get tired, it’s more likely that you’ll begin to slouch, slump, or get into other poor spinal postures. Because of that, you’ll place extra pressure on your neck and back. To maintain a relaxed and supported posture, change your positions frequently.
We recommend taking a 2-minute break from sitting every 30 minutes. Use this time to stand up, stretch, and even walk around.
Speaking of the move, it’s also essential to get regular exercise with the appropriate stretching exercises that help with your posture. Gentle exercises like Pilates and yoga help strengthen your support muscles in the stomach and back, improving your posture. Take ten minutes of your day to perform simple stretching exercises.
Use ergonomic office chairs and posture-friendly props.
You can find supportive ergonomic products to help take the load and strain away from your spine! For example, there are ergonomic office chairs or those with adjustable back supports you can invest in.
There are also other practical products, like:
- Footrests and portable lumbar back support help with your spinal posture when sitting in an office chair, on soft furniture, or driving. You can also use a small pilot or rolled-up towel.
- Use bags, backpacks, or purses designed to minimize strain.
- Proper corrective eyewear and positioning your computer screens within our natural, resting eye position helps prevent leaning and straining our necks.
Besides these tips above, you may also want to go to a reputable chiropractor such as Mobile Wellness Care and receive a chiropractic adjustment at your location of choice! Such adjustments help treat back pain and put your body back to proper alignment, enhancing posture.
Wrapping It Up
Hopefully, you learned more about the tips and tricks for better spinal posture from our article! Now that you know what to do to improve your posture, it’s high time you follow these tips for your health.
If you’re also looking for a chiropractor to help with your posture and get an alignment to relieve your body, contact us now! We can discuss our services and see how we can help get your body in top shape.
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