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Posture and Injury

January 9, 2015 by Vicki Aldridge - Osteopath

Posture is about how we hold and use our bodies.  In all animals including humans, posture can provides significant clues about our mental and physical health.  A good posture should mean that the body is aligned and working at maximal efficiency which in turn should imply to good health and relaxation.  A healthy body has an ability to heal itself and to revert to its normal structure and function when outside influences have been removed. Sometimes when an injury is either of major trauma, such as a car accident, or following repetitive minor trauma such as bad habits when in time it gets confused as to what ‘normal’ really is, the body needs physical (manual treatment) and sometimes chemical (painkillers) to help rebalance itself.  

There is reasonable evidence to show that tissues of the body changes in time according to the function they are given. When these changes vary from evolutionary design they produce structural deformities which are obviously much harder to correct.  Prolonged positions are the hardest for the body to maintain, such as sitting in a chair (look out for my other blog on archetypal postures).  For example, workers with poor posture will fatigue easily. However if a worker’s posture is perfect it will eventually be distorted by badly designed equipment or work movements. It’s also worth noting that the role of poor posture in the production of disease and bodily malfunction is often ignored

Good posture has to be applied in all - well as many as possible - situations and activities to try to prevent injuries.  Often when we hurt ourselves just bending over to pick up a light object it is the ‘weight of your body’ that your body is struggling to control, not the weight of the object.  Usually if the body is that vulnerable a weakness/ area of imbalance has been building up for some time.  In effect your back is designed like a crane with millions of years of research, with the trial and error of evolution behind it. With the balanced tone of all muscles involved, including the opposing muscles, injuries should be avoided.  At the end of the day if you don’t use it you lose it, but physical movement, like most sports, should be by quality rather than quantity

Good posture obviously needs a good level of energy and therefore physical and mental fitness.  Movement is Life - so keep active and move about regularly, but also note that pain is there for a reason so never move into pain. Respect it and try to address any weakness sooner rather than later.

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