Posture is the window to the
spine and poor posture can indicate there is a problem with a person’s spine
and nervous system.
One of the first indicators of
poor posture is a slouching or forward head posture.
This posture closes down
on lymphatic drainage in the neck and will cause more strain on the posterior
neck muscles.
It also increases the weight
bearing on the discs and can lead to premature arthritis of the neck.
There are
many causes of this type of posture including car accidents, sports injuries,
working with computers and loss of bone density.
Most people involved in automobile accidents in which the head in whipped back and forth will suffer loss of the normal spinal curvature in the neck.
When this occurs, the weight of
the head, approximately 12 pounds or so,
is displaced and places pressure on the discs, muscles and nerves of the
cervical spine.
This leads to muscle strain in
order to balance the weight of the head and uneven wearing of the discs and
joints of the cervical spine.
Another common posture problem
is a forward tilt of the pelvis causing anterior weight bearing, an increase in
the lumbar lordosis (curvature) and associated muscle weakness.
The abnormal spinal weight
bearing associated with this type of posture can lead to premature spinal
arthritis of the joints and discs.
Chiropractors are experts at
analyzing posture and spinal problems. They are trained in the art of
detection. A doctor of chiropractic searches for the problems that exist
underneath poor posture.
Analyzing spinal curvatures and
alignment, the doctor searches for the problems that contribute to the postural
pattern he or she observes.
Analyzing posture from the front, we look for
changes in the stance, i.e. the outward turning of one or both feet.
Also, the
alignment of the knees, the leveling of the hips or pelvis, the height
differences across the shoulders and tilting of the head and neck.
From the side we look for
forward tilting of the pelvis, forward head translation and increase in the
spinal curvatures. All of these changes add up to changes in the spine.
We also
observe a person while walking to see if there are gait changes. Gait, or the
walking cycle, is an important indicator of how improper foot alignment affects
spinal posture.
As
mentioned above, posture is the window to the spine.
Distortions in spinal
alignment are indications of vertebral subluxation, a condition treated only
by chiropractors.
The vertebral subluxation is a misalignment of the spinal
vertebra effecting the spinal joints and discs causing changes in nerve function and irritating the spinal
musculature.
