Your Posture is a Lifestyle

After a long day of work, do you notice increased neck and shoulder pain? It could be coming from your posture!

It has long been understood or assumed that there is “perfect” posture; a posture in which you could spend all day and be completely pain free.

We now understand that although there are positions in which your upper body can move most efficiently and effectively, the BEST posture is the NEXT posture. I’ll dive in a little more here.

“Posture” just means a certain position in which you are holding your body. Depending on your posture, some muscles may be working overtime, while others are not in an optimal position to provide functional support.

As physical therapists, we often see people who work at a desk coming in with neck and shoulder pain due to poor posture while sitting- that is a forward head and rounded shoulder position. This puts strain on the vertebrae of the neck, does not allow the shoulders to work optimally and puts the muscles of your mid back on stretch. This also puts them at a disadvantage to work optimally! It can even impact the muscles of your jaw.

We have to emphasize the importance of strengthening the postural muscles of your mid back and ensuring you have good thoracic extension available to you. This helps your body to not be in a constant hunched position.

Self evaluating throughout the day is valuable to double check the muscles you are using and the position you are holding yourself in. Try checking the position of your head and make sure your chin doesn’t jut out forward as this can put excess strain on your jaw and neck.

However, even if someone sits with a perfectly upright posture, with their chin tucked in and a perfect 90 degree angle of their elbows at the keyboard…guess what… they may still have pain!

That is because sitting in one spot for hours on end is not natural! Our bodies are meant to move and be able to withstand multiple positions throughout the day, so even a “perfect” one may cause pain.

A great tip is to set an alarm for every 30-40 min while working and either change up your positioning or move around for 5 minutes; it can make a huge difference!

Your neck and shoulder pain can absolutely be coming from the way you hold your body throughout the day and it is important to understand potential imbalances and need to strengthen or lengthen parts of your body. As always, motion is lotion and getting yourself a bit stronger can go a long way!