Mum was right again...."Shoulders Back" Sit up straight" "DON'T SLOUCH" .........Posture is so important to good health - somehow mother's always know what's best :-) Socrates said, “If you would have health, look first to the spine”, your mother, like Socrates, knew just how important your posture was, and still is! Your nervous system (housed in the moving bones of the spinal column) controls and co-ordinates virtually every other cell, tissue, muscle, gland and organ in the entire body, which is why the spine is so important to your health. Clinicians and researchers throughout history have placed posture at the very foundation of physical health.  Hippocrates (440 – 377BC) saw the spine as central to the treatment of ill health and reputedly used spinal manipulation to correct dysfunctions in the body.

A human head weighs about the same amount as a bowling ball. Now your spine is very adept at holding it in place when you are sitting or standing up straight. But when your head moves forward the forces on your neck increase massively.  If you have poor posture it's not surprising to feel tired and fatigued since your body has to work harder to maintain function.  

Forward Head Posture is so important to health:

· Incorrect head position leads to improper spinal function. Forward Head Posture can add up to 30 pounds of abnormal load on the cervical spine.
· Forward Head Posture results in loss of vital capacity. Lung capacity is depleted by as much as 30 percent.
· Forward Head Posture causes an increase in discomfort and pain. Freedom of motion in the first four cervical vertebrae is a major source of stimuli that causes production of endorphins.

Good posture can be defined as proper alignment of the body. From a side view, your ear, shoulder, hip, and ankle should all line up.   When this happens, the three curves of the spine are right along the body’s centre of gravity and there is no uneven pressure on nerves, discs or muscles.

With the introduction of hand held computer games, more time spent on the computers which are often laptops and viewed in the looking down position, hours spent texting, slouching in front of TV etc. Our posture is very vulnerable to becoming twisted and out of shape. There is much you can do for yourself, however our Chiropractors are here to help you every step of the way.