How Poor Posture Develops

Poor posture is a huge problem that crosses all national boundaries and cultures; it exists, in all its degrees of severity and forms in all the populations of the world. We understand the two factors that contribute to it: structural misalignments and environmental factors, but how do these causes actually create poor posture, and what can be done to correct it?

Today, the most commonly believed cause of poor posture is environmental factors - spending large amounts of time in seated positions at desks and in cars, using our bodies in particular ways for doing certain activities, such as the postures adopted during work as a builder, or painter and decorator and even the types of shoes that we wear.

Whilst these and many other external influences on the way we use and mis-use our bodies are undoubtedly major contributing factors to the development of poor posture, it has always struck me as odd how so many people doing so many activities end up with such similar problems. In my mind, there had to be some other contributing factor that was more common to all of us; something that worked to weaken the strength and durability that mother nature had created in our physical form.

It wasn't until I experienced the phenomenal changes that took place within my own body after beginning Functional Orthotic Therapy, that I realised what this missing something was. It wasn't that our natural design was at fault, nor solely the effect of how we used our bodies in daily life, but the contribution of an inherently faulty construction within the foot and ankle.

This bony misalignment within the ankle is the source for a structural misalignment throughout the very fabric of our structure. Forget the effect of environmental factors at different stages throughout our lives; this particular structural misalignment creates a predisposition for poor posture to develop from the day we take our very first steps.

Natural variation makes us all different; we all have unique qualities, shapes and sizes of all aspects of our bodies, and the alignment and position of the calcaneus and talus within the foot is no different.

So, why is a misalignment of one or both of these small and inconspicuous bones so hugely important to posture? In this case, it is not size that is important, but function. Although they are small and inconspicuous, the particular way in which the human body is aligned reveals that these two bones hold a pivotal role in attaining and maintaining ideal posture.

Summary

With an appreciation of the impact such a structural misalignment can have on posture, and an awareness of the commonness of this problem, it is suddenly apparent that until now we have been oblivious to a major controlling factor in the development and degree of poor posture. With a structural misalignment within the ankle and foot, however minor, the effect of this on foot function and in turn function and posture of the entire body exists throughout life.

This underlying generator of poor posture, and in turn poor health, can be augmented by environmental factors. Indeed, it is my belief that the presence of a structural misalignment increases the likelihood of suffering positionally induced poor posture, because of the inherent structural weaknesses that lie within the structure.

Identification and control of structural misalignments must therefore be given equal or perhaps greater emphasis to the management and control of positional use and mis-use in the management of poor posture. This sounds sensible and easy, but until recently, this source of poor posture wasn't even recognised.