Posture and Pain

You suddenly find yourself on your back looking up at the ceiling, wondering which hurts worse, your back or your pride. You chide yourself for falling but here you are, twisted up and in pain. Most of us have been unfortunate enough to experience this at least once. And we know that, more often than not, we get up and shake it off knowing that we’ll be fine if not a little sore for a day or two. But sometimes seemingly insignificant injuries like this can come back to haunt us.

A year or two later we suddenly develop weakness in our back or hips, maybe our knees, too. “It must be from getting older. Age is creeping up on me”, you tell yourself. You’ve long forgotten about that spill you took a while back so you probably don’t make the connection between the two. How could they be connected? You may be thinking that it was just a misstep, nothing major. But there’s an insidious reason why seemingly innocuous injuries can lead to arthritis, bursitis and other aches and pains as we get older if they’re not treated properly at the time they occur. And it can make a big difference between growing older gracefully with comfort and aging with daily discomfort that never seems to get better without a handful of Advil or Tylenol or Aleve.

The answer is right before our eyes but we rarely ever notice it because we’re so busy managing our many responsibilities. It’s our posture. Unless the right corrections are made and made soon, even minor injuries can trigger a cascade of postural imbalances leading to greater and greater misalignment. Before you know it you feel stiff in the morning. Then the stiffness lasts through most of the day. Weeks, months and seasons go by and more aches and pains pop up elsewhere. Eventually what we call arthritis sets in, and we feel worse in certain types of weather or when it changes. So how do we correct this?

There are a number of ways. Some you can do for yourself and some you get from outside Support. There are lots of great stretches and exercises available to us. You can find a lot of them online or in books from reputable educated sources. Physical therapy, chiropractors, some orthopedic doctors and osteopaths, and acupuncturists that have been specially trained in sports acupuncture and orthopedics are outstanding resources.

I have been practicing for 28 years and for the better part of 20 of them I have been rigorously studying and practicing how to help the body function as nature intended. Call, text or email me to schedule a posture assessment. Mention this blog and you’ll receive my free “Guide to Better Posture”. This PDF provides simple easy-to-do exercises that will improve your posture and relieve pain.

Be well!

Tyme