For as long as most of us can remember, we’ve been instructed to sit up straight and keep good posture. This concept has been drilled into our heads from parents, teachers and more recently, the media, as we’re repeatedly told that correcting posture can reduce the occurrence of problems like headaches and neck and back pain. While most experts would agree that posture is indeed important and that improving it can help many individuals, the truth is that there is no single way of accomplishing this task, and the “perfect posture” that we’ve been instructed to aim doesn’t actually exist. Below, our Glenn Dale physical therapists explain what this can mean for you.

When the word “posture” comes up, the first thought you might have is how your body is positioned right now as you’re reading this. In actuality, posture is not simply a position, but a dynamic pattern of reflexes, habits and responses to anything that resists you being more or less upright and functional. These include the anatomy of your body, the movements involved in your job and daily live and other factors, some of which can be changed and others that cannot. So rather than thinking about posture as the stationary position that you’re keeping now, think about it as how your body moves and changes at all points throughout the day.

Based on this definition, then, poor posture is any habitual positioning that causes strain on your body. It is a pattern of physically responding to challenges that our bodies face on a constant basis in an unnecessary or problematic way. One classic example is sitting for hours with your legs tucked sharply under your chair, which can be dangerous to your knees. In this case, sitting with the knees in this position is responding to the challenge of sitting in a problematic way.

The problem with ‘perfect posture’ from our Glenn Dale physical therapists

So with this in mind, we are commonly told that poor posture can cause painful problems and that it therefore needs to be improved upon. In order to improve posture, the typical recommendation is to position the body in such a way that the shoulder blades are pulled back, lower back is tight and extended in an exaggerated curve and the stomach muscles pulled in tight. This is the classic image of a person sitting or standing very tall, and is essentially the “perfect posture” that we’re instructed to imitate.

The problem is, there really is no such thing as a “perfect posture” that you should remain in for an extended period of time. Everyone’s body is different, so trying to remedy problems caused by poor posture with a single, universal fix will clearly not work for everyone. In addition, the idea of keeping this “perfect posture” to reduce problems doesn’t hold up the way you’d think it should. Members of the military who have to stand at attention in this position and others who adapt their posture similarly still experience back pain, so the change is clearly not a cure-all.

Instead of striving to accomplish a “perfect posture” that is unattainable and unnecessary for most people, there are several other, more straightforward ways you can improve your posture. Our Glenn Dale physical therapists recommend the following:

• Analyze and change your body positions: take note of how you sit, stand, walk and run each day, and try to consciously change your body’s position as you move
• Break your postural habits: if you sit for most of the day, take breaks to stand up and walk around on a frequent basis; similarly, take sitting breaks if your job has you on your feet for most of the day
• Increase physical activity: one of the best ways to improve your overall posture is to maintain regular physical activity in your daily life
• Introduce postural challenges: try sitting on an exercise ball or wobble cushion to challenge your balance and learn to adapt to different bodily positions

Since improving posture cannot be fixed with a one-size-fits-all approach, it’s best to first understand if your posture can be causing your problems and then develop a personalized strategy to help you address it. At CAM Physical Therapy and Wellness Services, our Glenn Dale physical therapists are experts at analyzing posture and offering recommendations when it may need to be improved. So for any potential postural problems you may be dealing with, we can help. Contact us at 301-464-7390 to schedule an appointment at one of our three clinics in Laurel, Hyattsville or Glenn Dale/Bowie, MD today, or click here for more information on posture.