As an orthopedic spine specialist, I can tell you that your posture is essential to your health. Good posture helps reduce back and neck pain, minimizes your chances of needing spine surgery, and enables you to live an active lifestyle.
See Good Posture Helps Reduce Back Pain
But how can you learn to practice good posture? It’s as simple as ABC.
Spine specialists use the term sagittal balance to describe a patient's spinal alignment or posture. The best way to learn good sagittal balance is to experience what it feels like.
Here are the ABCs that I teach my patients to help them experience the feeling of good posture:
Step A
In this position you should feel your lower back muscles, upper torso, and shoulders aligning over your heels.
See Stretching for Back Pain Relief
Step B
Adding this step should allow you to feel the muscles between your shoulder blades.
See Neck Stretches
Step C
After step C, you should feel your elongated stomach and lower back muscles, the strong muscles between your shoulder blades, and your supporting neck muscles.
This is the feeling of good posture.
On top of experiencing good posture, you can protect your spine by identifying your poor posture habits. Here are some of the posture issues I see at my practice:
See Identifying Incorrect Posture
See Workplace Ergonomics and Neck Pain
You can quickly improve your posture by practicing the ABCs several times a day. If you feel that you need more personalized instruction and strengthening exercises, a physical therapist can evaluate your posture and provide you with additional instruction.
Remember that good posture can’t prevent all health problems. If you experience severe back/neck pain or numbness in your arms/legs consult with a spine specialist—these may be symptoms of spinal stenosis or another condition.
See Leg Pain and Numbness: What Might These Symptoms Mean?
Take a break right now and practice your ABCs. Good posture can go a long way towards keeping your spine happy and healthy for a lifetime.
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