We so often hear about how important having good posture is, but do any of us really know what that looks like and why it is so crucial? In this month’s blog, we are going to discuss why having a proper and functional seated posture is important, the impact it plays on your body and day to day well-being, and how chiropractic care, here at integrated health solutions specifically, can assist with improving this aspect of our lives.
A majority of us have a good idea in our head of what a good seated posture looks like, but how many of us are accurate in this depiction. We are going to discuss the elements of a seated posture that are commonly mistaken, and how it is that you can go about correcting them. In today’s day and age, a majority of us spend much more time in a seated position than any other position during the day. Seeing that it is the position we spend the largest amount of time in, it makes sense that we should be focusing on the proper functionality and ergonomics when in this position.
So let’s dive into what it is that makes a good seated posture. The first mistake that I am often told by a patient in this office is how reliant we are on today’s expensive “ergonomic” chairs. At the end of the day, while some of these chairs may be helpful in assisting you with the proper position, it is exponentially more important that you understand the steps needing to be taken to place yourself in this position first and foremost, but even more importantly, that you know how to maintain this position throughout the day. The most important aspect when thinking about a proper seated posture, is spinal support. Most people would assume that this just means not slouching. While it is incredibly important to avoid a hyper flexed position, creating an unnecessary amount of stress on the spine, what it is that stabilizes your body when in the seated position is far more important. Even those of us that have the most upright and “functional” seated posture, can still be utilizing the wrong muscles to maintain that position, and ultimately be creating themselves more pain and discomfort down the road.
Think about the times in the day when you are the most comfortable and relaxed. The most common answers you will hear are when you come home at the end of a long day and you sit or lay on the couch, or when you get into bed at the end of the day to sleep. When you truly think about what makes the body feel comfortable, this makes perfect sense. Your body feels most at ease when it does not feel distress to hold and maintain your upright positioning. This includes when you are both standing and sitting. The reason you feel so comfortable in the settings towards the end of the day, is not the chair that you find yourself sitting in. It is due to the fact that when you are in these positions, your body feels the most supportive.Think about it this way. When you jump into bed and lay down to begin your sleep, what is it that is holding and supporting your body? Hopefully we all know the answer to this one, it is the bed itself. The muscles are in a state of relaxation and comfortability, knowing that their job is no longer required. When most of us find ourselves in a seated position throughout the day, what is most responsible for maintaining that posture? When you really break this down, the answer ends up being the spine and the muscle muscles along the posterior chain. The posture that you put yourself in, either increases this responsibility or helps to mitigate the stress.
When you are in a slouched or rounded posture, you force the muscles that run parallel to the spine along the backside of the body to clench and restrain your body to simply prevent it from collapsing forward. Not to mention the stress it places on the spine itself due to the abnormal flexed curvature in the middle upper back between your shoulder plates. However, if you are seated completely upright and keeping your back as straight as possible, but you are a good 6 inches away from the support of your chair, you are still over utilizing the posterior chain musculature to maintain that position throughout the day. This is why posture is so important. It’s not just about the posture itself, it’s about what you use to maintain it. At the end of the day, chairs come with a backing for a reason. Let’s start using it.
The ideal posture that you can find yourself in begins with the hips. When you first sit down, scoot, the hips and the pelvis, as far back into the seat as possible. This allows for the upper portion of your sacrum and the bottom of your lumbar spine to be cradled and supported by not only the cushion of the seat underneath you, but the lowest portion of the backing of the chair. The next aspect is the shoulders. You do not want slouched or rounded shoulders protruding forward as this increases the stress not only on the muscle muscles in the middle upper back, but as the day goes on, it will create that leaning posture that overuses the muscles in the lower back. Whether it is a circular motion or a simple retraction opening the chest, we need the shoulders to be in a relaxed and dropped position, creating a neutrality across the front and back of the upper back. Next, is where we utilize the rest of the seat. Using the weight of the body, lean backwards into the chair to give your body the support it needs. This becomes crucial when discussing shares in a work setting. As most of us know, typical work chairs have a knob underneath the seat cushion that allows for a heavy reclining with the chair. Make sure that this knob has the chair in the locked upright position. This allows your body to have a firm backing and create as much stability without sacrificing a reclined posture, which places an unnatural stress on the neck and head. Lastly, the head must be tucked neutrally over the rest of the spine and rested into the highest point of the chair.
When all is said and done, the neck, upper back and upper portion of the pelvis should all be comfortably utilizing the back of the chair for support. This is the best way to create an ergonomic seated posture that places the lowest amount of stress on the body throughout the day. Now we get to the hard part, maintaining that posture. Just because we know what that posture looks like and we do it to start the day, does not mean that we can expect the body to hold that position for the eight hours we spend staring at a computer. This is where your chiropractor will come in handy. Your doctor here at IHS will not only go deeply into the details that we just discussed about how to get yourself into the correct posture, they will also assist you with the mental fortitude and the tips required to maintain this position throughout the day. This is done through a series of calculated treatments and training of the brain and body.
The first two portions of your treatment with the doctors here will be for the muscles themselves. Through medical acupuncture and soft tissue manual therapy, the muscle muscles along the backside of your body will be treated to release the stress intention that they have been building for years. This allows your body to start with a structured and strong foundation. The use of microfilaments and manual therapy releases the chronic stress intention that the muscles hold when we place our body in unnatural and dysfunctional positions each and every day. This does not even begin to include the physical obstructions such as the gym, sports and the general activities of daily living that require manual effort. Once these muscles and the subsequent tension are released, the body can be shaped ergonomically and functionally in the best position possible.
The next portion of treatment includes the chiropractic adjustment. This is crucial as it places the skeletal body and its proper functional placement and reduces stress placed on the neurological system. When increased muscle tension is created, this place is an unnatural stress and torsion on the spine. That torsion restricts movement which can obstruct and interfere with the passage of neural information from your brain to the subsequent regions of your body.
Lastly comes the most important aspect, functional rehabilitation. While most of us have done some form of physical therapy in the past, this type of rehabilitation is vastly different. You will not simply be given an exercise band and a packet of exercise exercises to perform as you see fit. Your doctor is going to observe and discuss your specific presentation and limitations, and give you keys and ultimately solutions to not only correcting it in real time, but preventing them from occurring in the future. While it may start with something as simple as diaphragmatic breathing and core control to allow your body to more easily maintain an upright position, it will continue to dive deep into the mental workload and stress that it takes to hold this position. This is where the role of your chiropractic physician is required.
With all of that said, there is an even more crucial part to your day-to-day, well-being and postural health. MOVEMENT. Even the strongest and most functional person should not maintain a seated position in the same chair, staring at the same computer all day. The real key to longevity and sustained health through a workday is movement. While some of us may have a functional desk station that allows us to manipulate our space from sitting to standing, all of us need to integrate some form of movement into our daily routine. This can be something as simple as standing up from the chair and taking a restroom break or a lap around your office or home. This could also be something as specific as creating a timeline and appreciated routine of sitting and standing positions to create the right amount of movement in the body without overstressing the musculature. No matter who you are, maintaining the same position for a long period of time is unhealthy. We all need to move at the end of the day.
This is one example of why here at IHS, we care not only about your pain and your problems at this very moment, but also about your future. We want not only to remove your limitations and your pain, but we want to give you the proper solutions to living the best possible life that you can. This does not simply include treating you every now and again when you feel a slight ache or pain. This requires a level of attention and care to correct dysfunctional habits and build a strong foundation to prevent these pains in the first place. In our opinion, this is the true meaning of chiropractic care.
Hopefully, throughout the reading of this blog, you were able to ascertain enough information to create a healthy posture on your own and help get yourself started in the right direction. While the right seated posture and utilization of your chair is important, there are also several other aspects to maintaining your well-being. This includes regular chiropractic work to create a functional plan for your future and remove bodily harm and obstructions, as well as developing a maintenance routine to parallel along with your daily requirements to prevent this pain altogether. If you are ready to see what this looks like and get your own plan developed, reach out today and set up your initial visit with one of our highly skilled doctors. This can be done online through our website as well as with a simple phone call to our front desk. We would love to see how we can best affect positive change in your life and create the most healthy future that we can as a team!
Content Written By: Dr. Jordan Miller
