“Sit right, don’t hunch over!” 

Certainly, before we were all grown up, we have heard these cautionary words from our parents more than once. Most of us reluctantly obeyed their orders without realizing that their persistent prodding was not anatomically and biomechanically based. As a matter of fact, they were probably not conscious of all the consequences of poor posture, themselves. But their intuitions seem to be always pointing in the right direction. At least when it comes to their family’s well-being. Stance and posture refer to how your body resides, stands or lies when you sit, stand or walk. Your posture is the result of behaviors that have been developed over the years.

The correct orientation of the body while standing or sitting is how a good posture is measured. It also engulfs the correct alignment to station your body against the gravity of supporting structures like your muscles and ligaments with the least stress and tension. The proper position maintains the optimal positioning of your bones and joints and decreases wear and tear damages to the supporting structures. Experienced chiropractors at Align Integrated Medical warn about the deteriorating nature of millennials’ postures because of the growing trend of desk jobs. They say that on a day to day basis they treat patients for bad posture, and the patients all lead healthier lives because of this.

Abdominal and Urinary Issues

Bad posture puts the body in a position that is unhealthy and may affect certain internal organs. Staying at a desk or slouching when looking at your mobile device can interfere with proper digestion and increase the risk of acid reflux and indigestion. Moreover, poor positioning on a toilet seat can lead to constipation if your knees are placed below your hips. This position tends to narrow or completely close the anus and makes it difficult for muscles in the abdominal system to help move feces out. Constipation is characterized as fewer than three bowel movements per week and hard, dry stool. 

You can help reduce tissue tension and reduce inflammation by squatting to move feces through the intestine. This position promotes relaxation in the pelvic floor.  This can be imitated by raising your feet on a small toilet on a western-style toilet. The puborectalis muscle will not loosen up if you’re sitting with the hips at 90 degrees, meaning that the curl in the top rectum does not flatten out. Lifting the feet so that the hip is bent beyond 90 degrees straightens where the colon and rectum join and makes it easier for the excrement to pass. Bad posture after a meal may cause acid reflux triggering heartburn, which happens when the stomach acid rises back into the esophagus. 

Slouching exerts pressure on the abdominal cavity, which can lead to misguided stomach acid. And there has been some evidence that traffic congestion in the intestines slows when you slouch. Furthermore, poor posture facilitates stress incontinence, if you laugh or cough, then you might not be able to fully control your bladder. Slouching increases the pressure on the bladder. The stance also reduces the capacity to withstand the pressure of the pelvic floor muscles. 

Arthritis

Poor stance can lead to spinal or knee misalignment, which can cause stress on knee joints. If you already have arthritis of the knees it can be hugely problematic. With time, this non-alignment can make arthritis worse by pressuring one part of the joint as well as cause pain. Pain can reduce your overall efficiency and life quality. Your head weighs just over 10 pounds or just over a bowling ball. When you start lying down in the evening, your neck starts easing after spending it’s waking hours supporting your head.   Although it’s faultless, it’s still a lot to ask from your neck. Correct posture requires that your head lies directly right over your neck. Poor neck posture is usually when your head extends a bit forward in relation to your neck.

What happens with this increased stress on your neck stemming from bad posture is that the large muscles and smaller postural muscles experience more stress on the little joints in the neck. This tires out your joints and muscles quickly and results in increased wear and tear, and possible arthritis. This can worsen the pain when your neck is already suffering from osteoarthritis. It all follows the same story with your body’s other joints. Incorrect posture emphasizes stress and increases the likelihood of osteoarthritis developing. A healthy posture may not be the treatment for arthritis, but surely it will help. Just as poor posture increases stress on your body’s joints, good posture reduces stress.

Negative Mood

The consequences of having bad posture affect our bodies in countless ways, including how we feel. Research has found that posture and emotions are closely related. Depressed people tend to be sluggish. Generally speaking, mood does not influence posture. On the other hand, posture appears to affect mood and emotions. Correct posture makes people feel better after challenging incidents and alleviates symptoms of depression. It even helps people feel less tired and emotional. When you consider all the information that travels across the vertebral area between the brain and the body, a healthy vertebra would echo to the body and mind feeling good everywhere. 

Poor Circulation

You are at risk of contracting or worsening circulation problems if you sit in a chair for hours with bad posture every day. This is because bad posture prevents your body from easily circulating blood and oxygen through your body. This can lead to varicose veins, that women are especially vulnerable to. Working on good posture not only prevents poor blood circulation but also prevents you from experiencing serious health problems in your later life.

Correcting poor posture is not impossible, it just takes some practice. Poor posture is a bit more complicated than just a mere motivational or mood problem. Bad posture can have adverse effects on you medically as depicted above. All these effects are negative for the mind and body and can hinder you from experiencing a healthy life. It is important that you put the emphasis on good posture to take care of yourself and give yourself the best stance possible.