When is Your Posture Great?
Posture simply means the way you hold yourself or the way you position yourself. It is the way you sit, the way you stand, and how you lie down. However, I am really elated to tell you that it is not only the way you sit, stand, or lie down only; it is the way you hold your entire body together, either good or bad.
The Spine
The way you position yourself plays an essential role in your spine, meaning posture affects your spine. I will enlighten you about some information concerning your spine.
The spine is also known as the vertebral column or the spinal column but generally called the backbone. The spine has about 33 bones hooked on top of one another between the bones, and this structure forms the intervertebral discs. This gives your body it supports to bend, twist, sit, and stand. It is part of the axial skeleton. The axial skeleton means the bones of the head and vertebrate; the skull, laryngeal skeleton, ossicle of the middle ear, and hyoid bone vertebrate column, and the thoracic cage.
The vertebrae column usually has 33 bones in humans, but it is within 32 to 35 bones in other species.
Vertebrate Numbers of bone
Cervical vertebrae 7
Thoracic vertebrae 12
Lumbar vertebrae 5
Sacral vertebrae 5
Caudal vertebrae (coccyx) 4
The Functions of The Spine
Your spines have 5 functions, which include:
- Protection
- Support
- Axis
- Movement
- Posture
Classification of Vertebral Column
The vertebral column is classified into five different regions, which include:
- Cervical vertebrae
- Thoracic vertebrae
- Lumbar vertebrae
- Sacral vertebrae
- Caudal vertebrae
Cervical Vertebrae
This region consists of bones that are small, thin, and delicate. They play the role of supporting your head, protecting your spinal cord, and providing flexible movement to your head and neck. Your body consists of seven types, namely; C1, C2, C3, C4, C5, C6, and C7.
Out of these seven types, only two are unique. Which are the C1 and the C2 (called atlas and axis respectively). They both allow the movement of your head.
Thoracic Vertebrae
This region contains 12 groups of small bones, namely T1, T2, T3, T4, T5, T6, T7, T8, T9, T10, T11, and T12. It supports your bone ribs and also the weight of your upper body. The thoracic vertebrae are located opposite to the rib. It is thicker than the cervical vertebrae. The T1 is the smallest of them, all while the T12 is the largest.
Lumbar Vertebrae
Your body has five lumbar vertebrae, which is the largest of all vertebrae column. They support the torso’s weight, the part of the human body from the neck to groin, excluding the body and limbs, and they are kidney-shaped.
Sacral Vertebrae
This is a triangular bone, and it has five segments, namely S1, S2, S3, S4, and S5. Most of the back pain or leg pain you always feel is due to the wound where the sacral region and the lumbar spine connect that is (L5 – S1). They transmit and support the weight of your body.
Caudal Vertebrae
These are bones of the tail, which connect with the sacral vertebrae. They vary in species like the instance of a rabbit, it has 15 caudal vertebrae. In human beings, all these vertebrae are fused together to form a single bone called the coccyx. In humans, it does not extend to the outside compare to other animals.
Good Posture
This is a position you should maintain to keep your spine healthy. The best posture would be the way you stand, walk, sit, or lie down that places the least strain on the muscles surrounding the spine. Since posture is free will meaning you can stand, sit, walk, and lie down the way you like. The ball is currently in your court to keep a good posture.
The activities you get hooked in determine your posture. You cannot expect a boxer to have the same posture as a teacher. Good posture does not mean your ability to stand tall and straight. It is the ability to get in and out of any form of position.
Benefits of Good Posture
- Reduce your back pain
- Less tiredness
- Rare headache
- Improves healthy breathing
- Enhances better circulation of blood.
Bad Posture
A bad posture is the same as a poor posture. It means placing your spine in a stressful position, i.e., putting much strain on the muscles and joints. If you are always complaining of back pain and leg pain, poor posture might be the cause of those pains.
Causes of Poor Posture
Weight
Carrying extra weight is capable of pulling your spine out of alignment. If excess weight is put at the midsection of the upper part of the body, it will change the spine’s position, putting more stress on the lumbar, sacral, and caudal region; the lower back.
Age
Aging plays a significant role in your posture. As you are aging, you will gradually begin to stoop lower to the ground because your body becomes agile and weak. Your body can only erect if you engage in exercises.
Fashion
Wearing high heels shoe changes your posture by shifting the body’s center of mass forward. It does not only change your posture but also adds strain on feet, knees, and ankles. Wearing tight clothes can cause back pain, and it also disturbs the flow of blood.
Pregnancy
During pregnancy, your protrude belly pushes the body’s center of mass forward. You will observe a change in your posture and the way you walk.
Technology
Technology has dramatically impacted the whole world, both good and bad. Sixty percent of us are always spending at least 2 to 4 hours of our time staring at our smartphone. Placing pressure of 60 pounds on the spine.
Malnutrition
Eating low nutrition also affects your posture. Your muscle loses the strength needed to hold the spine, which results in a poor position.
Habit
Habit is something difficult to break. It is uncomfortable to correct or reverse it by merely sitting straight or standing straight.
Stressful Job
If your job demands that you sit for a very long time, it might result in poor posture. Sitting with your neck and head forward for a very long period affects your posture negatively.
Symptoms of Bad Posture
- Potbelly
- Rounded shoulder
- Back pain
- Headache or migraine
- Bent knees while standing or walking
- The weakness of the muscle
- Pains and aches
- Hunched back
Treatment of Bad Posture
Sitting Correctly
Sitting straight does not mean you are keeping a good posture. Sitting correctly is when you sit in such a way that puts the least tension on the muscle that is around your spine.
Standing Tall
You must stand tall to keep your posture in a good position. If you are standing and at the same time you are bending, it is a bad posture. Always stand tall with your shoulder at an accurate angle. Keeping your head straight.
Moving Around
Standing or sitting in a specific position for so long adversely affects your spine and your muscles. Always ensure that you take a walk around, which will also help your muscles.
Education and Training on Posture
You sometimes complain of body pain or back pain because you are not aware of posture’s importance. Most of the pain you feel is due to the way you position yourself; the way you sit, stand, and walk, but now you know and have understood what posture is, and its important
Corrective Exercise
This method is used to fix movement imbalance and enhance the total quality of movement in your day to day activities. These techniques will educate you on anatomy, kinesiology, physiology, and biomechanics. It is physical therapy. It does not only work for your posture fixing but also work for alleviating the effect of stress on you.
Dry Needling
This is a treatment you can use to ease yourself of muscular pains. You can practice this yourself, but you will need a well-trained medical practitioner. The practitioner inserts several filiform needles into your skin in trigger points or areas around the pain; by so doing, it relieves you of muscle pains.
Electrotherapy
This treatment is one that involves the use of electricity to relieve pain. It will strengthen your muscle and repair your tissue.
Manual Therapy
This is a hand technique meaning it is delivered with the hand. Likened to soft tissue massage. It relaxes the muscle and increases circulation. It keeps the joints mobilized. It involves no device or machine.
