Posture and Ergonomics
Human Evolution
Most people who present to a chiropractic office do so because they are having some form of musculoskeletal pain, meaning pain that is originating from muscles, connective tissue or joints.
It is often easy to evaluate and discover the problem that is causing the immediate pain. If there’s been an acute injury, treatment is often quick and effective so that, when healed, no additional treatment is needed.
However, some issues, most often the ones causing chronic, low-grade pain, are a sign that the body is being subjected to a small but constant trauma to muscles, connective tissue and joints. This trauma is most commonly due to posture. Many people develop bad posture habits from the teenage years and never make the effort to correct them. Our jobs as adults often then contribute to making the problem worse. Our bodies were not meant to be stationary, seated in strange positions, or leaning over a computer for hours at a time. The muscles begin to get achy and irritated, and your body responds by trying to “fix” the muscle, laying down scar tissue (fibrous tissue), which in turn makes the muscle tighter and achier. Most people don’t realize that these postural problems play a very big role in back pain, neck pain, headaches and other repetitive stress conditions. Oftentimes, it is necessary to deal with the underlying postural issues that are creating the problem in order to effectively treat the patient’s area of complaint.
Postural habits take a long time to break and require a significant amount of work, by the chiropractor, therapist and the patient. We can help moving stuck joints through Chiropractic manipulation, stretching tight muscles using myofascial release treatment and massage therapy and helping to develop a self directed program of stretching and strengthening techniques to decrease muscle tightness and improve postural awareness. An ergonomic assessment of office space, sleeping posture or recreational stresses that contribute to incorrect posture may also be performed. We will make suggestions on how to modify workspace to better suit an ideal postural model, thereby reducing the strain to the body. (For example, if a person is constantly cradling a phone between their head and shoulders, a suggestion will be made to instead wear a head set phone, to reduce the strain on the neck musculature).
Depending on your particular case and the length of time the problem has existed, other forms of treatment might be recommended. Core Chiropractic and Wellness Clinic incorporates many of these options.
For more information on posture click here.