Poor Posture and Health

Like anything to do with the human body, because we are a single organism, anything affecting one part of our body will affect all other parts.

Poor posture not only has an adverse effect on our musculoskeletal system, bringing soft tissue pain and joint dysfunction, but also to other areas. Examples include, but are not limited to the following:

• Nervous system - our musculoskeletal structure relies on our central nervous system to relay messages to a from the brain to enable our muscles and bones to do what we want them to do. Poor posture causes problems in the relay of information, and the nervous system is the one which tells us where and what type of pain we are feeling. In fact, the nervous system is so closely linked to our physical structure that the term musculoskeletal is now beginning to be replaced by neuromusculoskeletal, which more accurately defines this intimate relationship;
  
  
• Endocrine (Hormone) system - poor posture creates unnecessary physical stress on the musculoskeletal structure where, quite simply, our muscles have to work harder to keep us upright. This causes disruption to the release and concentration of stress hormones within the body and in turn unbalances the rest of the hormone (Endocrine) system. Because hormones play such an important part in the health of our body, many health problems can result from simply the increase in physical stress caused by poor posture, sometimes even before we feel the physical pain within the muslces or joints;
  
  
• Digestive system - poor posture disrupts the physical positioning of the internal organs within the torso, causing these organs to work in adaptive ways. In addition, the effects on the endocrine and nervous systems can cause changes to the way in which we digest food and the levels and types of nutrients we are capable of retreiving and using from our food;
  
  
• Circulatory system - changes in the physical positioning of the body and tone and tension of the muscles can impede the efficiency of movement of blood through the system, causing us to feel unusually hot or cold. A particularly common example is cold extremities such as hands and feet and excess shivering and tightening of certain muscles when exposed to cold temperatures.

Once we trace these and other cause and effect scenarios throughout the functioning human body, it becomes clear why we are always told to improve our posture and "sit up straight". Although the intentions for such statements are good, the ways in which we currently choose to identify, assess and control poor posture is letting us down.

From the design of school chairs and desks to the symptomatic relief of the pain caused by poor posture, some big changes are required to ensure that the effects of poor posture are properly addressed and controlled in the most effective way.