Is Posture My Problem?

In today's day and age more and more people have sedentary jobs. We are working for hours at a time at a desk or now at home on the couch. We know this is not good for our posture but we also have to work and so as the back pain creeps in, one of the most common phrases I hear is "I know my posture is terrible''. Many of us can hear our parents or grandparents in our heads saying "Sit up straight!" It's a never ending fight to keep that "ideal" posture. The idea of improving posture has created countless products including back supports, chairs, straps, pillows and who knows what else. We know bad posture is causing back pain but we don't know how to fix it.

But...

What if we are thinking about posture in the wrong way? What if bad posture is not actually a cause of your back pain? What if bad posture is just one of your symptoms? Pain is a symptom we are all familiar with. Pain is annoying but it is not the root problem. This is why pain medication may help in the short term but ultimately does not fix the issue in the body causing the pain. Pain is the way your body tells you there is a problem. Bad posture can be thought of in a similar way. You might be able to buy something to help you have better posture or you can force yourself into standing upright but it's not sustainable because it's not addressing the cause of your posture. Could posture simply a visible way your body is expressing an underlying issue? There may be a muscle tightness, nerve compression, or even mental state contributing to your resting posture.

“Often, this is a distractor from the big game. Our spinal health is linked to our general health. Keeping fit and strong. Moving. Eating well. Sleeping well. They’re the things we should be targeting, rather than this idea of targeting body posture. The interventions that have targeted posture haven’t worked. We have to look beyond that”

- Peter O'Sullivan - Professor at Curtin University

Thinking of posture as a symptom gives us freedom to address the root cause of the issue. It allows us to prioritize where we invest our time and energy. It also allows us to not worry if our posture does not reach that ideal image.

Often times, the pain and bad posture is a sign of a movement problem. Another symptom of our sedentary lifestyle is lack of movement, limited movement diversity, and low movement intensity and frequency. This is something that is fixable! The body needs movement.

Hopefully you can take encouragement that your posture is not your problem. Posture may just be a warning sign of the lack of movement that we take our spine through during the day. Follow us on instagram for more tips and content this month on how to stay moving throughout the day