Aug 2, 2019

Health Advice

Posture Correction: Types of Bad Posture & How to Fix Each One of Them

Posture check! Have you noticed an increase of constant back, neck, shoulder, or hip pain that seems to have no source at all? Well, the answer may lie on your form. If you are constantly checking your posture and trying to correct it, then the following in depth blog on posture correction is for you.

We’re going to talk about different types of bad posture, causes, characteristics, and how we can treat them through various forms of therapy.

Why is good posture important?

A good posture leads to a healthy back. The correct position of your body upright against gravity while standing, laying down or sitting can be very beneficial in the long term. The key component to a good posture is proper training of your body to move in various positions where minimum force is laid on supporting muscles and ligaments.

Benefits of Posture Correction

Correcting posture can provide tons of health benefits for patients. Some of the benefits are:

• Proper alignment of bones and ligaments.
• Ensures proper muscle use.
• Helps decrease abnormal wearing of joint resulting in arthritis.
• Decreases the stress on the ligaments holding the joints of the spine together.
• Prevents the spine from becoming fixed in abnormal positions.
• Prevents fatigue
• Prevents strain or overuse problems.
• Prevents backache and muscular pain.
• Contributes to a good appearance.

Now that we have discussed why having a good posture is key to overall health, let’s dive into the 3 major types of bad posture.

Upper Crossed Syndrome

The first form of bad posture that we’re going to discuss is called upper crossed syndrome.

Upper crossed syndrome (UCS) is characterized by a muscle imbalance presented at the head and shoulders area. It develops tightness of the upper trapezius, levator scapula, and weakness of the cervical flexors. It creates a domino effect in these 4 muscles resulting in shoulder instability, dysfunction, pain, and injury.

It’s called upper crossed because the muscle imbalance forms a little bit of an x. The neck is pulled forward and the shoulders are rounded which creates a kind of a slouch in the upper back. The muscles in the back because are over stretched out and aggravated whereas the chest muscles are shortened and contracted. The neck muscles in the back are compressed and contracted and the muscles in the front are elongated, aggravated and inflamed.

From a muscular standpoint UCS is not good at all. This muscle imbalance can cause a lot of problems. The transition zone between the neck and the mid back can turn into accelerated arthritis because the vertebrae in this area is taking most of the grunt of the pressure from the neck and mid back instead carrying upper weight evenly distributed in the back with a proper standing position.

How To Fix Upper Crossed Syndrome

Now, posture correction for upper crossed syndrome involves the shoulders and the head coming back. In order to achieve this posture, you need to strengthen the upper back muscles, the back of the neck muscles, and stretch out the chest, the front of the neck, as well as, reposition the neck to a neutral point.

Doing so will result in the pressure in transition zone no longer being there because every vertebrae has taken balanced pressure in the back. So how do we get there? The way we actually get there is working with different with an integrated approach.

First, you need to structure the exercises to create the required stretching and strengthening. That would be physiotherapy. You would need the chiropractor to work on the joints to create movement to allow for this new posture. You would need therapeutic massage to break up any scar tissue formed over the years.

This is not something that you just get overnight. This is taking years of bad posture to become where you are. So you need to work on improving your posture in a holistic manner.

Lower Crossed Syndrome

Now we are going to discuss lower crossed syndrome.

Lower crossed syndrome occurs when the lower back is contracted due to weakness of the abdominal muscles crossing with weakness of the gluteus maximus and medius. This pattern creates an imbalance that results in joint dysfunction.

In this condition, the following symptoms may be perceived:

• Increased curvature of the lower back
• Forward tilt of the pelvis
• Tight hip flexor muscles
• Weak abdominals and bottom muscles
• Tight hamstrings

Treatment for lower crossed posture syndrome will be specific to the area affected. LCS makes the core elongated and weakened. It doesn’t allow for the flexors and the psoas to have enough strength to bring the knee up. There’s a lot of pressure into the spine as opposed to every vertebra taking the weight of the lower back. The glutes are also overworked and weakened at that point as well.

How To Fix Lower Crossed Syndrome

So to fix this posture we’re going to try to bring the pelvis forward to an aligned position, we’re going to have to stretch the lower back, and activate the core and work on strengthening this muscle group. As well, we need to strengthen the psoas and stretch out the glutes.

How do we achieve all of this? This muscle imbalance needs to be addressed in a holistic way. Chiropractic care is useful to adjust the joints and help to create good alignment and to stabilize the core.  Massage therapy will break the scar tissue. Lastly, physiotherapy will guide you through muscular development to gain better range of motion and muscle memory.

Scoliosis

There’s two different types there’s a functional and structural. Structural Scoliosis is congenital whereas functional scoliosis is temporary pressure to the spine. Structural scoliosis involves both a lateral curvature and rotation of the vertebrae. Unlike functional scoliosis, structural scoliosis does alter the spine’s structure.

There are also different 2 major types of lateral curvatures. The first one is an S curve. This means the spine is making a curvature to the left and then another curvature to the right. This creates imbalance in different muscles. The muscles on in on the interior of the left side are contracted. The muscles on the outside of the left side curvature are elongated. With the curve at the top, the muscles on the outside are also elongated and the muscles on the inside of the curve are contracted.

A different form of scoliosis could be straight and then a c curve or some could be a c curve on one side and then straight. The muscle imbalance in this case is the same as in the S curve. The ortter muscles are elongated where as the inner muscles are contracted.

How To Fix Scoliosis

There are multiple factors that determine the appropriate way to treat scoliosis. The most important one is the type of scoliosis you have. Functional scoliosis is highly treatable. Treatment will be focused on the muscles and surrounding tissues that have impacted the spine. The end goal will be to restore these muscles to maximum health. On the other hand, structural scoliosis is treatable in some cases, specifically if it is not caused by abnormal development of the bones, degenerative conditions such as arthritis, or external specific factors such as tumours. It is considered permanent, and the treatment process is much more intense.

If you want to learn about Scoliosis treatment options, we have an in depth article here

Posture Correction Treatment Options

Chiropractic

Chiropractic care is highly recommended. Chiropractors will analyze your posture before treatment begins. Among other things, chiropractors can treat you for postural problems such as postural imbalance, damage in the curvature of the neck, mid back or low back, hunchback, hips unleveling, forward head posture, scoliosis, upper crossed syndrome, lower crossed syndrome, and many more.

Chiropractic examination may include tests of muscle strength and length, flexibility tests, joint mobility tests, limb length and girth measurements, spinal alignment, observation of patient’s posture while moving and sitting down, and if needed, proper measurements of deviation and rotation. During this therapy, the chiropractor manipulates the joints and loosens up muscles, using a controlled, sudden force to align the spine, improve range and quality of motion.

Physiotherapy

Exercising is required. A physiotherapist is going to assign different exercises for the inside and outside muscles in the back. On the inside of the curve, we will work on stretching the muscles out whereas on the outside of the curve the focus will be on strengthening these muscles in order to contract them, and subsequently, put pressure towards bringing that spine to the center.

Massage Therapy

Massage treatment for posture correction comes handy for those individuals who are looking for a way to relax and improve their back health. Massage therapy main job is to break down scarred tissues in the area in order to reduce the inflammation.

Frequent massages focused on correcting posture problems will loosen up the muscles and joints allowing for a greater freedom of movement while reducing pressure points. With time, the body will adjust itself into a natural position hence avoiding any wrong movements adopted through the development of bad posture. This will also alleviate pains in the area that bad posture may have caused, and will prevent the body to go back to it as a way to deal with these same pains.

Custom Orthotics

Custom orthotics can actually help if there is a leg length discrepancy of one leg longer than the other, which is creating the hip to be uneven. This is very common in patients having bad posture due to scoliosis. By using custom orthotics we are able to align the hips, reduce the pressure on the back, and help lower the scoliosis curvature, and work towards improving overall posture.

To learn more about the foot orthotics products we have, please visit the customer orthotics page

Fascia Taping

Fascia taping is an incredible non-invasive treatment option to posture correction. You gain postural control 24/7. The tape can be applied to help encourage the correct alignment of your body, reduce the strain on overworked muscles, acts as a reminder when your posture slips. By using the tape you can support weak under used muscles as they strengthen through your change in sitting and standing position.

The first step is to get an assessment of one of our chiropractors are able to assess the structure and the function of the joints. And then our physiotherapist are able to look at the muscles as well and based on that we would basically tell you a program that will be integrated that will help you for your specific posture.

If you have any other questions give us a call at PhysioChiroWellness clinics.

How Can PhysioChiroWellness Help?

At PhysioChiroWellness Integrated Health Centre our highly skilled practitioners work together to create fully integrated health solutions that may include physiotherapy, chiropractic, massage therapy, acupuncture, naturopathy, medical aesthetics amongst others. Our professionals will work together towards achieving an optimal health for all our patients through a holistically approach when treating any condition or pain they may present. This service is provided in our Ajax, Mississauga, Newmarket, & Vaughan clinics and can be booked at any time.