Good posture is a sign of good health. It shows that your musculoskeletal structure is in alignment. Your body can support its different parts. Good posture also depicts that your body is stable and can efficiently perform its functions.
Bad posture shows that the body is overcompensating due to misalignment or pain. It could also be a combination of the two. Back and neck pain can result from bad posture. There are several reasons why people have bad posture. Here are some of them.
Muscle Weakness And Tension
Sometimes, the muscles in your body can become weak or tense. The tension and weakness may develop after being in the same position for an extended period. It may also happen through repetitive daily chores and tasks that use your muscles unequally.
These occurrences affect your posture as your body tries to compensate for the weakness and tension. You may also develop pain when you try to straighten up. It may result in taking a bad posture to avoid the pain. An active lifestyle may help you avoid bad posture. Stretches and exercise can utilize all muscles equally to counteract tension and weakness.
Injury
Some injuries may cause you to favor some body parts over others. Muscles you do not use become weak. The imbalance results in bad posture. Injuries may also cause muscle spasms as the body tries to protect the vulnerable area. They also cause pain and limit your movement. Due to this, you may try to mask the pain, which results in bad posture.
Habits
Do you have any bad habits that you repeat often? These may result in bad posture. Bad habits may be as simple as cradling your phone between your head and shoulder as you work and talk on it. In these cases, your muscles may start to spasm, which results in bad posture. You need to break these habits and adopt healthy ones. Otherwise, you will end up with bad posture.
Extra Weight
Extra weight around the chest and stomach can lead to bad posture. Women may have additional weight around their chest due to large breasts. They tend to pull them forward, causing them to hunch and bend. During pregnancy, they have extra weight around their stomach that tugs the lower back. To counteract the weight, they adopt a posture to balance it out. However, it may also pull the spine out of alignment and cause undesirable posture.
Men can also have extra weight around their bellies in the form of fat and round stomach. It results from years of excessive eating and drinking. The distended stomach will cause them to overcompensate and end up with bad posture.
Low Nutritional State
Your bones and spine need adequate nutrients to become strong and support your body. When your body lacks vitamins and calcium, it is in a low nutritional state. It cannot adequately provide support for your body. Consequently, you may hunch or bend to compensate for the lack of support, resulting in bad posture.
For more information on bad posture, visit Oropeza Chiropractic Wellness Center at our Key West, Florida office. Call (305) 294-1036 to schedule an appointment today.