How Poor Posture Affects Your Health


1 Jun 2011
Our 'young' are adopting the postures of the 'old'.

Chiropractors are spinal specialists and the spine houses the nervous system that controls all of our functions, they see and help with a wide range of conditions. However, there is one condition that is unfortunately becoming more and more prevalent here in Asia and is certainly far worse than the other places. This condition is simply that of a loss of our natural neck curve. This appears to be reaching epidemic proportions. Take a look around you at the postures of the young and old. It is scary to note that the young are adopting the postures of the old.

It would appear that there is a new generation coming through, people in their 20s and 30s who have already been working at a computer screen for 10 – 15 years, for 6 – 9 hours a day. Does this sound familiar?

Is this you? If it is, then the time to act is NOW!


Sitting at a desk in this position for hour after hour, day after day, is not natural… is detrimental and it is gradually damaging our health. Pain, tension and headaches are a sure sign that the body is losing function and wants you to make a change. To stay healthy we need harmony and balance in our body. If we are to sit like this daily then there just has to be a balancing influence. Chiropractic can provide that difference. They keep spines aligned and postures true, allowing the magnificent healing and regenerating properties inside us all to simply do its work unimpeded.

If you know someone who spends most of the day working on the computer then we can make a massive difference to their life and their eventual health. The effects of gravity on a slouching spine are predictable, but with periodic adjustments or realignments the damage is minimized and health enhanced and maintained.

So why is this loss of neck curve such a problem and why has it arisen? Well, the main reason for this problem is a lack of awareness and poor guidance from some of professions entrusted with looking after people´s health. The medical profession are usually far too busy dealing with the inevitable symptoms that accompany such a journey away from health. Medication and surgery are methods which usually have little to do with health care, more crisis symptom management. Posture and health; are they really connected? Think about this. You never saw a vibrantly healthy person with terrible posture just like you never saw someone slow and shuffling with an alert, fast brain. These things just can´t go together. So what comes first, the loss of posture or the loss of health?

A loss of normal curve can progress to become a reversed curve, known medically as a ‘kyphosis’. This will always increase the rate of spinal degeneration and speeds up the aging process. Many spend a fortune on anti-aging treatments but miss this fundamental aspect. Those with poor posture do not age well. Clear and simple.

If we look at a couple of X-rays then I think this is well illustrated.


X-Ray of near normal neck

First we see a neck with a good shape. From the side, the head is over the shoulders with a perfect curve forming a spring on which the head sits. There is little or no tension in the muscles around the neck, the spinal cord is relaxed. This is the posture we must try and maintain if we want to age kindly and maintain our health. In an ideal world, we understand the necessity of maintaining this curve and with the right knowledge, this is relatively easy.


X-ray of neck that has lost its natural healthy curve

With poor computer posture, gradually we lose the natural curve, the neck comes forward and straightens. Tension builds up in the shoulders and neck and some occasional pain and stiffness is felt. The spinal cord has been pulled tight with headaches and dizziness possibly starting. If we work at a computer for many hours a day then we must do something to balance the destructive forces or unhealthy changes will always follow. At this stage it is vital to re-establish a more normal curve as quickly as possible.


X-Ray of neck showing Phase 2 Degeneration

Gradually the effects of gravity acting on the spine cause a forward buckling. Degeneration and arthritis become very rapid and the nervous system becomes affected with increasing loss of health.
The spine is adapting as it must, as it attempts to stabilise the lower neck. The spinal cord is exerting tension on the brain-stem. Headaches, dizziness, fatigue, digestive disorders and poorer breathing are typical of this stage although due to the proximity of important nerves much more serious conditions can follow. The body has lost it’s balance, it is now not working with gravity but fighting against it. Almost certainly there will be neck and shoulder pain, loss of movement and possibly numbness and tingling in the fingers as nerves become irritated.
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