How Posture Affects Neck & Back Pain

Back or neck pain that develops soon after a change in circumstances, such as starting a new job with a new desk chair, or getting a new car. After years of practicing poor posture, your back, shoulder and neck muscles will likely find standing or sitting with straight posture to be uncomfortable. This is because your muscles have grown accustomed to the slouching, and standing up straight will require some thorough stretching. That doesn’t mean that once you have bad posture you can never correct it. Working with a physical therapist to improve your posture is a great way to overcome chronic neck and back pain. In physical therapy, you will be guided through a series of stretches and strength building exercises that can help you begin training your body to practice better posture, thereby reducing your back and neck pain.  

 

Working with a physical therapist to improve your posture is a great way to overcome chronic neck and back pain. In physical therapy, you will be guided through a series of stretches and strength building exercises that can help you begin training your body to practice better posture, thereby reducing your back and neck pain.

It is December and with that comes preparing for the Holidays and a New Year at our doorstep. Add to that a contentious political season and a global pandemic and well…I think it’s safe to say that stress levels are soaring and that fear, anger, anxiety, and loneliness are rearing their ugly little heads in a lot of people lives. 2020 has been no ordinary year! And that is why a focus on creating a good mental posture is as crucial for your health as a good physical posture. Both are critical to optimal living! What I mean when I say mental posture is how we are thinking and carrying ourselves through our everyday lives. Now I am no psychologist, but this posture, way of thinking, or attitude we adopt is a big deal. It determines how we feel about ourselves and others and how we treat ourselves and others. And of-course the world is a mirror.

 

The more good “juju” (vibes) we put out the more we get back, and vice versa. And with a crazy 2020 pushing peoples’ emotional buttons like never before, there is a good chance our friends, family, loved ones and even strangers could use a good dose of kindness and compassion right about now.

 

1. Both require awareness to change & improve – If you do not become aware of your posture, it will be difficult if not impossible to improve. A little reflection can open your eyes and get you started on a wonderful new path.  

 

2. Poor physical and mental postures both cause needless pain & suffering – A slouching and hunched over posture does not just make you appear shorter. Tissues in the front of your body become tight and shortened while those on the backside become elongated and over stretched. All this places damaging forces on your spine and over time you can become fixed in that position- OUCH! Your mind is very similar. We can let our egos run wild, lose our open-mindedness and empathy, become fixed in the way we think about things, and wind up treating others in a way we would not like to be treated ourselves. That too results

 

 

3. Improving and renewing physical & mental postures may be uncomfortable – Trying new things is challenging, requires commitment, can feel uncomfortable, and requires sacrifice. And yet, it is often hugely rewarding! To improve your physical and mental postures, you will need to create focus and dedicate time and energy. To encourage this line of thinking, our General Manager, Tina Schmidt, can often be heard saying, “Stay uncomfortable my friends” (a take-off from the Dos Equis commercials). 

 

4. Improvement requires some stretching – One of the core values that we hold dear here at FYZICAL is personal growth; the pursuit of going “beyond” and becoming more. Honestly, growing people just seem to have more to give to others. And we certainly want that for our patients. Having said that, growth is not easy, and it requires each of us to stretch ourselves a bit. Whether that stretching is actual or metaphorical, even when it does not feel good, we must keep going. The riches on the other end of your efforts are just too vast!