The following is one of a series of articles looking to myth bust features of structural faults as described in my article on dysfunctions. I would recommend reading the original article first. If someone has said your pain is due to your posture or you believe it may be due to your posture then this may be a good reassuring read for you.
The perfect posture
The perfect posture. In standing upright, feet shoulders width apart, small curve in lower back and chin tucked in. In sitting feet flat on the floor, hips and knees at 90 degrees, back straight, shoulder blades back, chin tucked in. When lifting, back in neutral, bending at the knees not your back.
However my view and the view of an increasing number of physios is that we all have different shape bodies and different postures. This means both static and dynamic, there is no perfect posture, there is no normal, except what is normal to us. Our bodies tissues will have adapted to our personal postures over years and will be working optimally for us in those ranges. Have you ever tried sitting in an unfamiliar or perfect posture for a while… its hard and it hurts, our bodies are not used to it.
But won't a bad posture cause problems?
It is correct that different postures will put loads on different parts of the body. Cumulative load may indeed cause problems within the tissues themselves. However this is not always the case. Our bodies can tolerate a fair amount before tissue damage and ultimately are very adaptable.
If you are somewhere where other people are, have a look around. If not, look next time you’re in public. Do others look like what I have described as the perfect posture in the first paragraph or do they have 'poor posture'. Ask yourself, are everyone of those around you with ‘poor posture’ in pain? No? Why not? In theory they should be if postural was all important.
So what can I do
We can find ways of changing posture by changing our environment. We may also change our routines. Together these may reduce the load sufficiently to keep our overloaded tissues happy.
However, it is very difficult (if not impossible) to actively change your posture on a long term basis. For me therefore the problem has to be not with the posture itself, but with the tissues capacity to cope with the load. Fortunately, there is plenty we can to improve tissue load tolerance.
Final thoughts
In summary If you think or have been told your posture is the problem don’t worry too much about it. Not many of us have perfect posture and we can’t really change it. Make adaptations to reduce the load, move frequently, remember your best posture is your next one and most importantly get fit, your tissues need to be able to cope with the demands you are asking of them. Book in for an assessment and honest discussion today.