Straighten Up: How To Avoid The Effects Of Bad Posture

Does your back hurt when you lie down? Do you have chest pains even though you haven’t strained yourself lately? Do you feel imbalanced when you walk? Your bad posture may be one explanation for all these things.

Reports indicate that poor posture can cause or exacerbate a lot of medical conditions. This makes it perplexing that only 47 percent of people in the United States were concerned about their posture. Today, you can learn about the effects of bad posture on your health. You’ll also learn how you can improve your posture through 4 easy methods.

Effects of Bad Posture

Your body comprises intricate and interconnected systems, so what you do to one system will inevitably affect the others. The effects of bad posture may start with your skeletal and muscular systems, but it will slowly begin affecting your whole body.

Here are some common effects of bad posture.

Exacerbate Existing Conditions

Bad posture can make your medical disorders much worse. One example is exacerbating the effects of scoliosis. This condition can cause chronic back pain as well as damage to the heart and lungs. Although there are plenty of surgical and non-surgical correction options for scoliosis, only you can cure your bad posture. If you keep sitting the wrong way or slouching for prolonged periods, you could make your scoliosis much worse.

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Breathing Difficulty

Bad posture can curve your spine and squeeze your internal organs, restricting their movement. Some organs that may be seriously impeded by bad posture are your lungs. If you tend to slouch forward when you’re sitting or curl up in a ball when you’re asleep, your lungs and diaphragm won’t have as much room to expand, making it difficult for you to breathe.

Body Pain

Your body responds to physical stress just like any object. Continual or continuous stress will strain your muscles and bones, eventually causing body pain. Just like how recreational accidents can cause long-term injuries, if you’re not careful with your posture, it may end up causing chronic body pain. This discomfort or agony can prevent you from performing certain physical activities, deprive you of sleep and even affect your mental health.

Battling Bad Posture

Fighting the effects of bad posture isn’t difficult or expensive. All you need to do is form good habits and acquire the right furniture. Below are 4 easy and effective tips for improving your posture and preventing the negative impact of bad posture.

Avoid Slouching

People spend so much time sitting and bent over laptops or computers that you probably slouch automatically. However, slouching is very bad for your posture. First, leaning forward pitches the weight of your head and strains your neck. Slouching also pushes your lungs and diaphragm against your digestive tract, restricting your breathing. Slouching also pulls your spine, and if you spend hours in this position, it can cause back pain and fatigue the muscles in your lower back.

Sit up straight and throw your shoulders back when you’re sitting down. This will free your respiratory track, relax your spine and alleviate stress on your back muscles.

Find the Right Furniture

You’ll find it much easier to correct your posture if you have furniture that encourages you to sit up straight. Bad posture begins when you have to contort yourself and put unnecessary strain on your body for tasks. If you spend a lot of time on the computer, ensure your work table is level and doesn’t require you to slouch to see the screen properly. Buy adjustable ergonomic chairs that provide essential back and arm support. These types of furniture will decrease strain on your body and prevent overexertion.

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Get Moving

Bad posture can also stem from long periods of inactivity. If you spend most of your day lounging in bed or sitting at a desk, your body will lock in those positions. If you’re lounging and sitting positions are awkward and uneven, you’ll essentially also be straining your muscles and bones. Schedule regular breaks for standing up and stretching. For example, go on a vigorous power walk twice a day or do basic calisthenics every hour just to limber up your muscles.

Beware the Neck

Your head can weigh up to 12 pounds and all that weight is only being supported by your neck. The wrong posture can shift that weight forward and cause undue stress to your spine and neck muscles. Prolonged tilting of the head, usually because you’re looking down on your phone or because your computer screen isn’t level with your eyes, can create discomfort and cause severe shoulder and neck pain. Be wary of how much and how often you tile your neck down to avoid causing this pain.

Taking care of your body involves more than just watching what you eat and getting exercise. Minding your posture can be just as important to maintaining your health. So be aware of your posture and how it can affect your way of living.