Posture

Stand up straight … Stand up straight … Stand up straight … an echo most of us still remember from our childhood. But do we stand up straight, can we stand up straight or do we even know if we are standing up straight? Do we care? Actually the answer to these questions is much more important than most people know. And the sad truth is that we usually don’t care, but as I will show you we should care, and care a lot.

The body is very complicated and very simple. The body wishes to maintain homeostasis: both internally and externally. Homeostasis is the body seeking and maintaining a condition of balance. let’s say your mean internal temperature should be 98.6. If it goes to 102.1 the homeostasis mechanisms work to bring it back to 98.6; if it goes to 97.1 the homeostasis mechanisms work to bring it back to 98.6. Externally homeostasis wants to maintain a tonus of balance, efficiency and function.

Standing up straight is not about holding yourself in a rigid, ramrod position {which is, by the way, incorrect). It is about health, wellbeing and efficiency of movement.

Unfortunately where homeostasis falls short is in the simplification. It uses a short term memory. If you woke up this morning and were functioning it pats itself on the back and says great job. We must have done it right yesterday, lets to the same today. This thought process goes on each day as the body gets just a little further from where you need to be to have good health, well-being and efficiency of movement.

The word insidious should be as feared as osteoporosis. Insidious changes affect everyone. Insidious means having a gradual and cumulative effect. We don’t even notice something is changing or how much it has changed.

An example would be to look at someone before, during, and after they have had to use a walker for several months. They usually go from a correct posture or a posture that is only a little off to an extremely bent-over posture, and finally when they no longer need the walker, they appear to be unable to stand up or, of most importance, they are unaware that they are not standing up. The worse of this is they think they are straight. Their perception of where they are in space has changed and they do not realize they are bent over.

Another example would be when our head starts to move forward of the correct position. The head is very heavy. If it is one inch forward, the head doubles in weight-force that the muscles in the neck and upper back must pull back on because they think that you are falling over If the head moves two inches forward the weight-force is 4 times the original weight of the head. It grows exponentially. No wonder so many people have neck pain.

Probably the most common postural distortions come from the effect on our posture from sitting incorrectly.

There is so much to be said on this subject because of the effect on your health but I know that you did not plan to read a book. Suffice to it say that if you have a posture that is even slightly compromised from where it should be, then the following starts to happen. The abdominal organs do not have enough room and are pushed up into the diaphragm. When you go to take a breath the diaphragm cannot drop far enough for a full breath and you start to have a more shallow breath. The stomach is pushed up against the esophagus and it is more difficult for food to enter the stomach and it is easier for the food to be pushed back into the esophagus (acid reflux).

This is just the tip of the iceberg caused by the insidious changes from an incorrect posture. Have you ever seen a person that is not overweight but has a roll of fat protruding around the middle or a pushed-out tummy? Well, many times this will be corrected when the posture is corrected.

Now for the good news. Many times the problem is not with the discs, but even if you do have a problem with your vertebrae or your discs, there is so much that can be done. The fascia and muscle pull, push and add pressure against the spine. You do not need to buy something to wear to make or force changes in your posture. They rarely works and usually make everything worse. With correct evaluation and myofascial release techniques, both parts of the ReCAPS System™, this problem can be resolved. Every day we change incorrect posture to correct posture, and show our patients how to easily maintain these changes, until these changes become the new normal. So, if you are Still in Pain this component of the ReCAPS System™ will make you be able to say, “I am no longer Still in Pain”.