The relationship between posture and health is not surprising since posture is the physical end result of how your body deals with the millions of environmental inputs to your brain.
Posture is more than just standing upright or telling someone to stand straight. Our posture resembles our daily habits, and is how we have adapted to these. Posture is a dynamic trade off between flexibility and stability.
Poorly balanced posture requires more energy to stay upright, causing increased stress and further wear and tear. Squatting is a great example. As children we can squat comfortably with our heels on the ground. As adults, the majority of us become de-conditioned, due to prolonged sitting. Those of us that cannot squat without lifting our heels have adaptively tight leg muscles.
Do we really get shorter as we age?
According to a 20yr study there is a strong correlation between losing height and mortality. Researchers at the University of London divided 4,200 men aged 40-59 into 4 groups depending on how much height they had lost over the 20 years. Men who had lost over 3 cm of height had 1.45 times the risk of dying than those losing less than 1cm. The author speculated that the physical restrictions of the lungs and abdominal organs caused significantly greater risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke and respiratory mortality. In other words, stand taller, and live longer!
Chiropractic is helpful at reducing the mechanical load placed on the body and improving alignment. Strong posture comes from our core muscles. These are the inner most muscles that connect and stabilise the torso over the pelvis. Speak to your chiropractor today and how you can strengthen your posture to stand taller and live longer.
Book an appointment with our Chiro today.