Posture precisely reflects the condition of the spine.

While it is wise to be aware of one’s posture, most enduring postural distortions are due to mechanical tension that results from physical, emotional, and/or chemical stress, and require professional intervention. Chiropractic care is an effective way to improve posture because it affects all the soft tissues, including not only muscles, but also nerves and meninges; and Advanced BioStructural Correction blows all other techniques and modalities out of the water!

Posture Diagram“Posture affects and moderates every physiologic function from breathing to hormonal production. Spinal pain, headache, mood, blood pressure, pulse, and lung capacity are among the functions most easily influenced by posture. The most significant influences of posture are upon respiration, oxygenation, and sympathetic function. Ultimately, it appears that homeostasis and autonomic regulation are intimately connected with posture. The corollary of these observations is that many symptoms, including pain, may be moderated or eliminated by improved posture.” John Lennon, BM, MM, C. Norman Shealy, MD, Roger K. Cady, MD, William Matta, PhD., Richard Cox, PhD, and William F. Simpson, PhD, American Journal of Pain Management, 1994, 4 (1)

Can you correct posture by just sitting up straight or standing tall?

The answer is no. Poor posture results from an autonomic response and is therefore outside the reach of ordinary conscious control.

The Impact of Positive Sagittal Balance in Adult Spinal Deformity [Forward Head Posture]

  • “All measures of health status showed significantly forward-head-posture imgpoorer scores as C7 plumb line deviation increased.
  • “There was a high degree of correlation between positive sagittal balance and adverse health status scores, for physical health composite score and pain domain.”
  • “There was clear evidence of increased pain and decreased function as the magnitude of positive sagittal balance increased.”
  • “This study shows that although even mildly positive sagittal balance is somewhat detrimental, severity of symptoms increases in a linear fashion with progressive sagittal imbalance.”-Glassman, SD, Bridwell K, Dimar JR, Horton W, Berven S, Schwab F. Spine Volume 30(18), September 15, 2005 pp. 2024-2029.

Poor posture is the most common source of pain and poor performance in activities.” says Karen Drake, UI Back Care physical therapist a the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. “It may result in changes in muscle length, muscle imbalances, faulty movements, and ultimately, pain. It creates hidden problems that may sneak up on you later, creating that pain problem that seems to have popped up out of nowhere.” University of Iowa Health Science Relations

Good posture not only protects you against back pain, it also improves your overall health and appearance. Poor posture, on the other hand, promotes back pain and can affect the position and function of your abdominal organs, inhibit breathing and oxygen intake, and cause headaches. It may also affect mood.” From Harvard Health Publications / Harvard Medical School

“Loss of the cervical curve stretches the spinal cord 5-7 cm and causes disease.” Alf Breig, MD

lat-posture-view img

Friberg measured 79 patients with chronic low back and/or unilateral hip symptoms and 359 symptom-free subjects. A short leg of 5mm or more was found in 75.4% of the symptomatic patients and 43.5% of the asymptomatic controls. Friberg O: Clinical Symptoms and Biomechanics of Lumbar Spine and Hip Joint in Leg Length Inequality. Spine, 1983, 6 (6):643-650

Dr. Roger Sperry, 1980 Nobel Prize recipient for brain research, has demonstrated that ninety percent to the energy output of the brain is used in relating the physical body to gravity.

A study of 300 post-operative knee injury cases revealed that 79.6% were injured on the anatomical short leg side! Klein KK: Development Asymmetries of the Weight-bearing Skeleton and Its Implications in Knee Stress and Knee Injury. Athletic Training, 13:2:78-80, Summer 1978.

kyphosis-leads-to-disease-death imgOlder men and women with hyperkyphotic posture have higher mortality rates.- Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, Volume 52, Issue 10, page 1662, Oct. 2004.

 

 

– “There was a high degree of correlation between positive sagittal balance and adverse health status scores for physical health composite score and pain domain.”

– “There was clear evidence of increased pain and decreased function as the magnitude of positive sagittal balance increased.”

– “This study shows that although even mildly positive sagittal balance is somewhat detrimental, severity of symptoms increases in a linear fashion with progressive sagittal imbalance.” The Impact of Positive Sagittal Balance in Adult Spinal Deformity, Spine, Volume 30(18), Sept. 15, 2005 pp. 2024-2029 Steven Glassman, Keith Bridwell, Sigurd Berven, William Horton, Frank Schwab