Is Poor Posture Bad For Your Health?
My name is Dr Cynthia Boyd, owner and posture chiropractor at Symmetry Health Center in Alameda and Oakland, California. Every year, I see thousands of patients from throughout the Bay Area walk into our offices, complaining of back pain, neck pain, joint pain, or headaches.
While my immediate goal is to get them out of pain, upon a closer examination of their posture and spine, it’s obvious that their spinal misalignments are actually causing a lot of other serious health issues.
Does bad posture affect your health?
As a Chiropractic BioPhysics trained chiropractor, we ask our patients for a detailed health history. We also ask them about illnesses, symptoms, and other health issues that the patient may be experiencing at the time of their visit. This gives me an insight into their state of health, and starts connecting the dots.
It’s very interesting to see that almost all patients experiencing postural issues (whether in the neck, upper back, or lower back), share many common health concerns. Diseases and health issues such as migraines, asthma, allergies, high blood pressure, acid reflux disease, digestive issues, weak immunity, and even psychological issues have been scientifically traced back to postural deformities.
Some postural issues are clearly visible by the ordinary eye. But even the slightest postural abnormalities (measured through digital x-rays and postural software) can start exerting excess pressure on the delicate nerves that flow out of the spine, and into the vital organs.
Without proper and uninterrupted nerve energy, organs can go into a state of dysfunction and eventually disease. Unfortunately most medical doctors prescribe pain medication, or drugs to numb the symptoms… and don’t know or fully understand the vital correlation between the nervous system and the health and function of the organs.
Most of my chiropractic patients who walk into my office in Alameda or Oakland, complaining of back pain, neck pain, joint pain, or headaches are surprised to find out how much information about their health I can guess by simply looking at their postures or spine x-rays.
So to answer the question of whether poor posture is bad for your health, my answer is “absolutely”.
How do you know if you have poor posture?
Subluxations or spinal misalignments can be an immediate byproduct of an injury or trauma – such as a moderate or major auto accident, sports injury, workplace injury, slip and fall, or birth trauma. Poor posture however, is a gradual and global misalignment that can take years to see or measure with the naked eye.
Most of my Alameda and Oakland poor posture patients are from the tech generation, who are constantly texting or looking down at their phones. In those cases their necks and head shift forward and creating what chiropractors call a “forward head posture”. This type of posture is dangerous because the constant stretching and pulling of the nerves in the neck can lead to headaches, migraines, fatigue, fibromyalgia, tingling and numbness in the face or extremities, vision problems, breathing problems, thyroid disease, immune disorders, and even psychological issues.
Hunched over a laptop or computer at work or school? The rounding of the upper back not only stretches and pulls on the nerves controlling the upper digestive system and cardiovascular system, but can make for tightness in the chest and reducing lung capacity. Asthma, GERD, high blood pressure, heart palpitations, and pain are common issues that patients complain about.
Correcting poor posture with a chiropractor in Alameda and Oakland, CA
My advice is to change your posture every 15 to 20 minutes. Look up, sit straight, and put away your phones and laptops for a few minutes to recharge and stretch your tired spine. Because many of these ailments come on gradually, only a chiropractor trained in the Chiropractic BioPhysics technique can determine if there is a correlation to your spine.
As I mentioned earlier, I am a Chiropractic BioPhysics trained doctor of chiropractic. My offices in Alameda and Oakland are among a handful of chiropractic offices in the entire state of California that aim to correct the structure of the spine, and therefore eliminate the source of nerve interference – the main culprit behind pain, discomfort, and disease.
Chiropractic BioPhysics is the most researched, published, and results-oriented corrective chiropractic technique in the world. Unlike most chiropractors that aim for temporary pain relief through spinal adjustments, our team is trained to actually correct the structure and shape of the spine, ensuring long-term pain relief as well as overall health and wellness.
My office in Alameda and Oakland is always open to new patients. Please contact me if you would like an evaluation to see if your poor posture is the root cause of your health issues.
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