Did you know that 85% of the US population suffers from back or neck pain at some point in their lives? In fact, back pain has been their second highest reason for visiting a doctor. One thing that was identified as being common among those complaining of back pain was that they had an incorrect posture. While some had a slightly poor posture, others had postures that were downright harmful. An incorrect posture can be detrimental to health and such postures usually result from incorrect sitting and standing habits. A poor posture can also be caused by factors such as muscle imbalance, having a misaligned spine, the lack of exercising, osteoarthritis and spine degeneration.
Holistic Houston Doctors at a natural health clinic in Houston said that people today are spending close to 10 hours a day at work. In fact, taking into account travel time, this number rose above 11 hours. Most people spend the day sitting, whether at work or while traveling. Such sedentary lifestyles are causing pressure on the back, while sitting in front of a computer or carrying around heavy backpacks, purses and briefcases. When you slouch in front of a computer screen or spend long hours on the phone, your back and neck bear the brunt. A bad posture makes one susceptible to headaches, neck pain and low back pain.
How Posture Affects Your Health
A good posture is no doubt a reflection of perfect body language, which instantly boosts the individual’s self-confidence, making him feel more empowered. Other than impacting your relationships with the outer world, good posture can have long-term effects on your bodily systems such as breathing, muscles, digestion, elimination, joints and ligaments.
Maintaining a poor posture for a prolonged period can result in the following changes in your body:
- Poor Digestion: A poor posture when sitting compresses the digestive organs. This affects their capabilities to function properly and slows down the entire digestive process, which impact the metabolism as well.
- Change in Spinal Curve: Although a human spine naturally has a certain curve, a bad posture putts the spine in an unnatural position, which can alter the spinal curve. This change is not only painful and looks bad, but prevents the spine from maintaining proper balance.
- Back Pain: As mentioned, a poor posture is the root cause of back pain, which becomes chronic when carried for a prolonged period, and results in disc degeneration. An herbal remedies doctor at Houston Tx suggests that a person should take time to correct the posture by sitting straight up with their shoulders back, keeping the spine straight.
- Varicose Veins: Varicose veins are those blue or dark purple looking, swollen, enlarged and twisting veins, causing pain in legs. Varicose veins, more common in woman, are a result of the lack of necessary circulation a body needs, caused by sitting with a poor posture.
- Increased Risk of Cardiovascular Diseases: Although sitting for long has been related to increased risk of developing cardiovascular issues, a poor posture further increases the risk, making people experience shorter life expectancy.
Functional medicine doctors in Houston say that when you get into the habit of maintaining a good posture by keeping your spine straight, you are actually reinforcing the alignment required by your neck and back, reducing the chances of neck and back pain. Moreover, a good posture will keep you energized and less stressful during the day.