Chiropractic Treatment Can Help Correct Your Posture
Gainesville Chiropractic Care for Bad Posture
Posture has a tremendous effect on health, it is just as important as a well balanced diet, exercising and getting sufficient rest for a healthy lifestyle. Proper posture provides a way for your body to perform with more energy and less fatigue. Consequently, poor posture can lead to health issues that extend beyond just musculoskeletal pain. Fortunately, posture is often something that can be relearned or corrected. A chiropractor in Gainesville, FL can help correct your posture so that you can feel and live better.
WHY IS GOOD POSTURE IMPORTANT?
Proper posture is more than just a way to look better in other people’s eyes, it actually has a profound impact on health. Posture affects the way you feel physically and mentally, the way your body performs activities, and the way your organs function. When you have bad posture it disrupts the correct alignment of the skeleton and in turn prevents muscles, ligaments and joints from working in their intended natural manner. Not only does this stop them from working at peak efficiency but it will cause your muscles, ligaments and joints to feel fatigue sooner when performing an activity, increase the risk of them wearing out which can cause injuries, and cause physical aches. Poor posture can also eventually affect other systems apart from the musculoskeletal system such as the digestive, respiratory and circulatory systems.
WHAT CAUSES POOR POSTURE?
Poor posture can be a result of either structural or positional causes. Structural causes are permanent anatomical deformities. Some can be corrected through non-surgical treatments, such as leg length inequalities, while others cannot. Positional causes are more diverse and include the following:
- Bad postural habit — can be caused by any reason from hunching close to the television or computer for prolonged periods of time to living a sedentary lifestyle.
- Joint hypermobility or hypomobility
- Excess weight
- General weakness
- Muscle imbalance such as overly relaxed muscles while the opposite ones are overly contracted
- Psychological factors such as self-esteem
- Poor sleep support
- Accidents or injuries
- General development
HOW A CHIROPRACTOR CAN HELP?
If you have poor posture or believe that you might, it can be beneficial to visit a chiropractor. Before any treatment is done, an examination will be conducted by your doctor. This examination could consist of a simple observation of how you sit and walk, your spinal alignment, measurement of deviation from proper alignment, body measurements, flexibility and joint mobility tests, and muscle length and strength tests. Once your doctor has determined the cause and particular case of your postural issues he or she can assign the appropriate treatment. This might consist of muscle strengthening and relaxing exercises as well as manual manipulation to realign your spine and any other necessary musculoskeletal areas.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
There are multiple things that you can do to either correct your posture or keep proper posture once it has been corrected for you:
- Stand with your head high, chin forward, shoulders back, and stomach tucked in.
- When sitting use a chair with good lumbar support and stand up to stretch often. Avoid sitting on a wallet as it can put pressure on nerves as well as cause hip imbalance.
- Sleep on a firm mattress and avoid thick pillows. Instead use a small pillow under your neck for support.
Chiropractic Treatment in Gainesville for Posture
Postural issues often start at a young age and can have detrimental effects on your health. You shouldn’t wait until you’re older and have aches and pains everywhere from poor posture to try and correct them. Proper posture should be practiced from a young age or measures should be taken to correct it. Gainesville Chiropractor Dr. Tucker specializes in the activator technique for chiropractic treatment. This method uses a handheld device to target a specific region through a precise high-speed, low-displacement pulse and allows him to treat people of any age from infants to seniors. Contact us today at Tucker Chiropractic to correct your postural issues.