Posture and Your Health
Welcome back to this week’s blog post!
A question I get frequently from patients is about posture braces. Do they work? Should I get one? What are your thoughts on them? Like most things, posture braces have their uses. A posture brace is something that should be utilized under the direction of your doctor because there are times when it may cause more harm than good if used incorrectly. A musculoskeletal doctor—a chiropractor—will be able to discern if a posture brace is something you could benefit from, and then give you tailored parameters on how to wear it correctly and for how long.
A circumstance where I might recommend a posture brace would be if your job demands that you are at a computer all day, since it can be very difficult to maintain proper posture throughout the day. A posture brace may aid in reducing your fatigue in that scenario. Also, if your job requires you to look down for prolonged periods of time, a posture brace may aid in reducing your pain at the end of the day.
The biggest concern that I convey to patients is to not let the posture-corrective brace become a crutch. The posture brace is ultimately a short-term aid, while we work through the long-term solution of rebuilding weakened muscle structures. The brace, when utilized ineffectively and relied upon extensively, can actually make the underlying problem worse by essentially disengaging the necessary muscles required to maintain posture.
When our posture muscles begin to deteriorate, we develop Forward Head Posture.
For every inch forward our heads travel, we have an additional 10 lbs of force on our upper trapezius muscles (the muscles most associated with stress and bad posture where your upper back and your neck meet).
This additional force creates tension in your muscles that lead to neck and upper back pain, cervicogenic headaches, and may also lead to shoulder pain as well. Imagine performing shrugs with 30-pound dumbbells in each hand, that is roughly what you are doing all day when your head 3 inches forward from its neutral positioning!
A term you might hear chiropractors and physical therapists utilize is known as Upper Crossed Syndrome.
While not a clinical diagnosis, it describes how tight muscles in the upper body can create an imbalance with inhibited/ underutilized muscles that need to be strengthened.
When our posture suffers, as above, our breathing also suffers. Our ribcage needs to be able to expand not just up and down, but side to side as well. When our ribcage is unable to expand appropriately, our breaths become shallower and faster. This signals your body that it is stressed! This compounds the issues and creates a vicious cycle of increasing tension in the already stressed body.
Here are some effective stretches that can help alleviate some of the muscle pain felt from Upper Crossed Syndrome. Stretching is one of the foundational steps to reducing muscle pain and discomfort that comes from poor posture. In a future blog post, we’ll discuss another foundational step—exercise and strength conditioning.
Effective Stretches
Pectoralis Stretch
To target the pectoralis major and minor effectively, we must stretch these muscles from a variety of angles.
To perform this stretch, approach a doorframe with arms bent at 90 degrees as shown in the image above. To increase the stretch, slowly lean forward until a stretching sensation is felt across the chest.
Mild discomfort is to be expected as these muscles will most likely be very tight. A good rule of thumb is to rate your discomfort at no more than a 4/10, 10 being immense pain. So, I like to describe this as a “good hurt” where you are still able to maintain a conversation if needed. To lengthen muscle tissue, stretches should be held for a minimum of 1 minute, but ideally 2 minutes.
This is not always possible when you first start with this stretch, as you may feel some numbness or tingling in your arms. This is due to nerve fibers being entrapped within the tight muscles that are being released. Should you feel this numbness or tingling, simply stop the stretch and relax, shake out your arms.
To safely disengage this stretch, take a small step backward until your arms are in front of you and allow your arms to slowly relax back to your sides.
I am more concerned about total time under stretch, rather than one single stretch, AIM FOR A TOTAL OF 120 SECONDS OF STRETCH PER DAY. This can be either one single 2-minute hold, which is the ultimate goal, or it could be (2) 1-minute stretches, (4) 30-second stretches, etc.
2. Upper Trapezius Stretch
To perform this stretch while seated, anchor your hand as pictured on the side you intend to stretch (remember what you do to one side, you always want to do to the other side), this anchors your shoulder to allow for a more effective stretch.
Gently lean your head to the opposite shoulder as depicted. You may use your other hand to help stretch a little further, I recommend using just the weight of your arm to assist the stretch rather than actually pulling your head – it doesn’t take much to get this. I like to add slow head rotations from this stretched position to target different parts of the muscle.
We again aim for a total stretch time of 120 seconds, splitting it into smaller times if needed.
Once you have completed the stretch, gently release the hand on your head and return to a neutral position. Then release the hand anchoring your affected side.
Taking these small steps will help maintain proper posture, leading to less pain and an improvement in overall function. Even if it is not every day, try to perform these stretches at least a few times per week. A small, gradual improvement is better than no improvement at all. Improving your posture is a piece of the health puzzle to finding your Peace of Health and Wellness.
Yours in Health,
Dr. Grant Shelton, DC
Doctor of Chiropractic at Peace of Health Chiropractic Wellness Clinic
