Chronic back pain patients often tell me they want to work on their posture.
They say it in the same way someone says they want to lose 10 pounds. Off-handed and nonchalant, like someone with good intentions who forgets to floss. They want to sit up straighter, but then their day gets busy and they forget.
Posture Awareness
The previous success and popularity of my posture collection tells me that people are aware that maintaining good posture is not as easy as they once thought.
Posture is not just sitting up straighter; it is so much more than that. To have good posture, one has to not have pain when they are in the right position and then they must have enough flexibility, stability, AND endurance to achieve the necessary positions and keep them all day. They must also have an understanding of what they are trying to accomplish. It is discouraging to think that all one has to do is sit up straight and commit to it, and then fail in this effort day after day.
Posture As a Body Barometer
Posture is a barometer of a person’s musculoskeletal system. The ability to maintain good posture throughout the day is a signal that much is right. And, conversely, that forward head or the incessant heel strike is as much a sign that something is wrong as a weird rattling noise in a sports car. You can turn the radio up for a while to mask the rattle, but eventually the car is going to break down.
Posture is becoming much more
Chronic back pain changes the body. It has been thought that posture may be worsened by back pain, but improving posture did not reverse the pain. This was because of a partial understanding of spinal stability. With the release of Uprise: The Body Guitar Theory and Back Pain Liberation, it is becoming clear that posture may be our path forward after back pain.
More Posture To Come
In a series of columns to be published here, I will define posture and begin to fill in all the blanks so that you may avoid a life consumed by chronic back pain. These ‘blanks’ are often filled in by comments or questions you may wish to ask, so please don’t hesitate to send me your questions directly or @DrSeanWheeler.
So…why is posture so important? You are about to learn that it is not just a nice thing to have, it is uniquely human.