Here’s What Happens When You Have Bad Posture

Good posture is about more than looking good and moving gracefully. You need good posture to keep your entire body healthy and functioning with the least possible stress.

Bad posture alone can lead to chronic pain. If you have ongoing pain that’s not caused by an injury or degenerative disease, chances are poor posture contributes to the problem.

Seven Effects of Bad Posture

1. Back, Neck, and Shoulder Pain

Poor posture or slouching can lead to tension and pain in your neck, upper back, lower back, and shoulders. Be careful that you don’t overcorrect on your own wrongly by pulling your shoulders back too far as this could cause muscle tension and stiffness.

2. Poor Circulation

If you sit for hours, especially if it’s daily, in a chair with poor posture, you’re putting yourself at risk of developing or worsening circulation problems. By sitting with poor posture all day, you’re keeping your body from obtaining the necessary circulation it requires.

Poor posture can also make you vulnerable to varicose veins.

3. Impaired Lung Function

Poor posture causes problems beyond your musculoskeletal system. When your posture bends the spine, it also contracts your rib cage. This reduces the space around your lungs, affects your diaphragm, and makes it hard to take a deep breath.

4. Bones become misaligned

Good posture (called the neutral position) holds your bones in a precise alignment that balances your body and supports healthy movement. Every time you move, especially when walking or running, your bones sustain a tremendous amount of shock and stress.

Proper body alignment (good posture) distributes the pressure among multiple structures. This prevents injuries by ensuring one bone, muscle, or joint doesn’t take on more stress than it can handle.

Every time your posture leaves the neutral position (poor posture), your body compensates by placing more pressure on one structure. The imbalance that poor posture causes leads to injuries and other problems that limit your ability to stay active.

5. Poor Digestion

If you have a desk job then you likely know how easy it is to slouch your shoulders and neck over your abdomen and chest. When you slouch, you compress your abdominal organs, including your digestive tract.

Doing this can over time, negatively impact your metabolism and your ability to process foods properly, potentially resulting in a nutritional deficiency.

6. Body loses balance

Most people take balance for granted, but it requires extensive coordination among bones, joints, muscles, and your sensory system.

Movements like twisting, turning, bending, or a sudden response to catch a falling object rely on your body’s ability to adjust its posture to maintain balance. Chronically poor posture throws this system off, causing balance problems that make it hard to move.

The good news is that chiropractic care can retrain your body and restore optimal posture. If you have ongoing pain without an obvious cause, it may be time to schedule a posture assessment.