A Beginners Guide to Fixing Your Standing Posture

 Lets keep this really simple. Bad posture causes pain and pain syndromes, good posture reduces pain and keeps it away.

Above there are two versions of myself, one relaxed and slumping and one standing as best as possible using controlled muscle contraction.  Its quite easy to see the difference between the two versions of myself but difficult to do if you don't know how.  Hopefully by reading this article you can help correct your posture for the sustainability of your body!

Left - Poor Posture

• The left of the pairs has flat feet with rotated and tilted ankles
  
• Knees are locked and internaly rotated (due to flat feet)
  
• A relaxed core/stomach which somewhat looks fat in comparison,
  
• Rounded shoulders and thoracic spine with a sunken chest
  
• Forward head carriage and
  
• Stressed and compressed occipital area (base of the scull area).
  

Right side - Good Posture

• Arches raised via "Short Foot" technique
  
• Knees unlocked
  
• Core engaged
  
• Shoulder blades pulled back and down
  
• Tall through the thoracic spine
  
• Chin tucked in
  

The amount of areas that could cause pain in the slumping posture are so vast, it technically makes up all of the injuries and syndromes that I treat every day.

Starting from the top:

• Headaches, migraines, dizziness and jaw pain
  
  • The shoulder, neck and jaw muscles all suffer in the slumped posture.
    
• Neck pain, shoulder pain and rotator cuff strains
  
  • Having the shoulders rounded puts a lot of stress on the neck muscles, shoulder muscles such as the upper, mid and lower trapezius, levator scapulae, rhomboids, anterior deltoid and biceps tendon, and also the rotator cuff muscles.
    
  • Poor posture is definitely one of the precursors to shoulder rotator cuff strains and tears, especially when using the shoulder in poor posture over a long period of time.
    
• Stabbing and aching chest pain
  
  • The ribs that connect to the sternum can sometimes strain due to the increased pressure placed on them from chronic poor posture.  This pain is so severe and out of the blue that it is sometimes mistaken for a heart attack!
    
• Thoracic pain
  
  • Again the shoulder muscles that attach to the spine could be chronically strained and require rehabilitation, or
    
  • The spine itself has strained one of its many components - facet joint, intravertebral disk, or deep spinal muscles.
    
  • It is also possible to have a rib joint strain from being pulled slightly out of place from the connection to the spine
    
• Lower back pain
  
  • The number one most common problem of the spine! Same as above; muscle, disk or joint strains can be crippling and require weeks of rehabilitation when severely acute
    
• Hip pain
  
  • Most commonly due to weak gluteal muscles. Poor posture seems to strain these large and strong muscles more than when in good posture.
    
• Knee pain
  
  • Having the knees hyper-extened, locked backwards or malpositioned due to flat feet can cause pain at the front of the knee - above and below the knee cap - behind the knee and even predispose the ACL to tears.
    
• Ankle and foot pain
  
  • Flat feet cause the ankles to roll inwards causing stress on the ankle ligaments and also can cause knee pain, hip pain and lower back pain by sending more shock and pressure forces upwards in the standing position.
    

This is only one example of poor posture and even though these areas to be consious of are very common, its important to get properly assessed and corrected by a professional for your own posture!

Long story short, correct your posture for a more pain free and longer lasting body by:

1. Raising your foot arches using the "Short Foot" technique
   
2. Unlocking your knees
   
3. Engaging your core
   
4. Retracting your shoulder blades back and down
   
5. Standing tall through the chest and thoracic spine
   
6. And tucking your chin in!