by Adeel Akhter
We all have suffered some sort of pain multiple times in our lives. Sometimes it’s just a crick in the neck, sometimes it’s lower or upper back pain or headaches.
According to statistics, more Americans suffer from pain than suffer from diabetes, coronary heart disease, or cancer. Pain is the most frequent reason why most Americans visit chiropractors, orthopaedics, or physicians. Around 20% of American adults reported that pain kept them from having a good night’s sleep. According to the Atlanta Medical Clinic, 28.1% of chronic pain sufferers suffer from back pain. It is the leading cause of disability in Americans under 45. Neck pain is usually caused by trauma, injury, stress, going to bed in un-natural position, or spending a lot of time at your workstation in undesirable conditions.
According to chiropractors, a lot of pain is caused by bad posture and a lot of people are affected by this due to their working conditions or their lack of interest in taking these things seriously. Usually, what people think when they have a crick in the neck or back pain is that it will go away in a little while and they don’t give it the importance that they should.
What they don’t know is that posture affects us in many ways other than pain. Here’s how:
How does posture affect our breathing?
What does good or bad posture have to do with breathing? One may ask. Actually, it has a lot to do with our breathing. Bad posture, or slouching adversely affects our lungs and their ability to expand when breathing.
According to research, when we slouch, it affects the muscles at the front of our body. They become shortened thus making it difficult for us to breathe. We tend to breathe in short breaths. The research states that we can improve our breathing process by up to 30% just by improving our postures.
How does posture affect our moods?
Did you know that just by standing straight, you can feel more confident? Research has shown that standing with your back straight and your shoulders pulled back can not only help you feel more confident but also happier. People who stand or sit straight have fewer chances of falling into depression and have more energy than the people who slouch.
Part of the reason why this is so is that good posture helps you breathe. The more you breathe the more oxygen goes into your system. The more oxygen that reaches our brain the better it works. Do you see it now?
How does posture affect digestion?
Just like affecting our lungs, bad posture also affects our digestive systems. Having a bad posture might result in constipation, acid reflux, and other digestive issues. When we slouch, it puts a lot of pressure on our organs and they have no other option but to become compressed. This causes a huge problem when they are trying to push the food you just ate through your gastrointestinal system.
Just think about it. Instead of taking all those antacids, you could just have sat straight and your digestive problems would have evaporated.
How does posture affect our backs?
Bad posture does not have your back (sorry about the pun). Almost 80% of the American population suffers from back pain sometimes in their lives. It is a whopping $50 billion industry now.
Back pains can occur due to many reasons, but the major reason is poor posture. Poor posture is also the culprit behind nerve pinching and reduced blood flow. When you stand or sit straight, all your muscles, tendons, ligaments and joints are in their proper position and that helps reduce the extra pressure on your nerves as well as arteries. It also helps take away the extra stress that you’ve been putting on your back.
If you’re still experiencing back pain even after sitting up straight and doing exercise, we recommend you visit a chiropractor.
HOW TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU HAVE A GOOD POSTURE?
Here’s what you can do to ensure that you never have bad posture again:
- Make sure that your computer at work and at your home is at the eye level.
- Get an ergonomic chair both at the office and at home. A lot of people take care of ergonomics in the office, but when they come home, they slouch in their favourite sofa or barker lounger and never get up from it. That destroys all the hard work they did earlier.
- Put a small pillow behind your lower back when sitting.
- Make sure that you take a 3-minute break after every hour so you can stretch yourself and get some exercise. Just walk around the office if you have to.
- When getting in the car, make sure that you sit in a position where your knees are lower than your hips.
- Exercise, walk or jog regularly. Don’t miss this step.
In the beginning, you may feel that it’s a lot of work, but as you get accustomed to it, you will start enjoying this routine. Have a good back (sorry day).
Author Bio: Adeel Akhter is a blogger who loves to write about staying healthy and fit, living a blessed life.
